The Institute for Higher Education Management is part of the Department of Strategy and Innovation at WU and is led by Univ. Prof. Dr. Barbara Sporn.

IHM activities include research, teaching, policy advising and external engagement with different stakeholders, as well as involvement in international associations. Areas of interest at IHM combine theories of business and management applied to the complex organization of universities. With this focus, IHM provides insights for higher education scholars and practitioners but also beyond that for research and practice interested in expert and nonprofit organizational settings.

CV
Publications

You are kindly invited to the Central European University's Higher Education Research Group's event series. 

Prof. Barbara Sporn will join the panel on 23 May 2024 to give the Austrian perspective on the topic and bring in some of her thoughts based on her research interests.

The first event in the series University in the spotlight will be "Universities as political actors?" with keynote speaker Prof. Snježana Prijić–Samaržija, Rector of University of Rijeka (Croatia) and a student-led panel involving Prof. Em. of Modern history from University of Vienna, Mitchell Ash, followed by a reception in the student lounge. The purpose of the event series is to create space for an open discussion among CEU community members and invited national and international guests on hot topics affecting higher education in the world today.  

Date: 25 April at 3:30 - 5:40 

Place: Central European University, Quellenstraße 51, 1100 Vienna, Room D-002

Registration: Link

More info: Event page

This event is dedicated to exploring the responsibility of universities (and its members) to engage with society in times when there is pressure for universities to get actively engaged with global matters and events. What constitutes a legitimate reason for universities to speak out on particular issues publicly and what is the impact of such political positioning within and outside a university community? Do such actions turn universities into political actors, and if so, does it compromise the core values of academia, such as academic freedom? 

CEU's Higher Education Research Group's event seriesUniversity in the spotlight will continue with further with events on 

2 May 2024 on "Universities between nationalism and globalism" with Dr. Simon Marginson and Dr. Attila Pausits

16 May 2024 on "Students and the university: identity, agency and action" with Dr. Rille Raaper and Martin Unger  

23 May 2024 on “A top university with a diverse student body – Old and New Inequalities” with Dr. Pedro Teixeira and Prof. Dr. Barbara Schachermayer-Sporn.

During the upcoming summer term we offer the following courses with interesting (guest-)lecturer:

LV 5392: Advanced Strategic Leadership

LV 5432: Business Planning and Performance Management

LV 4410 + 4832: Professional Develpoment Workshop

The WU Course Catalogue for the summer term with dates and details can be found here.

The Institute for Higher Education Management and the World Food Programme (WFP) agreed on a dynamic collaboration aimed at fostering innovation in the fight against global hunger.

The collaboration builds on the success of a previous partnership between WFP and the Institute for Higher Education Management, in which, for the past two years, students from the SIMC Master’s Programme, have contributed to WFP’s innovation and knowledge management work through recommendations around crucial areas such as culture, knowledge management approaches, governance, and innovative technology.

The partnership has proven mutually beneficial by offering students valuable opportunities for internships and networking.

The collaboration will extend to various domains, including joint publication and thesis collaboration, research projects, knowledge and expertise exchange, innovation research and exchange by leveraging the Innovation Accelerator’s experience, and the integration of real-world problem-solving into the Master’s Programme on Strategy, Innovation, and Management Control (SIMC) at WU.

We’re looking forward for much more to come!

The SIMC Master program was again able to achieve a top placement in the QS Master in Management Ranking and is now in the excellent 10th place (out of 148). This meant that SIMC was able to position itself among the top 5% globally. Details about the ranking can be found here. For more information about the SIMC Master at the Department of Strategy and Innovation, please visit the website: 

Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien: Overview - Strategy, Innovation and Management Control - Master’s Programs (wu.ac.at)

We are happy to share that the article "The conceptualisation of socially responsible universities in higher education research: a systematic literature review", authored by Ana Godonoga and Prof. Barbara Sporn is now published open access in the journal Studies in Higher Education! If you are interested to learn more about what it means to be a socially responsible university, please check our work here!