Prof. Dr. Dodo zu Knyphausen-Aufseß
Chair of Strategic Leadership and Global Management
School VII, Berlin Institute of Technology
Straße des 17. Juni 135, 10623 Berlin
Phone: +49/30/ 314- 28744
e-mail: knyphausen@strategie.tu-berlin.de
Syllabus
Winter term 2014/2015
“Strategic Management and Organizational Change” (SMOC)
Each Tuesday, 4 p.m. – 6 p.m. (c.t.)
and
each Thursday, 12 p.m. – 2 p.m. (c.t.)
Please pay attention to hints for specific sessions!
Room:
H 0107
Lecturer
Prof. Dr. Dodo zu Knyphausen-Aufseß
Supporting assistants: N.N., Dr. Martin Heitmann
Contact :
knyphausen@strategie.tu-berlin.de/ heitmann@strategie.tu-berlin.de
Consultation hours:
“almost anytime”
Homepage:
http://www.strategie.tu-berlin.de/
Time:
There is no doubt that “strategy making” is a very fundamental topic for every company – it has to
be determined, e.g. what goals the company attempts to achieve, which products or services the
company wants to offer, why these products or services have benefits for the customers, and what
resources and capabilities the company is going to compete on against other companies. Every
company has a strategy, whether it is written down or not, and, hence, there is a need for tools
which are helpful to understand the fundamentals of strategy making. This might begin with a thorough understanding of underlying concepts such as “competitive advantages”, “parenting advantages” and “business models”, and also entail a discussion of some basic “schools of thought”
that determine how we approach the business reality, define problems and search for solutions to
these problems. It might also be helpful to distinguish between competitive and corporate strategies.
Competitive strategies describe how companies operate within their strategic business units. Thereby they have to consider customer demand (e.g. creating a so-called unique selling proposition) and
how they can interact with competitors from their industry. In contrast, corporate strategies concern
another question, namely in which business segments a company wants to compete at all. Here the
focus is not on competition for customers and suppliers, but on the interest of investors and other
stakeholders. Let’s take an example: Siemens and ABB seen as holistic entities are no competitors
on product markets, but they have to compete with each other in distinct business segments and
within specific industry environments, e.g. power plant construction. From this point of view, one
could say that ABB indeed competes with Siemens, but in another segment, the one for health care
devices, Siemens mainly competes with General Electric. Of course, both companies want to be
attractive for investors. Therefore they have to build up and sustain a promising portfolio of busi-
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ness units. Such a portfolio signals a value proposition, which leads to shareholder demand – Siemens wants that shareholders buy shares of their company and not the shares of ABB or General
Electric.
Along the lines described above, we will indeed make an attempt in the first seven sessions of this
course to develop an in-depth and at the same time critical perspective regarding the most elementary premises of contemporary strategic management theory and practice. However, there are two
aspects which have relevance for the further proceeding of our course.
First, strategies and strategic management can also be interpreted in the broader sense as everything
that concerns top management decisions. A good example may be the topic of executive compensation. In the past, theory on business administration would have said that this topic belongs to human
resources management. But experiences in recent years have made it obvious that this is a topic so
important that it should not be handled just on a functional level. Thus, an important part of this
course will deal with a selection of issues which I believe are on top management’s agenda right
now, including not only executive compensation but also, for example, corporate governance as
well as gender & diversity issues. To repeat myself: We will try to investigate all these topics from
the perspective of top management. Of course, this does also include awareness for the industry in
which managers are active with their companies.
Second, developing a new strategic direction for a business or the firm as a whole means that something has to be done to change the organization and this is something which can cost much energy,
because so many people are involved who have their own interests and who may resist any redefinition of the company’s strategy. We aim, therefore, to provide you with a basic understanding of
those issues and the critical role certain agents, such as the top management team of the firm itself
or external consulting firms, can play in change episodes. One specific aspect of our course, particularly in the second half, is that we continuously switch between the academic and practitioners’ perspective. We hope that you learn to relate these perspectives and see where they complement each
other, but also where new questions may arise that provide us with food for thought and call for
new approaches (in your master or diploma thesis?).
