Courses Elective Programme
The courses offered as part of the elective programme may vary from semester to semester. Some of the elective classes are offered on a (rather) regular basis as part of the PhD programme in management by business faculty themselves. Other classes that may count as electives are held at the research Master level at the Departments of Economics, Psychology, or Computer Science at the University.
We therefore want to give you an idea for which type of courses you can expect behind general titles such as "Topics in Human Resources and Organizations 1" or "Topics in Strategy and Innovation 2" and. Please note that these are just exemplary courses - for information on which courses are currently offered or will be offered the upcoming semester please consult u:find or the course directory.
Game Theory (GT)
Prerequisites for attendance:
• Enrollment in the PhD Management programme
• Successful attendance of at least three core courses (including MDM)
• Acknowledgement of the class as a PhD-relevant elective by the supervisor and the Head of the PhD programme (happens on an individual case-by-case basis depending on prior training of the student)
• Admission to the class by the instructor of the course
Contents:
The objective of this course is to learn how to master game theory. Game theory is the theory of making decisions when outcomes are influenced by others making decisions. Games will be played in class to help gain intuition. There will be real life examples (such as auctions, market entry, public good provision) but the main emphasis is on the methodology, the mathematics of strategic decision making. Topics we will be covering include
1. Utility, uncertainty, risk, decision making and rationality
2. Games, strategies and timing
3. Dominance, iterated dominance, rationalizability
4. Extensive form games with perfect information, backwards induction
5. Nash equilibrium
6. Subgame perfection, forwards induction
7. Repeated games, folk theorem
8. Bayesian games
No prerequisites, however if you have never attended a game theory course then you are strongly advised to read some basic material before the course, eg Kokesen & Ok (2007). You will also need to understand decision making under uncertainty and expected utility theory. It is not mandatory, however you are strongly advised to register also for the UE Game Theory 2 tutorial (4 ECTS) held by Mariya Teteryatnikova. These are practice sessions relating to the material of this lecture, and they are extremely useful for learning how to solve the exams of this course (in which you will not be given practice problem sets).
Selected References:
• Kokesen, L. and E. Ok. (2007). An Introduction to Game Theory. Online lecture notes
• Fudenberg, D. and J. Tirole. (1991). Game Theory. MIT Press
• Mas-Colell, A., M.D. Whinston and J.R. Green. (1995). Microeconomic Theory. Oxford University Press (only selected chapters)
Measurement Theory and Scale Development (MTSD)
Prerequisites for attendance:
• Enrollment in the PhD Management programme
• Successful attendance of at least three core courses
• Admission to the class by the instructor of the course
Contents:
The course seeks to provide a broad introduction to measurement theory and alternative approaches for developing and assessing multi-item scales. It is aimed at non-experts and the emphasis is on the steps associated with the development and validation of sound measures for use in empirical research. The course is designed for PhD-students and assumes previous knowledge of data analysis and statistics (including factor analysis and regression). Students taking this course must have already successfully completed the Multivariate Business Statistics and Structural Equations Modeling courses of the PhD Management program.
The course seeks to familiarize participants with the various stages associated with the construction of sound measures for use in empirical research, highlighting key decisions and potential problems at each stage. Following an introduction of the key concerns of measurement theory, the conceptual underpinnings of alternative measurement perspectives - namely reflective and formative measurement - are discussed. These set the conceptual background for considering operational procedures for developing reflective scales and formative indices and for offering detailed guidelines for measure validation. To enable participants experience measure development 'in action';, the various issues are illustrated with concrete examples of reflective scale development and formative index construction drawn from the literature.
Once participants have become familiar with basic measurement principles, more advanced topics will be addressed such as higher-order models, parceling strategies, and single-item measurement models. Note that in several of the illustrations used, the LISREL program will be applied to estimate the relevant models and, therefore, it is essential that participants are familiar with basic structural equations modeling (SEM) procedures.
The course will take the form of workshop sessions, placing particular emphasis on student participation. Theoretical discussion of key issues will be accompanied by practical demonstration of scale development.
Selected References:
• Netemeyer, R. G.; Bearden, W. O. and Sharma, S. 2003. Scaling Procedures, Sage Publications (ISBN: 0-7619-2027-7)
Theory of Networks (ToN)
Prerequisites for attendance:
• Enrollment in the PhD Management programme
• Successful attendance of at least three core courses
Contents:
The course provides a discussion of the theoretical foundation of networks (strategic alliances, joint ventures, franchising, licensing, consortia, clusters, virtual networks). It emphasizes the relationships between different theories and networks. The sessions provide an overview of a number of the major theoretical and methodological approaches adopted in network research as it evolved into a specific research field. The course incorporates sessions on essential aspects of network research including transaction cost economics, property rights theory, information economics, resource-based theory, real options reasoning and the relational view of networks. In particular, the course highlights current research challenges and methodological issues facing the research in economics and management of networks and encourages a discussion among the participants to determine what constitutes an appropriate future research strategy, especially applied to your PhD-project.
Selected References:
• Geyskens et al. (2006). Make, Buy or Ally, Academy of Management Journal, 49, 519 – 43.
• Mayer, K.J. and Salomon, R.M. (2006). ‘Capabilities, contractual hazards, and governance: Integrating resource-based and transaction cost perspective’. Academy of Management Journal, 49, 942-959.
• Akerlof GA. (1970). The market for 'lemons': quality uncertainty and the market mechanism. Quarterly Journal of Economics 84: 488-500.
• Reuer JJ, Ragozzino R. (2006). Agency hazards and alliance portfolios, Strategic Management Journal, 27, 27 – 43.
• Zaheer, A. and Venkatraman, N. (1995). ‘Relational governance as an interorganizational strategy: an empirical test of the role of trust in economic exchange’. Strategic Management Journal, 16, 373–92.
• Lazzarini, S. G., G. J. Miller, T. R. Zenger (2008). Dealing with the Paradox of Embeddedness: The Role of Contract and Trust in Facilitating Movement out of Committed Relationship, Organization Science, 19, 709 – 728.