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Organizing in Times of Crisis: The Case of War and Armed Conflict

#WS23/24

Summary:
The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has caused a deep crisis for individuals, organizations and global institutions. As the crisis unfolds, many questions arise that are specifically relevant to management and organization scholars and practitioners. How do firms and leaders make sense and respond to war and armed conflict? What is the role of organizations and leadership in war and conflict? How are stakeholder relationships affected and reconfigured? To what extent do different forms of organizing such as global supply chains, digital platforms or hacker collectives exploit, interfere with or even drive war and armed conflict? How can organizations as well as supply chains be made reliable and resilient against disruptions caused by war and armed conflict? How are peace efforts and war relief organized by various collective actors, ranging from public administrations and corporations to civil society organizations? More generally, what are corporate responsibilities in war? How can peacekeeping institutions be created and maintained, how are they disrupted?

This course comprises 14 classes, each dealing with a particular aspect of war and disruption in relation to different management functions and forms of organizing. It is a collaborative effort of organizational scholars from different Austrian, Dutch and German universities that have expertise in researching different aspects of management and organizations that are relevant to times of war and armed conflict. Each class comprises a short recorded lecture and a set of core and background readings in addition to links to contemporary press coverage. 

The course is made available open access, which means that all learning materials are openly available for everyone. Lecture slides and the syllabus are shared in editable formats, so that instructors from around the world can use the materials and adjust the course as needed. The course materials can be used in online, classroom or hybrid settings alike (see teaching reflections here). All course materials (lectures, readings) can be found here. You can sign up to our Youtube channel here. The adaptable course syllabus can be found here.

Learning Objectives
Students of this course should learn to: 

• Analyze the current and ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine through the lens of organization theory.
• Understand how different areas of management such as leadership, decision-making or HRM are affected by war and armed conflict.
• Assess the impact of crises and disruptions on organizational relationships in economic, social, political and ethical terms.  
• Reflect on how organizations as well as global supply chains can be designed to respond to unexpected events and be responsive and resilient.
• Explain the actions taken by firms from economic, social, political and ethical perspectives based on corporate responsibility principles.
• Critically engage with both theoretical concepts and practical contemporary phenomena.
• Reflect on what organization theory and practicing managers can contribute to responding to crises responsibly for the greater good.   

The course will also provide a forum for sharing personal concerns and experiences vis-à-vis the horrendous reality of the Russian invasion in Ukraine.

Structure

• The course is structured as a blocked seminar with a kick-off session in advance and two block sessions in October
• Please refer to OPAL for the exact timing of sessions

Assessment

Assessment will be based on a term paper (3,000 words, 60% of the overall grade) and a research presentation (20 minutes, 40%).

Course Schedule: