Annual Report 2023

2023 saw a strong focus on sustainability. As part of the pratical project with Amundi, students designed trendy campaigns around the topic of “sustainable investing”. On behalf of the Sustainable Finance start-up birds of trust and our university they designed awareness campaigns for more sustainability in everyday life. Our students also impressed the traditional spice brand KOTÁNYI with the contemporary campaigns they developed for the company as part of their practical project which focused on authentic high-quality communication.

In June we hosted students from The Hague University of Applied Sciences at the final event of the joint COIL project. Prior to this, the guests had worked together in virtual teams with students from our Bachelor’s program developing ideas along the value chain to enhance sustainability aspects in restaurants.

For the case study on the Greenpeace campaign to ban private jets Head of Bachelor’s Program David Dobrowsky and Birgit Schaller from the Competence Center for Markeing created up-to-date content for use in teaching. International Course Manager Leyla Tavernaro-Haidarian explored cultural understanding and a human-centered approach in sustainability communication at the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (URJC) in Madrid.

Work in the area of research focused mainly on aspects of digitalization. At the Business & Entrepreneurial Economics (BEE) Conference in June, David Dobrowsky presented the results of a study on the impact of emotionalized language on the perceived credibility of chatbots. In his talk at the ISA World Congress of Sociology in Melbourne, Australia, Senior Researcher Marian Adolf addressed the disinformation crisis driven by digitalization and social media.

Finally, two Master’s theses on PR, internal communication and artificial intelligence took home the first and second prizes at the Franz Bogner Science Awards for PR while two alumni and a student were selected as Top PR talents under 30.

Developing the Team. We work as a personally and professionally diverse team of eleven, supported by a growing number of external teaching staff from the business world and international partner universities. Almost all members of staff possess both technical and business expertise.

Study Programs. We see the Bachelor’s program in Digital Business as the “Swiss army knife” for the digitalization of the economy as students acquire skills in four areas: The basics of digital technology, business informatics, management and communication. Around 55 students can be accepted on the program each year, 40 to 45 percent of whom are women. As the program is aimed at working students, 60 percent of teaching takes place online, around 40 percent takes place in face-to-face classes at the weekend. During the semester, students meet every other Friday afternoon and Saturday at the FHWien der WKW campus.

Institute for Digital Transformation and Strategy (IDS). The Department of Digital Economy comprises two closely integrated teams, that of the study programs and that of the Institute for Digital Transformation and Strategy (IDS), where research and development activities in two areas of work are concentrated: firstly, on the use of digital technology with a current focus on Internet-of-Things solutions in the context of logistics and secondly, on strategic management in the context of digital transformation with a current focus on design options for established small and medium-sized enterprises.

In 2023, digitalization remained a key focus area of the Financial Management study programs as nowadays it plays an important role in finance, accounting and taxation as well as in financial management and controlling. Our science-based academic program that nevertheless has a strong practical focus systematically integrates this development into our teaching and thus provides ideal preparation for a successful career in financial management.

The internationalization of our teaching activities also continued to be an important area of work, with students reaping the benefits in courses such as “Special Issues in International Accounting” and “Economics”.

In the area of project management and corporate projects existing partnerships were continued, and new and exciting projects added in the field of tax law in cooperation with an international consulting firm and in the field of accounting in cooperation with a real estate company.

Teaching activities saw an increase in the proportion of online teaching and thus a didactically sensible balance of classroom teaching and distance learning. Here, increased use was made of modern didactic tools.

In addition, implementation of the revised curricula for the Bachelor’s program in Finance, Accounting & Taxation and the Master’s program in Financial Management & Controlling commenced in the 2023/24 winter semester.

The focus in 2023 was on implementing the new curricula for the Bachelor’s program in Human Resources Management and the Master’s program in Organizational & Human Resources Development for the first time. In September, approximately 120 first-semester students began their study program using the new curricula. Topics such as digitalization in personnel management, occupational health management, sustainability and self-organization in a corporate setting are now much more firmly embedded in the content of many courses. Another premiere was the launch of the new compact training course HR in Tourism, which has been successfully transferring HR expertise to the tourism industry since June 2023.

The entire team of the study programs and several of our best students successfully organized and implemented HR events or enriched them with various lectures in the reporting year. In June we held a very successful evening dedicated to the memory of Edgar Schein entitled “Leadership & Culture” which included a video link to California so that his son Peter Schein could also participate. In September, Steffi Bärmann led a workshop on “Trust in AI” at the now renowned HR Inside Summit at the Hofburg in Vienna, where a number of our Master’s students also presented the findings from their theses and explained their relevance for real-world HR.

We were delighted that so many graduates attended our Alumni Afternoon in October. Approximately 100 graduates accepted our invitation to the event on the theme of “HRO yesterday, today, the day after tomorrow”. Whether they graduated several months or several years ago, entering the building and seeing their colleagues again brought back nostalgic memories.

I would like to extend my sincere thanks to the team of the study programs, the external lecturers, our students and all cooperation partners for helping to make 2023 such a successful year!

In 2023 digitalization, internationalization and sustainability played a central role at the Journalism & Media Management study programs, running like a red thread through all the programs’ activities.

International projects, which in recent years had been delayed by the war in Ukraine and the pandemic, also gained new momentum. More students than ever before wanted to participate in an international mobility program and demand for these rose sharply.

International Networking

A series of international networking projects kicked off in February with the eighth International School of Multimedia Journalism, which this year focused on climate journalism. Thanks to support from the OeAD Cooperation Office Lviv the second, and final, project week was held in Wroclaw in Poland in July. In April, students collaborated with “Der Standard” newspaper to cover the International Journalism Festival in Perugia and in summer the international radio event “Europe on Air“ on “Aspects of Segregation” took place in Helsinki.

