Management I: Organizing

Course Director: Jesper Blomberg

Organizing and leading are among the most central activities of any business. No matter how well production, marketing, accounting, financing and other parts of a company work, the organization will only perform well if all these elements are well organized in relation to each other. The purpose of this course is to develop your understanding and ability to use methods and techniques for how to divide and coordinate business activities. You will learn how to analyze and manage organizational culture and corporate core values, how to optimize formal organizational structures and technology, how to motivate employees to contribute to achieving organizational goals, and how you can understand power and influence processes as well as manage conflict.

Pedagogical principles

• Words you hear, you forget
• Words you type, you remember
• Words you work with, you understand

In course BE101 you will begin a journey into the "real" business and organizational life, as well as into the theoretical landscape that is developed to analyze and improve this business life. The basic idea of the course is that by developing a basic but high ability to analyze real organizational and management processes, you will be able to act in a "better" or "more efficient" way to achieve your and others' goals. With a proper theoretical training you will become a successful reflective practitioner!

"Reality" is represented in the course by descriptions in the course literature, in the form of guest lectures by experienced managers, in the form of teaching cases, in the form of group dynamic exercises, but not least by taking advantage of your own experiences from both working in groups in the course and from jobs and assignments you have carried out outside of school or in the student association. "The theoretical landscape" is represented in the course's textbook "Organization Theory: Management & Leadership Analysis" (Blomberg 2023). It is also conveyed in a number of lectures that support the reading of the course literature and prepare you for the initial compulsory literature test and for the for the final written exam.

Three learning circles

The course can be divided into three "learning circles" which are designed to maximize your cumulative learning during the course:

1. Theory reading and examination

In order for you to be able to work actively with analysis of real phenomena, it is important that you first of all get to know and reasonably understand the analytical instruments. The goal in this introductory circle is not that you should be able to master using these instruments (perspective, theory, models) in analysis, only that you should recognize and be able to account for them.

2. Apply theory to real phenomena

In groups of 5 students, you will apply the individually learned theories to a number of teaching cases. The cases are based on real situations and events in the corporate and organizational world and together we will develop your ability to analyse and draw decisive conclusions in relation to these. Your groups will submit written analyses, which form the basis for both qualitative feedback on seminars and examination.

3. Develop your own leadership skills

Theories and analytical skills in all glory, but perhaps the most important contribution academic education can make for you and for society is to develop your own approach to both theory and practice. There is no theory in the world that gives the best answer and there is no superior leadership style. However, you can develop yourself and your ability to see and manage yourself, your own and others' business. Therefore, we will practice practical team and management work, as well as conduct a comprehensive practical simulation of a production system. This complemented by literature on leadership and ethics (in the textbook) is the basis for you to develop both your practical skills and your "inner compass" as a leader, entrepreneur, or organizational member.

The course ends with an individual written, more understanding-oriented, exam. However, this exam is less extensive compared to many other courses, since the course's knowledge objectives have been partly already examined in the initial literature test and in the written case analyses.

A few tips for an educational, fun and effective course participation

• Read through all the information!
• Attend the introductory lecture!
• Do not plan any activity that conflicts with the schedule or the fairly extensive group work covered by the course. The learning of the course requires your active presence!
• Read the course literature properly in the first stage of the course and before the initial literature test

Course administrator: Bernalee.Karlsson.Anthony@hhs.se

You will learn how to use theoretically based models and perspectives to draw conclusions about how you can solve real business problems. You will learn how to act in practical situations that arise in companies and organizations, as well as to develop your personal skills in how you can act in and practice leadership in teams. The aim of the course is that once you have completed the course, you will be able to:

1. Analyze and evaluate business activities using organizational and leadership theory.
2. Review problems and opportunities that occur in and around companies from different basic theoretical frameworks (apply re-framing).
3. Generate action alternatives and recommend solutions based on analysis using organizational and leadership theory.
4. Analyze your own leadership style, its pros and cons in real life situations, both in terms of smaller groups and in broader business contexts

Main textbook:

Blomberg, J. (2026, 3rd edition) Organization Theory: Management & Leadership Analysis. Sage.

• Initial written literature test (20%)
• Group attendance on seminars and 3 hand-ins (analysis of teaching cases) (40%)
• Final written exam (40%)
• Written learning paper (pass/fail)

Find the course schedule in TimeEdit: https://cloud.timeedit.net/hhs/web/student

Have you been granted educational support because of a documented disability? If so, please contact the course director as soon as possible so that adequate accommodations can be made.

Contact specialneeds@hhs.se if you have questions about being granted educational support or need a copy of your educational support certificate.

For more information, visit the Specific Educational Needs page on the Student Hub (login required).