Goals and content of this course
This course is part of our module “Strategic Management”. That module consists of two courses.
The other course is offered in the second half of the semester by Dr. Ulrich Pidun (Director at the
Boston Consulting Group) and is entitled as “Competitive Strategies in Commodity Oligopolies”
(CSCO). The module as a whole is offered each winter semester, while in summer semesters we
offer our other master degree module “International Management”. Please note that Dr. Pidun’s
course includes four whole-day sessions (all Fridays) and that you are expected to participate
in all the sessions. This has important implications also for the present course: If you are not
able to participate in Dr. Pidun’s class, then it might be questionable whether it makes sense
to sign up for this course since you will not have the opportunity to receive 6 ECTS credits at
the end of the semester.
The module “Strategic Management” can be taken by students in business administration and engineering (“Wirtschaftsingenieure”) as well as students of “Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship” as part of their specialization. Students of other master or diploma programs should talk
with us before the classes begin and make sure at the advisory office, that these courses are in fact
included in their electives.
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We want to introduce you to the concepts of industry analysis and business modeling. Likewise, we
want to present you some of the problems with which top management teams have to deal today.
Especially when we focus on industry analysis and business modeling we intend to put you in the
position of real managers. So, you have to make your own experiences with common instruments of
strategic management and analysis. Furthermore, you should be able to learn some things about
certain industries, which may be important for your future career. By including external guests, industry experts and consultants, we also want you to learn how to successfully hold a presentation
and how to stand your ground in professional discussions.
After your participation in our module you should be able to differentiate basic theories from strategic management, to discuss them, to conduct analyses on industry forces and business model conceptions and to scrutinize selected issues of modern top management.
Required readings
Only if all participants prepare themselves for the respective meetings and participate in the discussions, the goals of this course can be achieved. For this, we have put together a folder containing the
basic literature and case studies which give you an understanding of the subject matter.
Important: We assume that you read the proposed mandatory reading in advance and that you are
able to participate in discussions on the basis of this lecture. The mandatory reading is part of the
content which is relevant for the exam. From experience, it is too late if you try to read all the literature at once and for the first time right before the exam.
A folder with the literature will be provided in the secretariat (H 9167). You can borrow the folder
and copy the relevant literature.
Schedule and organization
The course starts on October 14th and takes place each Tuesday from 4:15 p.m. to 5:45 p.m. and
each Thursday from 12:15 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. in room H 0107. Please pay attention to hints for specific sessions! When we have guests, our course can take a few minutes more than usual. We believe that this is positive news for you, because this allows us to have stimulating discussions and to
offer you practical insights. Our workshop with Accenture on November 25th will last approximately until 20:00 p.m.
In our first session we will present the case study assignments for both courses. You have to choose
three of them and fill out the form which is available on our website (the link to this form will be
published in the news section after our introductory session) until October 17th at 11:59 p.m. We
will then try to assign each of you to a group and case study of his or her choice, but please understand that some topics are very popular and the size of each student group is limited. So, eventually
not everyone will get his or her priority. In the end you have to participate in one case study
group, either in this or in Dr. Pidun’s course.
We strongly encourage you to prepare for each session and to read the course material, even if you
have no active part in the corresponding session. Without this you will not be able to comprehend
everything that your fellow students present and you cannot participate in the subsequent discussion.
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At the beginning of each session we will give you a short repetition about the content of the previous session(s). Sometimes you will have to answer questions which are intended to check what you
remember.
This Syllabus outlines the schedule of the whole course as well as the detailed organization of each
meeting. Please check the Syllabus on a regular basis to inform you on which part of the whole
course we are working at the moment and how this part is related to former and further sections.
Following this request will help you to develop an understanding of the structure and the content of
our course.
This course is taught in English in order to attract foreign students and to offer you an opportunity
to practice your language skills.
