Leadership & Business Management

A1 – Beginner
Understand and use familiar, everyday expressions and very simple sentences aimed at satisfying concrete needs. Introduce themselves and others, ask people questions about personal details – e.g., where they live, the people they know, or the things they have – and respond to such questions. Communicate in a simple way if the conversation partners speak slowly and clearly and are prepared to help.

A2 – Elementary Knowledge
Understand sentences and frequently used expressions related to areas of most immediate relevance (e.g., personal and family information, shopping, work, local environment). Communicate in simple and routine tasks requiring a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar and routine matters. Describe in simple terms their background, education, immediate environment, and matters in areas of immediate need.

B1 – Intermediate Language Use
Use clear standard language in academic and business contexts and communicate about familiar topics related to work, school, leisure, etc., applying relevant conversational skills. Express themselves simply and coherently on familiar topics and areas of personal interest. Report on experiences and events, describe dreams, hopes, and ambitions, and briefly give reasons and explanations for opinions and plans.

B2 – Independent Language Use
Express themselves on the main ideas of complex texts on both concrete and abstract topics in academic and business contexts and participate in technical discussions in their own field of specialization. Communicate with such a degree of fluency and spontaneity that normal conversation with native speakers is quite possible without strain for either party. Express themselves clearly and in detail on a wide range of subjects, explain a viewpoint on a topical issue, and outline the advantages and disadvantages of various options.

C1 – Advanced Language Proficiency
Understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts and recognize implicit meanings. Use the language effectively and flexibly in academic and business contexts and express themselves fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for words. Produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, showing controlled use of organizational patterns, connectors, and cohesive devices.

C2 – Near-Native Proficiency
Communicate effortlessly in all language situations. Summarize information from various written and spoken sources and reconstruct arguments and accounts in a coherent presentation. Express themselves spontaneously, very fluently, and precisely, differentiating finer shades of meaning even in more complex situations.

A1 – Beginner
Understand and use familiar, everyday expressions and very simple sentences aimed at satisfying concrete needs. Introduce themselves and others, ask people questions about personal details – e.g., where they live, the people they know, or the things they have – and respond to such questions. Communicate in a simple way if the conversation partners speak slowly and clearly and are prepared to help.

A2 – Elementary Knowledge
Understand sentences and frequently used expressions related to areas of most immediate relevance (e.g., personal and family information, shopping, work, local environment). Communicate in simple and routine tasks requiring a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar and routine matters. Describe in simple terms their background, education, immediate environment, and matters in areas of immediate need.

B1 – Intermediate Language Use
Use clear standard language in academic and business contexts and communicate about familiar topics related to work, school, leisure, etc., applying relevant conversational skills. Express themselves simply and coherently on familiar topics and areas of personal interest. Report on experiences and events, describe dreams, hopes, and ambitions, and briefly give reasons and explanations for opinions and plans.

B2 – Independent Language Use
Express themselves on the main ideas of complex texts on both concrete and abstract topics in academic and business contexts and participate in technical discussions in their own field of specialization. Communicate with such a degree of fluency and spontaneity that normal conversation with native speakers is quite possible without strain for either party. Express themselves clearly and in detail on a wide range of subjects, explain a viewpoint on a topical issue, and outline the advantages and disadvantages of various options.

C1 – Advanced Language Proficiency
Understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts and recognize implicit meanings. Use the language effectively and flexibly in academic and business contexts and express themselves fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for words. Produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, showing controlled use of organizational patterns, connectors, and cohesive devices.

C2 – Near-Native Proficiency
Communicate effortlessly in all language situations. Summarize information from various written and spoken sources and reconstruct arguments and accounts in a coherent presentation. Express themselves spontaneously, very fluently, and precisely, differentiating finer shades of meaning even in more complex situations.

Consolidation Business Management: Courses from the following three areas:

1. Management (e.g. Strategic Management, Competitive Strategies, Management of Multinational Corporations, Organizational Theory, Corporate Behavior, Corporate Culture, Knowledge Management, Management of Innovations, Business Ethics, Corporate Governance, Managerial Decision Behavior, HRM, etc.)

