course-schedule

Activisim in Organisations (Seminar)

Termin:
14-täglich | Montag | 10:15 - 13:45 | 20.10.2025 - 30.01.2026 | C 12.010 Seminarraum

Inhalt: Activism in organisations is becoming more and more prevalent. As we are living in a polycrisis world, employees increasingly seek to impact society and the environment positively either through aiming for a formal responsible career, e.g. as sustainability or CSR managers or becoming involved as an internal activist or social change agent. Recent examples are Microsoft employees protesting against military contracts over AI and cloud services provided to the Israeli military amid the Gaza conflict or Dutch university staff protests institution’s ties with Israeli entities. However, activism can penetrate organisations from more angles. CEOs can be activistic and include a political dimension to their organisational practices. Here examples include Ben & Jerries‘ founders who from the onset included political messages in their marketing and setup of the company. Other forms of activism include shareholder activism, that tries to stir the organisation into a for the shareholder favoured direction or brand activism which at times can be used as a marketing stunt. In this course we will dissect activism in organisations from all these different angles and discuss literature on responsible careers, employee activism/ internal social change agents, CEO, shareholder and brand activism. We will critically examine if activism always has to be for the greater social good or if there can also be a downside of activism for the wider public. The students will learn about the broad set of activisms in organisations and critically distinguish different forms and their purposes. Presentations about current examples of each form and a final project work about this example will help students to link theory learned in class with the practical reality outside.

Innovation for sustainability (Seminar)

Dozent/in: Ursula Weisenfeld

Termin:
14-täglich | Montag | 10:15 - 13:45 | 13.10.2025 - 30.01.2026 | C 12.010 Seminarraum

Inhalt: Do citizens have a role to play in developing their environment? To what extent can citizens shape the development of their city or village through entrepreneurship, that is, through pro-active engagement in problem-solving processes? This is particularly important for a more sustainable development. This seminar will prepare for and finish with presentations organised like a conference on Citizen Entrepreneurship (CE). The assignments consist of a presentation (as a group) & conference discussion (including individual reviews) & reflection. Thus, the course will provide you with knowledge about citizen entrepreneurship, an increasingly relevant topic in the context of sustainability. A kick-off will provide an introduction to Citizen Entrepreneurship & Sustainability. We will discuss examples of CE and explore how to identify research questions for your group to work on. During the semester we will have several meetings for Q&A and feedback. The course will conclude with a mini conference with presentations and discussions. The conference is planned for January 15th (tbc).

Strategic and Organizational Challenges in the Context of Global Leadership (Seminar)

Dozent/in: Niels Bosse

Inhalt: Description, objectives, key learnings Global leadership is currently one of the biggest challenges that transnational companies face worldwide. The rapid changes in technologies as well as globalization have impacted companies, such as Volkswagen Group. This block seminar will deal and explain the current situation and challenges of the company, and how it is handling them. A special focus is set on strategic, leadership, organizational and cultural aspects. Especially the influence of compliance, integrity and diversity in the light of cultural differences will be discussed. Agenda I. Seminar Organization II. Introduction 1. Global VW Group and AUDI AG history and sites - History the VW group 2. Volkswagen Group Charging/ Elli III. Actual Challenges for the automotive industry 1. Future of the automobile industry 2. Development from an OEM to a Provider of Mobility 3. The way to e Mobility 4. Impact of the Corona Pandemic IV. Strategy and Values 1. Corporate Strategy 2. Corporate Values 3. Development of a Company Strategy, example: Audi Mexico 4. HR Strategy as an important part of the Company Strategy 5. Bring Strategy to life: KPIs and Objectives 6. KPI System for the HR area – the Engagement Index V. From Values to a Corporate Culture 1. VW Group Essentials 2. Program: Together for integrity 3. Diversity as an essential element of the corporate culture 4. How to handle cultural differences in a global company (example: China – Germany, Mexico) VI. Global Leadership 1. Leadership vs. Management 2. Leadership principles of the leadership model of Audi AG 3. Competencies of a leader and a manager 4. Differences in leadership (China, Germany and México) 5. Leadership Programs/ examples - iLead - Lean Leadership - Change Future Management VII. The Future of HR 1. Trends in the HR 2. Spitzenpersonalarbeit 3. Transformation of HR to One HR / New HR VIII. Modern Organizational Structures 1. The Job Family Cluster Organization, a process and competence oriented 2. Company Structure 3. Preface, problem and goal setting 4. Job Families 5. Job Family Cluster 6. Practical fields of application of the Job Family Cluster 7. Overview and Outlook 8. Summary IX. Reflection and learnings

Course Schedule

Lehrveranstaltungen

Activisim in Organisations (Seminar)

Innovation for sustainability (Seminar)

Strategic and Organizational Challenges in the Context of Global Leadership (Seminar)