Postgraduate Course: Strategy, Power & Politics: Navigating to Net Zero (CMSE11656)
Course Outline
| School | Business School |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | How do we move from our current trajectory to a low-carbon future? What government strategies are available to tackle climate change? How can a Mission-Led approach mitigate climate change?
Power and politics are central to understanding the delivery of strategy. This course adopts a power and politics perspective from Organisation and Management theory to examine the strategy process. It asks why some actions aimed at reducing carbon emissions happen while others are kept off the agenda and how governments can achieve net zero.
A unique feature of this strategy course is its focus on organised politics, politicians and government practice. It examines national politics and how government and politics work from a strategic perspective. It explores strategy and inter-governmental relations, specifically through international summits and gatherings aimed at reaching agreements on lowering carbon emissions. More generally, insights from the course will help furnish participants with a broader perspective of the strategy and leadership play in confronting climate change. We investigate a Mission-based approach to policy making. |
| Course description |
There are four parts to this course:
1. A focus on theories of strategy, power and politics.
2. An examination of how organised politics functions within the UK.
3. A focus on intergovernmental summits relating to mitigating climate change.
4. An examination of Mission Led thinking for tackling climate change.
We begin the course by exploring prominent theories of power and politics from within Management & Organisation Theory. Stewart Clegg observed, 'If we are to change the world, we need to change power relations. Before we can change the world, then we must understand how that world was made, and that requires substantial engagement with the role that conceptions of power have played in its making' (Clegg 2023: 31).
We then focus on the UK political process. We follow a lifecycle approach, commencing with a political leader seeking power and concluding with their departure from office. The rationale for this is to understand the temporal dynamics of strategy rather than being restricted to the 'here and now'. Our analysis of political leaders will concentrate on their leadership style and how they create their teams around them, a crucial skill in any organisational context. We examine the political styles of leaders such as Gordon Brown, Barack Obama and Nicola Sturgeon. Why do some political leaders succeed while others fail? Why do some strategies achieve their objectives while others fail? The course will engage critically with these questions. It will specifically address issues of climate-based policy.
We move from national to international politics to examine strategy and power at global climate summits, such as COP. We explore the different interests in framing the discussions and agreed actions at international meetings. How can we make sense of the political actors and 'behind the scenes' activities that determine the process and outcomes of local, national, and international legislation and agreements? We draw on political analytic approaches to understand net zero's micro- and macro-level politics. The course assesses Mission Led Innovation as a means of tackling climate change. It concludes by exploring how to navigate to a better future.
Outline content
This course will cover the following topics:
1. Introduction to the Course: Organisations, Power and Politics.
2. Dimensions of Power
3. Political Leaders
4. In Power: The Art of the Possible.
5. Politics and the Climate.
6. Political Legacies
7. International Climate Summits
8. Mission Led Innovation and Climate Change
9. Political Pathways to Hope
Student Learning Experience
The course will involve lectures and interactive learning experiences such as case analyses, text-based group discussions, guest talks etc. As part of the course, we will visit the Scottish Parliament.
There will be a live case study, where participants will study a real life strategy / political problem.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2024/25, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 50 |
| Course Start |
Block 3 (Sem 2) |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
100
(
Lecture Hours 15,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
83 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
100% Project report (Individual) - 2,500 words - Assesses all course Learning Outcomes |
| Feedback |
Formative: Feedback will be provided throughout the course.
Summative: Feedback will be provided on assessments within agreed deadlines. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Critically assess key theories of power and organisation.
- Critically analyse the political process, understanding the front stage and back stage of political strategy.
- Critically evaluate the relationship between political leadership and climate change policies.
- Examine the realpolitick of global climate summits.
- Explore Mission Led Innovation as an approach to tackling climate change.
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Reading List
Core text(s)
Alexander, J. & Jaworsky, B. (2014) Obama Power. Cambridge: Polity.
Ansari,S., Wijen, F., and Gray, B. (2013) Constructing a Climate Change Logic: An Institutional Perspective on the Tragedy of the Commons. Organization Science.
Carter, C. & Brown, A. (2024) Heroes, Villains & Fools. Working Paper.
Carter, C., Clegg, S. and Wåhlin, N. (2011)
Wen science meets strategic realpolitik: The case of the Copenhagen UN climate change summit. Critical Perspectives on Accounting 22(7):682-697.
Clegg, S. (2023) Frameworks of Power. London: Sage. 2nd Edition
Giddens, A. (2009) The Politics of Climate Change. Cambridge: Polity
Murphy, J., Denyer, D. and Pettigrew, A. (2021), The Role of Framing Mechanisms in Explaining System-Wide Change: The Case of the Northern Ireland Conflict and Peace Process. Brit J Manage, 32: 322-341. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8551.12393
Richards, S. (2019) The Prime Ministers: Reflections on Leadership from Wilson to Johnson.
Simpson, A. V., Rego, A., Berti, M., Clegg, S., & Pina e Cunha, M. (2022). Theorizing compassionate leadership from the case of Jacinda Ardern: Legitimacy, paradox and resource conservation. Leadership, 18(3), 337-358. https://doi.org/10.1177/17427150211055291
Whittle, A., Mueller, F. and Carter, C. (2021), Authenticity and political leadership. IPPR Progressive Review, 28: 140-152. https://doi.org/10.1111/newe.12259 |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Autonomy, Accountability and Working with Others
After completing this course, students should be able to:
Act with integrity, honesty and trust in all business stakeholder relationships, and apply ethical reasoning to effective decision making, problem solving and change management.
Practice: Applied Knowledge, Skills and Understanding
After completing this course, students should be able to:
Work with a variety of organisations, their stakeholders, and the communities they serve - learning from them, and aiding them to achieve responsible, sustainable and enterprising solutions to complex problems.
Communication, ICT, and Numeracy Skills
After completing this course, students should be able to:
Convey meaning and message through a wide range of communication tools, including digital technology and social media; to understand how to use these tools to communicate in ways that sustain positive and responsible relationships.
Critically evaluate and present digital and other sources, research methods, data and information; discern their limitations, accuracy, validity, reliability and suitability; and apply responsibly in a wide variety of organisational contexts.
Knowledge and Understanding
After completing this course, students should be able to:
Demonstrate a thorough knowledge and understanding of contemporary organisational disciplines; comprehend the role of business within the contemporary world; and critically evaluate and synthesise primary and secondary research and sources of evidence in order to make, and present, well informed and transparent organisation-related decisions, which have a positive global impact.
Identify, define and analyse theoretical and applied business and management problems, and develop approaches, informed by an understanding of appropriate quantitative and/or qualitative techniques, to explore and solve them responsibly. |
| Keywords | Power,Politics,Strategy,Intergovernmental Relations,politics,Leadership,Summits |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Chris Carter
Tel: (0131 6)51 5540
Email: Chris.Carter@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | |
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