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Internationalen Open-Access Seminar „Organizing in Times of Crisis: The Case of Covid-19”

2020-05-04 Hannah Trittin-Ulbrich offers the Open Access course "Organizing in Times of Crisis: The Case of Covid-19". The course was created through collaboration between several Austrian and German universities. Thomas Gegenhuber is also contributing to the course. "The aim is to impart knowledge on numerous aspects of crisis management and crisis resolution from various perspectives of business and organisational economics," explains Trittin-Ulbrich.

The coronavirus situation is obviously having a major impact on how companies and society in general are organising right now. Thus, new forms of organising are being launched to address urgent social problems. Social media is usually a communication channel for companies to promote their products. In the pandemic, however, companies use these media spontaneously to provide important information on general protective measures to a large number of people, thus fulfilling their social responsibility. But problematic developments can also be observed: Organisations can also deepen social problems in these turbulent times. For example, the unequal design of workplaces with occupational health and safety measures (such as home office options, protective clothing), reinforces social inequalities.

Teachers from different disciplines combine their expertise in this unique course with regard to the current extraordinary crisis situation and its implications for organisations. The topics of the course range from decision-making processes, crisis communication and entrepreneurship, to state bureaucracy and issues of inequality in times of crisis. Trittin-Ulbrich says: "The aim of the course is to provide students as well as the general public and decision-makers with an up-to-date overview of research on crisis management and coping strategies". Gegenhuber adds: "Especially in times of crisis, it was important to me to impart knowledge about new and alternative forms of organising. The #wirvsvirus Hackathon under the auspices of the German government is a good example of this."

The English-language course materials are available on a simply structured landing page for all interested parties and students: Lecture videos, slide sets, assignments and a standard syllabus. In a blog, further aspects are pointed out or other approaches to the topic are recommended by international academics. Students and other interested parties can decide for themselves when they want to deal with the materials, which are always available. "We are excited to see how this innovative concept is received," says Trittin-Ulbrich.

Further Information

Hannah Trittin-Ulbrich is Professor of Business Administration, in particular Business Ethics at the Institute of Management and Organisation (IMO). Her research has received several awards, most recently the Schöller Fellowship 2020 of the Dr Theo and Friedl Schöller Research Centre for Business and Society.

Thomas Gegenhuber is Professor of Business Administration, in particular Digital Transformation. In April 2019, Thomas Gegenhuber was appointed as an expert for the third equality report of the German Federal Government, which focuses on the topic of digitalisation.