Adapting to disruption: A case study in higher education through „Business Informatics 2.0“

Christian Grosch

doi:10.21240/zfhe/21-1/16

Higher education faces mounting challenges: digital disruption, shifting labor market demands, demographic change, and pressure to innovate. Traditional structures often struggle to adapt. Coburg University’s Business Informatics 2.0 responds with a future-oriented program that integrates AI, business, and IT through modular, project-based learning. Anchored in organizational theory, it redefines governance, faculty roles, and regional engagement. This case highlights how universities can move from reactive adaptation to strategic innovation—offering a scalable model for aligning academic programs with the demands of a digital, dynamic world.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

At a time when challenges such as social inequality, environmental degradation and climate change are becoming increasingly acute, higher education institutions have a responsibility to contribute to addressing these issues. Especially in times of crisis, when many new courses must be set, it is crucial that universities enable students to anticipate the future independently and reflectively. Teacher training must also equip teachers with the appropriate skills and willingness to initiate change towards a sustainable and just future. Challenges of the kind described above can be conceptually summarised under the term "epoch-typical key problems". When it comes to critically and reflectively examining these challenges within the framework of higher education institutions and thereby making them transformable, the concept of transformative learning (TL) plays a key role. TL can – according to its claim – make an educational contribution to a socio-ecological transformation of society that strives for a good life for all.

Authors

Christian Grosch
Hochschule Coburg
https://orcid.org/0009-0006-5304-237X

How to Cite

Grosch, C. (2026). Adapting to disruption: A case study in higher education through „Business Informatics 2.0“. Zeitschrift für Hochschulentwicklung (Journal for Higher Education Development), 21(1), 321–340. https://doi.org/10.21240/zfhe/21-1/16

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