From CSI-HSG and CLVS-HSG to the new Center for Leadership and Innovation in Society (CLIS-HSG)

With the founding of CLIS-HSG, the University of St. Gallen is establishing a center that brings together, within a single structure, what the two predecessor centers have built up over many years. 
Under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Timo Meynhardt, CLVS-HSG has shaped public value research at HSG for over two decades. The GemeinwohlAtlas, and the Public Value Scorecard have emerged as internationally recognized tools for measuring and steering organizations’ contributions to societal value. The CSI-HSG, in turn, has established itself as an academic center for social innovation—both in research and in continuing education and practice through initiatives such as the St. Gallen Transformation Lab, the Partnership Catalyst, and the THRIVE Impact Summer School.

These perspectives converge in the new CLIS-HSG: research on social innovation sheds light on how new solutions emerge and scale, while public value research provides the framework for assessing what these efforts actually achieve for society. This combination—an understanding of both the innovation process and its societal impact—enables CLIS-HSG to address one of the most pressing questions of our time: How can leadership and innovation create lasting value for society?

The CLIS-HSG is deeply embedded in the research landscape of the University of St. Gallen and is affiliated with several institutes: the Institute for Law and Economics (ILE-HSG) as the lead institute, the Swiss Institute for SMEs and Entrepreneurship (KMU-HSG), the Institute for Technology Management (ITEM-HSG), the Institute for Systemic Management and Public Governance (IMP-HSG), and the School of Economics and Political Science (SEPS-HSG). The directors of CLIS-HSG are Dr Justus von Grone and Prof. Dr Timo Meynhardt.

The Center’s work rests on three pillars: research that generates actionable knowledge on how leadership and innovation create societal value; continuing education and teaching that equips today’s and tomorrow’s leaders with the mindsets, skills, and tools for sustainable transformation; and practice that enables cross-sector collaboration and co-creation to develop and scale effective solutions. All existing programs of both centers—from the GemeinwohlAtlas to the CAS Leading Sustainable Business Innovation and the Partnership Catalyst—will be continued and further developed under the umbrella of CLIS-HSG.