Behavioral Economics meet real world challenges

The module offers participants an overview of current issues in behavioral economics and their application on current societal or environmental challenges and gives them the opportunity to examine one topic in more detail. The module may serve as starting point for further research, but also prepares participants for issues they are likely to face in their professional lives. Emphasis is put on aspects of choice architecture, social preferences, nudging/green nudges, herding, and further phenomena of behavioral economics and their application on a real world case. The topics are typically related to human behavior in an economic context and potential behavioral interventions.

At the end of the module, students are able to develop a detailed project plan and to understand related communication processes as well as apply principles and tools of behavioral economics. They can present their results to specific target audiences in an organized manner. Additionally, they can organize ideas effectively and communicate them in a well-developed written report. Furthermore, students are able to understand the needs of different stakeholder groups touched by societal or environmental challenges and to apply techniques to avoid miscommunication in project management rooted in misunderstandings between different actors being involved in the project. After attending the module students are also able to analyze and evaluate basic principles of management. They can deduct recommendations and develop company-specific decisions in management. Furthermore students know how to assess pros and cons regarding the applicability and impacts on corporate management.

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In an introductory session, the topic of the current project is introduced and elaborated in detail. The introduction will also introduce the relevant behavioral economics and project management knowledge. Knowledge and skills are imparted by lectures, flipped classroom teaching, individual and group project work, peer discussions, and individual coaching sessions; the learning methods are definition and solving of problems, collaborative work, group discussions, prepare and hold presentations, report writing.

Books, case descriptions, academic papers, presentation slides, online resources

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The examination consists of the presentation (written project report of 10 pages) of the project work comprising a description of the relevant project planning steps required as well as a meaningful use of behaviroal economic instruments to bridge people´s attitude behavior gap. An oral group presentation of the results will also be required. The project work shall validate the student´s ability to transform their ideas into a project proposal including a corresponding work breakdown structure and a communication strategy, while the presentation shall allow to assess the ability to present a project idea to an audience, and to conduct a discussion about the presented issues.