Introductory session to the chair’s teaching program
On October 14th at 4:15 p.m. in room H 0107, we offer a general introduction to our teaching program and answer questions regarding your study plans as far as they are related to our chair. We
strongly recommend participating in this session, especially to receive the password for downloading course materials.
Course materials
The charts, which will be used in the meetings, will be posted online in our virtual course, at
www.isis.tu-berlin.de (ISIS2), on a weekly basis before the actual meeting. The access is password
protected. You will receive the password during the general introduction.
Presentation of case studies
As stated above, the group assignment will be handled using the web form. The presentations take
no longer than 20 minutes. Furthermore, you have to prepare a discussion, which should take place
after your presentation and in which you argue with the auditorium about specific aspects of your
case study.

There is a deadline for sending in your presentations. You have to send your presentation to
our assistants three days before the presentation at the latest! Attention: Don’t forget to
include a guideline chart in your slide set. This is important so that your fellow students can
prepare sufficiently for the exam later on.

We will provide you with some basic literature, which should serve as a starting point for
the preparation of your case study. Nevertheless, you have to search for additional sources
and information on your own. This is part of your task.
Please pay attention: The better you prepare your presentation and the subsequent discussion, the
more you (and your fellow students) can learn and the easier will be the preparation for the exam.
Finally, all of you want to make a good impression for our guests.
Interactivity/Feedback
We encourage your participation in the course as far as possible in the seminar. To ensure the communication won’t be one-sided, we ask you to articulate all your questions and ideas openly in
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class. Furthermore, we are at your disposal for all kinds of questions and requests per email. Please
also make use of our forum on ISIS as a communication platform.
To reveal the shared responsibility for a successful course of the seminar, we ask two participants
every week to provide feedback to your fellow students holding a presentation. Due to this it is very
important that you participate in the course on a regular basis. We will explain this in detail in the
introductory meeting. At the end of the course you will have the possibility to officially evaluate the
course (as long as the course has been chosen to be evaluated by the evaluation team of our faculty)
– of course we have and want to improve ourselves.
Registration
You have to register for the class at the latest by the end of the first week of lectures in the virtual
course (ISIS). Only this way, we can communicate with you per email and inform you about shortterm changes.
Master students of “Industrial Engineering and Management” have to register via QISPOS or
the examination office depending on whether they attend the module as part of their elective courses or as free choice. Elective courses have to be registered via QISPOS, whereas the latter need to
be registered at the examination office. This course is part of the module “Strategic Management”
for master students. During the first six weeks of the semester, you have to register for receiving the
acknowledgement as so called “prüfungsäquivalente Studienleistung”. For diploma students this
course is part of the module “Strategic Management” within their first or second “BWL”-subject,
which also has to be registered at the examination office as “prüfungsäquivalente Studienleistung”.
Students of “Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship” have to register via QISPOS. In
case you have further questions about the registration, please contact Mr. Mrozewski
(matthias.mrozewski@tu-berlin.de). This course is part of study stream 3 within the IME master
program.
Students of other fields who only need a certificate or “Schein” respectively (i.e. ERASMUSstudents, students of other universities) also need to register for the written exam. Please use the
ISIS system to register within the first six weeks of the semester. Otherwise, you cannot participate
in the final exam.
Credits and module-exam
Please note that you will be graded for the entire module “Strategic Management”. The portfolio
examination consists of the following elements, adding up to a maximum of 100 credits. The grading follows the joint conversion key of the School of Economics and Management (decision of the
school's council dated May 28, 2014 - FKR VII-4/8-28.05.2014)
70 points will be based on two tests, which will both take 45 minutes each. One of these tests is
about the SMOC course (offered in December and February), the other one is about Dr. Pidun’s
course (offered in February and May). Of course, most of you will take the corresponding test at
each course’s end, but it is also conceivable that students want to take the test for this course in February (e.g. when they have participated in our module but were unable to attend to the exam in December). The first test date is on December 11th, 2014, starting at 12 p.m. in room H 0107 and
possibly also in room H 0106. The second test date is on February 12th, 2014, starting at 12 p.m.
in room H 0107 and possibly also in room H 0106. We will formulate the test in English. The
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remaining 30 points for the module will be based on the case study which you have to present in
one of our courses. Students passing the module earn 6 ECTS credits.
