Institut für Personalwirtschaft (HCM)

This course, jointly organized by Professors Claussen, Högl, Kretschmer, Tenzer and Weller, provides essential basic knowledge for Master students in “Management and Strategy”.

It consists of two parts, where the second part is organized in two parallel tracks.

The first part (“Introduction”), taught by Professor Weller, provides an overview of the field of management and strategy, using “Coleman's Boat” as a heuristic for understanding how people and organizations relate to each other. Special attention will be given to the role of context (e.g., regulatory environment, labor market, organizational culture, incentive structure) on individuals’ decisions and behaviors; and to the opportunities and challenges that arise when different agents (e.g., individuals, units) are required to work together to create value. The Introduction prepares students for the second part, where they can choose between two parallel tracks: Track #1 (“Leadership and International Management”) primarily takes a micro perspective, studying the behavior of individuals and teams. Track #2 (“Strategy”) takes primarily a macro perspective, studying the behavior of firms.

Track #1: The Leadership and International Management track, taught by Professors Högl and Tenzer, explores selected topics of human behavior within organizational contexts, emphasizing key aspects of leadership, teamwork, creativity, innovation, change, and sustainability. It also examines cultural and institutional frameworks in global management, analyzing the impact of diversity on communication, leadership and knowledge sharing in multinational corporations.

Track #2: The Strategy track, taught by Professors Claussen and Kretschmer, addresses the question of how firms can implement strategies to create and sustain a competitive advantage. We introduce students to strategy-related theories and apply them to real-life examples especially from technology-intensive industries. We define concepts of competitive advantage and present strategies for firms to achieve and maintain it. Students will learn to analyze the external and internal environment and how functional-level, business-level and corporate-level strategies can shape firm performance.

Note that a decision between Tracks #1 and #2 is mandatory. After the Introduction, students must choose only one of the two tracks. The tracks will run in parallel.

To choose and register for a track, please participate in the dedicated survey on Moodle.