Busi­ness in a Chan­ging World: Ger­man Per­spect­ives

Course content

This course is concerned with the complex relation between business and society in a globalized world. As a regional course, it explores this relation in the context of Germany and offers a context-sensitive approach to understanding German companies’ activities at home and abroad.

The course adopts a management perspective and combines theoretical perspectives from International Business, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR),  Organization Theory and other fields to address a variety of empirical topics and cases. To begin with, the course explores the German business landscape. Drawing on insights from International Business and Strategy research, the sessions in this theme explore prominent business models and strategies of Germany’s global players and hidden champions. The course then applies these insights to three thematic areas:

1. Labour markets: This theme addresses challenges within German labour markets, such as flexibilization, segmentation, and gender inequality. Sessions will discuss their impact on companies and explore potential solutions.
2. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): This theme examines the social responsibilities of companies in addressing the world’s most pressing problems. Sessions will draw from CSR and organizational communication research to explore the evolving political and social roles of companies both at home and abroad.
3. Consumer behaviour: This theme delves into research on consumer behavior, focusing on challenges like unsustainable consumption. Sessions will explore opportunities for change and the roles of companies, policymakers, and civil society in promoting sustainable practices.

Throughout the course, emphasis lies on analyzing problems and opportunities that arise from companies’ rootedness in the German context.