EDUCATION DIRECTORY
PÅ SVENSKA
Malmö University

Course syllabus

Autumn 2026

Course syllabus, Autumn 2026

Title

Leadership and Organisation: Societal Changes - Power and Resistance

Swedish title

Ledarskap och organisation: Samhällsförändring - makt och motstånd

Course code

OL672E

Credits

15 credits

Grading scale

UA
Excellent (A), Very Good (B), Good (C), Satisfactory (D), Pass (E) or Fail (U)

Language of instruction

The course is provided in English

Decision-making body

Faculty of Culture and Society

Syllabus valid from

2026-08-31

Syllabus approval date

2026-01-19

Level

Master's level

Entry requirements

Bachelor's degree, consisting of 180 credits. The equivalent English 6 in of Swedish upper secondary school.

Main field

KSLOA Leadership and Organization

Progression level

A1N Second cycle, has only first-cycle course/s as entry requirements

Progression level in relation to degree requirements

The course is included in the main area Leadership and Organisation at advanced level.

Course contents

The aim of the course is to enable students to develop knowledge and a critical understanding of how major societal challenges – such as globalization, environmental change and digitalization – affect organisations, processes of organising, and leadership. The course also aims to improve students’ understanding of change, power, and resistance in processes of organising.

The course consists of two modules:

  1. Change, power and resistance (5 credits): To meet the challenges that organizations are facing, alternative ways of leading and organizing are needed. The first module focuses on the concepts of change, power and resistance in relation to societal changes. A stakeholder perspective is also introduced.
  2. Societal challenges – effects on Leadership and Organization (10 credits): This module deepens the analysis of societal challenges and their implications for organization and leadership. Focus will be on topics such as the effects of

Learning outcomes

After finishing the course, the students should be able to:

  1. demonstrate advanced knowledge and understanding of how power and resistance are expressed in relation to change in complex interorganizational contexts, from both management and employee perspectives,
  2. demonstrate the ability to understand and apply alternative approaches to leadership and organizing, taking into account the conditions created by specific societal challenges.

Learning activities

The course consists of the following learning activities: lectures, group projects, case projects, compulsory seminars and presentations (peer-teaching).

Assessment

  • Module 1 (Learning outcome 1) is examined by through a group-based assignment in which students apply theoretical perspectives on change, power and resistance to an organizational problem. The assignment may include written and/or oral components (5 credits) (pass/fail).
  • Module 2 (Learning outcome 2) is examined by means of an individual assignment in which students investigate a concrete challenge and its effects. The assignment may include written and/or oral components (10 credits) (A-E, U).

All learning outcomes are individually assessed.

To pass the course the students need to pass all examinations of the course (15 credits). The course grade is based on the grade of the individual examination.

Course literature

Mandatory literature connected to the course:


  • Evans, J. (latest edition). Environmental governance. Routledge, London.
  • Latour, B. (2018). Down-to-Earth: Politics in the New Climatic Regime. Polity, Cambridge.
  • Wright, C. & Nyberg, D. (latest edition). Climate change, capitalism, and corporations. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Articles and other material will be provided electronically.

Course evaluation

Malmö University provides students who participate in, or who have completed a course, with the opportunity to express their opinions and describe their experiences of the course by completing a course evaluation administered by the University. The University will compile and summarise the results of course evaluations. The University will also inform participants of the results and any decisions relating to measures taken in response to the course evaluations. The results will be made available to the students (HF 1:14).

Interim rules

If a course is no longer offered, or has undergone significant changes, the students must be offered two opportunities for re-examination based on the syllabus that applied at the time of registration, for a period of one year after the changes have been implemented.

Additional information

If a student has a Learning support decision, the examiner has the right to provide the student with an adapted test, or to allow the student to take the exam in a different format.


The syllabus is a translation of a Swedish source text.