This class sets the stage for a real-life business project. Together with a selected partner firm (leading Austrian grocery retail player), students will identify topics and trends of stategic importance to this firm and present them to its management. Specifically, the project will focus on strategy development, performance management and advanced analytics.

In this part of the project, students will analyze both theoretical and practical literature and will give presentations on a range of different topics.

Attendance: In order to successfully pass this course, your absence is limited to 20% of our appointments. This also applies to all the online sessions.

The kickoff session (06.10.2021), workshop (11.10.2021), and the midterm presentation (15.11.2021) are compulsory!

• Coachings and training sessions
• Group discussions about research papers
• Group assignments
• Individual (in-group) assignments
• Practitioner feedback
• Peer coaching

The course uses a collaborative project- and problem-based learning approach. This implies that students will need to develop solutions to complex questions on an individual and/or group level. To support this process, a mix of instruments will be used: Input lectures/training sessions will provide basic concepts for the next steps, coaching sessions will provide early feedback, and workshops and presentations will demonstrate the ability of students to successfully structure problems and provide meaningful answers. Practitioner input will give students guidance and feedback on their progress.

The course grading system is based on:

• Workshop presentation, incl. peer evaluation: 30% 
• Midterm presentation, incl. peer and project partner evaluations: 60%
• Participation: 10%

Grading scheme

• Excellent ≥87,5%
• Good ≥75,0%
• Satisfactory ≥62,5%
• Passing ≥50,0%
• Fail <50,0%

The kickoff session (06.10.2021), workshop (11.10.2021), and the midterm presentation (15.11.2021) are compulsory! More information will be available at the first meeting.