436236 VO International Management: Corporate Strategy and Sustainability

Sommersemester 2017 | Stand: 16.03.2017 LV auf Merkliste setzen
436236
VO International Management: Corporate Strategy and Sustainability
VO 2
4
abgeschlossener erster Studienabschnitt, sehr gute Englischkenntnisse
Block
jährlich
Englisch

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.

Der Kurs basiert auf der fundamentalen Annahme, dass Corporate Sustainability (bzw. der unternehmerische Wandel hin zu CS) primär ein strategisches und organisationales Problem ist. Daher vermittelt der Kurs den Studierenden ein solides Verständnis in Strategie sowie Organisation und nähert sich dem „Sustainability Problem“ mit dem Versuch, drei Fragen zu beantworten. WARUM sollten Unternehmen neben ökonomischen Zielen auch umweltbezogene und soziale Ziele verfolgen? WAS macht ein nachhaltiges Unternehmen aus, wie sehen z.B. Kernfunktionen eines solchen Unternehmens aus und welche Instrumente gibt es? Und schließlich, WIE können Manager (Sie?) ein nachhaltiges Unternehmen entwickeln und über die Zeit bestehen lassen, welche Lern- und Change- Prozesse sind wichtig in diesem Zusammenhang? Für detaillierte Kursinhalte, siehe die englische Beschreibung.

 

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.

Ein kompletter Syllabus ist demnächst erhältlich.

abgeschlossener erster Studienabschnitt, sehr gute Englischkenntnisse

The module consists of 15 units of 180 minutes each (breaks included), starting at October 11th, finishing December 13th. 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 1st, 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.

siehe Termine
Gruppe 0
Datum Uhrzeit Ort
Di 14.03.2017
13.30 - 16.00 SR 6 (Sowi) SR 6 (Sowi) Barrierefrei VB
Mi 22.03.2017
08.30 - 13.00 SR 12 (Sowi) SR 12 (Sowi) Barrierefrei
Do 23.03.2017
08.00 - 12.45 SR 19 (Sowi) SR 19 (Sowi) Barrierefrei
Do 23.03.2017
14.00 - 18.30 SR 11 (Sowi) SR 11 (Sowi) Barrierefrei
Mi 29.03.2017
14.00 - 18.30 SR 19 (Sowi) SR 19 (Sowi) Barrierefrei
Do 30.03.2017
08.30 - 10.30 SR 12 (Sowi) SR 12 (Sowi) Barrierefrei