2. Marketing (e.g. Advanced Marketing Management, Consumer Behavior, Customer Service Excellence, Global Marketing, etc.)

3. Accounting / Finance / Controlling (z.B. Financial Management, Portfolio Management, Options and Futures, International Finance, etc.)

Consolidation Area Studies & Languages: Courses like US and East Asia, Anthropological Perspectives on Culture and Society.

English version will be available soon

In this course, current and company-related case studies from the field of business start-ups, takeovers or successions are addressed in cooperation with, in particular, small and medium-sized enterprises or start-up companies. The students independently develop problem-solving approaches and strategies for problems relevant to management from business practice. Possible problem areas are: Analysis and conception of business models, preparation of business plans, processing of subtasks from the field of start-up management with special attention to a holistic-systematic reflection of the level of knowledge acquired up to then.

The students contribute their acquired knowledge and compare it with observations and experiences in the context of the practical project. While students can deepen and improve their subject-specific competences, complementary competences such as social competence, risk management, budgeting competence and economically responsible decision-making competence are also solidified.

Based on a client briefing (by the course instructor or external partners such as associations and companies), the students work on the presented projects independently, only guided by the course instructors if necessary: Planning, coordination, budgeting, control, evaluation and final reporting are in the hands of the students. The role of the course leader is focused on project coaching.

Part A: Research techniques for writing a literature review:
• Determining key words and researching appropriate journal articles.
• Techniques for screening scholarly articles and elaborating on key findings
• Developing a literature review matrix to systematically record researched journal articles
• Excursus I: Proper citation of journal articles and inclusion in the bibliography (APA style, Harvard style, etc.)
• Excursus II: Use of artificial intelligence for linguistic optimization, summarization of texts, presentation of data, etc.

Part B: Limitations and approaches for further research
• Recognition of possible limitations of a scientific paper (sample size, structure of interviewees, proof of expert status, implementation of pre-test incl. pre-test sheet and confirmations etc.)
• Identifying approaches for further research (reason and purpose of approaches for further research, recognition of possible approaches, formulation of approaches)

Part C: Discussion of selected best and worst practice cases:
• Preparation of a scientifically oriented handout
• Preparation of a scientifically oriented presentation
• Preparation of a scientifically oriented literature review

In this course, current and company-related case studies from the field of business management are addressed in cooperation with, in particular, small and medium-sized enterprises. The students independently develop problem-solving approaches and strategies for problems relevant to management from business practice. Possible problem areas are: Financial and performance-related problems, human resources and organizational issues, with special attention to a holistic-systemic reflection of the level of knowledge acquired to date.

The students contribute their acquired knowledge and compare it with observations and experiences in the context of the practical project. While students can deepen and improve their subject-specific competences, complementary competences such as social competence, risk management, budgeting competence and economically responsible decision-making competence are also solidified.

Building on the experience gained in Practical Project I and on the further knowledge and skills acquired in specialist teaching events, the students have the opportunity to apply their acquired knowledge to real projects - above all, the competences in the area of project and quality management, as well as the subject-specific problem-solving competence, are to be consolidated and made applicable in this way. The students work on projects independently, only if necessary guided by the lecturer: Planning, coordination, budgeting, control, evaluation and final reporting are in the hands of the students. The role of the course leader is focused on project coaching.

The teaching content depends on the activities the students do at the internship provider. The students choose an internship independently. They can draw on the extensive range of internships offered by the Kufstein Tirol University of Applied Sciences. The Director of Studies checks the professional correspondence of the internship activities with the contents of the course and the qualification profiles of the course of studies. Subsequently, the Director of Studies checks whether the internship corresponds to the training objectives of the program and whether the student can be employed according to his/her level of qualification. A detailed internship guide supports the students in organizing their internship semester.

