GSB 691 Management of International Organisations
This unit is designed to explore the important dimensions that the international nature of organisations adds to the challenge of managing them. This involves an exploration of the novel characteristics of international organisations, compared to domestic organisations, and the interpretation of their implications for general and strategic management.
The unit has been prepared on the assumption that the core general management unit, GSB 721—Processes of Management, has been studied. Students will get much more from the unit if they have also completed GSB 725 Strategic Management and GSB 738 Organisational Behaviour prior to undertaking this unit.
The unit is an advanced unit and is written that way. That is, this is not a descriptive, ad hoc tale of differences in international organisations with amusing ‘war stories’. Ideas and literature from industrial economics, social psychology and sociology are drawn upon to provide the richest set of perspectives and insights with which we can inform management decision making.
The objective of the unit is to enrich the conceptual framework you bring to management. There is not an emphasis on particular decisions or decision making skills. The unit has a more theoretical inclination while seeking all the time to identify the management implications of the insights generated.
There is considerable reading in the unit, as you might expect, and it has a two-volume unit handbook. It is not a good candidate as a second unit for those seeking to do two at the same time. Nor is it a unit where falling a bit behind in one’s study is prudent.