COURSE SYLLABUS
Family Business Development, 7.5 credits
Family Business Development, 7,5 högskolepoäng
Course Syllabus for students Spring 2019
Course Code: ENQR23
Confirmed by: Council for Undergraduate and Masters Education Jan 4, 2013
Revised by: Council for Undergraduate and Masters Education Oct 22, 2014
Valid From: Jan 19, 2015
Version: 2
Reg number:IHH 2014/4311-122
Education Cycle: Second-cycle level
Disciplinary domain: Social sciences
Subject group: FE1
Specialised in: A1N
Main field of study: Business Administration

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILO)

On completion of the course the students will be able to:

Knowledge and understanding

1. Demonstrate knowledge about common characteristics and challenges of family businesses.
2. Describe the main theories and concepts within the field of family business research and practice.

Skills and abilities

3. Demonstrate an ability to analyse practical problems in family business contexts by applying appropriate knowledge resources.
4. Demonstrate an ability to analyse and apply family business theories and concepts to different critical situations in family businesses.

Judgement and approach

5. Critically evaluate the use of concepts and models used to understand family businesses.
6. Demonstrate an ability to reflect upon common challenges facing family businesses in practice, and develop a way to address these challenges.

Contents

This course deals with leading and developing family businesses; the most common type of organization in the world. The course addresses different organizational, strategic and governance aspects of this type of organizations, including the role of owners, family and non-family managers, advisors, board members as well as employees in developing and renewing family businesses. We explore key issues related to the dynamics of different types of family business (e.g. both small and large, both private and publicly listed), such as entrepreneurship, strategy development, culture, succession and management, and more. The course takes an international perspective on these issues.
The course is specially designed for those who are interested in working in (e.g. as owner and/or manager) or with (e.g. as advisor and consultant) family businesses.

Type of instruction

The course combines lectures and seminars led by professors and researches with guest lectures by managers and/or consultants with long experience. Lectures and seminars require students' active participation. The course may also draw upon experiential learning practices, such as showing and discussing movies.

The teaching is conducted in English.

Prerequisites

Bachelor's degree in Business Administration (or the equivalent).

Examination and grades

The course is graded A, B, C, D, E, FX or F.

ILO 2, 3, 5 & 6: Group projects
ILO 1, 3, 4 & 5: Individual final exam and participation in lectures and seminares
Examination takes place through group projects (40%) and individual final exam and active participation in lectures and seminars (60%). All parts of the examination must be approved to receive a grade on the course.

Registration of examination:
Name of the TestValueGrading
Examination17.5 creditsA/B/C/D/E/FX/F
1 Determines the final grade of the course, which is issued only when all course units have been passed.

Course evaluation

It is the responsibility of the examiner to ensure that each course is evaluated. At the outset of the course, evaluators must be identified (elected) among the students. The course evaluation is carried out continuously as well as at the end of the course. On the completion of the course the course evaluators and course examiner discuss the course evaluation and possible improvements. A summary report is created and archived. The reports are followed up by program directors and discussed in program groups and with relevant others (depending on issue e.g. Associate Dean of Education, Associate Dean of faculty, Director of PhD Candidates, Dean and Director of Studies). The next time the course runs, students should be informed of any measures taken to improve the course based on the previous course evaluation.

Other information

Academic integrity
JIBS students are expected to maintain a strong academic integrity. This implies to behave within the boundaries of academic rules and expectations relating to all types of teaching and examination.
Copying someone else’s work is a particularly serious offence and can lead to disciplinary action. When you copy someone else’s work, you are plagiarizing. You must not copy sections of work (such as paragraphs, diagrams, tables and words) from any other person, including another student or any other author. Cutting and pasting is a clear example of plagiarism. There is a workshop and online resources to assist you in not plagiarizing called the Interactive Anti-Plagiarism Guide.
Other forms of breaking academic integrity include (but are not limited to) adding your name to a project you did not work on (or allowing someone to add their name), cheating on an examination, helping other students to cheat and submitting other students work as your own, and using non-allowed electronic equipment during an examination. All of these make you liable to disciplinary action.

Course literature

Compulsary Literature

Compendia: Cases (3-5) and selected academic articles (10-15).

Recommended Literature

Course book: Hoy, F. & Sharma, P. (2010), Entrepreneurial family firms. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.