• Structure and Quality Criteria of Academic Theses:
Review of key structural principles (introduction, theory, methodology, results, discussion), coherence of argumentation, logical flow, and academic writing style.
• Reflection on the Current Work Status:
Assessment of individual progress, typical challenges in the research process, and dealing with open questions and uncertainties.
• Feedback Culture in an Academic Context:
Criteria-based peer feedback, providing and receiving constructive feedback, and revising work based on feedback.
• Scientific Presentation of Results:
Structure of a research or conference presentation (research problem, theoretical background, methodology, results, implications), data visualization, and audience-appropriate communication.
• Argumentation and Discussion at Research Level_
Theory-driven interpretation of findings, positioning within the existing body of research, critical reflection on limitations, and derivation of scientific and practical implications.
• Responding to Questions from the Academic Community:
Justifying methodological decisions, addressing critical comments, and responding to academic questions in a precise and structured manner.

As part of the course students independently prepare their Bachelor’s thesis on a topic in business. They develop a clearly defined subject area, formulate a central research question, and address it based on relevant theoretical models and current academic literature. In doing so, they apply the subject-specific knowledge and methodological skills acquired during their studies to a specific problem in business and analyze it systematically. Students demonstrate their ability to construct academic arguments, to interpret findings in a reflective manner, and to critically discuss theoretical and practical implications. Furthermore, they plan and structure their work process independently and apply appropriate self-organization and time management strategies throughout the research processess.

Part A: Conceptual basics:
• Entrepreneurship and the path to it
• Entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship: terms and distinction
• The Entrepreneur/the Intrapreneur: Characteristics, Meaning, Image
• Types and forms of entrepreneurship

Part B: Significance of entrepreneurial activity:
• Quantitative and qualitative stocktaking in Austria/Germany.
• Derivation of success factors & reasons for failure
• Analysis of the general conditions for entrepreneurship

Part C: Trends and developments in entrepreneurship:
• Model of entrepreneurship competencies
• Current concepts in entrepreneurship (Business Model Canvas, Value Proposition Design, Lean Startup, Growth Hacking etc.)

Part D: Sustainable Development & Social Entrepreneurship
• Model of sustainable development
• Sustainability as a competitive factor
• Operational sustainability management: systems, concepts and instruments of sustainable corporate management in different functional areas
• Definition of social entrepreneurship and overview of the subject area and its future relevance for society

Marketing Section:
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• Teaching the fundamentals of marketing under the following aspects:
• Definition and applications of marketing
• Importance and roles of marketing in the 21st century
• Social responsibility and ethics in marketing
• Strategic marketing / Market segmentation
• Analysis of consumer behavior in consumer goods markets
• Marketing mix (4P)
• International marketing
• Market orientation in corporate culture and leadership
• Future perspectives of marketing

Accounting & Finance Section:
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Part A: External Accounting
• Structure of accounting
• Basics of corporate accounting: tasks, subdivisions, and fundamental concepts
• System of commercial bookkeeping: from inventory to opening balance sheet
• System of double-entry bookkeeping: recording business transactions in asset and income accounts
• Organization of accounting (chart of accounts, VAT, etc.)
• Principle of period integrity and accruals
• Principles of proper accounting
• Valuation of balance sheet items (fixed assets, current assets, highest and lowest value principle) and • valuation methods (FIFO, LIFO, HIFO, KIFO, constant value method, etc.)

Part B: Internal Accounting
• Objectives and basic concepts of cost and revenue accounting
• Fundamentals of cost and revenue accounting: tasks, components, and subdivisions
• Structure of cost accounting (types of costs, cost centers, cost units)
• Contribution margin accounting

Business Administration Section:
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Part A: Overview and Analysis of Interconnections among Key Business Economics Areas
• Characteristics of business enterprises and the scope of business economics.
• Decision theory in business economics.
• Operational functional areas.
• Basics of management and ethics.

Part B: Fundamentals of Business Economics
• Constitutive business decisions such as legal forms, location decisions, types of business mergers/acquisitions, and choice of business field.
• Functional business decisions: materials management, production management, marketing.
• Fundamentals of business value creation processes and functions (value creation architecture and structure).
• Basics of market-, process-, and strategy-oriented management.

