Professur für International Management

This seminar explores the challenges and strategies for effective global virtual teamwork, especially pertinent in today's business world that has been reshaped by the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent rise in remote work. Students will examine theoretical frameworks and develop practical recommendations to navigate the unique cultural and technological challenges inherent in global virtual team settings. The course will cover a diverse range of topics related to virtual team dynamics, such as coordination, diversity, leadership, and emotional intelligence. A special emphasis will be placed on understanding how AI tools can be leveraged to enhance the management of global virtual teams. Through course discussions and seminar papers, students will gain insights into essential competencies required for overcoming the challenges and reaping the benefits of global virtual teams.

Impressive economic growth rates are seen in almost all Asian countries nowadays. Whereas some observers consider Japan as a mature country with low growth rates, Japan`s economy is in fact the third biggest in the world with a GDP much higher than that of Germany. The reason for such a high GDP is the competitiveness of Japanese firms, which are often leaders in their specific fields. Underlying this high competitiveness are particular characteristics of Japanese firms such as keiretsu networks and dispatched workers. In this course, we will study these characteristics. A particular focus will be on international Mergers and Acquisitions, a highly prevalent phenomenon in current Japan. The lecturer wrote his PhD more than 20 years ago about this topic and has been teaching and doing research as a professor in Japan ever since.

Impressive economic growth rates are seen in almost all Asian countries nowadays. Whereas some observers consider Japan as a mature country with low growth rates, Japan`s economy is in fact the third biggest in the world with a GDP much higher than that of Germany. The reason for such a high GDP is the competitiveness of Japanese firms, which are often leaders in their specific fields. Underlying this high competitiveness are particular characteristics of Japanese firms such as keiretsu networks and dispatched workers. In this course, we will study these characteristics. A particular focus will be on international Mergers and Acquisitions, a highly prevalent phenomenon in current Japan. The lecturer wrote his PhD more than 20 years ago about this topic and has been teaching and doing research as a professor in Japan ever since.

Cross-cultural management skills are an essential success factor in today’s volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous global business world. As national, professional, generational and organizational cultures affect the ways leaders and employees think, behave and communicate, cross-cultural management research aims to improve the interaction and management of people from different cultures. This seminar provides students with a deeper understanding of current debates in this field and encourages them to critically discuss seminal theoretical frameworks and empirical results. Participants gain in-depth knowledge on selected topics of timely relevance in cross-cultural management and practice academic writing and argumentation. At the same time, they build their multicultural competence for successful careers in global work environments.

This course aims to create greater awareness of the changing global environment, to provide conceptual frameworks for systematically understanding cross-cultural management challenges, to enhance students’ understanding of workforce diversity, and to develop their competence in intercultural communication and cross-cultural interactions. Upon completion of this course, students have the required knowledge and skills to write a B.Sc. thesis at the professorship of international management.

In our increasingly globalized business world, global teamwork is of utmost practical importance and attracts much attention in management research. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has shifted large parts of our work into the home office, especially virtual teamwork has gained in importance. In our seminar, we will discuss the technological and coordinative challenges of this organizational form to develop theoretical and practical recommendations for effective global virtual teamwork.

International Human Resource Management (IHRM) is about the worldwide management of human resources. This course provides students with an understanding of IHRM as well as the skills to analyze IHRM in contemporary firms. The course will be divided into three sections. The first section introduces the prevalent ways of thinking about IHRM. The second section deals with the core functional areas in how multinational companies manage their workforce and global talent. The third and final section focuses on specific contextual factors that influence the design, implementation and adaptation of IHRM policies and practices.

In today’s global environment, literally no business remains unaffected by international forces. Whereas some companies are expanding to foreign markets, others are confronted with the entry of international companies in their home locations, and many more companies and communities are affected by the operations of global corporations. Not surprisingly, cross-border activities of businesses are never out of the news. This course is aimed at helping students develop an understanding of the cultural and political environment of today’s global businesses and management issues that are important in such a context. Relevant theories of business ethics, strategic management, organization, production, marketing and human resource management are applied to the specific challenges of organizing and managing cross-border and cross-cultural business activities.

This lecture provides a comprehensive introduction to international business environments, strategies and operations. Having completed this course, students will understand the basics of international business and be able to discuss the challenges confronting international and intercultural management. Through the use of short case studies and the coverage of current issues, students will learn to apply theories and concepts to the solution of practical business problems.