Throughout the semester we will support you and especially at the end of each course you will have
the opportunity to pose questions regarding the written exam – we want you to pass the exam. If
you still fail to pass the whole module (this is not the same as failing a single test or in the case
study presentation), we will give you the opportunity to repeat the module in the next winter term.
October 14th:
General information session and Introduction to the course: Competitive
advantages, parenting advantages, and business models
In this session I will provide you the basic information about studying at my chair and enrolling in
the module “Strategic Management”. As a starting point to this course, I will also introduce you to
the difference between competitive advantages and parenting advantages. The first are the main
objective of competitive strategies, the latter of corporate strategies. Moreover, I want to outline the
concept of business models.
Reading:
Porter, M. E. (1996): What is strategy? In: Harvard Business Review (74), No. 6, pp. 61-80.
Grant, R. M. (2010): Contemporary Strategy Analysis, seventh edition, chapter 8, Wiley Higher
Education.
October 16th:
Ten schools of thought about strategy making
As outlined in the introduction, it is my goal to present you different “schools of thought” that have
been developed in the strategy discourse over the last three decades. These schools represent possible mindsets how we can define and solve problems that are considered as “strategic”. They mostly
have an academic background but there is reason to believe that also practitioners follow similar
mindsets and are imprinted by lines of thought which they may have learned about during the academic studies or in the course of consulting projects they have experienced in their professional life.
Reading:
Mintzberg, H. / Lampel, J. (1999): Reflecting on the Strategy Process. In: Sloan Management Review (40), No. 3, pp. 21-30
October 21st:
The importance of the industry environment for firm performance
As stated above in the general course description, industry analysis plays a major part in the strategic management curriculum and, therefore, also in this course. This session and the following one
will give us the opportunity to discuss the general concept, before we turn to the application of it
and before we discuss it with regards to content. We will continue with the concept of “Five Forces”, which was developed by Michael Porter and which you might know from our bachelor degree’s
course “Instrumente des Strategischen Managements und praktische Anwendungen” or other basic
courses which you may have taken during your bachelor studies. Here we will also discuss some
critical points about this concept and we will include some empirical studies, which endeavored to
measure the influence that industry environments have on company performance.
Reading:
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Hawawini, G./Subramanian, V./Verdin, P. (2003): Is performance driven by industry- or firmspecific factors? A new look at the evidence. In: Strategic Management Journal (24), No. 1, pp. 116.
Porter, M. E. (2008): The five competitive forces that shape strategy. In: Harvard Business Review
(Reprint), pp. 24-40.
October 23rd:
How industries evolve: The example of the open source software industry
Industries change over time; companies have to adapt to permanently changing conditions for competition and environmental issues. Today we will focus on some determinants and instruments for
describing industry evolution. Furthermore, I will exemplify industry evolution with the case of
open source software. This example offers an intriguing interplay of economically and noneconomically oriented actors.
Reading:
Grant, R. M. (2010): Contemporary Strategy Analysis, seventh edition, chapter 11, Wiley Higher
Education.
For those who are particularly interested:
Knyphausen-Aufseß, D. zu/Schweizer, L. (2012): Industry evolution and the interplay between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Software and Genomics from a Habermasian perspective, in: Managementforschung 21, pp. 215-247
October 28th:
Industry restructuring and new business models in the automotive industry
In the last two sessions, I have provided you a general overview (including, e.g., the concept of
“business model”) and a more focused introduction into the concept of industry analysis and competitive advantage. It’s now time to bring these concepts in action!
Given that Germany is still an important location for automotive manufacturers, we should also take
the example of this industry. This industry may appear to be very mature. It exists for more than
100 years and we can see the signs of a process of consolidation. But on the other hand we are in
the midst of huge changes, as fossil resources are becoming scarcer by the day and modern information technologies open up a tremendous potential for innovation as well. How can a company
like Volkswagen cope with these changed conditions? For a discussion of this question we welcome
our guest, Mr. Gerhard Mennecke, who leads the department for strategic planning at Volkswagen
PKW.
