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NAB1028 Cooperation, organisation and culture at sea

Course description for academic year 2017/2018

Contents and structure

Introduction to basic knowledge about what is needed in order to establish and maintain fruitful cooperation on board the ship and between the ship and other actors

Attending lectures is essential to acheive the learning outcomes for this course.

Learning Outcome

Knowledge. Upon completion of the course students have:

  • Solid knowledge about how social organisations are structured; the elements they cosnist of and how these elements are related.
  • Broad knowlege about different theories that define, identify and describe organisations in different ways.
  • Solid knowledge about the difference between the instrumental tasks that the organisation is a tool (a means) to achieve and the organisational tasks that must be solved to make the organisation a good tool.
  • Broad knowlege about what organisational tasks must be solved in order for the organisation to work well.
  • Broad knowlege about what the concept culture refers to and the various ways the concept is used in the literature about organisations
  • Broad knowlege about how certain types of interactions lead to high levels of communal well-being, mutual support, trust and respect, high safety levels and efficiency, whereas other types of interactions lead to poor well-being, distrust and contempt, low levels of safety and inefficiency.
  • Broad knowlege about how different individuals may have different ideas about the goals an organisations is supposed to work towards, the tasks it should solve, how the tasks should be distributed in space and time, how the responsibility should be distributed etc.
  • Solid knowledge About the relationship between individual and organisation and
    • how different individuals fulfil their organisational roles in different ways
    • that individuals choose to continue being members of an organisation based on a calculation of whether the cost of organising is greater or lesser than the profit of doing so.
  • Broad knowlege about how members of an organisation may experience conflicts between their role in this and other organisation, or between their identity within one organisation and identities outside the organisation
  • Knowledge bout differences between formal and informal organisational structures and processes
  • Broad knowlege about the particular organisational and interpersonal challenges that can found at sea.
  • Become acquainted with relevant research about cooperation and organisation on ships and the methods used for such researdch

Skills: Upon completion of the course students are able to apply the above knowledge:

  • In order to describe specific organisations
  • In order to analyse specific organisations and propose reasonable hypothesis about the factors and process that contribute to how and why the organisation works well or not.
  • To discuss the hypothesis proposed.
  • To reflect on their own use of this knowledge and to adjust their own behaviour and ways of cooperating based on such reflection.
  • To interpret and use research to improve the cooperation and the organisation of the ship's tasks
  • To assess and evaluate the validity of research produced by different methods

Competence. Upon completion of the course students are able to contribute to:

  • That the organisations they are part of work well
  • More effective cooperation, friendly and inclusive dialogs and a happy ship.
  • The empoyment of research to improve cooperation and organisation of the ship's tasks.
  • Create simple reaserch designs fit to explore various aspects of the cooperation and organisation of a ship's tasks.
  • Innovative use of research to identify and solve problems with cooperation and organisation.

Entry requirements

None.

Recommended previous knowledge

None

Teaching methods

Lectures, group work, written portfolio assignements,

Attending lectures is essential to acheive the learning outcomes for this course

Compulsory learning activities

Yes. Two written mandatory assignments. One individual, and one group work. The first assignment must be handed in at the end of the first lecture. Both task will be specified in the beginning of the semester.

Assessment

Portfolio with 3 separate assignments

Students who fail one or more of the assignments will not be given the opportunity to resit the exam until next time the course is offered.

Examination support material

All

More about examination support material