EPOKA UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF ECONOMICS AND ADMINISTRATIVE SCIENCES
DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
COURSE SYLLABUS
2023-2024 ACADEMIC YEAR
COURSE INFORMATIONCourse Title: MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION |
| Code | Course Type | Regular Semester | Theory | Practice | Lab | Credits | ECTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BUS 112 | B | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| Academic staff member responsible for the design of the course syllabus (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature) | Dr. Esmir Demaj edemaj@epoka.edu.al |
| Main Course Lecturer (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature) and Office Hours: | M.Sc. Mikaela Süslü (Musta) msuslu@epoka.edu.al , E302, Tuesday, 09:00-11:00 Wednesday, 13:00-15:00 |
| Second Course Lecturer(s) (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature) and Office Hours: | NA |
| Language: | English |
| Compulsory/Elective: | Compulsory |
| Study program: (the study for which this course is offered) | Bachelor in Economics (3 years) |
| Classroom and Meeting Time: | D-101, Thursdays, 13:40-14:30, 14:40-15:30, 15:40-16:30 (Punctuality is a must) |
| Teaching Assistant(s) and Office Hours: | NA |
| Code of Ethics: |
Code of Ethics of EPOKA University Regulation of EPOKA University "On Student Discipline" |
| Attendance Requirement: | 75% - Absences are not justifiable. No medical reports will be accepted. Students who are not punctual, cause disturbance in the class by communicating with other students, or engage in activities not related to the lecture, will be considered as absent even if physically present. |
| Course Description: | This course describes the Management as the central organ of the current institutionalized society. It is called Management & Organization because it goes beyond the “business management”, embracing every type of organization. The content is mainly focused in the four functions of Management: Planning & Controlling, Organizing, and Leading. It is especially designed to be interrelated with the actual living environment of organizations (e.g. technological changes, social impact, etc.), intending to meet the personal reflection spaces of the new generation of students. The teaching methodology and pedagogy are multidisciplinary and rely on different methods and techniques. The classical theoretical part is integrated with the practical one. The later includes case studies, teamwork exercises, self-assessment and “meaning catch-out” (including articles, videos, etc.). The main objective is to engage students from a perspective of active inquiry rather than as consumers of facts and prescriptions. Strong foundations that the students will gain on this course will assist them to notice the connections with the real world of management applications. The Management & Organization course is deeply rooted on a Druckerian philosophy, that is summarized with the words of Peter Drucker: “A manager who understands the discipline of management will still be an effective — perhaps even first-rate — manager with no more than minimum competence in managerial skills and tools. A person who knows only the skills and techniques, without understanding the fundamentals of management, is not a manager but merely a technician.” (Drucker, 1974). |
| Course Objectives: | Gain knowledge of who managers are and what they do. Learn about what management is and the different theories regarding the management field. Understand the four functions of management: planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. Develop the employability skills, such as critical thinking, communication, collaboration, knowledge application, and ethics/social responsibility skills that employers are looking for, and understand how the concepts learned from this course actually work in today’s dynamic business world. |
|
BASIC CONCEPTS OF THE COURSE
|
| 1 | Management: Coordinating and overseeing the work activities of others so their activities are completed efficiently and effectively. |
| 2 | Decision-making: Process mainly consisting of identifying the problem, identifying the decision criteria, allocating weights to the criteria, developing alternatives, analyzing alternatives, selecting an alternative, implementing the alternative, and evaluating decision effectiveness. |
