Syllabus Information

1.1. Introduction

"Management of Social Economy Organizations" is an optional course that is taught in the first semester of the fourth year of the degree of Administration and Business Management and has assigned 5 credits.  The course focuses on the organizations of Social Economy, i.e. cooperatives, associations, foundations, work integration social enterprises, special employment centres, labour societies and other social enterprises. The teaching methodology of the course is based on learning-by-doing. The students prepare a project that has to get underway or analyzes an organization's Social Economy.For more information on the subject see https://dees.unizar.es

1.2. Recommendations to take this course

It is advisable for the student to have passed the previous subjects of Fundamentals of Management and Business Administration and Strategic Management.

1.3. Context and importance of this course in the degree

This course is included in the module Management and Direction of Firms and Organizations and in the matter of Directorate-General. This is because it facilitates the obtaining of competencies and skills to a group of organizations that may be the place for professional development of graduates in Business Administration and Management.

1.4. Activities and key dates

Key dates and activities will be communicated through the appropriate media at the start of the academic year of the course. The development of the subject is based on the learning-by-doing methodology through projects. The development of each of the projects  may have their own activities, also is expected to make visits to Social Economy Organizations and participation of professionals in seminars.

For students who choose the global assessment, the dates of the final exams are available on the website of the centre. The information about previous years and activities can be found on the website of the subject https://dees.unizar.es

2.1. Learning goals

He knows and understands the role of Social Economy organisations: associations, foundations, cooperatives and social enterprises.

He knows and understands the characteristics of the entrepreneur of social economy organizations and the process of creation of social economy firms.

The student is able to make a diagnosis of organization's situation and strategic planning in the field of these organizations.

The student is able to analyse human resources, information, material and financial (for the proper functioning of the organization

The student is capable of searching for selecting relevant information from the environment and an organization.

2.2. Importance of learning goals

The main contribution of "Management of Social Economy Organizations"  is to complete the training of graduates in Administration and Business. The Social Economy sector maintains a constant employment growth. We consider that to have training, competencies and skills in the management of these organizations can be a field of professional development.

According to the “Declaracion de Madrid”: Nowadays there are 2 million of social economy ifrms in Europe, with 14,5 millons of employment, that represents the 6,5% of the total employment in the UE-27 and the 7,4% in the UE-15 and represent the 8% of the GDP in the UE (European Commission 2013).

The Social economy is an area with economic and social relevance, and may represent a field of professional development right, and it is necessary to have a training with competencies and skills in the management of these organizations.

3.1. Aims of the course

"Management of Social Economy Organizations" has an introductory character and the objective is to introduce the Social Economy entities to the students. The general objective is to give an overview of their management, dealing with the concepts of management, organization and control of the organization in this specific area of theoretical and practical way.  The specific objectives are:

• Provide the basic knowledge on Social Economy Organizations. These organizations ared differentiated in two groups: non-market social economy organizations (associations and foundations) and the market organizations  (cooperatives and labour societies, work integration social enterprises and employment centres) as well as analyzing its impact on society.
• Understand the process of entrepreneurship in Social Economy Organizations and the characteristics and motivations of the social entrepreneur.
• Tackle the main issues relating to the strategic management in these organizations.
• Understand the different forms of resources, their allocation and subsequent control. Different administrative processes for taking strategy decisions are analyzed, different tools for the capture and subsequent control of the resources and funds necessary for the proper functioning of these organizations are studied as well as the provision of goods and services from a perspective of social efficiency.

3.2. Competences

Specific competences

E1.- Manage and administer businesses and organizations.

E2.- Understand how the functional areas of a business or organization and with ease to carry out any work entrusted management in them

E3.- Assess the situation and the foreseeable evolution of companies and social economy organizations, make decisions and extract relevant knowledge.

E4.- Develop and write global management reports of companies and organisations in the social economy sector.

E5.- Develop reports advice of markets, sectors, organisations, companies and their functional areas of the social economy.

E6.- Understand and apply professional standards and scientific rigour to the resolution of economic, business, and organizational problems.

Transversal competences:

T1.- Capacity for problem solving

T2.- Capacity for organization and planning

T3.- Ability to analyze and find information from different sources.

T4.- Ability to make decisions.

