Inaugural lectures have a long tradition in academic teaching. This event format has been offered at the School of Business since the 2022/2023 winter semester and is now entering its fourth round in the 2024 summer semester. New faces at the School, Prof. Dr. Sabine Landwehr-Zloch and Prof. Dr. Bernhard Bartels, held their inaugural lectures in May for all those interested.
On May 16, Prof. Dr. Sabine Landwehr-Zloch inspired the audience with her inaugural lecture on the topic of Die Rolle des Controllings im komplexen Umfeld – Motor oder Hemmschuh für Innovationen? (The role of controlling in a complex environment – driver or stumbling block for innovation?) Using examples from her industry experience in innovation management and controlling in the chemical industry, Prof. Dr. Landwehr-Zloch presented key fields of action for ensuring effectiveness and efficiency in innovation management. In addition to technical and methodological issues, she also emphasized the importance of the behavioral aspects that controllers must keep in mind as those responsible for transparency. The insights into the tasks of innovation controlling were followed by a lively discussion on the role of controlling and the skills required in the future in the face of digital developments.
Just one day later, Prof. Dr. Bernhard Bartels gave an overview of the topic of sustainable finance in the context of economics in his inaugural lecture on May 17. The key message of his lecture was that the financial sector usually defines sustainable action one-dimensionally as a risk for companies and that common ratings consider the quantity and broad availability of indicators for reporting as a measure of sustainable action. From the perspective of economics, on the other hand, sustainability should be defined as an externality. As such, it is the task of the discipline to measure the positive or negative contribution of a company in financial terms, taking into account the entire value chain. The Professor of General Economics also succeeded in getting the audience interested in the topic and subsequently engaged in an entertaining discussion with the numerous colleagues and students in attendance.
Two more inaugural lectures are still to come:
https://www.hs-mainz.de/event/termin/antrittsvorlesung-prof-dr-stephane-timmer/
https://www.hs-mainz.de/event/termin/antrittsvorlesung-prof-dr-wolfgang-lennartz/