Also, two student groups have to prepare presentations. One student group will show us how the
business models of the Volkswagen AG have changed over time and another student group will
concentrate on analyzing how the automotive industry changed.
Lead questions for group 1 are:
1. How did the automotive industry change over time?
2. Which forces (e.g. according to Porter’s Five Forces) influenced that change?
Lead questions for group 2 are:
1. Which business models are present or emerging in this industry?
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2. How did the business models of the Volkswagen AG change over time?
3. Are these business models sustainable? Which factors or trends could render them obsolete?
4. In how far can business models from other industries serve as lighthouses?
Reading: No reading for the class; the two case study groups will receive special materials which
they can use as a starting point for elaborating their presentations.
October 30th:
Corporate diversification and the role of the corporate headquarter
Everything that we talked about until now has something to do with strategic management. However, top managers also have to deal with questions which do not concern particular business units,
but the whole corporation instead. A couple of these intriguing questions will be at the heart of this
session and the following ones. The first question is really at the heart of corporate strategy and was
the central topic of a seminal book by Igor Ansoff, who published “Corporate Strategy” in the mid1960s. The question is: Should firms operate in different businesses at the same time in order to
exploit “synergies”? Is, in other words, the multi-business firm more successful than a focused, single-business firm? Are there circumstances that have an impact on the relation between diversification and performance? One assumption highlighted in the literature is that one moderating factor is
the “relatedness” of different businesses. But what does “relatedness” – or synergies – really mean?
And what role does the corporate headquarter play in exploiting these synergies? I will present you
a couple of ideas how to deal with these questions. Don’t forget that we already touched some of
these issues in our second session when we discussed studies on factors that determine the variance
of corporate performance – in fact, some of the studies (e.g., Rumelt et al. 1991) found out that diversification strategies and the corporate headquarter do not explain any performance differences
between firms of course, a provocation for researchers as well as practitioners!
Reading:
Hauschild, S./zu Knyphausen-Aufseß, D. (2013): The resource-based view of diversification success: Conceptual issues, methodological flaws, and future directions, in: Review of Managerial Science 7, S. 327-363
November 4th:
The role of corporate headquarters reconsidered: Venture Capital and
the case of Rocket Internet
A multi-business firm is basically a firm with several business units and a corporate headquarter
that fulfills different roles, depending on the relatedness of the units’ businesses. Now, what would
happen if we give up the assumption of a somehow unified company and substitute the former
headquarter with an independent private equity or venture capital firm? What value do these firms
produce for their portfolio firms, what can other companies learn from their investment and “value
adding” approach? We discuss these questions with a quite extreme example and have a detailed
look on Rocket Internet, an incubator firm that was founded by the highly acknowledged Samwer
brothers and that seems to have invented a new business model that significantly alters the traditional venture capital business model. The company is well-discussed in the business press, most
recently often in relation with its aspiration to go public. As a discussant, Hendrik Harren is with us
– he has received his Ph.D. at my chair and can bring his first-hand experiences with Rocket Internet into our discussion. But again in this week the first impulse comes from you – one student group
is expected to collect materials and answer the following lead questions:
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1. How attractive is the venture capital industry? What are the “rules of the game” in this industry? Who are the major players in Europe as well as in the US and based on which business models do they compete?
2. What is the “business model” of so-called business incubators? Do you believe that they offer a viable alternative to traditional venture capital financing?
3. So, what does “Rocket Internet” make different? How does their business model work?
Mandatory reading:
Bruneel, J., Ratinho, T., Clarysee, B., Groen, A. (2012): The evolution of business incubators:
Comparing demand and supply of business incubation services across different incubator generations. In: Technovation (32), No. 2, pp. 110-121.
Recommended reading:
Zider, B. (1998): How venture capital works. In: Harvard Business Review (76), No. 6, pp. 131139.
