Target group:
Bachelor’s students in Engineering, any discipline.

Course description:
This course is in the field of Organizational Behavior.
Instead of the usual leadership or managerial perspective, we take the co-worker’s perspective with the aim to enhance the student’s skills as team-workers.
The learning outcome will help students to understand organizational dynamics as a whole, thus it will also give basic knowledge applicable in leadership positions.

Learning goals:

• The student will have basic knowledge in team dynamics and different team-roles.
• In the course, the student is also expected to reflect over his/her contribution in creating a efficient team.
• Furthermore, the student will know about cultural differences based on Hofstede´s dimensions and have elaborated the challenges in cooperation and communication between at least three different cultures in a workplace.

Time and Place:
February 8th to April 25th, 2021, Campus Online, registration before February 1st 2021.

Course content overview:

Module 1 
Self-awareness; understanding your own contribution
Mindset, skills (cognitive, technical and communicative) and attitudes, deadline 28.2.2021.

Module 2
Teambuilding, what and why?
Belbin team-roles, Tuckman’s stages in team dynamics  
Deadline 21.3.2021   

Module 3
Cross-cultural communication and understanding
Hofstede’s dimensions, deadline 11.4.2021

Module 4
Case studies + course essay. Deadline 25.4.2021

Mode of delivery:
Asynchronous online lectures, self-studies and occasional group tasks, case studies.
Moodle-platform.

Course Literature:
To be recommended by the teacher on the Moodle-platform before the course starts.

Assessment:
The course will be graded based on a portfolio of shorter assignments from each module and a course essay, 6 to 9 pages, at the end of the course.

Grade 1 – 2
The student does all the assignments in time and the learning-diary & essay show a basic understanding of the topics and at least some reflections on the own contribution to teamwork.

Grade 3 – 4
The student does all the assignments in time. The learning-diary & essay include meaningful descriptions of key aspects of global teamwork. Furthermore the student writes own reflections relevant to the topics. The student shows ability to connect the theories to work-life situations in her own field.

Grade 5
The student does all the assignments in time. The learning-diary & essay show a familiarity with the theories and topics introduced in the course. Furthermore the student can reflect in a mature way around the topics. The student shows ability to connect the theories to work-life situations in her own field and can also discuss pro's and con's with the perspectives in relation to a realistic work-situation.

Contact person:
Roger Nylund, roger.nylund@novia.fi