Description:
This course is composed of two parts:
Part 1: Networks and organizations
Eric Quintane (Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior, ESMT Berlin)
The first part of the course introduces social network analysis within organizations. We will start by discussing key ideas and debates in social network analysis, such as the notion of embeddedness, network structure, and the role of individual agency. We will then take a deeper dive into the methodological implications of doing research with social network data. We will cover 1) measures used to identify network positions and key network characteristics, 2) more advanced statistical models developed to handle the problem of dependence of observations, 3) concepts and measures regarding network dynamics, and 4) network experiments and causality. We will also spend time with hands-on workshops to learn how to manipulate network data.
Part 2: Organizational learning, behavioral strategy, and luck
Chengwei Liu (Associate Professor of Strategy and Behavioral Science, ESMT Berlin)
The second part of the course focuses on organizational learning and its implications for strategy. We will cover canonical ideas/models, such as the exploration and exploitations trade-off, the traps when organizations learn from successes and failures, how randomness complicates learning, and how learning reinforces or changes organizational routines. A framework of strategy as arbitrage will be introduced to connect several ideas covered in this course.
Literature:
see syllabus
Lecturers:
Eric Quintane, Chengwei Liu
Time & venue:
Thursdays, 9:00-12:00; ESMT Berlin
Exam:
Class participation (25%), Paper presentations (30%), Term paper/referee report (45%)
More information can be found in the schedule and in the syllabus.
Eric Quintane
Chengwei Liu
