Comparative Art Studies: VU University Amsterdam

Course Description

Culture, Organization and Management (COM) places organizational problems and management issues in a wider social and cultural context. Organizations are hubs in society: social structures are supported by organizations and social change is mediated by and chanelled through them.

Looking at the big picture, processes of globalization cannot be dissociated from international corporations and institutions; and the increase in multicultural interaction is particularly evident in commercial relations, corporate collaborations and in the workplace. At a more detailed level, change in organizations not only has far-reaching consequences for staff, products and services but also for the ways in which society is organized and how power, work and prosperity are distributed. In short, the socio-cultural aspects of organizations have both economic and social consequences.

You can expect from the programme:

• Critical analysis of conventional organization and management practices
• An interdisciplinary and cultural perspective
• Exploration of organizational and management processes in cultural contexts, within Europe and beyond
• Getting to grips with cultural interventions in organization and management (Ethnovention™ )
• A strong emphasis on fieldwork
• Getting to know organizations from the bottom up and inside out
• Intensive training in analytical writing

Career prospects

The prospects for COM graduates are favourable, with international jobs available in a wide array of sectors. Many graduates become consultants. Others obtain positions within corporations as commercial officers (e.g. in customer relations) or policy support officers (e.g. in internal communications). All large corporations are currently engaged in processes of change. This is precisely COM’s field of specialization. You therefore have an excellent chance of finding a job tailored to your skills and capabilities. The non-profit and public sectors also offer COM graduates opportunities in the policy field.