A globalized business environment presents numerous challenges for leaders, decision-makers, managers, and employees. One of the most fundamental of these challenges is the need to lead and work responsibly—what has emerged as a "mega challenge" for organizations. With growing societal pressure for companies to act responsibly and sustainably, coupled with challenging cultural differences in defining right and wrong, individuals in organizations often feel a strong need for guidance on fundamental questions like "What does responsibility mean?", "Why be responsible?", and "How can I be responsible?"

At the same time, addressing these challenges and navigating these pressures presents a wide range of opportunities for business leaders to develop effective strategies, create value, and make a positive impact that drives meaningful change.

This course explores responsible global leadership from multiple perspectives, aiming to understand what it entails, why it is crucial for multinational corporations (MNCs) and their leaders, and how it can be implemented. Furthermore, we place a strong emphasis on developing your own leadership skills and competencies within the framework of responsible global leadership. Therefore, this course is not only about learning contemporary leadership practices with an inclusive, stakeholder-centered approach, but also about gaining deeper insights into your own leadership development.

Adopting a broad and inclusive stakeholder perspective, we will explore responsible global leadership from various angles to understand what it entails, why it is important for MNCs and their leaders, and how it can be effectively implemented. You will gain both theoretical knowledge and practical experience. Additionally, the course is designed to develop key leadership competencies that will help you navigate the challenges, questions, and opportunities associated with responsible global leadership. As you begin your professional journey, you will be equipped with tools and strategies to guide you through complex situations and contexts. These tools will also enable you to seize opportunities to make a meaningful difference and have a positive impact. Upon completing the course, you will

• have understood why multinational companies (MNCs) and their leaders face pressure from various sources to act responsibly, particularly in an international business (IB) context.
  
  
• have learned what responsible global leadership means by exploring it from multiple theoretical perspectives, as well as related concepts such as ESG, C(S)R, cross-cultural management, global leadership, and business ethics.
  
  
• have experienced both the challenges and opportunities of responsible global leadership, including the positive impacts it can generate.
  
  
• have appreciated the importance of specific contexts and contextual influences on responsible global leadership, recognizing that "one-size-fits-all" solutions are unlikely to be effective

The course focuses on the development of the following skills and competencies:

• Contemporary leadership skills: You will develop and refine key leadership skills, including stakeholder engagement and boundary-spanning capabilities, from a contemporary leadership perspective.
  
  
• Analytical thinking and problem-solving: You will learn how to analyze complex managerial challenges related to responsible global leadership and tackle these problems systematically using a variety of tools and techniques. Additionally, you will gain insights into the opportunities and positive impacts that effective analytical thinking and problem-solving can offer.
  
  
• Holistic and inclusive thinking: You will be trained to adopt an inclusive, stakeholder-oriented approach, considering the diverse range of stakeholders and their varying expectations of MNCs and their leaders.
  
  
• Critical and reflective thinking: Exposure to diverse and opposing viewpoints on responsible global leadership will challenge you to engage in critical and reflective thinking. You will be encouraged to form your own opinions and perspectives while reflecting on your personal values, principles, and leadership impact.
  
  
• Presentation, discussion, and debating skills: You will consistently practice presenting, discussing, and debating throughout the course, building confidence and competence in these skills.

Attendance is a firm requirement of this course as many of the learning experiences take place during class and through interactions with peers. The attendance requirement is met if students are present for at least 80% of the scheduled sessions. Students who fail to meet the attendance requirement are de-registered from the course. Missing sessions will affect class participation credits and may also affect other graded components realized during class.

You will learn about different views on responsible global leadership in an IB context and from several theoretical perspectives, real-life examples, video assignments, case studies, and interactive experiences. A number of activities aim to put you into the manager's seat letting you experience the realm of responsible global leadership. These activities include the UN Global Compact Game, a multiple stakeholder simulation, and up-to-date case studies on MNCs.

65% individual assessment

• 30% active class participation
• 35% reflection paper (10 pages)

35% group assessment

• 10% simulation performance
• 15% literature presentation
• 10% real-life presentation

No written exam

AI-based software and tools of all kinds (e.g., ChatGPT, Bard, Grammarly, etc.) are not authorized for this course. Students are expected to conduct their own, independent research – which as a minimum needs to go beyond the limitations of AI. For written assignments, students are expected to use their own words. This applies specifically when personal reflections and the expression of students’ own opinions are concerned. All submitted assignments are automatically checked for plagiarism and usage of AI. In suspicious cases, audit interviews will not be conducted.

Completed Core Course 1 and Core Course 2 of the RSGB specialization. This does not apply to exchange students. 

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.

Dr. Christof Miska

E-mail: christof.miska@wu.ac.at
Phone: +43-1-31336-4346
Office hours: Tuesdays 08:00 - 10:00 a.m. (Building D1, 5th floor, entrance via the IIB front office on the 3rd floor)
Homepage: http://www.wu.ac.at/iib/team/faculty/miska/en/