The highlight of our international activities was the Annual General Meeting of the European Journalism Training Association (EJTA) which was held at FHWien der WKW. Two of the main topics of discussion were data journalism and the impact of artificial intelligence on journalism. The question of what AI skills future graduates will be expected to have and how this will affect journalism training was of particular relevance for us.

Data Journalism and New Technologies

Our research work also explored the consequences of digitalization for journalism. The tenth and final Public Value Lecture in cooperation with the ORF Public Value Competence Center focused on data journalism and the use of new technologies in the media. The role of social media as a public arena and platform for political debate was dealt with in studies and lectures as was the blurring of boundaries and ethical challenges in communication practice. A study by Gisela Reiter on this topic was awarded the prestigious “Top Three Faculty Papers Award“ at the conference of the International Communication Association in Toronto.

With a strong focus on practical relevance, the Management & Entrepreneurship study programs prepare students in both the Bachelor’s and Master’s program at various levels for future leadership roles.

The 2023/24 winter semester saw the introduction of the revised curricula that had been adapted to meet the latest challenges in the working world. Key changes include an even stronger focus on sustainability and responsible business practices as well as an increase in the number of specialization modules from three to six. Drawing up business plans, carrying out realistic assignments and practical projects commissioned by external companies and organizations underline the program’s very high level of practical relevance.

The range of project topics this year again covered the entire portfolio of entrepreneurial activities. One of the highlights was surely the project from the field of strategic management, in which students developed a concept for a motorsport venue to help the event location become more energy self-sufficient. Not only were the students able to present their concept to the operator at the location, they were also invited to the Architecture Biennale 2023 in Venice where a physical model of the grandstand was exhibited.

In 2023 our study programs received two awards for excellent Master’s theses. Rebecca Daul took first place in the edcom Graduation Competition with her thesis on digital storytelling for vacation trips. An outstanding second place at the ECR Award went to Charlotte Zdasky for her Master’s thesis on the opportunities and risks of rebranding in the food retail sector. The Alumni Talk with Hannes Glavanovits also focused on sales and food retailing. Our former student offered us exclusive insights into the best practices of target group-oriented product range selection and explained how a customer loyalty app can work without personal user data.

Our researchers followed “digital breadcrumbs“ along tourist paths and developed a scale for measuring the expectations placed in brands in customer-brand relationships. They also asked which sustainability features at online stores are actually noticed by users. They shared the results with the scientific community, for example through conference presentations at the Global Marketing Conference and the EMAC.

At a joint event with the Marketing Club Austria we discussed with company representatives from a wide range of industries the multifaceted topic “Sustainability – Megatrend or Daily Business?“ at a perfect location, the City IKEA near Vienna’s Westbahnhof train station.

Our students also got top marks for a practical project for Procter & Gamble which had commissioned them to develop 360 degree communication concepts for a product launch.

In 2023 the dominant topics on the Real Estate Management study programs were sustainability and digitalization, which since the introduction of the new curricula in the 2023/24 winter semester have been firmly embedded in the Bachelor’s and Master’s programs.

The highlight of the year was the launch in June of the Endowed Professorship for Sustainable Real Estate Development held by Anna-Vera Deinhammer. This professorship will make it possible to explore sustainability issues in project development even more deeply, to play an active role in the development of ÖNORM standards and to take part in international bodies and events. Three times a year the research results will be discussed with the professorship’s sponsors TPA Steuerberatung GmbH, BUWOG Group GmbH, LENIKUS Immobilien GmbH and Erste Bank. As the research results will also be incorporated into our teaching, they will enhance the already high quality of teaching on the Real Estate Management study programs.

A wide variety of events enabled students to gain insights into the practical side of the real estate industry. A field trip organized in cooperation with the Hochschule Fresenius gave them the opportunity to view a number of projects in Berlin. We also hosted students from the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. Many industry partners accepted our invitation to the first Real Estate Digital Day with students able to take home some valuable ideas and inspiration for their professional development. Quarterly ESG talks were held with experts, including representatives from the study programs, a bank, a real estate valuer, a property developer and an asset management firm.

Special attention was given to the principle of “Study Real Business”, which was implemented in the form of monthly visits to real estate projects in Vienna for example. This provided students with valuable insights into current projects; one special highlight was the excursion to the U5 metro line construction site.

Activities of the Tourism & Hospitality Management study programs in 2023 very much reflected global and local developments in the tourism sector. While international tourism has bounced back to pre-crisis levels, the demands made on the industry in terms of sustainability and digital transformation grew. As a dependable educational partner for the tourism industry and as part of the academic community we are proud to have contributed to this development.

The Endowed Professorship for Sustainable Urban and Tourism Development established in August 2023 and sponsored by the WKW has enabled us to deepen our academic research thus enhancing our reputation as an educational center for urban tourism. In the reporting year we also celebrated the graduation of the first class to take the Master’s program in Urban Tourism & Visitor Economy Management launched in 2021, thus establishing the study program in the tourism industry.

In October 2023 more than 250 colleagues from international higher education institutes specializing in hospitality, event and tourism management met at the EuroCHRIE conference hosted by FHWien der WKW. There was plenty of lively academic debate in the form of presentations, posters and workshops. The conference not only enabled us to position the study programs and FHWien der WKW internationally, it also underscored our academic expertise.

Following successful accreditation, the thoroughly revised curricula for the Bachelor’s program in Tourism Management were implemented for the first time. This makes us the only university in Austria to offer a business study program with alternating theory and practical phases. With renowned companies from the tourism industry as partners, we train future employees of these companies in a way that has a strong practical focus and a sound scientific foundation.