Institut für Personalwirtschaft (HCM)

Sustainability is one of the biggest and most important challenges of today, leaving footprints in our daily lives, consumption choices, voting behavior, mobility, but also in how we work and think about work, and in the future of businesses more generally. Management scholars have long neglected the sustainability challenge. However, in recent years a large and powerful literature on “corporate social responsibility” (CSR) that embraces sustainability questions has emerged. CSR literature has led to fruitful debates about alternative modes of governance, leadership and people management. In this class, we take both macro-level views on CSR, firm strategy, corporate governance, and HR, involving broader institutions and agents like laws and standards, stakeholders and consumers; as well as a micro foundational view of CSR by incorporating employee and stakeholder attitudes, behaviors, and performance.

The seminar will take place on a weekly basis, every Friday, 10:00–12:00 c.t., starting on April 17, 2026, in Geschwister-Scholl-Platz 1 (E), room E 341. The course will be held in English and as an in-person seminar.

Whether Bachelor, Master or European Triple Degree (ETD), here you will find all the information you need on the topic of theses: how do I apply, which topics can I choose from and what are the HCM proceedings?

This course teaches “technical basics” from the skill set of “Leadership, HR, & International Management” at the Faculty of Business Administration. The lecture is organized jointly by Prof. Weller, Prof. Tenzer, and Prof. Högl. The exercises will strengthen and complement the content taught in the lecture and leave enough room for open discussion and application.

During the first part of this course you will become acquainted with the most relevant aspects of “Strategic Human Resource Management”. Important principles and mechanisms including human assets and value creation, staffing, incentives, and development are discussed. We also discuss research and methodological issues thorugh academic papers and case studies in the tutorials.

Extending these aspects with an international perspective, the second part of the course will familiarize you with the cultural and institutional frameworks of human resource management across the globe. We will also analyze the impact of cultural and language diversity on communication, leadership, trust formation, power relations and knowledge sharing in multinational corporations.

These issues prepare the ground for the third part of the course, which focuses on selected topics of human behavior in organizational contexts (organizational behavior). In particular, key aspects of teamwork and leadership, creativity and innovation, as well as change and sustainability will be discussed. We will also discuss the role of different research methodologies throughout the tutorials.