Key Takeaways
- Format: Guest Lecture as part of the CBS Guest Lecture Series
- Speaker: Filip Weidenbach
- Position: Project Manager in HR
- Company: SAP
- Industry: Enterprise Software and Digital Platform Solutions
- Topic Focus: New Work, leadership in a VUCA world and modern organisational structures
- Practical Example: Decision-making processes, consent voting and distributed leadership in global teams
- Practical Relevance: The lecture demonstrates how real-world business perspectives are systematically integrated into CBS study programmes
Insights into Modern Work and Leadership Models
Practice-oriented insights from the business world are a core element of the study concept at CBS. As part of the CBS Guest Lecture Series, executives and experts regularly share their perspectives on current developments in companies and markets.
As part of this series, CBS welcomed Filip Weidenbach, Project Manager at SAP, to campus. In his lecture, he gave students insights into modern ways of working and leadership models at one of the world's largest software companies.
With more than 100,000 employees worldwide, SAP is one of the leading providers of enterprise software. The company operates in global teams across different countries, cultures and time zones. This international structure places particular demands on organisation, collaboration and leadership.
Companies like SAP illustrate the ambition of the CBS NXT GEN programme: students should not only understand business contexts in theory, but be able to contextualise them through concrete insights from leading companies. The collaboration with internationally renowned organisations underscores how closely NXT GEN is connected to the real business world.
New Work in a VUCA World
A central focus of the lecture was the question of how organisations operate in a VUCA world.
VUCA stands for:
- Volatility
- Uncertainty
- Complexity
- Ambiguity
Companies must operate with particular flexibility in this environment. Filip Weidenbach explained how SAP designs its organisational structures to ensure that teams remain capable of acting decisively even under dynamic market conditions.
Distributed Leadership and Personal Accountability
An important component of modern organisational models is Distributed Leadership.
In this approach, leadership responsibilities are not held exclusively by a single manager. Instead, teams share accountability collectively and make decisions collaboratively.
This approach promotes:
- Faster decision-making processes
- Greater personal accountability within the team
- Increased capacity for innovation
For global technology companies like SAP, this form of collaboration is a decisive success factor.
Decision-Making Processes: Consent Voting
Alongside organisational structures, the lecture also addressed modern decision-making processes.
One example is Consent Voting. Here, a decision is adopted as long as no team member raises a reasoned objection.
This approach enables teams to make decisions efficiently while ensuring that all perspectives are taken into account.
Management Decisions Put to the Test
As part of an interactive exercise, students were able to experience firsthand how management decisions influence team collaboration.
The exercise illustrated how important resource allocation, communication and decision-making structures are for a team's success. Practice-oriented elements like this enable students to experience theoretical concepts directly in a realistic setting.
Real-world business experience integrated into the curriculum
The SAP Guest Lecture is a strong example of the practice-oriented learning concept at CBS.
In our business programmes, the connection to real-world business practice is systematically embedded through:
- Business Projects addressing real strategic and operational challenges from partner companies
- Regular guest lectures by executives and industry experts
- Conventions providing space for interdisciplinary learning and practice-oriented leadership experiences
- Case studies and simulation games addressing typical business challenges
- Mandatory internships for applying academic knowledge in a corporate context
- Dual study formats with continuous integration into company structures
- A network of more than 1,300 partner companies across various industries
This structured integration enables students not only to analyze economic challenges but also to develop well-founded decisions under real market conditions.
With initiatives like this, CBS reinforces its commitment to closely linking business and academia and preparing students specifically for leadership roles in a globalized and sustainability-oriented economy.
Conclusion: Rethinking Leadership and Collaboration
The Guest Lecture by Filip Weidenbach gave students a fascinating look into modern work and leadership models at a global technology company.
The event impressively demonstrated how flexibility, trust and new decision-making processes help organisations thrive in a complex and dynamic world.
For CBS students, the lecture was a valuable opportunity to understand how modern organisations function and which competencies will be most in demand in the future world of work.
