Large research donation to prepare managers for societal challenges

From left: Peter Munk Christiansen, H.K.H. Crown Prince Frederik, Jens Bjerg Sørensen and Lotte Bøgh Andersen. Photographed in connection with the conference 'Leadership as a solution locally, nationally and globally' at Crown Prince Frederik Center for Public Management Mai 23 2023. Photo: Søren Kjeldgaard/Crown Prince Frederik Center for Public Management.

6 June 2023 by Mia Ulvgraven

War in Europe. Climate challenges. Democracy at risk. There is no shortage of societal challenges, and they all call for good leadership.

Therefore, the board of Købmand Herman Sallings Fond has decided to support long-term work to secure relevant right leadership knowledge. The foundation has donated DKK 30 million to research into leadership in the face of societal challenges under the auspices of the Crown Prince Frederik Center for Public Leadership, up to and including 2029.

Jens Bjerg Sørensen, chair of the board of Købmand Herman Sallings Fond, says:

"Relevant knowledge about management will benefit a lot of people. It makes a huge difference that managers at all levels are fully equipped for their job. Whether at local, national or global level, because ensuring the right leadership is not easy at any level."

According to Professor Lotte Bøgh Andersen, who is head of the Crown Prince Frederik Center for Public Leadership, good leadership requires knowledge about what works in different contexts, and she believes that this knowledge is best established if researchers, managers and policy-makers work together.

"Practitioners and researchers from the rest of the world are already looking to Denmark for solid knowledge about management. But we shouldn’t rest on our laurels, because the new challenges facing society are making new demands on us. Management can contribute to better solutions, but it requires that practitioners and researchers work together to create a strong knowledge base," says Professor Lotte Bøgh Andersen.

The Crown Prince Frederik Center for Public Leadership was established in 2018 thanks to a donation of DKK 52.2 million from Købmand Herman Sallings Fond on the occasion of HRH Crown Prince Frederik's 50th birthday. Since then, the centre, in collaboration with management practitioners across Denmark, has been working to build and share knowledge about management. In particular, the new donation will contribute to knowledge about management in relation to societal challenges.

The Crown Prince Frederik Centre for Public Leadership is based at the Department of Political Science at Aarhus University.