Betriebs­wirtschafts­lehre - Master (alle)

Nach einem Überblick über Begriff und System der Grundsätze ordnungs­mäßiger Bilanzierung (GoB) werden zunächst die Aktivierungs­normen für den Jahres­abschluss systematisch und beispielhaft erarbeitet. Dazu zählen insbesondere die Definition von (immateriellen) Vermögensgegenständen und deren Zurechnung, die Gewinnrealisierung sowie aktive Rechnungs­abgrenzungs­posten. Anschließend werden Passivierungs­grundsätze zum Verbindlichkeits­begriff, Passivierungs­zeitpunkt und zu Drohverlustrückstellungen sowie passiven Rechnungs­abgrenzungs­posten diskutiert. Zuletzt werden die Bewertungs­normen mit einem Fokus auf die Anschaffungs- und Herstellungs­kosten, die Bewertung von Schulden, die Absetzung für Abnutzung und den Teilwert thematisiert.

This course teaches financial statement analysis in the context of equity valuation. The first part covers common tools of financial statements analyses (accounting analysis, ratio analysis, analysis of narratives) and the derivation of inputs into valuation models. Applying this knowledge, techniques for a consistent identification of free cash flows and abnormal earnings from integrated pro-forma financial statements (financial modelling and business planning) as well as the estimation of required rates of returns from capital market-based data are discussed. In the second part, methods for equity and asset valuation, in particular the cash-flow based DCF-models and the earnings-based abnormal earnings (AE) and earnings growth (AEG) models are covered. Finally, in the third part the course focuses on applications of fundamental analysis and valuation methods for equity investments and in Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A, purchase price allocation and the valuation of intangible assets).

The course addresses in-depth the accounting for financial instruments and by financial institutions under IFRS as well as related conceptual issues currently discussed by standard setters and bank regulators. It covers the definition of financial instruments, their classification, initial and subsequent measurement, impairment, derecognition, as well as their accounting in the context of hedging transactions. We also discuss relevant notes disclosures in banks’ financial statements and links to capital regulation.

Zentrale Themen der Rechnungs­legung von Unternehmens­transaktionen werden anhand von Fall­studien erarbeitet. Der Kurs richtet sich an Studierende, die bereits Grund­kenntnisse im Bereich der Rechnungs­legung und Unternehmens­transaktion besitzen und demnach eine Vertiefung des Wissens in diesem Bereich anstreben. Im Speziellen werden sechs Themen im Rahmen des Kurses behandelt: Definition der Rechnungs­legung von Unternehmens­transaktionen, Ökonomische Motivation und Hintergründe von Unternehmens­transaktionen, Rechtliche Grundlagen von Unternehmens­transaktionen, Rechnungs­legung von Unternehmens­transaktionen nach IFRS und Carve-out-Transaktionen und zuletzt die Besteuerung von Unternehmens­transaktionen.

Die Veranstaltung ergänzt die Konzernrechnungs­legung um praxisrelevante Fragestellungen. Eingangs erfolgt eine Darstellung und Diskussion der Rechnungs­legung in Umwandlungs­fällen, insbesondere der Verschmelzung, nach dem Umwandlungs­recht. Daran schließen sich ausgewählte Einzelfragen zur Kapitalkonsolidierung nach HGB / DRS / IFRS an, so z.B. die Berücksichtigung latenter Steuern im Rahmen der Kaufpreisallokation, des Goodwill Impairment Tests, der Kapitalkonsolidierung im mehrstufigen Konzern und der Kapitalkonsolidierung bei Kapitaländer­ungen beim Tochter­unternehmen. Des Weiteren werden an Beispielen die einzelnen Phasen der Kapitalkonsolidierung, namentlich der Erst-, Folge-, Ent- und Übergangs­konsolidierung erarbeitet. Ergänzt wird die Veranstaltung um besonders aktuelle Fragestellungen.

In the first part, we will outline the characteristics of relevant capital markets participants with a special focus on credit institutions and their regulators. Accordingly, the specific business models of banks will be described and we will show how those models are reflected in a controlling and accounting perspective. In parallel we will look at their value and profit levers. Thereafter we will take a look at the concepts of bank capital (equity, economic capital, regulatory capital) and analyze them with regard to value based management. Thereby we will deepen the understanding of the relevant risks for banks, e.g. credit risk, market risk and liquidity risk. 

For the second part, the students will prepare and present case studies. The cases are mainly related to the events of the recent financial market crisis and should sharpen the understanding of interdependencies in the context of how to measure and account for risks and how they can be proactively managed in an overall strategic context. Therefore, various case studies will be used.

In the first part, we will outline the characteristics of relevant capital markets participants with a special focus on credit institutions and their regulators. Accordingly, the specific business models of banks will be described and we will show how those models are reflected in a controlling and accounting perspective. In parallel we will look at their value and profit levers. Thereafter we will take a look at the concepts of bank capital (equity, economic capital, regulatory capital) and analyze them with regard to value based management. Thereby we will deepen the understanding of the relevant risks for banks, e.g. credit risk, market risk and liquidity risk. 