November 6th:
Corporate governance issues
One of the major topics that is currently on the top management agenda is corporate governance.
Here we discuss the interplay between the board of managing directors and the supervisory board.
Also we will talk about the role of annual shareholder meetings in stock corporations. Finally, there
are some more instruments, which should ensure that managers will really act on behalf of stakeholders. The latter includes shareholders, but also employees, states etc. In Germany we have some
rules for good corporate management, which are part of the so-called “Corporate Governance Kodex”. This codex is updated annually. It is up for empirical research to determine if companies,
which apply to this codex, can really be more profitable. A student group will discuss how the
“Corporate Governance Kodex” has changed managerial behavior at the Siemens AG.
Lead questions are:
1. How did the “Corporate Governance Kodex” change managerial behavior at the Siemens
AG?
2. How did the corruption scandal influence this process?
Reading:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_governance1
November 11th:
Diversity and gender issues in organizations
Another topic that is currently on top management’s agenda and that is closely related to corporate
governance issues is gender & diversity, being also a hot topic in politics and in the academic literature. Business firms increasingly realize that it is not only a matter of justice between sexes, but also
a question of how a company can make sure that it can attract enough talent to face future challenges in the knowledge-based economy. One company which has been a forerunner in this field was
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Please note that we make an exception with this reading material. Usually you should rely on more scientific literature
in order to study the topics in our courses.
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Deutsche Telekom, which announced in 2010 that it aspires to have at least 30 % of woman in leadership positions in 2015. Other companies have followed. Currently, a legal gender quota for company board members is heavily discussed – and almost decided – in the German as well as in the
European legislation. We will examine the motivations and promises as well as the concerns of such
an ambitious gender and diversity policy. Again, we invited an external guest who will support our
discussion: Dr. Elke Holst is a senior economist from the “Deutsche Institut für
Wirtschaftsforschung” e.V. (DIW) with a great expertise on Gender Studies.
Lead questions and work assignments for our student group are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
What is the so-called “glass ceiling” effect?
What are reasons for the so-called glass ceiling effect?
Find empirical studies to prove your argumentation.
Find arguments for and against legal gender quota!
Reading:
Cotter, D. A./Hermsen, J. M./Ovadia S./Vanneman, R. (2001), The glass ceiling effect. In: Social
Forces (80), No. 2, pp. 655-682
November 13th:
Executive Compensation
Also closely related to corporate governance issues is executive compensation. This means especially the compensation of directors and members of supervisory boards. Often the compensation
schemes are seen as inappropriate, i.e. the executives are paid too much. A particular and important
aspect here is how stock option plans are part of the executive compensation. But how do they
work? Which options can be chosen? Are those programs beneficial for the company at all? Or may
it be that they are at the expense of shareholders? What compensation alternatives do we have? We
will talk about these issues.
Lead questions for our student group are:
1. What are benefits and risks of stock options?
2. What are alternatives to stock option plans and what are their benefits and risks?
3. Find arguments for and against legal regulations for executive compensation.
Reading:
Bebchuk, L./Fried, J. (2004): Pay without performance – The unfulfilled promise of executive compensation, Harvard University Press, pp. 1-9.
November 18th:
Equality versus inequality in organizations
Of course, compensation plans are an important issue for executives and board members today. But
this issue leads us to a more general issue – the question of equality and inequality in organizations.
This corresponds to a question about justice as well. Let’s take an example. In 2005, it was observed that the average CEO income of U.S. firms is about 435 times higher than the income of
employees on the lowest level of these firms. On the other hand, at Deutsche Bank and other financial service firms in Germany demands came up to introduce a salary cap for board members. From
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a management perspective, the important question behind these polar cases is: Is more or less equality better for achieving high productivity and firm performance? What empirical evidence do we
have regarding this question? What other considerations may be appropriate to discuss the issue?
Lead questions and work assignments for the presenting student group are:
1. Think about modern states/societies. Would you prefer more or less equality? For what reasons? Please illustrate your thoughts with examples!
