Austria and especially Vienna have gained a strong reputation as a CEE hub due to their excellent strategical positions between East and West. More than 200 foreign multinationals have established their regional CEE headquarters in Austria, including big players such as Henkel, Mondi and Lukoil. Besides that, more than 1,850 Austrian companies have their subsidiaries in at least one of the CEE countries. Austria is the biggest foreign investor in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia and according to the WKO, there are in total more than 400,000 employees of Austrian companies working in the CEE region. In addition, firms from Austria continue to be heavily interested in investing into the region due to persisting labor shortages at home and low labor costs in the region. Despite this interest, firms lack detailed knowledge on where to invest, what to expect from local management practices and how to deal with some CEE region specific issues.

 This only shows that many of the current students might get a chance to work in a CEE subsidiary, regional headquarters for CEE or do consulting projects for companies in the CEE region. For this reason, the course aims to help students gain a deeper understanding of the CEE business environment, the rationale behind management decisions related to organizational structures, and key considerations when developing strategies for CEE countries.We start with key economic and business characteristics of the region, followed by business characteristics from centrally planned and transition economies that still reflect the business environment in CEE today. We continue with analyzing organizational changes and factor markets in CEE and finish with the main business challenges and further perspectives of CEE economies.

Upon successful completion of this course, you will:

1. Develop the skills needed for solving the challenges faced by firms when working in the CEE region;
2. Understand the most important historical events and strategies that shaped the CEE economies and business environment;
3. Demonstrate an increased understanding of the business culture of the CEE region;
4. Understand current business issues regarding management practices, factor markets, ease of doing business, macroeconomic situation and further perspectives of the region.

Regular attendance is required to pass this course. You may miss up to 20% of the total course time and still meet the attendance requirement to pass the course. However, please be aware that if you miss a class during which one if the quizes is held, you will lose those quiz points, and they cannot be made up through alternative assignments.

This course is comprised of (guest) lectures, in-class case analyses, one smaller and one larger team research project. This is a highly interactive course. Thus, students are expected to be fully engaged and participate in class discussions. The course is designed in such a way as to maximize your learning by balancing between lecture and your involvement in discussions, cases, and exercises.

Assessment will be based on both individual and team performance. Please note that successful in-class participation involves not only attending classes, but also frequently and thoughtfully contributing to the discussion by answering questions, engaging in a thoughtful analysis of the discussed topics and cases, building on other students’ ideas and synthesizing across discussions.

Assignments with percent of total grade:

• Active in-class participation: 10%
• 2 Tests (10 short multiple-choice questions each): 40%
• Team presentation 1: 20%
• Team presentation 2: 30%

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