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363-0341-00L 3 Credits DR , BSC , MSC , NDS D-GESS , D-MTEC , D-MAVT
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Introduction to Management

Lecturers & Examiners: Prof. Dr. Stefano Brusoni, Dr. Zorica Zagorac-Uremovic, James O'Neil
VVZ CR n/a

Last Updated: 2026-02-05 15:36:33

Abstract

This course is an introduction to the critical management skills involved in planning, organizing, leading and controlling an organization.

Objective

By the end of this course, students will understand management as a set of skills, processes, tools and methods that enable organizations to achieve their goals and to coordinate routine operations in order to meet evolving customers’ and societal needs. The students will achieve these goals by being able to: - Analyze organizations as open systems, and describe their critical elements, - Apply conceptual tools and methods that help to analyze or approach the critical elements, - Compare different notions of organizational performance, and explain why they matter, - Discuss the relationships that connect the critical elements of an organization on the basis of real cases, - Explain how change, internally or externally initiated, impact such relationships

Content

This course is an introduction to critical management skills involved in planning, organizing, leading and controlling an organization. This course follows a 'systemic' view of organizations and adopts the congruence model as a framework to analyze the critical, interconnected elements of organizations: Input (i.e., from external environment), strategy, people, work, formal and informal structure of the organization, and its outputs. In this course we will introduce these critical elements and learn how managers can analyze and approach these elements by means of different conceptual tools and methods in order to achieve performance. We will furthermore discuss the relationships that connect the critical elements together by means of real-life cases, whereby the focus will be on the critical reflection of particular cases of fits and misfits between those elements and on the application of a selection of tools and methods.

Resources

Lecture Notes

The content of the course will rely on different readings, cases and selected chapters of following book:Dess, G., McNamara, G., Eisner, A., & Lee, SH. 2018. Strategic Management: Text and Cases. McGraw Hill.Selected readings from the book and additional learning materials will be available on the course Moodle:https://moodle-app2.let.ethz.ch/course/view.php?id=12712Zoom will be the online platform of this course, and the login information for all subscribed students will be published on Moodle one week before the course starts.

Literature

The content of the course will rely on different readings and on selected chapters of following book: Dess, G., McNamara, G., Eisner, A., & Lee, SH. 2018. Strategic Management: Text and Cases. McGraw Hill. Selected readings from the book and additional learning materials will be available on the course Moodle: https://moodle-app2.let.ethz.ch/course/view.php?id=12712

Learning Materials (Links)

General Information

Language
English
Levels
DR , BSC , MSC , NDS
Frequency
Yearly recurring

Examination

Type
end-of-semester examination
Digital
The exam takes place on devices provided by ETH Zurich.
Closed book examination: no written or printed material.No dictionaries and electronic devices (cellphones, calculators etc.) are allowed. English questions and answers.Exam on the computer.

Course Components

Type Title Time & Place Hours
lecture with exercise Introduction to Management
The lecture takes place ONLINE via Zoom (recorded). The lecturers will communicate the exact lesson times of ONLINE courses.
  • Thu 16:00-18:00 (ON LI NE)
2 h weekly

Offered In