Case Study Shell

This course is offered in the context of the program “Master of International Business and Sustainability” in cooperation with the energy company Royal Dutch Shell to provide students with insights on the practical aspects of sustainability and strategic management. In the course, students will work on a case study in cooperation with Shell that they will then present to Shell management representatives. In the case study, students will develop future strategies for Shell and implications for its business model.

The specific assignment for this year’s case study is currently under development. Generally, students take the imaginary role of a team of Shell employees, which pitches ambitious ideas to a group of Shell executives. Shell Germany executives will attend the presentation day. The assignments given to the students are inspired by real questions Shell managers have in practice. Shell is facing impactful changes in its environment, as not only the energy sector is changing, but also society’s demands on the sustainability of corporations’ business models. In the past semesters, the case study assignments considered this difficult dual challenge. For example, students were asked to make a trend analysis and give recommendations to Shell as to how to navigate its VUCA environment. Shell has also asked for recommendation for a positioning and brand strategy in consideration of ambitions to walk-the-talk with regard to contributing to the energy transition in Germany. In the past two semesters, they sought ideas for sustainable business model designs for products or services that would enable customers to improve their day to day CO2 balance, and customer value propositions that aimed for decarbonizing road transport with emerging fuel options, such as Bio-LNG or green hydrogen.

The following educational objectives shall be reached among others:

Applying theoretical concepts and instruments of strategic management to the case study

Developing an increased awareness of the practical challenges in the context of strategic management

Developing the ability to implement a complex task into a project and to work on and manage the same as a team

For the winter semester 2022/23, Universität Hamburg as well as the chair of Prof. Gilbert are aiming for face-to-face teaching as the norm. However, in order to respond appropriately to changes in the pandemic situation, we will follow the President's scenario planning and move teaching to virtual space as appropriate. For up-to-date information on the implementation of teaching under pandemic conditions, please refer to the course description, which you can download below (please note the status of the course description, there may be regular updates).

The course is taught in English. It is divided into two units:

The kick-off meeting and formation of groups will take place on Thursday, 20 October 2022, 2 pm – 5 pm, Room A 411, VMP 9. During the kick-off meeting, Shell representatives will present the company Royal Dutch Shell and the assignment of the case study. There will be sufficient time for discussions and questions. The tutors of the Chair for Business Ethics and Management will provide relevant administrative information and introduce the students to helpful methods for handling the case. Students will then be divided into three to four groups. Furthermore, students will obtain general information as to the group work and expected content of the case study presentation and the paper.

The kick-off meeting will be followed by a phase during which students will prepare both an oral presentation of their case study results and a paper. Both presentation and paper are prepared jointly as a group. Students will have the opportunity to have a phone call with Shell representatives once during this period to ask open questions. In addition, supervisors will offer an optional session in which groups can ask questions concerning methodology. Prior to the presentation day, students will have to submit a presentation draft to their supervisors and are expected to consider the supervisor’s feedback for finalizing their presentation. Students will present the results of the case study and discuss these with Shell management representatives during the presentation day at Shell’s headquarters (or via Zoom) on Friday, 9 December 2022, 9 am – 6 pm. Students will then have time to prepare their papers based on the feedback obtained on the presentation day.

Kreikebaum, Hartmut/Gilbert, Dirk Ulrich/Behnam, Michael (2018): Strategisches Management, 8th ed., Stuttgart – Berlin – Cologne.

Kutschker, Michael / Schmid, Stefan, (2011): Internationales Management, 7th ed., Munich.

De Wit, Bob (2017): Strategy – An International Perspective, 1st ed., Hampshire.

Johnson, Gerry/Whittington, Richard/Scholes, Kevan/Angwin, Duncan/Regnér, Patrick (2017): Exploring Strategy – Text and Cases, 11th ed., Harlow.

Students must fulfill the following requirements in order to successfully complete the course:

All students of the same group must work on the case study and prepare a (PowerPoint) presentation. Each group will then give an oral presentation (group presentation). Not all students of one group must present, but of course may do so.

Students must contribute to written group work and attain at least grade 4.0.
The paper resulting from the group work shall comprise 20 to 30 pages.
Papers that are not handed in before the expiry of the deadline are considered as failed and may not be completed by a later date.

The final grade is composed as follows: paper 50%; presentation 50%