Unit information: Global Production, Work and Employment in 2019/20

Unit name	Global Production, Work and Employment
Unit code	EFIM30037
Credit points	20
Level of study	H/6
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director	Dr. Schwartz
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	School of Management - Business School
Faculty	Faculty of Social Sciences and Law

Description including Unit Aims

The purpose of this unit is to deepen and extend the students’ knowledge and understanding of the operation of the global economy by examining the varying dimensions of organisational strategies and structures, nature of work and employment, and relation between work, labour markets and employment relations within the global complex of processes of investment, production, management and work.

By drawing on a range of theories and frameworks this unit will consider work and organisational changes as a social, economic and political process, providing students with the understanding and capacity critically to appreciate the wider scope of contemporary global economic and social processes and problems.

The unit will consider such issues as the divisions between different types of work and types of employment in global production, how labour is socially constructed and shaped by prevailing institutions and relationships between different organisational, national and transnational actors. The problem of global rules governing investment and production will be assessed alongside those of the developing networks of producers and consumers of goods and services, and the effects these have on the governance of labour via various supra-national and inter-organisational ‘standards’, regulations and laws. Likewise, the problems of the uneven and combined nature of capital and labour markets will be examined in considering the disparities between developed and developing economies, between manufacturing and service dominated markets, and between standard and non-standard forms of employment. Finally, problems of technological changes, job displacement and the mobilities of labour will be examined in their relation with the political and social consequences they bear of different nations and regions in the global economy.

Intended Learning Outcomes

Students should be able to demonstrate broader knowledge and deeper understanding of:

• The role of global actors in the shaping of production, employment and work
• The scope and nature of different corporate, political and civic actions in establishing and contesting the global economic order
• The different theories that explain the range and complexity of the global processes under study
• The practical problems of management and organisation of global business, including its social and political dimensions

Having successfully completed the module, students will be able to:

• Apply basic analytical techniques to the study of problems of management and organisational processes that shape the global economy
• Apply advanced knowledge and understanding of theories, models and examples to management and organisational problems
• Use a variety of critical and analytical tools to represent the results of their study and research
• Communicate complex ideas effectively both in oral and written form

Teaching Information

30 contact hours in lectures and classes

30 hours individual preparation for lectures and tutorial classes

20 hours group work outside of tutorial classes

20 hours of IT and Blackboard engagement including video casts, wiki development, links etc.

20 hours formative and summative on-line tests

30 hours revision for exam

50 hours independent learning

Assessment Information

Formative assessment to include group presentations and/or annotated bibliography in seminars.

Summative assessment to include a 2,000 word written assignment (40%), and 2-hour written closed book exam (60%). (This assesses all ILOs)

Reading and References

Students will be offered a range of journal articles and book chapters from scholarly monographs that reflect weekly themes/topics to be covered in lectures. These will be supplemented with business or popular case studies to be read for discussion or group work (some of it for formative assessment) in seminars. In addition, the following is indicative of the key texts available:

Coe, N. and Yeung, H.W. 2015 Global Production Networks: Theorizing Economic Development in an Interconnected World (Oxford: Oxford University Press)

Peck, J. 2017 Offshore: Exploring the Worlds of Global Outsourcing (Oxford: Oxford University Press)