LFU:online

Corporate strategy refers to the overall scope and direction of the company, which markets to be in, how its businesses are defined to work together, including the firm’s vertical and horizontal integration – and the way it pursues corporate sustainability. Consequently, this course is built on the fundamental premise that implementing corporate sustainability is primarily a strategic and organizational problem. As such, the module will provide the students with a solid understanding in strategy and organization from a sustainability perspective and pursues the “sustainability problem” by trying to answer three questions. WHY should companies move beyond serving merely economic purposes? WHAT makes a sustainable company, e.g. how would key business functions look like and which key instruments exist? And finally, HOW can managers (you?) build a sustainable business model and a sustainable firm and unfold it over time, i.e. which change and learning process efforts are important in this endeavor?   

We accomplish the course objectives through the following teaching methods. The first part (“Vorlesung”) is characterized by engaging students in active learning, based on theoretical foundations, highly interactive lectures, case studies coupled with plenary discussions, and by providing evidences thanks to managers’ leadership examples. If possible, guest instructors will be invited. The second part (“Seminar) is dedicated to in-depth case studies and research papers, both to be developed by students, with the help of feedback (by peers and instructor). It is absolutely necessary that students prepare all sessions according to the syllabus.

Strategy is the process that aims at identifying an organization’s fundamental long-term objectives and defining those courses of actions that are most likely to deliver those objectives. More precisely, corporate strategy refers to the overall scope and direction of the company, which markets to be in, how its businesses are defined to work together, including the firm’s vertical and horizontal integration. Within the boundaries defined by corporate strategy, companies decide on their business strategies, this is how to compete (e.g. via differentiation or cost leading strategies) at the markets. Key strategic decisions e.g. relating to business firms’ growth, corporate development activities and market entries define which stakeholders (Freeman, 1984) are affected and which resources are needed. In fact, the decisions managers make in this respect play a fundamental role in determining the evolution of the firm itself and its socio-economic system towards (or away from) sustainable development. Against this backdrop, for many years now, companies face the challenge of sustainability. The concept of sustainability is generally referred to as the capacity of a system to develop in ways that do not undermine its own long-term viability. Sustainable development goals, ecological problems such as planetary boundaries and climate change, globalization of supply chains, stakeholder demands, as well as growing social and ethical conflicts affect business and decision-making processes in firms. Consequently, companies are increasingly required to respond to these challenges. One way of doing this is the firm’s strategic pursuit of social and ecological objectives in addition to the classic economic goals, which is commonly referred to as corporate sustainability (or other “buzzwords” like inclusive business, corporate (social) responsibility, and shared value creation). But how does a strategy to achieve corporate sustainability really look like? What could adequate organizational responses and practices in this context be?

Following this line of reasoning, this course is built on the fundamental premise that implementing corporate sustainability is primarily a strategic and organizational problem. As such, the module will provide the students with a solid understanding in strategy and organization and pursues the “sustainability problem” by trying to answer three questions. WHY should companies move beyond serving merely economic purposes? WHAT makes a sustainable company, e.g. how would key business functions look like and which key instruments exist? And finally, HOW can managers (you?) build a sustainable business model and a sustainable firm and unfold it over time, i.e. which change and learning process efforts are important in this endeavor?    

We accomplish the course objectives through engaging students in active learning, based on theoretical foundations, highly interactive lectures, mini-case studies coupled with plenary discussions, the discussion of case studies prepared by the students, by providing evidences thanks to managers’ leadership examples, and by providing feedback (by peers and instructor) to the papers written by the students. If possible, guest instructors will be invited for sharing their experience on specifically relevant topics.

Each of the academic sessions will cover core theoretical components related to corporate strategy and sustainability. You will discover state-of-the-art literature at the interface of corporate strategy and corporate sustainability. You are expected to study a sufficient number of relevant academic articles/literature (individually) and prepare case studies/other assignments (group work) – both tasks prior to each session. During the classes, you are expected to participate in active discussions. We will discuss strengths and limitations of the readings and apply the topic to actual business practices. Roughly, the first half of each session will be dedicated to academic lecturing (combined with active discussions, small group works, etc.), while the second half will offer students the space to present and discuss their work.

As the content of each seminar builds on the proceeding ones, students are advised to attend all sessions regularly and to participate in discussions to achieve the desired levels of understanding. Pre-reading and preparation of materials before seminars is mandatory and expected. The lecturer will be more a facilitator than a teacher.

Participation in class: 20%

Group works (cases and paper assignments): 40%

Exam: 40%

To pass the module, students have to pass the threshold in each of the criteria (reach 50% each). A detailed information on the points to be gained will be given in the syllabus, which is available end of September.

A complety Syllabus will be online asap.

abgeschlossener erster Studienabschnitt, sehr gute Englischkenntnisse

The module consists of 15 units of 180 minutes each (breaks included), starting at October 11^th, finishing December 13^th. Please note: (1) For administrative reasons only, in the online system for each date two lectures (VU and SE) and some additional time for each class were announced. The starting time of the VU corresponds to the starting time of each class. You can expect each class to finish at: starting time of VU plus 180 minutes. (2) The two appointments in January have been blocked as extra appointments and will be used only if needed (e.g. in case of illness of the instructor during regular appointments). Please mark the dates in your calendar as well. (3)

Please note: Kerstin Neumann has been appointed as professor at University of Innsbruck starting at September 1^st, 2016. Therefore, for all questions/issues, which require a certain institutional knowledge and wisdom (e.g. enrollment and exam procedures, attendance rules, etc.), please refer, after carefully studying the syllabus, to elke.kitzelmann@uibk.ac.at. For all content related questions, again after carefully studying the syllabus, please contact the instructor at kerstin.neumann@uibk.at or during her office hours.