Students work in teams of five on project questions in the area of strategy and organization. Industry partners such as multinational corporations or hidden champions as well as research institutions provide the project questions. The industry partners are often in the process of currently working on the topic they suggest. Hence, they are interested in the students’ research results and potential solutions. They provide relevant information regarding the project and give feedback on the students´ work. 

The project starts with a kick-off day. Our industry partners present their question and their company. Based on the available information the students plan their approach and create a project plan. Every team has to work empirically.

Typical methods are:

• Interviews with employees or experts
• Survey based on a questionnaire
• Secondary data analysis
• Benchmark analysis
• Structured literature review

First results are presented during the interim presentation. The industry partners’ feedback allows the student teams to further improve or adapt their approach. The end-results are presented during the final presentation. The direct contact to industry partners allows for deep insights into the applied work field of strategy and organization as well as to build a network for future job opportunities.

After completing this course students will have the ability to: 

• Plan, execute, and present projects on strategic or organizational topics to industry partners
• Conduct a literature review
• Empirically examine strategic or organizational questions 
• Choose and apply different research methods to collect relevant data
• Analyze collected data, critically evaluate the findings, and develop solutions to practical questions
• Manage their time, responsibility and roles on a team

Apart from that, completing this course will contribute to students' ability to:

• Efficiently work and communicate in a team
• Translate their knowledge to practical problems
• Structure and work collaboratively on a longer project
• Improve their oral and written communication and presentation skills

• Meeting with the project partners at the Kick-Off event and signing the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) (5%)
• Project plan (presentation slides) (15%)
• Interim presentation (40%)
• Final presentation (40%)

The focus of the evaluation is the value added for the students’ industry partner.
Please note that students must participate in all grading components in order to pass the course.

 __________________

IOD guidelines for AI use:

1. Is the use of AI-based software in your course/exam permitted?

The use of AI-based software is permitted for writing support (e.g., Grammarly) as long as its use is referenced correctly. If you use AI-based software (e.g., ChatGPT) for text and content generation in your presentations or written work, it is mandatory to:

a) verify the information generated,

b) reference the generated content and the AI-based software correctly, and

c) be prepared for in-class discussions, where we will challenge your results and insights.

Please note that it is not permitted to upload any data to AI-based software; this concerns both:

a) licensed material accessed through WU (e.g., uploading a paper you accessed through the WU library to ChatGPT) and

b) primary or secondary data that you have or collected during the course (e.g., transcribing and analyzing interviews with ChatGPT).

2. How do you adequately reference AI-based software?

You need to provide a reference in the footnotes AND add a detailed appendix with the specific "prompts" you entered and the “responses” you received from the AI-based software.
Please find more information on how to reference the use of AI-based software here: https://library.wu.ac.at/bib/fit4research/index.php/en/fit4research-english/cite-and-organize-your-literature/citing-correctly/citing-ai/

3. What happens in a suspected case of unauthorized use of AI-based software?

We apply software that indicates the use of AI-based software. In the case of suspected unauthorized use of AI-based software, we will initially set up an additional individual oral audit interview with the student and then determine further steps.