Degree Programmes  Business Consulting (M.A.)

Business Consulting (M.A.)

The new consecutive Master's degree programme in Business Consulting has been on offer for Bachelor or Diploma graduates with a basic business studies orientation since the beginning of the 2007/2008 Winter Semester.

This also includes what have become known as “hyphenated” degree programmes, such as Business Psychology or Business Informatics. During a regular study period of four semesters, students are taught applied consultancy skills and practice in order to be able to make a successful entrance into the growing consultancy sector.

Collaboration with experts enables the Master's degree programme in Business Consulting to pick up on trends in this sector and provide specific training for the areas which are relevant to it. This configuration of subjects and content allows the Department of Business Studies to offer a more or less unique range of courses in the area of consecutive Master's degree programmes in Germany. Plans are already underway to establish a Council of Experts.

 

 

Study Content

Consultancy qualifications which are primarily required for commercial consultancy services are the main focus of the study concept. In addition to a variety of methods and techniques for solving business problems, Business Psychology knowledge and personality-based consultancy skills and ethics are also imparted. Likewise, the teaching of consultancy practice is of crucial importance.

The degree programme is broken down as follows:

The basics of consulting are imparted in the first semester. These also include, for example, the legal aspects of a consultancy assignment. Given the fact that graduates from various degree programmes are admitted, different pre-qualifications can be expected. A standard set of qualifications is established for subsequent semesters through participants' completion of specific basic modules, which take the form of individual "Learning Agreements" for each participant.

The second semester focuses on conveying methods and tools for corporate analysis and strategy development, respectively. Students also practise consultant-specific skills, such as negotiating, and learn methods of making decisions and implementing them. The second semester is largely dedicated to theory.

Building on this theoretical orientation, the aim of the third semester is to transfer the newly acquired knowledge to specific consultancy scenarios, thereby providing training in problem-solving skills. To this end, students complete a real-life consultancy project in groups. They accompany this project through all its stages: from acquisition to planning and implementation right through to evaluation. In addition to the consultancy project, students must complete a research assignment, which takes the form of a research project within an appropriate time period. This is designed, in combination with the Master's thesis completed during the following semester, to prepare them for the possible option of undertaking a doctorate at a later point in time.

Students complete their Master's thesis in the fourth semester. Apart from rounding off students' expertise in a selected consultancy subject, the Master's thesis is also used to further train academic work practices.

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