COURSE SYLLABUS
Understanding Digital Business, 7.5 credits
Understanding Digital Business, 7,5 högskolepoäng
Course Syllabus for students Autumn 2025
Course Code: JUDR26
Confirmed by: Council for Undergraduate and Masters Education Apr 28, 2016
Revised by: Council for Undergraduate and Masters Education May 2, 2023
Valid From: Aug 19, 2024
Version: 4
Education Cycle: Second-cycle level
Disciplinary domain: Social sciences (75%) and natural sciences (25%)
Subject group: FE1
Specialised in: A1N
Main field of study: Business Administration

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILO)

This course aims to provide an introduction and overview of the business challenges caused by digitalization.

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

Knowledge and understanding

1. Describe and discuss the main contemporary business challenges and opportunities caused by digitalization,
2. Describe and explain the specific issues of digitalization and business transformation.

Skills and abilities

3. Analyse and explain various digital challenges and opportunities, and their practical impact for organizations.
4. Reason critically and independently around how digitalization may affect strategic choices in areas such as business models, organization, and marketing.
5. Demonstrate in speech and writing, how knowledge-based insights around digitalization, business innovation and renewal can be applied within organizations.

Judgement and approach

6. Analyse contemporary issues in digital businesses from theoretical, practical and ethical perspectives.

Contents

In the face of societal digitalization, firms face new types of pressures impacting their strategies, business models, organization, and marketing. Based on interaction with practitioners representing different business areas, cases, and in-class discussions, the course will expand students' knowledge about current digital business challenges. It will further stimulate critical and creative thinking about how to identify opportunities and how these can be leveraged in new and existing firms for entrepreneurship and business renewal.

Connection to research and practice
The course utilizes core theoretical concepts and models from the fields of digital business, digital transformation, and digital ethics. These include findings and insights developed by the Digitalisation team at the Media, Management, and Transformation Centre (MMTC) here at JIBSs. In addition, real world case studies are used to develop students' skills in applying these concepts to identifty and respond to practical problems and opportunities facing contemporary digital businesses.

Type of instruction

The course contains lectures, seminars, readings (research articles and case studies), and project work:
Project work is used to get students out of the classroom and to investigate digital business issues in real-world settings.

The teaching is conducted in English.

Prerequisites

Bachelor’s degree (i.e the equivalent of 180 ECTS credits at an accredited university) with at least 30 credits in Business Administration and 30 credits in one (or a combination) of the following areas: Business Administration, Economics, Industrial Engineering and Management, Business Analytics, Informatics, Information Technology, Communication, Commerce (or the equivalent). Proof of English proficiency is required.

Examination and grades

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

Individual case study analysis (ILOs: 3, 4, 5, 6) representing 2.5 credits
Group project (ILOs: 2, 3, 4, 6) representing 2.5 credits
Individual written examination (ILOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6) representing 2.5 credits

Registration of examination:
Name of the TestValueGrading
Individual case study analysis12.5 creditsA/B/C/D/E/FX/F
Group project12.5 creditsA/B/C/D/E/FX/F
Individual written examination12.5 creditsA/B/C/D/E/FX/F
1 All parts of the compulsory examination in the course must be passed with a passing grade (A-E) before a final grade can be set. The final grade of the course is determined by the sum total of points for all parts of the examination in the course (0-100 points). Grade is set in accordance to JIBS grading policy.

Course evaluation

It is the responsibility of the examiner to ensure that each course is evaluated. At the outset of the course, the programme evaluators in the course must be contacted. In the middle of the course, the examiner should meet the programme evaluators to identify strengths/weaknesses in the first half of the course.
At the end of the course, the examiner should remind students to fill in the survey. The examiner should also call a meeting with the programme evaluators to debrief the course, based on course evaluation data and comments. The next time the course runs, students should be informed of any measures taken to improve the course based on the previous course evaluations.
At the end of each study period, JIBS’ Director of Quality and Accreditation crafts a “Course Evaluation Quarter Report”, presenting the quantitative results from course evaluation surveys. The Associate Dean of Education, The Associate Deans of Faculty, Programme Directors, and JSA President and Quality receive the report.

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 plagiarising. 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 plagiarising 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

Students are required to read both academic articles and case studies. A reading list will be provided at the start of the course. All readings are accessible digitally.