General Business Administration

In this module, students learn about the different aspects of entrepreneurial start-up activities. What do I need to consider when planning, what are the financial implications, how do I draw up a business plan? In addition, competitive perspectives and core skills for analyzing business ideas are taught. These include competitive analyses, methods for defining niches, the development of competitive business models and process analysis skills.

Resource scarcity, climate change and the social and economic problems of sustainability are becoming increasingly important for companies and corporate management. In this module, students acquire basic knowledge on the topic of sustainability and sustainable corporate management and learn how to integrate sustainability goals into strategic management and controlling as well as how to apply the methods they have learned to practical case studies.

The business simulation module enables students to think in a holistic and complex way in the fields of logistics and production. Using case studies, students independently make improvements to production and communication processes. By teaching soft skills, the results of their own actions are trained and their own decision-making skills are strengthened.

Communication psychology, leadership theories, conflict management, personality development and coaching are just some of the contents of this module. Participants learn the basics of psychology, communication psychology, self-management, recognize the relevance of psychological influencing factors on people and the organizational system and are aware of complex interactions. Furthermore, basic methods of self-reflection and leadership are learned and applied.

Development of the start-up idea, creation of a business plan, determination of market potential, development of cost planning and much more are taught in this module. Students can independently create a business plan and thus ensure the development of their own start-up ideas and the planning for their implementation. The skills acquired are thus aimed at preparing for an independent, economically viable start-up or a part-time business venture as a student or after graduation.

Students have an overview of the complexity of coordination services within the framework of global value creation networks. The contents of the module include thinking in systems, thinking in cause-effect (cause) relationships, supply chain management on an international scale as well as logistics solutions for mapping global transportation requirements and current developments in international logistics.

Companies are increasingly expected to address the issue of sustainability and thus fulfill their social responsibility. Students recognize that economic success can only be secured in the long term if ecological framework conditions and social aspects are taken into account. In addition, environmental management and sustainable Economics are understood as a necessary condition for the long-term positive development of companies. Students are enabled to analyze the value chain (procurement, production, sales, logistics, disposal) with regard to sustainability and environmental protection and to make suggestions for improvement.

What management styles are there? What incentive systems exist and how are they communicated? In this module, students acquire basic knowledge of corporate management and in-depth knowledge of leadership issues, interaction with employees and motivating people in the organizational environment. Students will be able to identify and evaluate personal, organizational and social influencing factors and assess work-pedagogical measures against the background of personal, social, organizational and legal aspects.

Students learn about concepts and instruments of personnel management as well as tools and processes of personnel management in companies. The focus of this course is on the areas of talent management, compensation management and special tasks of international personnel management.

How is digital data processing used in organizations and companies? In this module, students will acquire specialist skills in the application and development of digital data processing. In addition to acquiring knowledge in the field of relational databases and database and information systems, students gain knowledge, skills and abilities in the basic design of database systems by developing their own initial database designs. Students also acquire analysis, design, implementation and project management skills by acquiring skills in requirements and problem analysis as well as initial skills in structuring data and information and in the development stages of an IT project.

Students should understand the concept of sustainability in society and develop professional competence in this area. They acquire a basic understanding of ecological principles and the impact and significance of various environmental factors in the company. In the module, the various terms and requirements from the field of sustainability and environmental management are taught and discussed so that students gain specialist knowledge of the environment as a resource.

This module focuses on the fundamentals of production and cost theory, logistical problems, production planning and control as well as elementary properties of production functions. Students learn to understand and classify theoretical knowledge using practical examples. They gain knowledge of topics such as product development, research and development as well as patents and trademarks, product design, product liability and the life cycle of a product.

What is double-entry bookkeeping? How are business transactions posted in the current year and what are the annual financial statements and the profit and loss account all about?
In the External Accounting module, students acquire in-depth knowledge of bookkeeping techniques and accounting.

Students receive a comprehensive overview of the content and tasks of the cross-sectional functions HR Risk Management and HR Analytics as well as the processes and instruments of the HR Controlling and HR Risk Management processes. The skills taught are aimed at starting a career in the HR function of companies of different sizes and industries or in management careers in different operational functional areas.

IFRS means international accounting in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards. Students learn to recognize the importance as well as the legal and institutional aspects of international accounting standards and acquire basic building blocks for professional fields of application in the areas of accounting, taxes and auditing as well as financial management and banking.

Computer-intensive methods are used for problems with high computational requirements. These include machine learning algorithms such as random forests, neural networks or support vector machines as well as Monte Carlo or Markov chain Monte Carlo methods. The aim of this module is to apply these methods to specific problems and data sets using the statistical software R. Areas of application include many areas of so-called Industry 4.0, such as smart manufacturing, predictive maintenance, supply chain management or optimized energy management, as well as traditional areas such as market research and marketing.

Multivariate statistical methods are statistical techniques that measure and quantify relationships between different variables or relationships between observation units. Examples of applications include "customer segmentation", in which customers are combined into homogeneous groups, or pricing policy decisions, in which customer preferences for certain product attributes must be known. In this module, students learn about a range of multivariate statistical methods and typical applications. They will be able to determine an applicable method for a quantitative question, carry out the analysis and interpret the results.