Syllabus
Registration via LPIS
COURSE SCOPE: This course introduces students to the energy transition – fundamental changes in socio-technical systems that aim to address the grand challenge of climate change – from a strategic management perspective to examine how businesses respond to climate change.
The course consists of two parts.
1) In the knowledge part, students will work in teams to identify, present, and discuss strategies documented in academic literature that address climate change. Besides well-established market strategies (e.g., investment strategies, innovation strategies, digital strategies), non-market strategies (such as voluntary disclosure, lobbying, responses to social movements) will be elaborated. The effectiveness, opportunities, and risks of these strategies will be evaluated in joint discussions.
2) In the application part, students will work in the same teams and under the guidance of a corporate partner from the strategy department of large Austrian energy utility. They will apply their elaborations from the knowledge part to act as consultants, directly contributing to the energy utility’s strategy development process. Students will address the following key questions:
- What strategy processes, practices, and tools are most (and least) suitable for the energy utility to address climate change effectively?
- How can the energy utility enhance its strategy-making processes to better address the challenges and opportunities presented by climate change?
- What strategies can be implemented to accelerate the energy utility’s strategic decision-making in the context of climate change?
OURSE ORGANIZATION & MANDATORY SUBMISSIONS BEFORE COURSE START: Teams will be compiled by the instructor based on student competencies and interests. To that end, each student who is registered to this course has to 1) submit her/its/his CV (no formal requirements) as PDF file via e-mail to the lecturer and 2) fill out a form (E-Mail to registered students follows). Teams will be announced in the first session.
Understand key market and non-market adaption and mitigation strategies.
Understand the scope and applicability of these strategies in the energy sector.
Apply strategic management knowledge to a concrete case study – an energy utility facing the challenge of decarbonization.
Be able to successfully work in teams and interact with high-profile stakeholders in a dynamic environment.
Mandatory attendance of ALL students at 1) kick-off (first session) and 2) final presentation (last session).
Apart from that, in order to successfully pass this course, your absence is limited to 20 % of our appointments.
- Interactive theory inputs and best practice inputs
- In-class presentations and discussions
- Intra- and inter-teamwork
- Team coaching
- Presentations in front of senior executives
There are 3 assessment elements:
30% Knowledge Part Presentation (Group Assessment): Your team’s presentation effectively communicates your understanding of key concepts covered in the knowledge section.
30% Application Part Presentation (Group Assessment): Your team’s presentation demonstrates the ability to apply the gained knowledge to the real-world case study of the energy utility.
40% Final Term Paper (4-6 pages) (Group Assessment): A full handout summarizing the key takeaways from the knowledge and application parts.
Each element is graded from 1 (excellent) to 5 (insufficient). Each element needs to be at least graded with 4 (sufficient) to pass the course
Please log in with your WU account to use all functionalities of read!t. For off-campus access to our licensed electronic resources, remember to activate your VPN connection connection. In case you encounter any technical problems or have questions regarding read!t, please feel free to contact the library at readinglists@wu.ac.at.
Back