Duration
30h Th
Number of credits
| Master in management, professional focus in Social Enterprise Management and Transition | 5 crédits | |||
| Master in global transition and sustainability management | 5 crédits |
Lecturer
Language(s) of instruction
English language
Organisation and examination
Teaching in the first semester, review in January
Schedule
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents
This course critically examines how organizational performance is defined, measured, and governed in the context of ecological, social, and systemic transitions. Rather than treating performance as a neutral or purely technical concept, the course explores the assumptions, boundaries, values, and power relations embedded in performance systems.
The course follows five successive perspectives. Students learn to deconstruct dominant performance models; extend performance and responsibility beyond organizational boundaries and across global value chains; pluralize understandings of what "doing well" means through non-mainstream and situated perspectives; critically examine the instruments and metrics through which sustainability performance is made visible and manageable; and finally redesign performance using approaches centered on ecological and social limits, robustness, maintenance of human and natural capitals, and contribution to meaningful change.
Throughout the course, particular attention is paid to what performance indicators make visible, what they leave invisible, and how they shape organizational behavior.
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
- Identify and critically examine the assumptions and ideologies underlying conventional approaches to organizational performance.
- Analyze how organizational performance and responsibility change when boundaries are extended across global value chains and affected stakeholders.
- Recognize and engage with plural and situated understandings of value, progress, and "doing well".
- Critically read sustainability reports and performance indicators, assessing their scope, comparability, methodological robustness, blind spots, and performative effects.
- Mobilize alternative approaches to performance based on ecological and social limits, robustness, maintenance obligations, and contribution to meaningful change.
- Integrate these perspectives to critically assess and redesign a performance system in a real-world organizational context.
- Develop and articulate a personal, reflexive, and well-argued position on what organizational performance should mean in the context of sustainability transitions.
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
Students must have completed prior coursework related to strong sustainability, systems thinking, or sustainability transitions.
Students should be prepared to read and reflect critically in English and to engage with interdisciplinary content and alternative worldviews.
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
The course is structured around flipped-classroom pedagogy and low-tech, collaborative learning. Activities include:
- Asynchronous readings, videos, and other resources used to prepare in-class discussion and activities.
- In-class debates, mapping exercises, case analyses, and co-creation activities.
- Critical analysis of global value chains, sustainability reports, performance indicators, and alternative approaches to performance.
- Encounters with plural and situated perspectives through field actors, organizations, films, testimonies, or other relevant resources.
- A reflective learning journal maintained throughout the course. Short prompts completed during or after selected sessions invite students to connect concepts, question assumptions, revisit previous positions, document tensions and unresolved questions, and relate course material to organizational or personal observations. The journal is not intended as a summary of course content, but as a trace of the student's evolving reasoning.
Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)
Blended learning
Further information:
In-person learning is complemented by asynchronous preparation and occasional autonomous learning activities. Sessions are conducted in a low-tech, collaborative format using analog tools (e.g., kraft paper, post-it notes, whiteboards) and dialogic methods.
Regular attendance and active participation are integral to the learning process and are therefore mandatory. A maximum of two absences may be tolerated, provided that they are duly justified. Students exceeding this limit may not meet the requirements for completing the course.
Course materials and recommended or required readings
Platform(s) used for course materials:
- LOL@
Further information:
All useful course materials will either be made available via the Lola platform or distributed in paper format at the beginning of the session.
Students are required to have a dedicated notebook that will serve as their reflective learning journal throughout the course. They must bring this notebook to every class session, as it will be regularly used for individual reflection and in-class activities.
Exam(s) in session
Any session
- In-person
oral exam
Continuous assessment
Other : Reflective learning journal
Further information:
The reflective learning journal is a mandatory prerequisite for the final assessment but is not graded. Students are expected to maintain it regularly throughout the course and must bring it to the final oral examination.
The final assessment consists of an individual oral examination and accounts for 100% of the final grade.
Shortly before the oral examination, students receive a short organizational case and are given preparation time to develop a critical analysis using relevant perspectives from the course. During the examination, students present and discuss their analysis and respond to follow-up questions.
A further part of the oral examination draws on the student's reflective learning journal. Students may consult their journal during the discussion and will be invited to reflect on the evolution of their understanding of performance, revisit earlier positions, and connect insights developed across the course. The examination may also include an integrative question requiring students to connect, contrast, or critically discuss different perspectives developed in the course.
Assessment focuses on the ability to reason with the course material rather than simply reproduce it. Criteria include conceptual understanding; relevance in the selection and application of course perspectives; critical reasoning; ability to identify assumptions, boundaries, and blind spots; integration of different perspectives; reflexivity; quality and structure of argumentation; and ability to engage in an informed academic discussion.
Work placement(s)
Organisational remarks and main changes to the course
This course is part of the Master's specialization in Social Enterprise and Transition. It prepares students for advanced engagement with transformational change in business and society.
The course is taught in English but requires at least a B2 level in French for passive understanding (reading materials, following presentations, understanding guest speakers), as some course content and guest contributions may be delivered in French. Engagement with external actors and resources may form part of the learning activities.
The course takes place on Fridays from 8h to 12h.
The first session will be held on Friday, September 18, 2026.
The detailed session plan will be provided at the beginning of the course.
Contacts
Professor Virginie Xhauflair: v.xhauflair@uliege.be
Teaching assistant: Isaline Thirion I.Thirion@uliege.be