2. What equality measures would you suggest?
3. Are your thoughts on equality/inequality transferable from the societal to the organizational
level?
Reading:
Schädlich, M./zu Knyphausen-Aufseß, D., The effects of pay inequality on organizational performance: Review and discussion, Working Paper, TU Berlin 2012
November 20th:
Basic frameworks for understanding organizational change
The top management team is not only responsible for analyzing current issues and reflecting new
directions of the firm, it also has to make sure that the plans are implemented, in other words, that
change can happen. The term that is used to describe a systematic approach to develop and implement strategies for organizational change is, simply, change management. Wikipedia describes this
approach in the following way: “Change management is a structured approach to change in individuals, teams, organizations and societies that enables the transition from a current state to a desired
future state. The change referred to in this context includes a broad array of topics. From an individual perspective, the change may be a new behavior. From a business perspective, the change
may be a new business process or new technology. From a societal perspective, the change may be
a new public policy or the passing of new legislation. Successful change, however, requires more
than a new process, technology or public policy. Successful change requires the engagement and
participation of the people involved. Change management provides a framework for managing the
people side of these changes. The most recent research points to a combination of organizational
change management tools and individual change management models for effective change to take
place.” As you can see from this citation, many people within organizations tend to resist against
change, because it challenges their interests and their present positions, while others may promote
change in order to improve their personal situation. In this session, we try to get a basic understanding of those issues and instruments which help managers to deal with them.
Readings:
Beer, M./Eisenstat, R.A./Spector, B. (1990): Why change programs don’t produce change. In: Harvard Business Review (68), No. 6, pp. 158-166
Kotter, J. (1995): Leading change: Why transformation efforts fail. In: Harvard Business Review
(73), No. 2, pp. 59-67
November 25th:
Workshop: Organizational development and change
What does organizational change mean for us when it comes to practical circumstances and when
we have to act ourselves? We will explore this question with the help of a case study which has
been developed by the management consulting company Accenture especially for our course. Please
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prepare the questions you find in the case study and be ready for the intended in-depth discussion
with a senior Accenture consultant who will join our session.
Note: This session will start at 4:15 p.m. and lasts approximately until 8:00 p.m., since everybody should get the chance to share his or her ideas.
Case:
Changing the formulation: How to move from a manufacturing mindset to a customer-centric culture, 2006 (to be prepared by everybody!)
November 27th:
Does leadership matter? The role of top management teams
We now talked a lot about the responsibilities of top management teams in setting the direction for
the firm. More specifically, we have a raised a number of issues which are on the current top management agenda in many firms nowadays. This might bring is to a final reflection: What role does
leadership play? Indeed, particularly in the United States, but also in other country contexts it is
often assumed that good leadership has a strong impact on company success. We will discuss this
question and combine it with the further question how boards of directors, or to use another term:
top management teams (TMTs), are composed. Which roles can be identified in these teams? What
are the antecedents, what are the outcomes of having a specific position – such as the Chief Human
Resources Officer – within the TMT? What else do we know about the success factors of TMT
composition?
Reading:
Hambrick, D. C./Mason, P. A. (1984): Upper echelons: The organization as a reflection of its top
managers. In: Academy of Management Review (9), No. 2, pp. 193–206.
December 2nd:
Restructuring in practice: Experiences of a practicing top manager
Now, after all: How does change really happen? The best way to answer this question – and to conclude our course – is to listen to a real top manager who made practical experiences in turbulent
environments. So let’s take the opportunity to share the experiences of our last guest, Mr. Alexander
von Witzleben, a former top manager at Jenoptik and Haniel and now the Chairman of the Board of
Directors at Feintool International Holding AG, an, as we can read on the company’s website, “innovative technology company with a global focus, specializing in fineblanking systems and in
fineblanked and formed components”, headquartered n Lyss, Switzerland.
Reading:
No reading.
December 4th:
Exam preparation
First opportunity to write the test: December 11th, 2014, starting at 12 p.m. in room H 0107
and possibly also in room H 0106. Good luck!
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