For the second part, the students will prepare and present case studies. The cases are mainly related to the events of the recent financial market crisis and should sharpen the understanding of interdependencies in the context of how to measure and account for risks and how they can be proactively managed in an overall strategic context. Therefore, various case studies will be used.

In this course, offered jointly with KPMG, current topics from the frontier between financial accounting, consulting, risk management, regulatory law and capital markets with a focus on the financial services sector will be covered. The participants will form groups of three to four students and discuss problem areas of high practical relevance using both practice-oriented and academic approaches. Results will be summarized in a consulting report and presented in a final results presentation.

The aim of this course is to provide students with an insight into analytical disclosure theory, one important stream of literature in accounting research. The overview provides insights what shapes firms’ reporting decisions.

• Tax planning for partnerships
• Tax planning for corporations
• Real estate transfer tax
• Changes of corporate form and reorganizations
• Business acquisitions

• Basics of international business taxation,
• taxation of inbound investments,
• taxation of outbound investments,
• transfer pricing,
• cross-border reorganizations.

• International Tax Planning and Tax Structuring using Financing Companies in the case of Outbound Investment
• International Tax Planning and Tax Structuring using Financing Companies in the case of Inbound Investment
• International Tax Planning and Tax Structuring concerning the German „Zinsschranke“ (Thin-Cap-Rule) and other foreign Anti-Avoidance-Rules
• International Tax Planning and Tax Structuring especially considering the Reorganization Tax Act
• International Tax Planning and Tax Structuring especially considering Qualification Conflicts

The subject of the course is the management of risks, which insurance companies (in life as well as in non-life insurance) do cover within the scope of their insurance activities.

This course builds on FIN500 and extends the discussion of modern portfolio management and its applications. It covers issues in bond portfolio management, performance measurement, risk management, and fund management.

The course provides students with an understanding of important empirical methods and their application in finance. It covers topics in asset pricing, corporate finance, and market microstructure. Students will learn to perform empirical analysis using the software package Stata. The course enables students to plan and carry out empirical research in finance on their own and prepares for an empirical seminar or master thesis in the finance area. Part of the course consists of the practical application of the methods learned in the lecture to various case studies.

There is abundant evidence suggesting that the standard economic paradigm of rational investors does not adequately describe behavior in financial markets. Behavioral Finance examines how individuals' attitudes and behavior affect their financial decisions. This course reviews recent research on possible mispricing in financial markets due to the nature of psychological biases. Moreover the course deals with behavioral finance models explaining investor behavior or market anomalies when rational models provide no sufficient explanations. Topics will include among others overconfidence, prospect theory, heuristic driven biases and frame dependence.

The topic of this course is the restructuring of corporations through mergers, acquisitions and divestitures. The purpose of the lecture is to provide an understanding of restructuring processes and to provide an analytic framework to analyze the motivation of these activities and their individual merits. A special focus will be on the economic analysis of corporate strategy and the contractual structures of various types of transactions. We will also discuss valuation and cost of capital in an international context. The lecture will frequently draw on empirical studies, especially on event studies. Participants will be required to solve several case studies in groups of up to three students.

Gegenstand der Veranstaltung sind die Methoden eines quantitativen Managements von Markt­risiken und Kreditrisiken sowie der risiko­basierten Ergebnissteuerung.

The core of this course deals with asset management for private investors in an international context. We will cover the structure of the delegated investment markets around the world with a focus on the U.S. and Europe. The focus will be on traditional mutual funds and related products. Besides the classical asset management theory, this course will place a great weight on the practical implementation of portfolio strategies and the problems that can arise. We will learn how to measure the performance of investment strategies and of fund managers. Furthermore, behavioral aspects (irrational behavior of mutual fund investors and managers) will be discussed.

This lecture offers highly relevant concepts for modeling, analyzing, implementing, and controlling business processes with information and communication technology. Participants will be offered business knowledge as well as the methodological foundations from an information systems perspective to successfully design and manage business process.

Modern organizations are influenced and driven by information technology (IT) and information systems (IS) in various ways. As competition becomes borderless, organizations are forced to continually examine ways to operate more effectively and efficiently. Information technology and information systems are a crucial means of obtaining these goals in the digital Age. IT and IS are also key enablers of new products, services and processes. This course is designed for students who desire an insightful synopsis of IT management concepts and practices.
It is the objective of this course to offer profound insights into information systems and information technology management. Strategic and tactical issues are given more attention than operational aspects.

IT management today is challenged by fast technological change, new digital opportunities, growing cost pressure, and increasing business and regulatory requirements. IT management needs to ensure that IT functions become much more agile, flexible and efficient than ever before. For a state-of-the-art IT management a solid know-how regarding

• Intelligent demand management,
• Application and data architecture,
• IT infrastructure,
• Organization and workforce management,
• Business/IT governance and lean IT processes, and
• Sourcing and location setup incl. vendor and partner management

are crucial.

In addition, it is expected that IT managers have a good understanding of the core business of their company (business/IT alignment) and sound IT cost management capabilities. Furthermore, IT managers need to be able to understand opportunities of the digital age, evaluate the value of new technologies, and drive digital transformation jointly with the business.

In this course, concepts and methods for process analytics and process mining are theoretically presented and practically applied. This includes methods for process mining (process discovery, conformance checking, process enhancement), methods for process analytics (semantic checks, process matching, etc.), and methods for data mining applied to process data (clustering, classification, anomaly detection, etc.).
The lectures will be accompanied by exercise sessions, where the concepts and methods will be practically applied using manual computations, standard process mining and data mining tools as well as light-weight programming. In addition, students will have to participate in a case study, where they will apply process mining methods in a practical business case.

Enterprise Systems (ES) represent a specific category of information systems. They build on pre-packaged industry best practices embedded in standardized product software and target large‐scale integration of data and business processes across all company's functional areas and beyond company borderlines. Enterprise Systems strongly interplay with work practices of individual employees as well as organizational structures shaping and being shaped by individuals' behavior. The ES lifecycle involves various entities both external and internal to the company. As such, they impact multiple levels of a company, ranging from the individual employee to groups to the entire organization and even its associated network.
As critical as the ability to manage these ES is to most businesses, as challenging it is as well. This module is designed to provide a comprehensive insight into theoretical foundations, concepts, tools, and current practice of ES. The lecture is complemented with exercises and a case study. Students get the opportunity to collect hands-on experiences with commercial software products and analyze and propose solutions for a specific ES challenge. Thus, allowing them to build up first-hand experience with this important aspect for managing businesses successfully.

Enterprise Systems (ES) represent a specific category of information systems. They build on pre-packaged industry best practices embedded in standardized product software and target large‐scale integration of data and business processes across all company's functional areas and beyond company borderlines. Enterprise Systems strongly interplay with work practices of individual employees as well as organizational structures shaping and being shaped by individuals' behavior. The ES lifecycle involves various entities both external and internal to the company. As such, they impact multiple levels of a company, ranging from the individual employee to groups to the entire organization and even its associated network.
As critical as the ability to manage these ES is to most businesses, as challenging it is as well. This module is designed to provide a comprehensive insight into theoretical foundations, concepts, tools, and current practice of ES. The lecture is complemented with exercises and a case study. Students get the opportunity to collect hands-on experiences with commercial software products and analyze and propose solutions for a specific ES challenge. Thus, allowing them to build up first-hand experience with this important aspect for managing businesses successfully.

This course provides students with an introduction to scientific research methods and theories in the field of information systems. Master students gain a broad overview of the strengths and weaknesses of different methods and theoretical perspectives. This overview prepares them for conducting own, bounded research projects (e.g., master theses) as a first step towards a scientific career. This course primarily targets students of the Mannheim Master in Business Research but is also open to students of the Mannheim Master in Management and the Master in Business Informatics.<br />
In this course, students come to understand the importance of theory for organizing and cumulating knowledge as well as the importance of rigorous empirical methods to establish the validity of findings. The course covers publications in premier IS journals to exemplify and discuss procedures of qualitative, quantitative, and design-oriented research.&nbsp;<br />
The course is taught in a seminar style, requiring students to prepare readings for discussions in class. Attendance in classroom sessions is mandatory. Students are required to prepare textbook chapters and selected readings on IS research in advance of the course. A list of required readings is distributed after registration. In addition, students are assigned contemporary articles published in IS journals that must be evaluated based on the topics covered in the course and presented during classroom sessions. Each student finally writes a term paper of four to five pages on an assigned topic.

This module focuses on advanced topics in information systems. Based on the introduction (IS 554) core concepts of information systems and current trends in information technology are discussed to provide a deeper understanding of the digital world.

This module gives an overview on Pervasive Computing systems. These systems consist of dynamic collections of (possibly mobile and/or embedded) devices that collaborate with each other depending on the state of their current physical environment or context.
The module introduces systems, concepts and algorithms for Pervasive Computing, e.g. adaptation frameworks, context management, sensors and actuator networks.

More and more products, from consumer to business markets, show an ever increasing amount of software at their very heart. The ability to understand, design, and manage software-intense products has become of great importance to ensure sustainable success across all industries.
This module introduces key aspects of the entire software product lifecycle, ranging from product strategy and planning, to the actual product development and finally the post-development phase covering aspects such das the product launch and product support. Furthermore, the interplay between processes, people, and practices will be discussed and contemporary software development paradigms will be framed into this interplay. This course puts specific emphasize on the two roles of the product manager and the product designer (also: Usability / User Experience Professional) within software development. Following an interdisciplinary perspective, this course will introduce key concepts from the field of management, marketing and human computer interaction. The course contents will be put into a practical perspective by selected industry talks. Furthermore, as part of a case study, the students will be asked to analyze and propose solutions for a given software product development challenge leveraging the knowledge acquired within the lecture and industry talks.

Die Veranstaltung befasst sich mit dem Thema „Corporate Social Responsibility“ (CSR) und dessen Hintergründen. Im Mittelpunkt steht die Auseinandersetzung mit dem Verhältnis zwischen Gewinnerzielung und Verantwortung. Hierfür werden sowohl theoretische CSR-Grundlagen als auch praxisrelevante CSR-Kompetenzen vermittelt. Besondere Bedeutung kommt dabei der Frage zu, wie CSR unter Wettbewerbsbedingungen zur Geltung gebracht werden kann. Des Weiteren werden jüngsten Entwicklungen, wie zum Beispiel Digitalisierung, Disruption von Geschäfts­modellen und Globalisierung diskutiert. Die damit verbundenen Managementherausforderungen werden anhand verschiedener Fall­studien illustriert und diskutiert.

Successful entrepreneurs pursue new business opportunities in a pioneering way. They significantly contribute to innovation, growth and employment generation. Meet top entrepreneurs who share their experience and insights in MAN 632 and explore their entrepreneurial challenges in real-life case studies.
The course takes a four-pronged approach:
We bring distinguished entrepreneurs to class who share their insights, lessons learned and advice on how to build and grow a business from a Business-to-Consumer (B2C), Business-to-Business (B2B) and Corporate Entrepreneurship (CE) perspective.
We work on real-life case studies with newly developed and most recent Mannheim Business School Cases. You will prepare your results and suggestions, present in Case Study Sessions and deepen your insights by discussing and reflecting your insights with the founders coming to class.
We develop tools and concepts based on an underlying strategic perspective to grow the venture. We will address and connect the four focus areas of 1) Team, Culture and Communication, 2) Growth-Oriented Marketing and Strategy, 3) Financing Growth and Exit 4) Corporate Entrepreneurship & Corporate Venturing
We will embark on a daylong field trip to PERI GmbH to explore corporate entrepreneurship in practice.
The blend of unique practical insights from top entrepreneurs, discussing concepts on how to advance the business with them, and theoretical insights and tools, will enable you with outstanding skills and a great network. This will support you in advancing your own venture and/or your corporate career in the future. Next to the practical insights and tools, you will also gain fundamental insights into theoretical perspectives on entrepreneurship to prepare your master’s thesis and/ or future research career.

Contents:
You do not think inside the box and love working on challenging projects? Next to studying, you are eager to apply your knowledge in the real world and learn from startup teams on the project? You like new ideas and love their execution? You want to dive deeper into the anatomy of business models and get the unit economics right? Then you should opt for Entrepreneurial Spirit. The course is a new format to foster startup growth, entrepreneurial culture and to advance the startup ecosystem at and around the University of Mannheim. With their expertise, the students support the startups in improving their products, services and business models and help them to be more competitive. We will work with real companies in this course and you will actively contribute to their growth. Thus, high dedication, willingness to take over responsibilities and professionalism are a prerequisite. There are two tracks in MAN 633: One for students who have no startup project yet and one for students (individual or founding team) who work on their own advanced startup project.
MAN 633 helps to advance startups in our network by sending students teams as a task force (Inside the Venture Track) but also helps students with an advanced startup idea to reach their next milestones and gain support in a course format (Own Venture Track). For both tracks, the course starts with an initial educational full-day workshop. The initial workshop is the same for both tracks and provides hands-on tools to assess, structure and solve startup challenges. The workshop part is concluded with an exam (20%). Following this educational element, the students form interdisciplinary teams of 3-5 and solve challenges in real ventures. Experienced MCEI coaches will work closely with the student consulting teams to make sure that they are on track to maximize their learning experience while simultaneously permitting the teams to have as much fun as possible.
Inside the Venture Track (for students with no own startup)
Offers students who have no own startup but want to experience the startup world an excellent opportunity to work at eye-level with an experienced real-world startup team. The concept:  Solving challenges of young companies with student approaches and on-site by student teams. Assisted by an experienced MCEI coach, the students carry out joint projects with the startup after a needs analysis. The startups are recruited via our extensive MCEI network. The projects have a mid-term presentation (20%), end presentation (20%) and a final managerial report (40%).
Own Venture Track (for students who already work on their advanced startup project)
Further advance your own startup in class. Your performance appraisal will be according to milestones set at the beginning of class and you will receive continuous counseling by MCEI coaches. MAN 633 offers you the opportunity to recruit a student team from class to work on your startup’s challenges during the course just like in our “client companies” in the Inside the Venture Track. Please approach the instructors upon course registration to sort out whether your startup project is eligible for our Own Venture Track. This offer is for advanced startup projects only – you can start greenfield (i.e., at idea stage) in MAN 631. The projects have a mid-term presentation (20%), end presentation (20%) and a final managerial report with continuous status updates (40%).
The direct integration of the students into the startups within the framework of the course enables a joint action-oriented learning experience on both sides. In addition, we strengthen the startup community, promote startup companies and potential startups, integrate startups directly into the university's offerings and support the transfer of knowledge and technology between the university and the economy

The course focuses on the knowledge and skills necessary for developing a new global business. `High tech’ and `low cost’, or frugal innovative start-ups are compared and contrasted taking business cycles, cultural contexts and levels of development into account. Models of managing international change are the basis.

This course is intended to expand students’ knowledge on basic human resource management (HRM) processes and instruments by adding an international and a strategic dimension. In the first part of the module (international dimension), we examine the impact of national context on HRM and discuss basic HRM functions in international organizations. Topics include international recruiting and selection, training and development, compensation, and employee relations.
In the second part of the module (strategic dimension), we focus on the dynamics of HRM systems. Various approaches of how singular HRM practices conceptually and empirically form bundles are considered. We review how HRM practices can be aligned with respect to other HR practices (horizontal fit) as well as organizations’ objectives (vertical fit) to form HRM systems that help improve organizations’ performance.

In this course, we study performance management and analyze the link between incentives and individual’s performance in organizations. Based on the performance management process, the course covers performance measurement and monitoring, key performance management tools, and implementation of performance management systems targeted at employees in organizations. Furthermore, the course investigates the role of incentives in organizations, both theoretically and empirically from a psychological and economic perspective.

This course exposes students to a broad range of strategic and financial restructuring techniques (e.g., equity carveouts, spin-offs, leveraged buyouts) that can be applied to improve business performance. We will engage in an analysis of the rationale underlying specific corporate restructuring transactions, the process of executing these transactions, and their effects on the welfare of managers, stockholders and other corporate stakeholders. Current business cases and guest speakers representing the different parties involved in corporate restructuring (e.g., investment bankers, consultants, business unit managers, employees) will help illustrate how various corporate restructuring approaches may be applied in business practice to increase firm value.

In this course, we will critically reflect upon the role of corporate centers of multinational companies (MNCs). A particular emphasis will be placed on the challenges faced by corporate centers and their opportunities for value creation in their quest to turn a conglomerate discount into a conglomerate premium.

This module takes an in-depth perspective on specific aspects of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Through the dialogue with relevant organizations and interview partners, groups of students will work on questions related to practice. By employing qualitative research techniques, they will thereby advance the current discussion regarding CSR. The students will present their insights by creating video documentaries, which will be shown and discussed in class and will be the basis for grading. The class will not meet weekly but for a small number of extended sessions.

The idea of this interactive seminar is that students work in teams of 4-5 to develop a game (either a board game or a digital game, depending on skills and preferences) which has the goal to convey knowledge about a topic related to sustainability as defined in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. For instance, a game could be inspired by a well-known existing game but apply the game’s mechanism to a topic like the climate crisis, poverty, or financial illiteracy. The seminar will comprise of four blocked sessions. During the first session, i.e., the kick-off, the lecturers will provide some introductory guidance. Subsequently, design thinking methods will be used to guide the student teams through the game development process. The remainder of the first day will be dedicated to ideation. During the second session, teams will have the possibility to reframe their ideas and develop first prototypes (e.g., mock-ups of the games). On the third day, the prototypes will be used for test games and teams will receive feedback from the whole group which they can use to craft their ideas further. Finally, the student teams will present their game concepts on the fourth day of final presentations. The games will be made available as a resource for educational institutions and other stakeholders interested in using them for non-commercial educational purposes.

An increasing number of organizations ranging from non-profits to purpose-driven corporations apply methods to empirically capture their social impact. In this seminar, students will participate in a series of workshops on the topic of social impact measurement together with a group of social organizations from the Rhine-Neckar Region. To apply the acquired knowledge, students will help the social organizations to develop their impact logic and their impact measurement approach. Student teams will collect and analyse data to assess the impact of the social organizations empirically.

World-wide public and nonprofit organizations make an important contribution to society. In order to face the increasing economization and globalization in the public and nonprofit sector, organizations need to professionalize. Combined with the public and nonprofit-specific organizational purpose, these tendencies pose particular challenges to public and nonprofit management. These will be highlighted by analyzing scientific papers and by discussing practical cases and project work.

The lecture “Innovation Management“ provides an overview of theoretical foundations and fundamental conceptions in the field of innovation management. The lecture further analyses innovative activity at the industry as well as at the firm level. In particular, determinants that affect the development and the spread of innovations will be scrutinized. At the industry level, special emphasis will be put on the prediction of market development and future trends. At the firm level, the development of innovation strategies and alternative implementations of innovation processes will be covered. Core topics are, for instance, a business venture's incentive systems, organizational structures that are supposed to foster innovative activity, collaboration in innovation processes, commercialization strategies, and the design of internal interfaces between different departments.

Organizational behavior is defined as the systematic study and application of knowledge about how individuals and groups act within the organizations where they work. The lecture presents essential theories and concepts explaining how individual and group behavior shape the internal dynamics of organizations. The course deals with factors that facilitate or hinder effective behavior. Topics include communication, motivation, individual skills, abilities, and emotions, group dynamics, leadership, power, organizational culture and organizational design.

The aim of this seminar is to prepare students for writing an empirical master-thesis in family business & entrepreneurship research. The content of this seminar allows students to get an overview regarding current research questions in the area of empirical family business research and entrepreneurship and to work in-depth on one the topics of this research realm. The content focus within the area of empirical family business research and entrepreneurship research may take varying forms depending on the semester - see the syllabus for the focus of the current semester. Regarding methods the students will be familiarized with the fundamental econometric methods which area applied in the area of empirical family business & entrepreneurship research.

Zentrale Theorien empirischer Forschung. Zentrale Grundlagen deskriptiver und induktiver Statistik (z.B. zentrale deskriptive Statistiken, Wahrscheinlichkeits¬verteilungen, inferenzstatistische Tests). Einführung in qualitative empirische Forschung. Einführung in experimentelle empirische Forschung. Einführung in befragungs­basierte empirische Forschung. Einführung in empirische Forschung auf Grundlage von Sekundärdaten. Anwendungs­gebiete und Grenzen alternativer qualitativer und quantitativer empirischer Methoden.

Das Modul vermittelt einen Überblick über den Prozess von Markt­forschungs­projekten und behandelt Methoden der Datenanalyse und -interpretation. Der Fokus der Veranstaltung liegt dabei auf multivariaten Verfahren der Interdependenz- und Dependenzanalyse. Insbesondere werden bei der Vorstellung der Analysemethoden deren Stärken und Schwächen sowie mögliche Einsatzgebiete im Rahmen der Markt­forschung behandelt. Darüber hinaus wird auf die Anwendung einzelner Verfahren mittels gängiger Statistiksoftware eingegangen.

Marketing beginnt und endet mit dem Konsumenten - vom Verständnis der Konsumentenpräferenzen und -bedürfnisse bis zum Aufbau von Kunden­zufriedenheit. Ein umfassendes Verständnis der Konsumenten ist daher entscheidend für ein erfolgreiches Marketing in jeder Organisation. In diesem Modul werden zahlreiche Aspekte des Konsumentenverhaltens und der Entscheidungs­prozesse der Konsumenten diskutiert. Den Studierenden wird erläutert, wie psychologische Einflüsse (z.B. Lernen, Motivation, Wahrnehmung oder Einstellungen) sich auf das Konsumentenverhalten auswirken. Ein Verständnis des Konsumentenverhaltens und der Irrationalität der menschlichen Entscheidungs­prozesse ist von zentraler Bedeutung, um effektive Marketing­strategien für die Werbung, das Marken­management oder das Preis­management zu entwickeln.

In diesem Modul werden Strategien, analytische Rahmen­modelle und Managementwerkzeuge behandelt,  mittels derer Branchen analysiert und Wettbewerbs­strategien entwickelt werden können. Ausgehend vom Verhalten der Konsumenten, Branchenanalysen und den Grundlagen von Strategien wird das Wettbewerbsverhalten von Unternehmen analysiert (einschließlich Preisgestaltung, Positionierung am Markt, Produkt­entwicklung, Expansion der Markt­anteile, Markt­eintritt und Abschreckung der Wettbewerber). Hierbei werden die verschiedenen wirtschaft­lichen Rahmenbedingungen der Branche berücksichtigt.

Businesses worldwide have been facing a fundamental change in the ways in which customers and companies interact with each other. Customers are more socially connected than ever, they expect more from companies and brands, and information reaches them faster than ever before. At the same time, companies develop digital business models. One apparent development is the rise of platform business models. Thus, the rise of digital technologies has fundamentally changed the way companies craft marketing strategies and how marketing creates, communicates, and delivers value to customers. The overarching goal of this course is to establish a perspective on the digital marketing strategies companies can employ to occupy a sustainable position in the age of social, digital, and mobile for both pipeline and platform businesses.

In diesem Modul werden die Studenten mit den Grundlagen der Marketing-Kommunikation und des Kommunikations­managements vertraut gemacht. Im Zentrum der Vorlesung steht die Rolle der Werbung und anderer Kommunikations­instrumente als Teil integrierter Marketing-Kommunikations­programme. Ein Schwerpunkt des Moduls liegt auf State-of-the-Art-Verfahren der Marketing-Kommunikation, die in der Werbung, im Direktmarketing, im Internet oder in sozialen Medien eingesetzt werden. Darüber hinaus werden Vorgehensweisen diskutiert, mithilfe derer Kommunikations­programme geplant, entwickelt und umgesetzt werden.

The module is designed for students who expect to undertake international marketing assignments, work for global corporations or help smaller companies to expand globally. The course portrays opportunities and competitive challenges in regional market settings and pays special attention to the issue of standardization versus adaptation of marketing programs.

In dieser Veranstaltung werden die zentralen Konstrukte des Konsumentenverhaltens eingeführt und relevante Einflussgrößen diskutiert.
Die Informations­verarbeitungs­prozesse von Konsumenten werden beleuchtet, um ausgehend vom Elaboration Likelihood Model die periphere und zentrale Route der Informations­verarbeitung zu unterscheiden. Hierbei wird ein Schwerpunkt auf den Einfluss des Involvements auf die optimale Gestaltung von Kommunikations­maßnahmen und den daraus folgenden Implikationen für den Handel gelegt.

