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CM_SM50 - Culture, Networks and Communities*

Faculty
Niels Kornum (Dept. of Marketing)
Course Coordinator
Niels Kornum (Dept. of Marketing)
Prerequisite/progression of the course
The course is affiliated to a course on the second semester. The title of this course is: ‘Managing Knowledge, Projects and Teams’. The course opens with a perspective on markets and strategy that will be further developed during the course ‘Strategic Market Management’.
Course Period
Weeks 36-45
Class Hours
Three to four class hours, one to three days a week.
7,5 ECTS
Aim of the course
This course deals with some of the most essential prerequisites for realising a co-creation innovation logic - namely knowledge about, what ‘organisational culture’ is, why culture has an impact on the magnitude and success of companies’ innovations, and how to make culture become a resource in innovation processes. In addition to this, the course deals with the question of why and how networks of cooperating partners and consumer communities arise in a market, and what it means for corporate level managers of marketing when enacting a co-creation innovation logic. When exploring relationships, communication networks and communities, we employ an integrated view of a market (i.e. b-to-b-to-c). The argument behind this view is that no company can operate as ‘an island’. Thus, in order to achieve success, marketing managers must constantly assess the values, relationships and communication patterns of their company’s b-to-b-to-c network. The objective of the course is to further develop the students’ theoretical insight into the concept of organisational culture, and into the dynamics and communication structures of market channels. Furthermore, by continuously linking theory to practice, the objective is to further develop an insight into contextual aspects that matter, when the issue concerns changing a business culture, or creating a new or radically modified business model and/or market channel.
Course content, structure and teaching
In the first part of the course, we discuss the future of marketing’s role in market creation processes, considering the ever increasing occurrence and dynamics of business relationships and networks in industrial and consumer markets. This discussion is guided by the following type of questions: what constitutes a market, a business relationship, and a network? Why do business networks emerge in a market, and how can companies make use of them in market creation processes? Thereafter, in the second part of the course, focus is on the private consumer and his/her increasing inclination ‘to be online’. We discuss, by reference to exemplars/cases from ‘the online world’, the following type of questions: Why do consumers create virtual communities? How can we understand and make use of ‘online networks and communities’ in market creation processes? At last, in the third part of the course, emphasis is on ‘organisational culture’. During this part of the course, we explore and discuss, ‘why’ it is important to understand the core characteristics of a company’s culture, and ‘how’ we can understand, develop and change it. Thus, the course deals with the following themes:
  • Business relationships, networks and communities
  • Consumer communities and relationships with suppliers
  • The organisational cultural context of marketing.
Teaching methods
The course consists of lectures, seminars and caseworks.
Examination
Individual exam based on a mini-project that has been worked out in a group of 3-4 students
Course literature
Indicative Literature
  • Strategic Market Creation – A New Perspective on Marketing and Innovation management, 2008, editors: Karin Tollin and Antonella Caru, Wiley, Chichester
  • Communication and Organizational Culture, 2005, Joanne Keyton, Sage Publications
  • Harvard Business School Press, Boston.
A selection of influential articles:
  • Ogbonna and Wilkinson (2003), The False Promise of Organizational Culture Change: A Case Study of Middle Managers in Grocery Retailing, Journal of Management Studies Vol 40, No 5: 1151-1178
  • Ogbonna and Harris (2000), Leadership Style, organizational culture and performance: empirical evidence from UK companies, International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol 11, No 4, Aug.: 766-788
  • Barney and Wright (1998), On Becoming a Strategic Partner: The Role of Human Resources in Gaining Competitive Advantage. Human Resource Management, Vol. 37, No. 1, pp. 31-46. (AD)
  • Chan, Shaffer and Snape (2004), In search of sustained competitive advantage: the impact of organizational culture, competitive strategy and human resource management practices on firm performance, International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol 15, No 1, Febr.: 17-35
  • Chandler, Keller and Lyon (2000), Unraveling the Determinants and Consequences of an Innovation Supportive Organizational Culture, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Fall: 59-76
  • Holt Larsen (2002), Oticon: Unorthodox Project-Based Management and Careers in a "Spaghetti Organization", Human Resource Planning, Vol. 25 Issue 4, p30-37
  • Foss (2003), Selective Intervention and Internal Hybrids: Interpreting and Learning from the Rise and Decline of the Oticon Spaghetti Organization, Organization science Vol. 14, No. 3, May-June 2003, pp. 331-349
  • Kornum (2005-6), Resource Dependence Theory in an E-grocery BTC Context – the Case of Specialty E-grocer X in Sharma and Johansson, Managing Customer Relationships with IT and Internet, Pergamon, Elsevier Science Ltd (Forthcoming)
  • Gulati & Sytch (2007), Dependence Asymmetry and Joint Dependence in Inter-organizational Relationships: Effects of Embeddedness on a Manufacturer’s Performance in Procurement Relationships. Administrative Science Quarterly, 52 (2007): 32–69
  • Hargadon (1998), Firms as Knowledge Brokers – Lessons in Pursuing Continuous Innovation. California Management Review Vol. 40, Issue 3, pp. 209-227
  • Mikkola & Skjoett-Larsen (2003), Early Supplier Involvement: Implications for New Product Development Outsourcing and Supplier-Buyer Interdependence
  • Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp 31-41
  • Kozinets (1999), E-Tribalized Marketing?: The Strategic Implications of Virtual Communities of Consumption, European Management Journal, Vol 17, No 3, June: 252-264
  • Jeppesen, L. B. & Frederiksen, (2006), Why firm-established user communities work for innovation: The personal attributes of innovative users in the case of computer-controlled music instruments. Organization Science. Jan/Feb, Vol. 17 Issue 1, p45-63.

Last updated by Jeanne Schultz 06/09/2010