Part C: Strategic Management
• Definition and distinction between strategy vs. business model; Mintzberg's 5 Ps.
• Strategic management process and relevant analyses (vision & mission; environmental analysis, external and internal company analysis, resource analysis, and Porter's value chain, competitor analysis, SWOT, etc.).
• Strategic vs. operational goals.
• Generic strategies by Porter (focus on differentiation, differentiation, cost focus, cost leadership) and by Treacy & Wiersema (product leadership, operational excellence, customer intimacy).

Economics Section:
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Part A: Core Topics
• Economic thinking and marginal analysis.
• Efficient allocation of scarce resources.
• Market model and market equilibrium.
• Macroeconomic variables (GDP, inflation, and unemployment) and their interrelations.

Part B: Selected Economic Issues
• Elasticity and welfare.
• Cost functions and optimal company production.
• Pricing and market structures.
• Short-term economic fluctuations: business cycles.
• Money, the ECB, and inflation.
• Long-term economic growth.
• International relations and trade.

The students are taught the fundamentals of social skills, speaking, reading, writing and presentation skills. They impart and present contents from business, politics, culture and history as well as intercultural contexts. Discussion skills and presentation of specific economic topics are the main focus.
After a short theoretical introduction to presentation techniques and rhetoric, case studies and exercises are used to familiarize students with oral and medial communication.

Particular attention is paid to the preparation of content (structure and outline) and the execution of presentations (preparation, targeted use of media).
Basic information about the basic components of communicative processes is conveyed. Message and meaning as well as content and relationship aspects of human communication should be simulated. The aim of the presentation techniques is to teach the students about the effective channels (language, voice, body, space) of presentation and to gain initial experience about their effective use in order to be able to present more functional presentations.

Part A: Fundamentals of Scientific Work:
• General rules of scientific work
• Ethical aspects and plagiarism / Use of artificial intelligence in the research process

Part B: Aspects and Techniques:
• Identifying a research gap
• Literature review (books, academic journals, digital library, internet)
• Introduction to reference management software
• Formulating research hypotheses and questions
• Citation and citation styles
• Objectification of research findings

Part C: Content and Structure of a Scientific Work:
• Structure of a scientific work
• Execution of problem statement & relevance
• Presentation of the aim of the work
• Construction of the table of contents
• List of figures and tables
• Compilation of source or reference lists
• Other elements of a scientific work (Declaration of originality, Abstract, Appendix etc.)

Part D: Statistics with Spreadsheet:
• Building data and calculation tables for statistical evaluations (data entry, automatic data generation, formatting, data structures)
• Application of basic arithmetic operations on statistical data (addition, subtraction, division, multiplication, powers, etc.)
• Use of selected special functions (e.g., financial mathematical or statistical functions)

Part E: Fundamentals of Statistics
• Introduction to descriptive statistics (graphical representation of data and distributions, calculations of statistical measures of central tendency and dispersion, test for normal distribution of data) and data interpretation
• Introduction to inferential statistics (difference tests for nominal, ordinal, and cardinal scaled data)
• Introduction to correlation and factor analysis

Part F: Construction of a dataset and variable declaration:
• Structure and organization of a dataset for statistical analyses using software
• Determination and development of variables (dependent, independent, dummy, interaction) and scaling (nominal, ordinal, interval, cardinal)
• Application of basic statistical methods using datasets

The deepening of (theoretical) content is carried out through practical examples including software support.

