Master - Media and Technology Management: Selected Issues
'Readings on the Sharing Economy'

(WS '17/'18)

C. Loebbecke

2 SWS, 6 CP

Selected Thursdays, 5:45-9:00 pm, dates see below

Location: HS XXIII, WiSo-Building

Start: Oct. 12, '17, 5:45 pm

Held in English

Pre-Assignment (see below) due Oct. 10, '17, 11:00 am

Introduction

We will read and discuss three major pieces on different aspects of the sharing economy. Focus is on Rifkin's "Sharing Economy", and Shirky's "Here Comes Everybody". We will complement our viewpoints with parts of Ash's "Free Speech" (see the literature list below).

The idea is to understand and argue for and against the respective authors' main lines of thought - and then apply it to various parts of media and technology management.

Before the first session, as Pre-Assignment, we will all have read the overview chapters from Rifkin and Shirky. Really getting their messages brings us to crucial insights and lines of argument. Later readings & assignments will also build on those chapters.
In addition, the course will briefly introduce the basics of academic writing and thus somehow prepare for a master thesis in MTM.

Course Dates
Oct. 12, '17 (mandatory kick-off), Oct. 26, Nov. 16, Dec. 07 (all '17), Jan. 11, '18;
max. 4 times - less class time, more reading ...

Literature

• Rifkin, J. (2014) The Zero Marginal Cost Society: The Internet of Things, the Collaborative Commons, and the Eclipse of Capitalism, Macmillan, New York, NY, US.

• Shirky, C. (2008) Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing without Organizations, Penguin Press, New York, NY, US.

• Ash, T. (2016) Free Speech: Ten Principles for a Connected World, Atlantic Books, London, UK.

You can get the books online any time ... and we send the required  chapters to you via eMail - the ones for the Pre-Assignment on Oct. 2, '17. Plus, you can get a lot of reviews, presentations, videos and the like for each of them …

Grading / Credit Points

Grading will be based on

• 15%: Pre-Assignment (see below),

• 20%: Literature Review handed out and due during the sessions,

• 20%. Presentations and discussions during the sessions (grounded on the literature reviews),

• 45%: Final Assignment (written and presentation), due date to be finalized - likely Jan 09, '18.

It is required to at least 'pass' (grade 4.0 or better) each grading element for passing the course.
"Alle Prüfungselemente müssen mindestens bestanden sein."

Mandatory Pre-Assignment due on Oct. 10, '17, 11:00 am

Task

• Read & summarize Rifkin (2014), Chapter 1 in about 250 words - not the complete book, i.e., do not just copy the book abstract

• Read & summarize Shirky (2008), Chapter 2 in about 250 words - not the complete book, i.e., do not just copy the book abstracts!

• Add another 250 words on how the two books represent similar or contrasting lines of argument regarding the 'sharing economy'. Advice: Relate to marginal costs and transaction costs.

eMail format

From your sMail account, please send ONE eMail with THREE non-protected word files to claudia.loebbecke <at> uni-koeln.de AND to denis.niederle <at> uni-koeln.de.
eMail subject line: Issues-I-Lastname (lastname only, no accent etc!)
File names:

• Issues-I-Rifkin-Lastname.doc(x)

• Issues-I-Shirky-Lastname.doc(x)

• Issues-I-BOTH-Lastname.doc(x)

Do not forget the hyphens, do not include spaces or anything else in the filenames!

Personal Information
Have your name, Matr. Number, sMail address and study program, and begin of program (1st master semester) on top of the first page in each assignment file. Then continue typing, no cover sheets please.

Font, Spacing, & Writing Style

• Times New Roman 12 pt, single-spaced

• Scientific writing style - no jokes, no slang, hardly any passive voice

• References IN THE TEXT (no footnotes), avoid "ibid."

• Consistent format (including spacing)

• Page numbers of references only for word-by-word citations

• Complete reference list formatted appropriately with all required information per file (see mtm.uni-koeln.de) - even if it is only one source.

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