The consulting firm Accenture has joined the International Management group as a corporate partner. Accenture is one of the leading global professional service firms and delivers a wide array of consulting services. In particular, it has a strong focus on IT-related and data-driven solutions. As part of this collaboration, the International Management group will organize guest lectures and extracurricular events for students, such as workshops and skill seminars, in cooperation with Accenture.

Our corporate partner Accenture invites you on March 9 to “Accenture on Stage”. At the event you will have the possibility to get to know consultants from Accenture and to explore your individual career opportunities at Accenture. The session closes with a surprise live act.

You can register online to join the event in Vienna. “Accenture on Stage” will also have sessions in Zürich (March 29) and Hamburg (May 04). You can also join all three sessions virtually!

Guest Lecture by
Accenture

On May 3, Robert Weiß, Business and Integration Arch Manager at our corporate partner Accenture, joined students for a guest lecture on the interlinkage between strategy and corporate software systems. Robert presented a case study on the implementation of a cloud-driven Human Capital Management software in a large multinational firm. In this presentation, he discussed with students what challenges the firm faced (e.g., regulatory differences, legacy systems, organizational resistance) and how Accenture helped the firm to overcome these obstacles.

The International Management group cooperates with Doppelmayr/Garaventa. Doppelmayr Group is the global quality, technology, and market leader in ropeway engineering. It operates production plants as well as sales and service centers in 50 countries worldwide. To date, the company has built more than 15,100 installations for customers in 96 nations. As a corporate partner, Doppelmayr conducts in-class projects with students. Students analyze a business case and pitch project finance proposals to potential investors. Thereby, Doppelmayr gives students the opportunity to gain insights in its international business development activities.

The consulting firm Horváth collaborates with the International Management group as a corporate partner. Horváth provides management consulting services and carries out projects for international customers—particularly in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The firm supports companies in developing and advancing business models, adapting organizational structures, and to align processes and systems with strategy. As part of this collaboration, the International Management group will organize guest lectures and extracurricular events for students, such as workshops and skill seminars, in cooperation with Horváth.

Guest Lecture by
Horváth

On October 18, Peter Schentler and Florian Gloger, from the management consulting firm Horváth, joined students for a guest lecture on strategic and financial coordination and evaluation of investment projects. Peter and Florian shared with students that integration of strategic analysis and financial valuation is essential for the identification of successful investments. In their talk, they also highlighted the importance of management control in the implementation process – once an investment decision has been made.

Edith Ipsmiller from WU Vienna’s Institute for International Business and Harald participated in this year’s Kinderuni (children’s university). Together with 50 young students Edith and Harald identified the components included in an Xbox and their countries of origin. Using the Xbox as an example, they discussed the role of international trade in modern society. We are looking forward to next year’s Kinderuni!

We had very good discussions about recent research projects at the EIBA-W “Let’s talk politics: Politics in International Business” hosted by our colleagues at WU Vienna’s Institute for International Business on June 10. Thomas was involved in methodology roundtables and paper development sessions, providing guidance to junior scholars. In a short presentation on research methods, Thomas also gave some insights into recent and forthcoming papers in JIBS and JWB, focusing on how to obtain robust and valid statistical results from regression models. Thanks to Vera Kunczer for organizing the first EIBA-W!

The International Management group contributed to the first conference on sustainability in Austrian corporate law. Thomas Lindner gave a talk on the financial perspective on sustainability as part of a panel on auditing and valuation. Thanks to the conference organizers at the Corporate Law group, particularly Alexander Schopper and his team for hosting the great event.

At the International Management group, we believe that public outreach and talking about our research outside university is essential. Harald Puhr gave a lecture at VBS Hamerlingplatz, a business-oriented high school (HAK). In his presentation, he outlined the importance of cross-cultural differences as a major source of risk in international business. Together with interested students, he discussed how this risk factor affects global strategy and competitive positioning.

In collaboration with WU Vienna’s Institute for International Business, the International Management group hosted the Alpine Winter Conference 2022 in Vienna and Innsbruck. The conference took place in January and featured research on populism in International Business. Over forty researchers from prestigious institutions such as CBS, ESADE, NYU Stern, University of Melbourne, and Wharton/UPenn joined the conference to participate in engaging discussions, paper presentations, and panels. You can find further information on the conference here.