Part A: Fundamentals of Civil Law
• Distinction between private law and public law
• Doctrine of title and mode
• Fundamentals of property law (incl. possession, holding & ownership)
• The natural person (legal capacity and capacity to act)
• The legal person
• Personal rights
• The legal transaction & the conclusion of the contract
• General contract law
• Representation & power of attorney
• Basics of consumer protection law

Part B: Corporate and Insolvency Law
• Legal forms of companies (partnerships, corporations, mixed forms)
• Basics of insolvency law

Part C: Law & Digitalization:
• Basic Data Protection Regulation & Telecommunications Law
• E-commerce and e-government / electronic signature
• IT law

Part A: Business Mathematics
• Figures or functions with one or more variables
• Transforming and solving formulas and equations
• Formulation of linear equations incl. graphical representation
• Special mathematical functions (exponential function, logarithm etc.)
• Introduction to interest calculations (simple interest, compound interest, compounding and discounting, annuity, amortization schedule)
• Introduction to the concept of net present value and the net present value method

Part B: Financing
• Fundamentals and forms of financing at a glance
• External financing instruments
• Instruments of internal financing
• Special features of start-up financing
• Forms of financing under consideration of the company life cycle

Part C: Fundamentals of financial and liquidity management
• Investment & financing from the point of view of the annual financial statements and liquidity
• Fundamentals of financial planning
• Cash flow and cash flow statement

Part D: Investment
• Basic problems with investment decisions
• Overview of investment calculation procedures
• Cost/profit-oriented (static) investment calculations
• Cash flow-oriented (dynamic) investment calculations
• Qualitative investment evaluation - benefit analysis

Part E: Preparation of the Balance Sheet and the Profit and Loss Statement
• Legal foundations and structure of the annual financial statements under commercial law
• Generally Accepted Accounting Principles
• Recognition of assets (criteria for capitalization, recognition of liabilities, mandatory and optional recognition)
• Valuation of assets (cost of acquisition and production, going-concern value, depreciation, accruals/deferrals, inventory valuation methods)
• Tax reconciliation (add-backs and deductions) and the distinction between commercial and tax accounting regulations

Part F: Fundamentals of Annual Financial Statement Analysis
• Preparation of data for balance-sheet analysis (fixed assets, current assets, gross profit, long-term and short-term liabilities, etc.)
• Preparation of a funds flow statement (movement analysis)
• Profitability ratios (return ratios, employee-related ratios, cost and revenue ratios)
• Liquidity, financing, and investment ratios (investment rate & degree of self-financing, investment coverage & intensity, asset structure, capital structure)
• Ratio comparisons (period comparison, inter-company comparison, target-actual comparison)
• Calculation of selected examples using software tools

Part A: Fundamentals of market research
• Definition and goals of market research and differentiation from opinion research
• Phases of market research
• Methods of market research (secondary market research, primary market research)
• Process steps within a market research project

Part B: Methods & procedures of market research
• Market research methods (structural analyses, measurement of use and distribution, demand and consumption analyses, image analyses, measurement of attitudes, intentions and behavioral parameters)
• Analysis methods (univariate methods [frequency counts, frequency distribution], bivariate methods [cross tables, correlation, simple regression analysis])
• Market research methods (survey and analysis of demographics, social structures, purchasing power, education, family structures; surveys; image analyses; focus groups; biometric test and measurement methods; experimental product tests; behavioral observations and analyses)

Part C: Fundamentals of Brand Management
• Definition of the term brand
• The concept of brand equity (brand value, reputation vs. brand equity)
• Measuring brand equity (measuring brand equity, brand awareness, brand association, qualitative and quantitative approaches, brand tracking, brand authenticity)

Part D: Brand Management & Development.
• The 8 stages of brand development
• Brand positioning
• Brand name, brand logo and brand elements
• Brand experience and brand strategies
• The 5 stages of brand extension
• Co-branding
• The 3 perspectives of brand innovation

Part A: Basics of business planning:
• Importance and prevalence of business plans.
• Main content: Factual and financial concept
• Procedure for the preparation of a business plan
• Sample outlines for business plans: Tailor-made use
• Tips, tools and sample templates.