T5.- Motivation for quality and excellence

T6.- Ability to adapt to new situations

T7.- Ability to apply knowledge in practice

4.1. Assessment tasks (description of tasks, marking system and assessment criteria)

Continuous assessment, option A

The continuous assessment is based on continuous evaluation and will consist of the following elements:

A.1. Group project: We will examine the social impact and the degree of social innovation of the setting up of a good or service of general interest through a cooperative, association, or existing foundation or a partnership created for it by the group of students (evaluation of group) (50% of the grade)

A.2. Individual portfolio:  the individual portfolio consists of a summary, review and evaluation of each of the sessions of the classroom: (40% of the grade) . The criteria of evaluation of this portfolio are specified in the fourth section.

Participation in class: 10%. The active attitude and contribution of ideas and comments in class sessions as well as activities proposed by the own students 

Continuous assessment, option B

The final grade is obtained approving each of the three parties (5 points out of 10) and adding the note, once weighted, obtained from the respective qualifications. The distribution of the rating are as follows:

B.1. Final individual essay (50% of the grade), which consists of the development of one or more research questions posed by the teacher at the beginning of the course and you will have to capture it in the commentary, analysis and evaluation, as well as a summary and conclusions about the same. All duly argued and documented.

B.2.  Teamwork (40% of the grade). Strategic analysis of an organization's Social economy (cooperative, association or Foundation, among other figures), which apply the concepts acquired during the course and allows, at the same time, delineate and analyze its positioning in the environment where it operates and reflect knowledge of the social impact and the degree of social innovation that represents in the sector to which it belongs this organization.

B.3. Participation in class: 10%. The active attitude and contribution of ideas and comments in class sessions as well as activities proposed by the own students

Global Evaluation

Students who do not opt for the continuous assessment or who do not pass the course through) this procedure or who want to improve their score, shall have the right to take) the global test on the official date published by the Faculty, the highest score obtained prevailing in all cases. This global test consists of:

-Final assessment test that will assess the theoretical and practical knowledge of the subject. The test will consist of a written final examination of theoretical and practical character, in which the student should demonstrate their knowledge of the concepts and topics discussed in class and available in the ADD, as well as the interrelation between them (80% of the score). 

- Individual presentation of a practical analysis of a Social Economy organization in order to supplement the assessment of acquired skills.. This work will be presented in writing (5,000 words) and the deadline will be the day of the exam published in the calendar of the center (20% of the grade).

5.1. Methodological overview

• Lectures: the theoretical sessions are given as lectures in which the professor presents the concepts and basic issues.
• Cooperative work at the roomclass based on the learning-by-doing methodology. The cooperative project work is carried out by teams of 4-5 students formed at the beginning of the semester.
• Seminars given by practitioners of the sector.
• Individual work: each student carry out a project for showing the understanding of the subject.
• Face-to-face Individual tutorials: we recommend the use of individual tutorials, especially for the individual work.

5.2. Learning tasks

We establish three general learning activities:

1. Lectures and team-work sessions in the classroom in which we analyse management problems of Social Economy Organizations.

2. The execution of a strategic plan for an existing organization or the launch of a real project of a new entity.

3. The execution of an individual work in which the student shows his/her reflection following a proposed guide.

Following the distribution of training activities in memory of verification of the degree of ADE, these learning activities would be distributed in the following manner:

•     Theoretical sessions, 25 hours.

•     Practical sessions, 25 horas.

•     Problem-based learning / Laboratory (ICT tool) / seminars/tutoring/work staff of the student, 75 hours

As support, in the Moodle Platforms, the student has all the basic materials, the course programme, the slides used by the professor, the guides of both individual and team work, and other supplementary materials. In addition, the team-works carried out in previous years are available in the website http://dees.unizar.es  

5.3. Syllabus

Lesson 1: Basic concepts of Social Economy

Lesson 2: Origin and Role of Social Economy

Lesson 3: Emergence of Social Economy Organizations: Legal framework

Lesson 4: Strategic management in Social Economy Organizations  

Lesson 5: Management of People in Social Economy Organizations

Lesson 6: Development of Services, Projects and Campaigns

Lesson 7: Financial management of Social Economy Organizations

Lesson 8: Transparency and Social Efficiency

Lesson 9: Collective Entrepreneur

5.4. Course planning and calendar

All information about this course is available in the website http:// dees.unizar.es.

The schedule of lectures and work sessions is available on the website of the Faculty. Dates of team-projects’ defense will be published through the Moodle Platform.

5.5. Bibliography and recommended resources

[BB: Bibliografía básica / BC: Bibliografía complementaria]