Management expertise often has a positive impact on career possibilities, especially when switching from academia to the industrial sector. Thus, the Management Modules are an integral part of the HEiKA Graduate School as they teach these valuable management skills qualifying the doctoral researchers to become the decision-makers of tomorrow.

Being able to choose out of six units, participants will learn new and applicable skills e.g., project management, human resource management and marketing.

PhD candidates in the HEiKA Graduate School are obliged to participate in at least one management module of their choosing. If you would like to participate in the complete MBA Fundamentals Program, please find the information here.

Please register using the form at the end of the page.

Dates 2020*

*Dates are subject to change.

Unit descriptions

Unit 1 - Projects

International project management is one of the crucial key qualifications for employees in an internationally acting company. In order to acquire this important competency, the participants receive an introduction to project management that aims at being able to identify and apply goals and quantitative methods of project planning.

Unit 2 - Values

The unit explores core elements of financial accounting, corporate finance, and business ethics. Participants develop a deep understanding of the methods of accounting and finance and are able to apply them in various business environments. Furthermore, the unit discusses and describes the foundations of ethical behavior in companies.

Unit 3 - Markets

In this unit participants have the choice to attend classes in either Business Strategy or Decision Analysis with an obligatory class on Marketing which provides participants with an introduction into fundamental aspects of the topic. In Business Strategy, participants are introduced into the classic strategic management process. Further on, individual aspects of this strategy process are analyzed in more detail. In the Decision Analysis class, participants are provided with the fundamentals of economic decision theory under uncertainty and risk, as well as the basic principles of game theory.

Unit 4 - People

The unit deals with the current challenges of human resource management in organizations and companies. The participants monitor the theoretical approaches within the frame of case studies and examples from real ventures and thereby gain an understanding for the complex challenges and possibilities of the processes and practices in human resource management and (entrepreneurial) leadership.

Unit 5 - Information

This unit introduces the core concepts and techniques of management accounting necessary to enhance managers’ ability to fulfill organizational goals. Furthermore, the unit provides insights into state-of-the-art of information management in the internet economy, the information life cycle, business networks and network effects as well as business models.

Unit 6 - Operations

The unit is a general introduction to the operations of an industrial company in the context of supply-chain management. It explains major processes occurring in production enterprises and downstream logistics networks.

Intercultural Communication

Cultural differences are mainly based on different living conditions and vital experiences regarding the natural and human environment and people´s adaption to those over time. The objective of this course is to understand the essential differences and the consequences for the people´s behavior and intercultural interactions. Culture appropriate behavior greatly increases success in international management and cooperation. Participants acquire a clear and manageable system to tell and successfully interact with cultural differences.