1 TYPE THE DOCUMENT TITLE
STRATEGY AND ORGANIZATION: GUIDELINES FOR GROUP REPORTTYPE 1
THE DOCUMENT TITLE
Science in Management
Course Guideline
Autumn 2014
Course Guideline: Science in Management
Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................ 3
LEARNING OUTCOMES ..................................................................................................................................... 3
STRUCTURE OF THE COURSE AND SCHEDULE .............................................................................................. 3
2. ASSESSMENT ................................................................................................................................... 5
EXAM .................................................................................................................................................................. 5
ASSIGNMENT 1: THESIS PRESENTATION ...................................................................................................... 5
ASSIGNMENT 2: ARTICLE REVIEWS .............................................................................................................. 6
ASSIGNMENT 3: SHIFTING PARADIGMS ........................................................................................................ 6
ASSIGNMENT 4: LITERATURE REVIEW ......................................................................................................... 7
SUBMISSION CHECKLIST .................................................................................................................................. 9
GRADING ASSIGNMENTS:.............................................................................................................................. 10
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1. Introduction
Management is a field of knowledge with a long history including a wide range of
perspectives. This advanced course provides a starting point for the Masters of
Science in Management. The purpose of the course is to provide an understanding of
the historical development of research in the field of management and its scientific
and philosophical underpinnings. This includes ontological, epistemological and
methodological problems.
After completing the course students will be able to understand the different
scientific and philosophical assumptions in the field of management as well as to
analyze, identify, and account for the broad range of methodological and scientific
perspectives in management research.
Learning outcomes
After completion of the course you are expected to be able to:
1. Understand how different scientific approaches lead to differences in focus as well
as results in the historical development of management research
2. Apply this understanding to the field of management, including both historical and
current research
3. Critically and constructively analyze previous and present research problems in
the field of management
•
Learning outcome 1 will be examined through a written exam and written
reports.
•
Learning outcome 2 will be examined through written reports
•
Learning outcome 3 will be examined through written reports.
Structure of the course and schedule
The course is divided in three modules. The first module – Management Classics provides an overview of key contributions in management thinking in the early 20th
century. The second module – Scientific paradigms – provides a deeper analysis of
the philosophical underpinnings of various scientific paradigms in management
research. In the third and final module some of the recent developments of
management research is discussed and elaborated upon. The main idea of this module
is to provide a general understanding of the theoretical perspectives discussed more
thoroughly in later courses in this programme.
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Course Guideline: Science in Management
The course consists of twelve lectures and six seminars. Lecturers are asked to discuss
and illustrate some of the key ideas in the field of management research. The
objective is that the student should get a good overview of the historical background
and recent developments in the field of Management as a starting point for your own
research produced during the last semester of the master program. Please note, the
students are expected to read the articles before the lecture as this not only enhances
your learning but it also gives the student a great opportunity to participate in the
lecture and ask critical questions.
All lectures and seminars are on Mondays and Tuesdays. They are all located in the
School of Business, Economics and Law. For location see schedule on the course
portal. Active participation in seminars is compulsory. The discussions will be
organized in a way that guarantees every participant a possibility to contribute.
Lectures
Teacher
Literature
L1 Course introduction
AS
Styhre and Strannegård (2013)
L2 Scientific management
GKK
Taylor, Fayol
L3 Systems rationalism
ÖO
Burns & Stalker, Lawrence & Lorsch
L4 Human relations
UEZ
Acker & Van Houten, Merret
L5 Decision making
AS
Cohen et al, March
L6 Scientific paradigms
VO
Burrell & Morgan
S3 Literature seminar
VO
S4 Literature seminar
VO
Rosen, Gibson, Watson, et.al., West &
Zimmerman
Rosen, Gibson, Watson, et.al., West &
Zimmerman
Part 1: Management classics
Part 2: Scientific paradigms
Part 3: Theoretical developments
L7 Actor-network theory
FL
Latour, Akrich
L8 Institutional theory
MN
Meyer &Rowan, DiMaggio& Powell
L9 The theory of the firm and corporate
governance
SS
Hart, 2001; Bénabou and Tirole, 2001
L10 Organizational culture
AJ
Barney (1986), Willmott (1993)
L11 Scientific method in management studies
LW
Flyvebjerg (2006), Czarniawska (2012)
L12 Final lecture
AS
Assignment 3 handed in to Alexander Styhre in
the postbox, Building J, Floor 5
Assignment 3 handed in to Alexander Styhre
during lecture or in the postbox, Building J, Floor
5
4
Lecturers
AJ: Anna Jonsson
AS: Alexander Styhre
GKK: Gary Kokk
SS: Stefan Sjögren
VO: Vedran Omanovic
UEZ: Ulla Erikssom-Zetterquist
ÖO: Östen Ohlsson
FL: Fredrik Lavén
MN: Maria Norbäck
KL: Kajsa Lindberg
2. Assessment
The course will be assessed through three individual assignments and one individual
exam. To obtain a pass in the course, the student must have at least a pass in all
individual tests (The exam and the three assignments). To obtain a Pass with
Distinction students need to have a pass with distinction on the exam and assignment
3.