Dieses Modul behandelt aktuelle Aspekte neuer Medien in Bezug auf Marketing­strategien. Der Kurs beleuchtet jüngste Er­kenntnisse des Interactive Marketing und zeigt unterschiedliche Instrumente auf, die einen Einfluss auf konsumentenseitige Wahrnehmung, Branding und CRM besitzen. Es werden verschiedene Business Modelle und integrierte Marketingkonzepte im Hinblick auf ihre unterschiedlichen Eigenschaften bzgl. des Web 1.0, 2.0 und 3.0 erläutert. Darüber hinaus werden Informations- und Transaktions­prozesse in den neuen Medien behandelt.

Markennamen zählen zu den wertvollsten (immateriellen) Vermögenswerten einer Firma. Einen Markennamen zu erschaffen, zu etablieren und zu erhalten, ist jedoch für jede Firma eine große Herausforderung. Die Markenpolitik, der Markenaufbau und die Markenführung zählen daher zu den zentralen Managementaufgaben einer Firma, die sowohl strategische und taktische Elemente umfassen. Das Konzept des Markenwertes bietet Managern dabei eine Basis, um die potenziellen Auswirkungen und Trade-offs verschiedener Strategien und Taktiken für ihre Marken zu bewerten. Das Marken­management umfasst die Planung und Umsetzung von Marketing­programmen und Marketingaktivitäten, um den Markenwert zu steigern und zu messen.
Das Ziel Moduls ist es, Studenten in bewährte Vorgehensweisen für die Beurteilung und Formulierung von Marken­strategien einzuführen, mit Hilfe derer die langfristige Rentabilität von Markennamen verbessert und ausgebaut werden kann. Nach dem Besuch der Vorlesung sollen die Studenten in der Lage sein, effektive Marken­strategien unter Berücksichtigung von ökonomischen und psychologischen Faktoren entwickeln zu können.

In this course we discuss methods and concepts that were developed to support and improve rational decision making in various areas of application. We will cover decisions under certainty and risk (EUT), decisions with single and multiple objectives, and decisions given incomplete information about probabilities or preferences. The course also covers descriptive decision theories such as Prospect Theory. An introduction into probability calculus including Bayes Theorem will be given. We will also discuss various visualization techniques such as influence diagrams and decision trees.

In this course we discuss methods and concepts that were developed to support and improve rational decision making in various areas of application. We will cover decisions under certainty and risk (EUT), decisions with single and multiple objectives, and decisions given incomplete information about probabilities or preferences. The course also covers descriptive decision theories such as Prospect Theory. An introduction into probability calculus including Bayes Theorem will be given. We will also discuss various visualization techniques such as influence diagrams and decision trees.

This lecture gives an overview about market developments in road and rail transport, inland and maritime shipping. Part of this is the overview of present and future transportation technologies. General business developments in the shipping, trucking, and railway industries are discussed as well as individual strategies of companies active in these transportation sectors. Another focus is laid on the developments of transportation policy, which is still an important framework for the business activities of transportation companies. As traffic infrastructure is a key factor for the performance of transportation services, the possibilities for an optimization of the use of the existing traffic infrastructure are discussed. Attention is not only given to the developments in Germany, but also to the developments in Europe and other world regions.

This lecture gives an overview about market developments in road and rail transport, inland and maritime shipping. Part of this is the overview of present and future transportation technologies. General business developments in the shipping, trucking, and railway industries are discussed as well as individual strategies of companies active in these transportation sectors. Another focus is laid on the developments of transportation policy, which is still an important framework for the business activities of transportation companies. As traffic infrastructure is a key factor for the performance of transportation services, the possibilities for an optimization of the use of the existing traffic infrastructure are discussed. Attention is not only given to the developments in Germany, but also to the developments in Europe and other world regions.

This lecture gives an overview about market developments in road and rail transport, inland and maritime shipping. Part of this is the overview of present and future transportation technologies. General business developments in the shipping, trucking, and railway industries are discussed as well as individual strategies of companies active in these transportation sectors. Another focus is laid on the developments of transportation policy, which is still an important framework for the business activities of transportation companies. As traffic infrastructure is a key factor for the performance of transportation services, the possibilities for an optimization of the use of the existing traffic infrastructure are discussed. Attention is not only given to the developments in Germany, but also to the developments in Europe and other world regions.

<p><span lang="EN-US“ >The increasing availability of data about customer behavior and operational processes calls for its systematic exploitation to improve decision-making in businesses. This course introduces descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive Artificial Intelligence (AI) approaches for different Operations Management problems. In particular, machine learning approaches for supervised and unsupervised learning are introduced. For example, Neural Networks are presented to predict and optimize the performance of operations systems based on data. Applications in the areas of maintenance, production management, and the control of automated guided vehicles are discussed in detail. </span></p> <span lang="EN-US“ ><span >An introduction to the basics of programming with Python is provided. This is the basis for own applications and implementations of AI approaches by the students. Moreover, the students will leverage libraries of AI approaches. During the course, the students will work on several case studies and assignments (individually or in groups).</span></span>

• Einführung in die Produkt­entwicklung
• Methodische Grundlagen
• Integrierte Produkt­entwicklung (IPE) und Integrated Design Engineering (IDE)
• Prozess- und Projekt­management
• Management des Produktlebenszyklusses (PLM)
• Produktintegration im IDE
• Einführung in CAx-Systeme (CAD, CAP, CAM, CAQ, Simulation und Berechnung)
• Bestimmen der Wirtschaft­lichkeit

Dienstleistungen sind der größte und am schnellsten wachsende Sektor unserer Wirtschaft. Gleichzeitig stellt das Management von Dienstleistungen eine besondere Herausforderung dar, da sie  oft mehr immateriellen Prozess- und Erlebnischarakter als physische Eigenschaften haben und der Kunde als externer Inputfaktor am Dienstleistungs­erstellungs­prozess partizipiert. Eine Anwendung traditioneller Ansätze des sachgüter­orientierten Operations Management auf Dienstleistungen ist nur eingeschränkt möglich und integrative Ansätze an der Schnittstelle von Operations, Marketing und Organisation erforderlich.
Angesichts dieser Herausforderungen werden in der Veranstaltung Konzepte und analytische Werkzeuge zum effektiven und effizienten Management von Service Operations diskutiert. Insbesondere werden Entscheidungen in den Bereichen Strategie­entwicklung, Service Operations Design, Prozessanalyse, Kapazitäts­management, Service Pricing & Revenue Management, Service Qualitäts­management, CRM, etc. beleuchtet.
Zur Vermittlung der Inhalte stützt sich die Veranstaltung auf drei Säulen: grundlegende Theorie, aktuelle Forschungs­ergebnisse und reale Fall­studien aus der Unternehmens­praxis. Anwendungen liegen in einer Vielzahl von Industrien, wie Transport und Kommunikation, Handel, Gastgewerbe, e-Services oder industrienahe Dienstleistungen.

Fulfilling a customer order typically involves multiple parties, such as suppliers, manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers, each of them having their own objectives. At the same time, all parties are dependent on each other to serve the final customer. Supply chain management addresses the interplay between individual objectives and overall supply chain performance. The key insight is that supply chain coordination can generate a win-win situation, benefiting all supply chain members. This course discusses the need for supply chain coordination and introduces several mechanisms for achieving it. Key topics include supply chain coordination, incentive alignment, supply chain contracts, and information asymmetries.

Fulfilling a customer order typically involves multiple parties, such as suppliers, manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers, each of them having their own objectives. At the same time, all parties are dependent on each other to serve the final customer. Supply chain management addresses the interplay between individual objectives and overall supply chain performance. The key insight is that supply chain coordination can generate a win-win situation, benefiting all supply chain members. This course discusses the need for supply chain coordination and introduces several mechanisms for achieving it. Key topics include supply chain coordination, incentive alignment, supply chain contracts, and information asymmetries.

This course introduces mathematical modeling approaches for planning and scheduling of operations. Operational and tactical planning tasks are formulated as linear and mixed-integer linear programming models. All lectures will be given in a computer lab, where the optimization models are implemented and solved using standard software. Different heuristic techniques to cope with high complexity are introduced and implemented. During the course the students will work on several case studies and assignments (individual and in groups).

In today's e-business environment, there is an increasing number of unlocked opportunities to increase profits through Revenue Management (RM). RM is a short-term planning instrument in order to effectively match supply and demand and thereby maximize profitability – by selling the right product to the right customer at the right time through the right channel for the right price. RM takes into account that on the supply side, resources to produce these products are usually constrained and often perishable, and therefore, the effectiveness of the abovementioned market-related decisions is highly interrelated with resource allocation decisions.
Today, RM is a large revenue generator for several major industries relying on sophisticated RM systems; Robert Crandall, former Chairman and CEO of American Airlines, has called RM „the single most important technical development in transportation management since we entered deregulation.“ While airlines have the longest history of development in RM, applications have rapidly diffused beyond airlines to industries such as retailing, hospitality, railways, car rental, telecommunications and financial services, internet service provision, electric utilities, broadcasting and even manufacturing.
For outside observers, RM may seem often like an art. But finally, the most important pillar of RM is analytics – including systematic data analysis, forecasting, and powerful optimization that allows taking all market- and supply-related profit drivers simultaneously into account. This course provides the key ideas, the underlying basic models and state-of-the-art methods of RM.

Looking back over the past twenty years, competitive purchasing approaches created significant value for firms by driving substantial cost savings to the bottom line. However, the widespread usage of professional procurement techniques has eroded the advantages that they had for pioneers in the 1990s and in the early years of the current century. In addition, environmental, competitive, geopolitical, and technological changes have created an uncertain business environment in which a mere focus on purchasing cost will not be sufficient to support sustainable competitive advantage.
Against this backdrop, this module covers advanced approaches in procurement that aim at creating “value beyond cost”. After a detailed analysis of the purchasing process, the module addresses the following core topics: pre-transaction issues (from need specification to supplier selection problems), contracts and contract management, negotiation tactics and strategies, advanced technical (e.g., product teardown analysis) and commercial levers (e.g., reverse auctions) for value optimization, special purchasing situations (e.g., commodities, services), global sourcing, and sustainability in the supply chain context.
The module consists of regular lectures and exercise classes in which extended and short cases will be discussed. Guest speakers from industry will share their management and consulting experiences in procurement.