Managing for Sustainability

Course description: This advanced seminar offers students a managerial perspective on sustainability. Sustainability and particularly climate change is a critical strategic issue for organizations. However, it is often treated by established companies as just another aspect of "business as usual," approached through traditional practices and metrics. Consequently, many organizations struggle to effectively integrate sustainability into their strategies while navigating resulting goal conflicts and tensions. Meanwhile, emerging hybrid organizational models are attempting to reconcile market-driven and sustainability-focused logics from the outset. At a broader level, sustainability raises the question of how to foster sustainable transformation across society.

Throughout this seminar, students will engage with cutting-edge research on sustainability and management theory. The course will critically analyze dominant management models and practices that have become obstacles to sustainability, such as economic short-termism, strategic short-sightedness, and corporate irresponsibility. On a more optimistic note, the seminar will also explore how organizations can positively impact sustainability. Ultimately, the goal is to help students understand organizations as part of a larger social and ecological system, interwoven with broader societal challenges.

This seminar is designed to encourage students to combine the latest scientific insights with practical application and reflection. Rather than merely memorizing predefined knowledge, participants will engage with the academic literature critically and develop their own research questions, fostering a more active and reflective approach to learning.

This course will be held in English! / Lecturer: Prof. Samanthi Dijkstra-Silva + guests

Timetable summer term 2026:

Important deadlines:

02.06.2026: please send in a 200-word abstract and an outline of your paper idea to sustainability@tu-dresden.de

14.08.2026: please submit your final seminar paper to sustainability@tu-dresden.de