CLIS-HSG was formed through the strategic merger of two pioneering centers at the University of St. Gallen:
- The Center for Leadership and Values in Society (CLVS-HSG) established to advance research on public value management and leadership. Under the direction of Prof. Dr. Timo Meynhardt, CLVS developed tools including the Public Value Scorecard and the GemeinwohlAtlas, which have become international benchmarks for measuring organizational contributions to the common good.
- The Competence Center for Social Innovation (CSI-HSG) founded to catalyze social innovation and drive systems change. CSI-HSG built a reputation for innovative educational formats and practical methodologies like the Lab of Tomorrow, working collaboratively with partners across sectors to address the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Today, CLIS-HSG integrates these complementary strengths into a unified center: research on social innovation illuminates how new solutions emerge and scale, while public value research provides the framework to assess what these efforts actually achieve for society. This combination — understanding both the process of innovation and its societal outcomes — positions CLIS-HSG to address one of the most pressing questions of our time: How can leadership and innovation create lasting value for society?
CLIS-HSG is embedded in the broader research landscape of the University of St. Gallen through affiliations with several institutes: the Institute for Law and Economics (ILE-HSG) as its lead institute, the Swiss Institute of Small and Medium Enterprises (KMU-HSG), the Institute for Technology Management (ITEM-HSG), the Institute for Public Management and Systemic Governance (IMP-HSG), and the School of Economics and Political Science (SEPS-HSG). These connections ensure that our work on leadership, innovation, and public value is informed by — and contributes to — diverse disciplinary perspectives across the university.
Our Three Pillars
- Research: Generating actionable knowledge on how leadership and innovation can create public value. Our research spans public value theory and measurement, social innovation processes, sustainability transformation, and mission-based ecosystems.
- Education: Preparing current and future leaders with the mindsets, skills, and tools for sustainable transformation. From our THRIVE Impact Summer School to the CAS Leading Sustainable Business Innovation, we offer learning experiences that combine academic rigor with practical application.
- Practice: Facilitating cross-sector collaboration and co-creation to scale impactful solutions. Through initiatives like the Lab of Tomorrow and Partnership Catalyst, we bring together stakeholders from business, government, and civil society to develop and implement innovations that address complex societal challenges.
