Master Leadership & General Management

Part-Time Master's Degree

• Part-time master degree in 3 semesters (taught in German)
• About 10 block courses per semester, approximately every 2 weeks
• Every Friday afternoon and Saturday all day

Leadership Skills

• Future-oriented strategy development under uncertain conditions
• Understanding and communicating complex issues
• Focusing on the key priorities
• Leadership Lab

Business Overview

• Corporate governance
• Financial management
• Personnel and organisation

Strategic Focus

• General management
• Marketing management
• Global markets

Future-Oriented Education

• Innovation management
• Digitization and digital transformation

Core concepts of general management

The aim of this module is to ensure an understanding of central general management core topics that are essential for executives in all areas of business life.

You will learn about complex economic interrelationships and dependencies between different areas of the company and supplement the internal view of the company with the market perspective. For example the influence of the market and customer on companies in the digital age. In addition to the relevant specialist knowledge, you will deepen your problem solving skills and implementation abilities in order to make qualified decisions in a complex and global environment.

Strategic general management

In this course, you will deal intensively with the systematic consideration of strategic general management, corporate identity, industry and competitive analysis as well as the process of corporate development. Structural decisions, corporate culture and leadership complete this analytical approach.

You will recognize that the future of a company can be influenced by strategic general management, taking into account all relevant influencing factors, both on a rational and corporate cultural level, and that you can generate sustainable potential for success.

Strategic marketing management

"The purpose of a firm is to create and keep customers" (Peter Drucker). This central corporate task is the focus of strategic marketing management. You will discuss marketing instruments and models and apply them in concrete empirical projects in marketing management. The focus is on both strategic and operational marketing aspects. Special emphasis is placed on current developments such as new media marketing, omnichannel marketing, content marketing and storytelling, microtargeting and Web 2.0.

In addition, students of the Master's Program Leadership & General Management work on topics from sales management, for both the B2B and B2C sectors. The focus lies on fundamental strategic decisions in sales, sales strategy, sales organization and structure as well as sales management and incentives.

Human Resources & Organization

The topic of HR management is closely related to general management. It ranges from fundamental corporate strategy and HR strategy to operational HR management and leadership, which implies a sound education in business administration. The key issue here is to ensure that employees have the "right skills at the right time" to meet business challenges. This includes not only personnel selection and management, but also ongoing development and modern work and remuneration systems. The appropriate organizational structures must be seen as an integral part of this. Existing forms of organization are questioned and considerations are made regarding structural adjustments that enable new forms of cooperation in order to meet current challenges.

Development in processes and structures always involves change, which often leads to resistance. With the concepts and models of leadership and change management, however, approaches can be found to successfully manage change in organizations.

Global markets

In this course, you will learn about the necessity of social and economic interrelationships in a globalized world, which are relevant for the management of business areas. The current economic environment is characterized by dynamism and global networking (keyword: international business). This requires not only in-depth specialist knowledge of socio-political, macro- and microeconomic contexts. But also the skills to assess the influence of these factors on your own company and derive key management decisions.

Corporate decisions in the context of international business management often extend far beyond your own location. You reflect on your role as a manager in a global world from both an economic and an ethical perspective in the sense of responsible leadership. Therefore, topics such as business ethics and CSR are highly relevant for managers and therefore part of the General Management program.

Financial management

Financial management plays a central role in successful general management. Deepen your existing business understanding of the core areas of accounting, cost accounting and controlling. You will learn to understand and apply the most important key figures and control systems in the business environment. And how to make financial decisions based on specific parameters in order to effectively manage risk.

All aspects are developed and discussed both conceptually and with regard to specific implementation and control scenarios in your professional practice. In addition to knowledge of the contents, the focus of this part of the Master's Program Leadership & General Management lies on the analytical and structured way of thinking and approach. All in context of financial policy decisions for your company.

Innovation management

The focus of innovation management is not to be satisfied with what has been achieved, but to remain innovative. At its core, it is the task of executives to promote innovation in their companies through suitable measures and processes, while at the same time keeping an eye on economic success. In this subject, you will learn both the basics of "Managing Innovation and Knowledge" and how to put them into practice.

Innovative business models play a central role in this context. In theoretical and practical discussions, they ask themselves questions such as: Which customer problem is solved with the new business model? How can a company create special value and benefits? How does it earn money?

Learn all about the key elements of a successful business model and practical tools for analyzing and discussing dependencies between the individual elements in the Master's Course in Leadership & General Management.

Leadership Lab

In the Leadership Lab, you will address the latest topics in leadership and general management. The focus includes concepts such as agile leadership. What soft skills do you need as a self-reflective, courageous and emotionally intelligent manager to maintain a balance in a flexible and dynamic VUCA environment? What does it take to lead an organization with a sure hand? Leadership is often about moderation and communication. The traditional "command & control" management model seems to have had its day and top-down management is reaching its limits, which emphasizes the need for better communication and administration in modern leadership.

While the hierarchies of the 20th century are crumbling, the call for new "agile" models is getting louder and louder. One thing is clear: rigid systems lack the flexibility to meet the challenges of the modern economy. But agility alone is not the answer. The solution can only lie in the careful preparation of managers and in the ability of organizations and their employees to adapt and change.

Digitalization & digital transformation

The digital revolution is not only changing the business world, but all areas of our lives. It is changing entire industries and forcing companies to question their business models. Digitalization has brought about a paradigm shift in entrepreneurial thinking and action that is impacting many areas of business (e.g. digital business models, big data and its influence on business decisions, digitalization in recruitment, Industry 4.0) and whose dimensions are not yet foreseeable. Therefore, it is important to understand the drivers behind digitalization in the area of new technologies and to filter out which technological developments can and will have a concrete impact on your own company or industry.

The implementation of digital processes and innovations is of crucial importance for individual departments. To remain competitive, you must face the challenges of digital transformation and at the same time seize the resulting opportunities.

Methodological competence

In times where data collection and analysis play an important role, businesses rely on data as the essential basis for decision-making. They formulate the necessary foundation, emphasizing scientific work, to generate and process the "right" data in meaningful structures and utilize it effectively.

During your studies in the field of Leadership & General Management, you will actively engage with various research methods and gain insights into the process of scientific research in all its components. You will learn about the procurement of information, as well as its processing and interpretation. Through selected examples, you will apply the basics of practice and theory in real-world scenarios.

Case Studies

During the extraordinary Master's Degree Program Leadership & General Management, students must provide evidence of professional experience related to the content of the program. The practical case work is supplemented by an accompanying case study seminar.

Master's Thesis

As part of the Master's thesis, you will work on your own topics of practical relevance. The Master's thesis can be written as an individual project or as a group project in which the group members combine their experience from a wide range of areas, companies and industries to create a comprehensive, practicable solution from different perspectives. The topic can be chosen freely and can come from any aspect of the Leadership & General Management degree program.