Designing an organization to meet current and future challenges is a central issue for managers. Oftentimes, they have to initiate changes in corporate strategy to adapt to external changes, and, as a consequence, realign organizational dimensions. This course addresses how firms should be organized to achieve their strategic objectives. It addresses the links between corporate strategy and organizational structure, processes, and people, thus focusing on the dimensions determine an organization’s design. This course is designed to provide students with the knowledge base for understanding and analyzing organizational and strategic challenges, including topics such as strategic decision making, strategic change, organizational redesign, designing successful organizations, and developing and retaining key talent.

The course uses a problem-based learning approach that emphasizes application and practice, primarily by the use of cases (by Harvard Business School Publishing) that describe real-life challenges of different types of firms. Key concepts learned in previous courses of the SBWL „Strategy & Organization“ will be applied throughout this course. The course is designed to be highly interactive and is held in English.

Case study discussions and presentations will train students’ analytic thinking and problem solving abilities as well as their teamwork, communication, and presentation skills.

The course is relevant for students interested in general management, strategic management, corporate development, management consulting, academia, and executive staffing and development.

Students will learn to analyze and develop solutions for different strategic and organizational challenges. They will apply different analytical approaches and theoretical perspectives and learn to combine adequate tools and frameworks to understand organizational dimensions and linkages. It therefore integrates many issues that students have to handle in their prospective managerial jobs.

After completing this course students will have the ability to:

• Deal with concepts and theories in organization design, strategic management,  and change management
• Analyze and critically evaluate central strategic decisions and organizational implications
• Deal with theoretical frameworks in the area of strategy and organization
• Analyze various aspects and challenges of strategy and organization in practice

Apart from that, completing this course will contribute to students' ability to:

• Efficiently work and communicate in a team
• Learn to translate their insights to practical problems
• Work on solutions for real-life case studies
• Improve their oral and written communication and presentation skills
• Learn to give and receive constructive feedback

Full attendance at all sessions is expected. We require an attendance of minimum 80% of the core lectures (both in-person and online, if applicable) in order to successfully complete the course.

If you are unable to attend a session due to unforeseeable circumstances, you need to inform your lecturer before the session takes place.

The course combines various learning methods, such as: short lectures, readings, team work based on student case study analysis and in-class presentations as well as instructor-led discussions.

Further instructions on how to purchase the cases will be announced prior to class.

Course Materials and Use of AI

The final course grade is based upon the evaluation of the following assessment assignments:

• Pre-Assignment (5%)
• Team assignment and presentation (50%)
• Student Team report (25%)
• Oral Participation (20%)

Please note that students must participate in all grading components in order to pass the course.

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IOD guidelines for AI use:

1. Is the use of AI-based software in your course/exam permitted?

The use of AI-based software is permitted for writing support (e.g., Grammarly) as long as its use is referenced correctly. If you use AI-based software (e.g., ChatGPT) for text and content generation in your presentations or written work, it is mandatory to:

a) verify the information generated,

b) reference the generated content and the AI-based software correctly, and

c) be prepared for in-class discussions, where we will challenge your results and insights.

Please note that it is not permitted to upload any data to AI-based software; this concerns both:

a) licensed material accessed through WU (e.g., uploading a paper you accessed through the WU library to ChatGPT) and

b) primary or secondary data that you have or collected during the course (e.g., transcribing and analyzing interviews with ChatGPT).

2. How do you adequately reference AI-based software?

You need to provide a reference in the footnotes AND add a detailed appendix with the specific "prompts" you entered and the “responses” you received from the AI-based software.
Please find more information on how to reference the use of AI-based software here: https://library.wu.ac.at/bib/fit4research/index.php/en/fit4research-english/cite-and-organize-your-literature/citing-correctly/citing-ai/

3. What happens in a suspected case of unauthorized use of AI-based software?

We apply software that indicates the use of AI-based software. In the case of suspected unauthorized use of AI-based software, we will initially set up an additional individual oral audit interview with the student and then determine further steps.

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