Exam
Assignment 1
Assignment 2
Assignment 3
Points Form
Learning outcome
50
Pass
Pass
Pass
1, 2 and 3
1, 2, 3
1, 2, 3
1, 2, 3
Written exam
Written papers
Written paper
Written paper and oral presentation
In the following sections you will find more detailed instructions for the three forms
of assessment in the course.
Exam
The purpose of the exam is to assess your knowledge and understanding of how
different scientific approaches lead to differences in focus as well as results in the
historical development of management research. The basis for the exam is the lectures
and the articles provided in the reading list above.
The exam is an individual exercise and will take place on October 31 13.30-17.30 at
Viktoriagatan 30..
The exam consists of six questions, each giving a maximum of 10 points and in total a
maximum of 60 points. Pass: 30 points and above, Pass with distinction: 45 points
and above.
Please consider the following when you write the exam:
- Plan your answers carefully. Don’t just start writing. Start by making clear in
each answer how you have understood the question, how you will answer it
and what your focus is.
- Try to reflect upon each question in your answer, and use theoretical models
and concepts from the literature to explain and argue for your point. Aim for a
balance between writing both about the theory and practical realities.
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Course Guideline: Science in Management
- You are expected to use the course literature (without explaining and offering
summaries of theories, models and perspectives). You may also use references
to other articles or other sources of information. You may also refer to your
own practical experiences (but you do NOT have to), during or outside of the
course, if you find this to be relevant to support your arguments.
- Argue as clearly as you can for all your statements, showing your thinking and
assumptions explicitly. Avoid generalizing statements. Showing nuances
(complexity or multiple perspectives) is seen as a sign of critical thinking and
is highly appreciated.
- Please try to structure your answers so that we can understand your text easily.
Focus on the most important and present it logically. Doing so, there is no
need for more than one page per question.
- Remember that we are not examining your English, but try your best to make it
understandable. We will try our best to understand what you mean.
Dictionaries may be used.
- The exam results will be published on GUL four weeks after the exam.
Assignment 1: Article reviews
By each lecture: Hand in a short summary of the scheduled readings for each lecture.
List two or three questions related to your research or area of interest.
•
Maximum 150-200 words per article.
•
Print out and give to lecturer a hard-copy of the paper before the lecture. No
e-mail, please!
•
Do not forget to label with your name and the title of the articles.
•
Deadline: Before or by the end of each lecture.
Assignment 2: Shifting paradigms
Write a short paper including two parts. In the first part, you position your own
research/Bachelor thesis in relation to the four scientific paradigms suggested by
Burrell & Morgan, as presented in Lecture Six and discussed in Seminars three and
Four. This section is preferably in the range of 1-2 pages) Please consider the
following three questions:
(1) What ontology have you adopted? (i.e. How far do you consider the thing you
have investigated real/objective, or social/subjective), and
(2) What epistemology have you adopted (positivist, relativist, or social
constructionist)?
(3) What assumptions have you adopted in terms of harmony or conflict?
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In the second part, Write a paper (in the range of 3-4 pages) description of how your
research work presented in your bachaelor’s thesis would change if you would adjust
it to another of Burrell and Morgan’s paradigm, including
– The research question and purpose?
– Your theoretical approach?
– How you would conduct the study (methodology)?
– How would the data be analyzed?
– Possible results and consequences for management studies and
management practice?
•
Deadline: Submit your paper as hard copy in the course examiner’s
(Alexander Styhre) mailbox on Building J, Floor 5 (brown mailbox outside of
the office) by on October 6th..
