Approach to social policies through project management

Duration

24h Th

Number of credits

Lecturer

Grégory Jemine, Aude Lejeune

Language(s) of instruction

French language

Organisation and examination

Teaching in the second semester

Schedule

Schedule online

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents

The course aims to introduce students to the analysis of European social policies and to their application in public services and companies. Exploring and understanding the intersection between social policies and project management will allow students to become familiar with contemporary issues of the world of work:
- How can a hospital guarantee the well-being of its staff, in accordance with European and national legal frameworks?
- What are insurance and banking companies actually doing to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)?
- What legal bases do influence the implementation of corporate policies on work time and work space flexibility?
 
Students will be invited to design a fictional project of organizational change, in accordance with the current social European and national legislations in effect, and to test its feasability among field actors through the realization of qualitative interviews. 
 
A) Social policies in Europe: critical approaches
The course:

• Introduces the organization of work in Europe, its actors and its organizations; the social protection systems; the professional relations systems (trade unions, employers, the State); the European actors who regulate the labour market at European and international levels; the main norms that frame and regulate work;
• Builds awareness among students on critical and comparative approaches of resources and constraints that are common to instutional and organizational actors

• Introduces the traditional approaches, tools and methodologies of project management in organizations;
• Builds awareness among students on critical and sociological approaches of project management tools

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

The course aims at promoting awareness about the socio-political stakes of the construction of social policies in Europe, as well as about their concrete translation in private companies and public services, at various levels of governance (supranational, national, local). 
The course also provides students with valuable information on the traditional tools for project management, which are commonplace in business contexts, while sensitizing them to the importance of a critical and reflexive attitude towards those tools, gained through the reading of scientific articles and the realisation of a concrete project.
At the end of the course, students will be able to:

• Proceed to a comparative analysis of a topic related to work and social policies, which includes an analysis of social protection systems and employement relationships;
• Proceed to the analysis of various levels of work regulation frameworks in Europe;
• Display a critical attitude regarding the execution and implementation of work-related norms;
• Approach management tools, theories and methods with a critical and reflexive appraisal

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning)

Face-to-face sessions.
Group-based project work.

Recommended or required readings

Recommended readings are available under the section "Items online"

Assessment methods and criteria

Evaluation will consist of a written and collective group work, and an individual oral exam during June/September session.

Work placement(s)

Not applicable

Organizational remarks

Contacts

Aude Lejeune
aude.lejeune@uliege.be
Grégory Jemine
gjemine@uliege.be

Items online