Management, Organization and Strategy

In response to environmental complexity the organizational structure and strategies of business firms are becoming increasingly polycentric, fragmented and heterogeneous.

While complexity itself is not a new phenomenon, the level and nature of complexity of today’s world is unprecedented. It has reached a level where the traditional ways of managing complexity often no longer suffice. What strategic and organizational approaches are required to adequately deal with these challenges?

By analyzing the strategic, organizational, and systemic dimensions of complexity at both the level of the firm, the networks it is embedded in, and the society, we see emerging forms of complexity management such as paradoxical strategies and simultaneous collaboration and competition between organizations.

Exemplary project: Corporate Legitimacy and Corporate Communication - A Meso Level Analysis of Organizational Structures within Global Business Firms (A. Scherer)

Our research is based on the premise that retaining corporate legitimacy depends on carefully designed organizational processes. The extant literature lacks an understanding of which type of legitimacy strategies corporations employ to manage corporate legitimacy and how the management of legitimacy develops over time. Through multiple case studies, we show how organizational structures and procedures as well as communication processes adjust to constitute corporate legitimacy in an increasingly heterogeneous world. Our work sheds light on the organizational prerequisites for managing corporate legitimacy and clarifies that managing stakeholder expectations in a socially acceptable manner requires sound knowledge about the sensitivities of the respective stakeholder groups and an openness to discuss corporate policies with internal and external stakeholders.

Selected research projects

Management, Organization and Strategy is part of the curriculum of the Business Administration specialization at the Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctoral levels. Courses can be particularly attended in the Business Administration core elective areas 3 and 5. The following list provides examples of courses particularly related to our topic.

List of courses

The following Faculty members research and/or teach in Management, Organization and Strategy.

Department of Business Administration (IBW)

Prof. Thomas Keil, D.Sc. (Tech.)
Prof. Dr. Anja Schulze
Prof. Dr. Andreas Georg Scherer (main contact for topic)
Prof. David Seidl, PhD

Department of Economics (IVW)

Prof. Dr. Marek Pycia