ORGANIZING IN A DIGITAL WORLD

The course will develop students’ understanding of organisational design and its challenges in companies involved in digital transformation. It will provide theoretical and practical knowledge on what organisational design is, which are the main decisions and organisational solutions across analysis levels - that is, at the organisational, group and individual level.

Particular attention will be devoted to themes such as AI and the future of work.

Relying on some of the most relevant and recent research theories, together with cases from the organisational context, students will be able to acknowledge the complexity of designing and managing organisations.

The course will help students develop an integrated set of tools and interpretive frameworks for understanding and making decisions regarding organisations that can influence their innovation potential and, ultimately, their effectiveness.

Particular attention will also be given to ethics in organisations and the relationship between ethics and technology.

Specifically, the course is designed to:
develop students’ abilities to analyse, discuss, and critically evaluate problems and solutions related to the meaning of organisational design and its main dimensions;
enable students to acquire an in-depth understanding of the challenges managers face in organisational design at various levels of analysis: inter-organisational, organisational, team, and individual level;
understand the main challenges posed by digital transformation to organisational design across various sectors;
identify ethical issues in organisational management, particularly those related to AI and the future of work.

Having passed the 'Digital Management' course is a prerequisite to attend this course and attempt its final exam.

The course will develop a robust, in-depth analysis of organisational design and will stimulate critical discussion about it.

This course examines how digital technologies reshape organisational forms, coordination mechanisms, work practices, and power relations. It moves beyond the ‘digital transformation’ rhetoric to analyse organising as a socio-technical process involving humans, algorithms, and platforms.
Digital technologies are not just tools - they fundamentally alter how organisations are designed and coordinated.

By the end, students will be able to:
Apply process, sociomaterial, and institutional perspectives to organisational design;
explain how digital technologies reshape organisational design and boundaries;
critically assess platforms, algorithms, and data-driven organising;
evaluate ethical and societal implications of digital organising.

The course material will consist of case studies, journal articles, and book chapters.
All the materials are available online and/or through the University Library System.

Mandatory reading
Gareth R. Jones - Organizational theory, design and change, Pearson (2013 - 7th Edition)
Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10.

Stephen P. Robbins, Timothy A. Judge - Organisational Behavior - Prentice Hall (2024 - 19th Edition/Global Edition).
Chapters 1, 9, 10.

H. Tsoukas et al. - Organizing in the Digital Age: A Process View - Oxford University Press (2024) https://academic.oup.com/book/57577
Chapter 1.

Selected papers' extracts provided throughout the course, for which references will be among the materials uploaded on the course's Moodle page.

All the course's slides - uploaded on the Moodle page - are primary sources for insights not covered in the above references.

Written and oral exam.

90% of the final grade: written exam. Multiple-choice questions based on the chapters of the textbooks, the slides, and the academic articles analysed during the course.

10% of the final grade: oral exam. Live or online discussion of an assignment. Details and instructions will be available on Moodle and explained in class.

written and oral

The instructor is responsible for ensuring the authenticity and originality of all examinations and coursework. In cases of suspected academic misconduct, an additional on-site assessment may be required during the exams, which may differ from the standard format.

Grading Scale (Criteria for Grade Assignment):

A. Grades in the 18–22 range will be assigned in the presence of:
sufficient knowledge and applied understanding of the course content;
sufficient ability in completing the assigned projects;
limited ability to understand and present the theories and managerial implications discussed in class.

B. Grades in the 23–26 range will be assigned in the presence of:
fair knowledge and applied understanding of the course content;
fair ability in completing the assigned projects;
fair ability to understand and present the theories and managerial implications discussed in class.

C. Grades in the 27–30 range will be assigned in the presence of:
good to excellent knowledge and applied understanding of the course content;
good to excellent ability in completing the assigned projects;
good to excellent ability to understand and present the organisational theories discussed in class.

D. Honours ("lode") will be awarded in the presence of excellent knowledge and applied understanding of the course content, and an outstanding ability to understand and present the theories and managerial implications discussed in class.

Interactive approach based on journal articles, videos, self-assessment exercises, and testimonies from experts.

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Circular economy, innovation, work" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development