The course is designed to expose students to the contemporary challenges facing organizations and managers. The course combines perspectives from organization theory, organizational behavior, and international business to examine how organizations are structured and people are managed across diverse contexts. The topics covered include: organizational structure and design, strategic management, leadership and motivation, organizational culture, and cross-cultural management. 

The course is structured in two sections:

Individuals, teams, and organizations (micro and meso): This section focuses on the strategic and managerial context of organizational behavior. It examines organizational structure and design, individual behaviors and processes in organizations, and how to integrate business strategy and organizational behavior. A particular emphasis in this section is to understand the factors that influence external (organization-environment) and internal (individual-organization) fit/misfit.

Organizations and environments (meso and macro): This section focuses on the embeddedness of organizations in diverse institutional and cultural environments, the resulting strategic challenges and opportunities, and the requirements for effectively managing people, talent, and a diverse workforce. A particular emphasis is on international and multinational organizations that cross national and cultural borders.

After the course, students will be able to:

• identify and compare organizational structures and designs; understand their advantages and disadvantages
• describe and critically evaluate the key roles and activities of managers
• explain the key challenges of managing organizations and people in increasingly complex and integrated business environments
• analyze and compare the challenges of managing in national and international contexts
• understand the role that diverse contexts may play in managing organizations and people
• develop strategies for managing organizations and people vis-à-vis contemporary business challenges and contexts

The course emphasizes the training and development of the following skills and competencies:

• analytical thinking and problem solving: Students learn to analyze complex organizational and managerial challenges in a systematic way applying a number of conceptual tools and techniques in order to develop appropriate solutions.
• critical thinking: Students are encouraged to develop their own critical opinions based on sound understanding of different organizational and managerial contexts.
• presentation, discussion, and debating skills

Active engagement is a firm requirement of this course – which means that students are expected to attend all sessions and prepare the assigned readings and course materials before each module. The sessions will include a theoretical input component, discussion of practical implications, and group activities. Participation is mandatory with a minimum required attendance of 80% of the classes. Those who do not meet this threshold will be automatically de-registered from the course. Students are only permitted to attend the course section in which they are registered – as attendance and group work are tied to the specific sections.

The course combines multiple teaching and learning approaches including input components (traditional lecture style), business case studies, group work and presentations, and written assignments. For each session, students are required to prepare assigned readings, which are the foundation for in-class discussions. In addition, students will critically analyze and evaluate real-life companies, which requires application of conceptual insights and learning gained in class.  

*Please note that the course may be switched to distance-learning format—if university regulations require it due to pandemic-related health and safety concerns. Should this be the case, the classes will be held on MS Teams during the scheduled dates/times listed on Learn@WU.

Group assessment:

• Summary reports from group discussions (30%)
• Final report and presentation (30%)

Individual assessment:

• Peer evaluation (20%)
• Summary of key learning points (20%)

Grading scheme (total 100%):

• 87 - 100 - excellent [1]
• 75- 86 - good [2]
• 63 - 74 - satisfactory [3]
• 51 - 62 - sufficient [4]
• below 50 - fail [5]

This course is open to students in the 4th semester of the BBE program. Students who would like to take the course before the 4th semester of the program are required to contact the BBE Program Coordinator to request special permission to register.

After appointment during office hours or according to scheduled meetings

GENERAL COURSE-RELATED POLICIES

WU Vienna is committed to the highest standards of academic integrity and honesty.  Students are expected to be familiar with these standards regarding academic honesty and to uphold the policies of the University in this respect. Students are particularly urged to familiarize themselves with the provisions of the Code of Student Behavior and avoid any behavior which could potentially result in suspicions of cheating, plagiarism, misrepresentation of facts and/or participation in an offense. Academic dishonesty is a serious offense and can result in suspension or expulsion from the University.

The course is designed with the aim of creating a fair and inclusive learning environment for each student. Should you have any special needs or require additional support in the course, please feel free to contact the instructors. All correspondence will be kept confidential. Students are also encouraged to get further information from beable@wu.ac.at, or to contact Dr. Loicht, WU’s disability commissioner for students.