Course Schedule

Course Schedule

Veranstaltungen von Matthew Philipp Johnson

Lehrveranstaltungen

Sustainable M&E: Sustainable Business Development: Business Models for Sustainability (Seminar)

Inhalt: The teaching will be done by Dr. Matthew Phillip Johnson (matthew.phillip.johnson@uni-hamburg.de; https://www.wiso.uni-hamburg.de/fachbereich-sozoek/professuren/busch/04-team/research-associates/johnson-matthew.html) Initial Comments: In this seminar, offered as both lectures (3 sessions) and blocked workshops (3), the challenges of forming and continually developing a company’s business model will be portrayed as business model innovation, especially in the environmental, social, and integrated sustainability context. The goals of this seminar are to innovate an existing business or even create a business model for a sustainability-oriented start-up (I strongly encourage this!). It also focuses a the creative, yet focused approach to the following problem. How can creative and innovative thinking in new business models generate positive environmental and social contributions above and beyond financial success? We will not be writing business plans, but using well-developed entrepreneurial concepts, including the business model canvas (Osterwealder & Pignuer, 2010) and business model patterns (e.g., Gassmann et al., 2014; Lüdeke-Freund et al., 2022). Finally, you will have to read several articles before several lectures – see the articles marked with asterisks (*) below. Main learning objectives: 1. To learn the theoretical basics of social and sustainable entrepreneurship; 2. To learn the theoretical and conceptual basics of business model innovation; 3. To learn how to develop values-based and sustainable business models; and 4. To train and strengthen solution-focused thinking in practical contexts. Didactic concept: There are two parts to the course – Fundamentals and Practical Application. In the first part, Fundamentals, the students will deal with the phenomenon of sustainable entrepreneurship and its description in the theoretical literature. Furthermore, you will learn about the business model as a management and innovation concept as well as various techniques of business modeling. These basics are contained in scientific and practical literature on sustainable entrepreneurship and business models, in particular in the intersection on topics of entrepreneurial sustain- ability management and sustainable social development. These entrepreneurial and societal per- spectives are supplemented by a network perspective from which different actors work together to tackle entrepreneurial and social challenges. The Fundamentals part of the course will be covered in three sessions, every other Tuesday – 21.10., 04.11., and 18.11.2025. It is my intention to hold these lectures in the classroom and not in a hybrid form…that is, no Zoom links. In the second part, Practical Application, the students will work on real-life challenges in a particular industry of choice, for instance energy, circular economy, or base-of-the-pyramid enterprises. Students are required to form working groups (approximately five students per group), which will be organized and moderated by the students themselves. These groups will take up real-life problems and solve them from a “market-orientation” perspective supplemented with taught business modeling techniques. Topics could include, for instance, the development of virtual power plants at the regional level, the provision of disadvantaged families with access to clean drinking water and facilities, etc. These solutions can tackle a particular Sustainable Development Goal (e.g., SDG 7 Clean and Affordable Energy), or think beyond, i.e. developing a concept for circularity or biodiversity. For the Practical Application part of the course, students will be able to choose these cases themselves (latest by 18.11.2025), which will include cases from the literature/online search. The practical application will be covered during two sessions on 28.11. and 12.12.2025 (both on Fridays) in the form of group workshops. Additionally, you must organize and work as groups outside of these scheduled sessions. Again, it is my intention to hold these workshops in the classroom setting for close interaction within and between groups, so no hybrid form is anticipated. The final session, scheduled for Friday, 23.01.2026, is to be used for the final presentations, which will be graded. Major milestones and next steps: 1. Introduction and theoretical foundations (21.10.25) 2. Learning of Business Modeling Techniques (4.11.25) 3. Research on real problems (18.11.25) 4. Conducting group workshops (28.11. and 12.12.25) 5. Presentation of the results (23.01.2026) Literature (* to read before the lecture on 21.10.2025; ** to read before the lecture on 04.11.2025) Introduction to social and sustainable entrepreneurship • *Johnson, M. P., & Schaltegger, S. (2020). Entrepreneurship for sustainable development: A review and multilevel causal mechanism framework. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 44(6), 1141-1173. • *Schaltegger, S. & Wagner, M. (2011): Sustainable entrepreneurship and sustainability innovation: categories and interactions, Business Strategy and the Environment, Vol. 20, No. 4, 222–237. • *Zeyen, A., Beckmann, M., & Akhavan, R. (2014): Social entrepreneurship business models: Managing innovation for social and economic value creation. In Managementperspektiven für die Zivilgesellschaft des 21. Jahrhunderts (pp. 107-132). Springer Gabler, Wiesbaden. Introduction to business models • Gassmann, O.; Frankenberger, K. & Csik, M. (2014): The business model navigator. 55 models that will revolutionise your business. Pearson Education Limited. • Osterwalder, A. & Pigneur, Y. (2010): Business model generation. A handbook for vi- sionaries, game changers, and challengers. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Introduction to sustainable business models • **Boons, F. & Lüdeke-Freund, F. (2013): Business Models for Sustainable Innovation: State of the Art and Steps Towards a Research Agenda, Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 45, 9-19. • **Bocken, N.; Short, S.; Rana, P. & Evans, S. (2014): A literature and practice review to develop sustainable business model archetypes, Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 65, 42–56. • Clinton, L. & Whisnant, R. (2014): Model Behavior – 20 Business Model Innovations for Sustainability. London: SustainAbility. • Schaltegger, S.; Hansen, E. & Lüdeke-Freund, F. (2016): Business Models for Sustainability: Origins, Present Research, and Future Avenues (Editorial), Organization & Envi ronment, Vol. 29, No. 1, 3-10. Introduction to (sustainability-oriented) business modelling tools • Upward, A. & Jones, P. (2016): An Ontology for Strongly Sustainable Business Models: Defining an Enterprise Framework Compatible With Natural and Social Science, Organization & Environment, Vol. 29, No. 1, 97–123. • Joyce, A. & Paquin, R. (2016): The triple layered business model canvas: A tool to design more sustainable business models, Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 135, 1474–1486.

Leuphana Bachelor - Major International Business Administration & Entrepreneurship - Sustainable Management & Entrepreneurship