Assignment 3: Literature review
The purpose of assignment 3 is to develop your ability to critically and constructively
analyze previous and present research in the field of management. Reviewing
previous research is one of the corner stones of scientific work. Literature reviews can
be related to a particular topic, for example business ethics, studies of knowledge
management or cross-cultural management, or they can be related to a particular
theory or concept. Each of you will write a literature review according to the structure
suggested below. Your literature review will be presented in a written report and an
oral presentation in the end of the course. These guidelines should answer many of
your questions about how to write and submit your literature review.
Procedure
1. The report should be written individually.
2. The following steps are recommended:
-
-
Read guidelines carefully.
Select two journal articles that you find interesting and relevant. You may
identify articles based on previous literature in the course, theoretical
ideas/problems or relevant topics in organizations. The journals should
make use of similar theories or address a shared managerial practice or
issue, i.e., they should be part of the same body of literature or discourse.
Your selected articles must meet the following criteria:
o The selection should be made from the list of journals below.
o The first should have been published within the last five years and
the second should have been published before 1995.
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Course Guideline: Science in Management
o Both articles should be empirical. Review articles are not accepted.
o The first article should have been cited at least 1000 times.
o Again, both articles should address the same theme/topic/managerial issue, but they should be representative of different scientific
paradigms.
-
•
To find good articles you may use google scholar or the university library
databases. One possibility is to search for an old article, which is often
cited, and search for a later article that cites the old. You may also start
with a new article, which is using an older article as a key reference.
Start writing your literature review as soon as possible.
Deadline: Your final report should be handed in on the final lecture on
October 22.
Do not hesitate to ask your lecturers about interesting articles.
List of Journals
– Administrative Science Quarterly (US)
– Organization Studies (European)
– Organization Science (US)
– Academy of Management Journal (US)
– Human Relations (European)
– Organization (European)
– Gender, Work and Organization (European)
– Journal of Management Studies(European)
Due to various forms of opportunistic behaviour and misunderstandings during
previous years, no exception from this list will be permitted. Papers should be
selected from one or two of these journals listed.
2. Structure of the report. Your task is to identify the following themes in each
article and compare them:
–
–
Introduction
•
Introduce the topic. Why is it relevant?
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Why did you choose the two articles?
•
How many times have the articles been cited?
Comparative analysis
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–
•
What theoretical approach and philosophical position underpins
each article?
•
What method was adopted for the collection of data?
•
What were the nature and the size of the sample?
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How were the data analyzed?
•
What were the key findings?
Concluding remarks
•
•
What did you learn from the two articles regarding:
•
The development knowledge in the field
•
The scientific development
Other reflections
3. Length of the review. The paper should be no longer than around five pages
(approx.. 2,000 words). Large graphs, tables and images can be placed in an
appendix. Reference list is added in the end.
4. Use of previously published material. Your report should include additional
references to scientific articles, books, and reports. Course materials can be
included but also other texts can preferably be included. Relevant references
may be found in the electronic databases in the library. Google Scholar is the
easiest way to find academic articles, but please make sure that you are logged
in through the university.
5. Submit your literature review electronically (alexander.styhre@handels.gu.se
to the course leader. Deadlines for this communication is as follows:
I. Choice of articles:
October 13th
II. Submission:
October 22th, 10.00, as hard-copy to AS
Submission checklist




All reports should be formatted with justified alignment, 1” margins all around, in
Times Roman 12, line spacing at 1.5.
Your reports should be in Word (for Windows).
Please proof-read your reports.
Illustrations, such as tables, figures, and graphs should be presented in appendixes
with full information of sources. Illustrations will not be regarded as included in
the number of pages required.
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Course Guideline: Science in Management

Always keep electronic and hardcopy copies of your reports. Also keep copies of
your source material in case questions arise during the examination process.
Grading assignments:
Assignment 1
Assignment 2
Assignment 3
Fail
Pass
Submission not on
time.
Name and titles
missing
Submission not on
time
Relevant questions and
summary. All articles
covered.
Submission not on
time
Limited scope of
review. Grave
misunderstanding
of key elements.
Well-structured
presentation, within time
limit. Written paper,
including references
following the Harvard
Citation System. All
relevant aspects covered.
All elements covered.
Discussion including
references following the
Harvard Citation System.
Well conducted
work
Elaborated insightful
and well-motivated
discussion in relation to
the Burrell and Morgan
model.
Elaborated, well
motivated and structured
discussions and
conclusions comparing
the two articles.
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