| 3 | Planning: Encompasses defining the organization's objectives or goals, establishing an overall strategy for achieving these goals, and developing a comprehensive hierarchy of plans to integrate and coordinate activities. |
| 4 | Strategic Management: The formulation and implementation of initiatives by top management that will allow the organization to achieve its goals. |
| 5 | Organizational Structure: The formal arrangement of jobs within an organization. |
| 6 | Leadership: The process of influencing a group to achieve goals. |
| 7 | Controlling: Management function that involves monitoring, comparing, and correcting work performance |
| 8 | Control Process: A three-step process of measuring actual performance, comparing actual performance against a standard, and taking managerial action to correct deviations or inadequate standards |
| 9 | Organizational Performance: The accumulated results of all the organization’s work activities |
| 10 | Organizational Effectiveness: A measure of how appropriate organizational goals are and how well those goals are being met |
|
COURSE OUTLINE
|
| Week | Topics |
| 1 | Orientation & Introduction (22 Feb 2024) |
| 2 | CHAPTER 1 Managers and you in the workplace. Who is a manager? Where do managers work? Why are managers important? What is management? What do managers do? Managerial challenges today and into the future. Why study management? (Textbook, pg. 34-53) / Reading: How to manage people (Additional Literature, pg. 1-24) (29 Feb 2024) |
| 3 | CHAPTER 2 Making Decisions. The decision-making process. Approaches to decision making. Types of decisions. Decision-making styles. Decision-making biases and errors. Cutting edge approaches for improving decision making. (Textbook, pg. 68-89) + Project Assignment: "Entertainment" Small Business Venture / Reading: Decision Making (Additional Literature, pg. 175-190) (07 March 2024) |
| 4 | National Holiday Summer Day (14 March 2024) |
| 5 | CHAPTER 8 Foundations of planning. Nature and purpose of planning. Types of plans organizations might use. Key contingency factors in planning. Approaches to objective setting. Contemporary issues in planning. (Textbook, pg. 233-244) (21 March 2024) |
| 6 | Quiz No. 1 (April 4) / Guest Speaker (28 March 2024) |
| 7 | CHAPTER 9 Managing strategy. What is strategic management and why is it important? The strategic management process. Corporate strategies. Competitive strategies. (Textbook, pg. 252-275) / Reading: Strategic planning (Additional Literature, pg. 153-174) (4 April 2024) |
| 8 | CHAPTER 11 Designing organizational structure. Six elements of organizational design. Mechanistic and organic structures. Contingency factors affecting structural choice. Traditional organizational design options. Organizing for flexibility in the twenty-first century. (Textbook, pg. 306-331) (11 April 2024) |
| 9 | MIDTERM WEEK (April 15-20) |
| 10 | CHAPTER 13 Managing Groups and Teams (pg. 364-388) / Reading: How to build and manage teams (Additional Literature, pg. 97-114) (25 April 2024) |
| 11 | CHAPTER 17 Being an effective leader. Who are leaders and what is leadership? Contingency theories and contemporary views of leadership. Integrating theories of leadership. Leadership issues in the twenty-first century. (Textbook, pg. 480-511) / Reading: How to lead people (Additional Literature, pg. 25-52) (2 May 2024) |
| 12 | Quiz No. 2 + Project Implementation Day (09 May 2024) |
| 13 | CHAPTER 18 Monitoring and controlling. What is controlling and why is it important? The control process. Controlling for organizational and employee performance. Tools for measuring organization performance. Contemporary issues in control. (Textbook, pg. 516-546) / Reading: How to manage quality (Additional Literature, pg. 191-210) (16 May 2024) |
| 14 | Project Presentation (23 May 2024) |
| Prerequisite(s): | |
| Textbook(s): | Management, Global Edition, 15th edition, Published by Pearson (July 17th 2020) - Copyright © 2020, by Stephen P. Robbins and Mary A. Coulter https://www.pearson.com/en-gb/subject-catalog/p/management-global-edition/P200000005311/9781292345857 |
| Additional Literature: | The little book of big management theories and how to use them, 2nd edition, 2017, by Jim McGrath and Bob Bates https://www.pearson.com/en-gb/subject-catalog/p/little-book-of-big-management-theories-the--and-how-to-use-them/P200000004982/9781292200644 |
| Laboratory Work: | No |
| Computer Usage: | Yes |
| Others: | No |
|
COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES
|
