Strategische Unternehmensführung und Digitalisierung

The field of strategic management is of equal importance for both practice and business theory. Dealing with the strategic aspects of corporate management seems not only attractive, but also necessary. Long-term survival on the market and the sustainable achievement of competitive advantages are generally not primarily attributable to indicators such as the size or age of a company, but rather to its successful strategies. The development and implementation of strategies are therefore key tasks for the management of companies. This task is becoming even more demanding due to the ongoing “megatrend” of digitalization and presents companies with major challenges. In particular, digital business models and digitalization strategies need to be subjected to ethical reflection.

In the course of the seminar, students will work independently on current topics and issues in the context of strategic corporate management and digitalization and discuss them together. In small groups, the students have to create a presentation on a specific topic and give it via Zoom, as well as write a term paper on this topic individually.

The aim of the seminar is to sensitize students to the challenges in the analysis and development of digital strategies, as well as to possible ethical implications. The seminar participants also train their ability to apply the knowledge they have acquired in the seminar to concrete and practical issues.

The seminar "Strategic Corporate Management and Digitalization" is expected to cover the following topics in detail:

Topic 1: The Megatrend of Digitalization and its Influence on Strategies in the Automotive Industry

Topic 2: The Theory of Disruptive Innovation - The Innovator's Dilemma: Presentation, Critical Analysis and Case Studies

Topic 3: Digital Platforms: Structure, Functioning and Ethical Areas of Conflict

Topic 4: Digital Platforms I: Presentation and Critical Analysis of Amazon's Business Model

Thema 5: Digital Platforms II: Presentation and Critical Analysis of Google's Business Model

Topic 6: Digital Platforms III: Presentation and Critical Analysis of Facebook's Business Model

Topic 7: Surveillance Capitalism: Definition, Consequences and Areas of Ethical Conflict

Topic 8: Artificial Intelligence and Automation of Decision-Making Processes: Potential and Limits

Topic 9: Big Data: Opportunities and Risks of Generating Data Through Digitalization

Topic 10: Born Digitals: Opportunities and Risks of the Internationalization of Digital Companies

Students gain an insight into the research field of strategic corporate management and digitalization and are sensitized to ethical issues in this context.

Students should be able to apply the content they have learned to specific practical problems.

Teaching in this seminar will be fully synchronized via Zoom. Due to the restrictions in teaching due to the COVID-19 pandemic, both the lectures and the tutorials will take place completely digitally. There will be no face-to-face sessions at the university. The course will be administered via OpenOLAT in particular:

https://www.openolat.uni-hamburg.de

The seminar begins with a kick-off meeting on April 6, 2021 at 2:15 pm. On this day, the seminar topics will be presented and details of the seminar schedule will be announced. The topics will be assigned and the groups divided up in the second seminar session on Tuesday, April 13, 2021, when the preparation phase for the group presentations will begin. The individual groups will then work on the seminar content independently. Questions about the seminar content, the preparation of the presentations and the preparation of a seminar paper can be clarified with the lecturers during consultation hours during the seminar times. The group presentations and the plenary discussion will take place on five synchronous dates via Zoom.

Important:

·  Please be sure to download the course description for the seminar from STiNE and note any updates!

·  Be sure to attend the first synchronous seminar session on Tuesday, April 06, 2021, from 14:15 to 15:45. In this session, you will receive all relevant information on the course and topics of the seminar. A Zoom link will be provided in good time.

We recommend the following literature as an introduction to the seminar topic:

Christensen, Clayton M. (2013): The innovator‘s dilemma: warum etablierte Unternehmen den Wettbewerb um bahnbrechende Innovationen verlieren, München: Vahlen (Volltextzugang als E-Book über Staatsbibliothek)

Gilbert, Dirk Ulrich (2020): Digitale Plattformen: Konzept, Bedeutung und Analyse der Problembereiche, in: Wirtschaftswissenschaftliches Studium, Vol. 49, No. 2-3, S. 12-18.

O’Neil, Cathy (2017): Weapons of math destruction: how big data increases inequality and threatens democracy, London: Penguin Books (auch auf Deutsch erhältlich)

Zuboff, Shoshana (2019): The age of surveillance capitalism. The fight for the future at the new frontier of power, London: Profile Books (auch auf Deutsch erhältlich)

Further literature references will be announced in the seminar.

You must write a term paper and pass it with a grade of at least 4.0. The scope of the term paper is 10 pages (approx. 20,000 characters). You must give an oral presentation during the seminar session (group presentation) and prepare a (PowerPoint) presentation. After your presentation, you will be asked to moderate the subsequent discussion yourself and keep it going.