Key Takeaways
- Format: Guest Lecture as part of the CBS Guest Lecture Series
- Speaker: Filip Weidenbach
- Position: Project Manager in HR
- Company: SAP
- Industry: Enterprise Software and Digital Platform Solutions
- Topic Focus: New Work, leadership in a VUCA world and modern organisational structures
- Practical Example: Decision-making processes, consent voting and distributed leadership in global teams
- Practical Relevance: The lecture demonstrates how real-world business perspectives are systematically integrated into CBS study programmes
Insights into Modern Work and Leadership Models
Practice-oriented insights from the business world are a core element of the study concept at CBS. As part of the CBS Guest Lecture Series, executives and experts regularly share their perspectives on current developments in companies and markets.
As part of this series, CBS welcomed Filip Weidenbach, Project Manager at SAP, to campus. In his lecture, he gave students insights into modern ways of working and leadership models at one of the world's largest software companies.
With more than 100,000 employees worldwide, SAP is one of the leading providers of enterprise software. The company operates in global teams across different countries, cultures and time zones. This international structure places particular demands on organisation, collaboration and leadership.
Companies like SAP illustrate the ambition of the CBS NXT GEN programme: students should not only understand business contexts in theory, but be able to contextualise them through concrete insights from leading companies. The collaboration with internationally renowned organisations underscores how closely NXT GEN is connected to the real business world.
New Work in a VUCA World
A central focus of the lecture was the question of how organisations operate in a VUCA world.
VUCA stands for:
- Volatility
- Uncertainty
- Complexity
- Ambiguity
Companies must operate with particular flexibility in this environment. Filip Weidenbach explained how SAP designs its organisational structures to ensure that teams remain capable of acting decisively even under dynamic market conditions.
Distributed Leadership and Personal Accountability
An important component of modern organisational models is Distributed Leadership.
In this approach, leadership responsibilities are not held exclusively by a single manager. Instead, teams share accountability collectively and make decisions collaboratively.
This approach promotes:
- Faster decision-making processes
- Greater personal accountability within the team
- Increased capacity for innovation
For global technology companies like SAP, this form of collaboration is a decisive success factor.
Decision-Making Processes: Consent Voting
Alongside organisational structures, the lecture also addressed modern decision-making processes.
One example is Consent Voting. Here, a decision is adopted as long as no team member raises a reasoned objection.
This approach enables teams to make decisions efficiently while ensuring that all perspectives are taken into account.
Management Decisions Put to the Test
As part of an interactive exercise, students were able to experience firsthand how management decisions influence team collaboration.
The exercise illustrated how important resource allocation, communication and decision-making structures are for a team's success. Practice-oriented elements like this enable students to experience theoretical concepts directly in a realistic setting.
Real-world business experience integrated into the curriculum
The SAP Guest Lecture is a strong example of the practice-oriented learning concept at CBS.
In our business programmes, the connection to real-world business practice is systematically embedded through:
- Business Projects addressing real strategic and operational challenges from partner companies
- Regular guest lectures by executives and industry experts
- Conventions providing space for interdisciplinary learning and practice-oriented leadership experiences
- Case studies and simulation games addressing typical business challenges
- Mandatory internships for applying academic knowledge in a corporate context
- Dual study formats with continuous integration into company structures
- A network of more than 1,300 partner companies across various industries
This structured integration enables students not only to analyze economic challenges but also to develop well-founded decisions under real market conditions.
With initiatives like this, CBS reinforces its commitment to closely linking business and academia and preparing students specifically for leadership roles in a globalized and sustainability-oriented economy.
Conclusion: Rethinking Leadership and Collaboration
The Guest Lecture by Filip Weidenbach gave students a fascinating look into modern work and leadership models at a global technology company.
The event impressively demonstrated how flexibility, trust and new decision-making processes help organisations thrive in a complex and dynamic world.
For CBS students, the lecture was a valuable opportunity to understand how modern organisations function and which competencies will be most in demand in the future world of work.