| 1 | Understand what management is and who managers are, as well as, what managers do in terms of the functions they perform, the roles they take, and the skills they have. |
| 2 | Describe the 8-step decision making process and explain the five approaches that managers can use when making decisions. Describe how biases affect decision making and identify cutting-edge approaches for improving decision making. |
| 3 | Define the nature and purposes of planning. Classify the types of plans organizations might use. Identify the key contingency factors in planning. Compare and contrast approaches to objective setting. Discuss contemporary issues in planning. |
| 4 | Explain what managers do during the six steps of the strategic management process. Describe competitive advantage and the competitive strategies organizations use to get it. |
| 5 | Describe six key elements in organizational design. Discuss the contingency factors that favor either the mechanistic model or the organic model of organizational design. Discuss organizing for flexibility in the 21 century. |
| 6 | Define groups and the stages of group development. Describe the major components that determine group performance and satisfaction. Define teams and best practices influencing team performance. |
| 7 | Define leader and leadership. Compare and contrast early theories of leadership. Describe the three major contingency theories of leadership and contemporary theories of leadership. Compare the various theories of leadership for their validity. discuss twenty-first century issues affecting leadership. |
| 8 | Describe the nature and importance of control. Describe the three steps in the control process, explain how organizational and employee performance are measured. Describe tools used to measure organizational performance. Discuss contemporary issues in control. |
| 9 | Develop employability skills such as critical thinking, communication, and collaboration. |
|
COURSE CONTRIBUTION TO... PROGRAM COMPETENCIES
(Blank : no contribution, 1: least contribution ... 5: highest contribution) |
| No | Program Competencies | Cont. |
| Bachelor in Economics (3 years) Program | ||
| 1 | Students define the fundamental problems of economics | 3 |
| 2 | Students describe key economic theories | 2 |
| 3 | Students critically discuss current developments in economics | 2 |
| 4 | Students appropriately use software for data analysis | 2 |
| 5 | Students critically contextualize the selection of an economic problem for research within scholarly literature and theory on the topic | 3 |
| 6 | Students apply appropriate analytical methods to address economic problems | 3 |
| 7 | Students use effective communication skills in a variety of academic and professional contexts | 5 |
| 8 | Students effectively contribute to group work | 5 |
| 9 | Students conduct independent research under academic supervision | 4 |
| 10 | Students uphold ethical values in data collection, interpretation, and dissemination | 5 |
| 11 | Students critically engage with interdisciplinary innovations in social sciences | 5 |
| 12 | Student explain how their research has a broader social benefit | 5 |
|
COURSE EVALUATION METHOD
|
| Method | Quantity | Percentage |
| Midterm Exam(s) |
1
|
25
|
| Project |
1
|
20
|
| Quiz |
2
|
10
|
| Final Exam |
1
|
35
|
| Attendance |
0
|
|
| Total Percent: | 100% |
|
ECTS (ALLOCATED BASED ON STUDENT WORKLOAD)
|
| Activities | Quantity | Duration(Hours) | Total Workload(Hours) |
| Course Duration (Including the exam week: 16x Total course hours) | 16 | 3 | 48 |
| Hours for off-the-classroom study (Pre-study, practice) | 16 | 3 | 48 |
| Mid-terms | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Assignments | 1 | 25 | 25 |
| Final examination | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Other | 0 | ||
|
Total Work Load:
|
125 | ||
|
Total Work Load/25(h):
|
5 | ||
|
ECTS Credit of the Course:
|
5 | ||
|
CONCLUDING REMARKS BY THE COURSE LECTURER
|
|
While we have covered a comprehensive range of topics, it's important to acknowledge the limitations, such as, time constraints that may have prevented an in-depth exploration of certain areas. I would encourage students to pursue further research independently or in advanced courses to delve deeper into specific aspects of the subject. It was observed that students enjoy hands-on activities and are able to understand the concepts better through such activities. Activities to foster teamwork should be designed and implemented to increase teamwork skills. |