HSG Impact Awards

The Covid 19 pandemic has preoccupied society like no other topic over the past two years. It became clear right from the start that the questions and problems associated with the pandemic are not only of a virological, economic, and statistical nature, but also have social and ethical dimensions at their core.
In a series of articles in leading public media in the German-speaking world, Prof. Dr. Thomas Beschorner and Prof. Dr. Martin Kolmar intervened in this discussion to contribute to the debate with well-founded factual analyses and normative reflections. Their text alone "Discrimination against the unvaccinated is ethically justified" on ZEIT Online has been read well over 500,000 times, commented on, and shared many times. This and other texts by Beschorner and Kolmar on the topic provided essential impulses for a social debate and shaped the social and political discussion in the past pandemic years. (in German)

Life Design is a scientific design approach that originated at Stanford University under the title "Design Your Life". There, the innovation method Design Thinking was applied to the design of one's own future and career for the first time. Prof. Dr. Sebastian Kernbach got to know this approach in 2018 as part of an SNSF fellowship at Stanford and has been steadily developing it ever since. Together with Prof. Dr. Martin Eppler and Prof. Dr. Sabrina Bresciani, he has combined it with insights from positive psychology, behavioral economics, and knowledge visualization. This has resulted in the new approach of "Life Loops", which has been published in various articles and in the book "Life Design".
Since then, this new life design approach has been used at the "Life Design Lab" of the University of St. Gallen, adapted for diverse target groups and organizations, and researched through numerous studies. In the award-winning research project, the impact of the St. Gallen Life Design approach for individuals, organizations, and society was investigated, especially with regard to the development of psychological capital, which is composed of self-efficacy, hope, optimism, and resilience.

The Corona pandemic has kept the world on tenterhooks since 2020. In addition to the fundamental economic and In addition to the fundamental economic and social challenges, there has also been an abrupt change in the way companies work together: Home office, virtual collaboration, and the increased use of digital communication tools gained enormous importance due to the crisis. For many employees, the increased use of home office goes hand in hand with a gain in freedom and flexibility. On the other hand, empirical findings show that increased work in the home office leaves a considerable proportion of employees behind and threatens them with burnout. Not only to maintain their own competitiveness but also out of social responsibility, companies must find ways to support their employees in this ongoing exceptional situation in order to ensure long-term health and performance. The research project "Resilience and High Performance at Hilti in Times of Pandemic" by Prof. Dr. Heike Bruch, Prof. Dr. Nils Fürstenberg, and Frederik Hesse was dedicated to this topic in view of these comprehensive challenges, with the aim of supporting Hilti in successfully overcoming this global crisis. (in German)