What is the effect of COVID on global supply chains? What are the firm-level consequences and remedies? – What are the strategic implications for energy distributors in Europe dealing with higher natural gas prices?

There are different subject areas to choose from. Please choose one of the subject areas first. For the concrete selection of your essay topic, you have two possibilities:
− You decide on one of the already given questions or
− You formulate a question yourself within the subject area which you would like to work on in your research essay. In this case, please consider that the question must be agreed upon in advance with the tutor and approved by them. The independent delimitation and formulation of a question represents a good preparation and exercise, especially regarding the later thesis.
Introductory literature references are given for each of the subject areas, which can serve as a starting point. It is expected that further literature sources will be researched and incorporated into the research essay. It should be noted that the theoretical approach and the related literature research are the main focus of the research essay.1.1 Task 1: Geopolitical and macroeconomic environment
Donovan, M. (2008). How marketers can manage price inflation. Harvard Business Review, 4 June 2008. URL: https://hbr.org/2008/06/how-marketers-can-manage-price
Moritz, B. (2020). Supply chain disruptions and COVID-19. Supply Chain Management Review, 27(3). URL: https://www.scmr.com/article/supply_chain_disruptions_and_covid_19Possible questions for the research essay:
Please select only one of the proposed questions
– What is the effect of COVID on global supply chains? What are the firm-level consequences and remedies?
– What are the strategic implications for energy distributors in Europe dealing with higher natural gas prices?
– What are the effects of currency depreciation for foreign companies exporting to Turkey and which strategic and risk management alternatives do they have?
– Which are the strategic marketing implications for firms due to expected consumer price inflation?
– Which are case studies and learnings on intercultural management from recent successes and failures in international expansions of companies?1.2 Task 2: Green transformation & Sustainability
Baumgartner, R. J., & Ebner, D. (2010). Corporate sustainability strategies: Sustainability profiles and maturity levels. Sustainable Development, 18(2), 76-89.
Hart, S. L. (1995). A natural-resource-based view of the firm. Academy of Management Review, 20(4), 986-1014.1.3 Task 3: Digitalization
Autio, E., & Zander, I. (2016). Lean internationalization. Academy of Management Proceedings, Vol. 2016, No. 1. Academy of Management.
Bergamaschi, M., Bettinelli, C., Lissana, E., & Picone, P. M. (2021). Past, ongoing, and future debate on the interplay between internationalization and digitalization. Journal of Management and Governance, 25(4), 983-1032.