ORGANIZATIONAL NETWORKS
- Overview
- Assessment methods
- Learning objectives
- Contents
- Bibliography
- Delivery method
- Teaching methods
- Contacts/Info
To attend this course students should have already acquired some basic notions on information systems (for instance by attending the “Information Systems” course)
The evaluation will be based on an oral test (of approximately 30 minutes) aimed at ascertaining the students' knowledge on the topics of the course and their capability of establishing appropriate links between them. Only for the students that will attend the lectures there is the further possibility (to be discussed during the course) of a final multiple-choice test.
The result of the evaluation will be determined by the correctness and accuracy of the answers (70%); the capability of motivating appropriately the analysis and the claims (20%); and the communication capability (10%).
Students attending this course will study the relationship between information systems and organizational models, particularly with reference to networked, flexible and virtual organizations considered as typical organizational models in the globalization scenario. The students will be provided with conceptual tools allowing the evaluation, from both a theoretical and a managerial point of view, of the impacts of ICT on organizations, especially when they have to redefine their structure, business processes and governance models to establish cooperation relationships within inter-organizational networks.
1. Knowledge and understanding capabilities.
a) Knowledge of the reasons for an organization to establish cooperation relationships within an inter-organizational network
b) Knowledge of the problems (at both the technological and the organizational level) an organization has to cope with to establish inter-organizational relationships
c) Knowledge of the opportunities deriving from the use of WEB 2.0 as a platform enabling and supporting inter-organizational cooperation
2. Capability of applying the acquired knowledge
a) Capability of identifying and describing the components of organizational systems
b) Capability of identifying the most appropriate inter-organizational systems to implement in specific cooperation contexts
c) Capability of designing and managing the transformational processes needed to make different organizations fully interoperable
d) Capability of analyzing and manage both the formal and informal relationships among different organizations through the most appropriate technological tools
3. Judgement autonomy
a) Capability of comparing and evaluating different solutions for complex problems, such as the establishment and the management of an inter-organizational network.
4. Communication skills
a) Capability of communicating effectively, both in written and spoken form, and capability of explaining ICT based solutions to possible clients.
5. Learning capability
a) Capability of understanding, classifying and elaborating on what has been learned during the course.
The lectures of the course concern the following topics:
a) Hierarchy, market and network as governance models (hours: 8; objectives: 2a, 3a, 4a, 5a)
b) Classification of different types of inter-organizational networks (hours 16; objectives: 1a,b,c; 2a,b,c,d,e; 3a, 4a, 5a)
c) Interoperability and inter-organizational cooperation (hours 12; objectives: 1b,c; 2c,d,e; 3a, 4a, 5a)
d) Cooperation platforms and cooperation environments (ore 4; objectives: 1b,c; 2b,c,d,e; 3a, 4a, 5a)
e) Social Computing, Organizational Network Analysis and inter-organizational cooperation (hours: 4; objectives: 1c; 2b,d,e; 3a, 4a, 5a)
f) Managerial competences to manage inter-organizational networks (hours 4: objectives: 1a,b; 2c,d,e; 3a, 4a, 5a)
Slides of the lectures (made available through the e-Learning platform of the University of Insubria)
Essential reading:
a) Cecilia Rossignoli, Coordinamento e cambiamento, Franco Angeli, 2004
b) Andrew McAfee, Enterprise 2.0: New Collaborative Tools for Your Organization's Toughest Challenges, Harvard Business School Press, 2009
c) Walter Castelnovo, Modelli di cooperazione e interoperabilità organizzativa, Dispensa del corso
Further papers (in English) made available through the e-Learning platform of the University of Insubria.
On site lectures (48 h) devoted to the illustration of the course topics, integrating the presentation of the concepts with examples and case studies. Due to the course conceptual nature, during the classes the students’ active participation will be encouraged to foster the critical appraisal of the delivered contents. To this end, papers from scientific journals will be suggested to the students to deepen the knowledge of some particularly relevant topics.
Course hours: 48
Office hours: Upon appointment Walter.Castelnovo@uninsubria.it
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