Part B: The factual concept:
• Developing the substantive building blocks of the business plan: Executive Summary
• Product and service, USP
• Company & Founder
• Constitutive decisions (location, legal form, company mergers, etc.)
• Analysis of industry, market and competition
• Marketing: market entry and marketing mix
• Management & organization, implementation planning
• Opportunities and risks, development scenarios

Part C: In-depth topics:
• Basic decisions as part of start-up planning
• Special features of start-up financing
• Start-up competitions and networks

Part D: Agile Project Management:
• Importance of project management for companies
• Project definition & demarcation to the project order / project planning & organization
• Roles & responsibilities in the project
• Project execution and controlling / - Project closure
• Success factors project management
• Contents project manual
• Time management & stress factors in projects
• Creation of time and milestone plan with the help of software
• Building an agile mindset with values and principles
• Scrum and Scrum roles (product owner, development team, Scrum master)
• Application of agile techniques (use cases, personas, burn up chart, cumulative flow diagram, earned value analysis)
• Basics of Kanban and Scrum

Part A.) Fundamentals
• Concept and definition of product & innovation management
• Goals of product & innovation management
• Tasks of product & innovation managers

Part B.) Product & innovation strategies and innovation culture
• Corporate product & innovation strategy
• Innovation culture, innovation teams & innovation controlling
• Product life cycle & portfolio technology
• Industry 4.0 and digitization in product & innovation management

Part C.) Innovation processes
• Research & technology development
• Pre-development, product development & service development
• Open innovation
• Lead User Method
• Innovation networks
• Disruptions in the innovation process

Part D.) Idea management & creativity techniques
• Idea collection and evaluation
• Creativity and thought models (TRIZ, Mind-Mapping, 6-Hats Method, Walt-Disney Method, Morphological Box, Bionics, Osborn Checklist, Design Thinking)

Part A: Conflict management
• Communication models and conflict theories
• Phases of conflict transformation
• Tools for conflict resolution and prevention
• Case-related development of conflict solutions and agreements

Part B: Negotiation techniques
• Models, strategies and techniques of negotiation
• Behavioral aspects in bargaining/negotiation
• Role plays and case studies on real negotiation situations

Part C: Mediation
• Conflict escalation models
• Deescalation and dialogue techniques
• Methods of business mediation
• Case study of phases of the mediation process

Part A.) Basics:
• Definition and historical development of supply chain management
• Differentiation of supply chain management from related concepts (e.g. value chain, logistics chain, customer relationship management, etc.)
• Structuring, tasks and objectives of supply chain management
• Motives for the development of supply chains (maverick buying, transaction costs, bullwhip effect, globalization)
• Material flow analysis in supply chains
• Design models of supply chain management

Part B.) Strategies of Supply Chain Management
• Vertical and horizontal cooperation strategies
• Supply strategies (e.g. Efficient Consumer Response, CRM and Mass Customization, Postponement, Sourcing strategies, Procurement strategies, E-Supply Chains)
• Strategies of disposal and recycling

Part C.) Supply chain management tools:
• Inventory reduction tools (e.g., decomposition of inventory, movement analysis, etc.).
• Instruments for freight cost reduction, information gathering, quality assurance and IT support

Part D.) Industry 4.0 & Digitalization in Supply Chain Management
• Key technologies in supply chain management (e.g. advanced planning systems, cyber-physical systems, embedded systems, supply chain visibility etc.)
• Smart supply chain

Part E.) Controlling of the Supply Chain
• Basics of cost tracking
• Key figure management in the supply chain
• Key figure typology of the supply chain

Part F: Process Modeling:
• Operational requirements in information management of operational and planning tasks
• Overview of the structure and functional scope of typical ERP systems (company codes, business areas, processes)
• Procedure for customizing an operational information system
• Tool support and practical exercises on an ERP system.

Part A: Psychological basics
• Teaching psychological explanations and interpretations in the areas of: Work and leisure (work-life balance), unemployment, psychology of motivation and incentive design.
• Organizational psychological approaches and methods of team building and leadership
• Personnel psychological approaches and methods of management decision behavior, employee leadership and behavior control
• Empirical studies and findings in business, organizational and personnel psychology

Part B: Competence & Talent Management
• Definition of competence & talent management
• Identification of talent (measurement of talent, measurement of performance, measurement of competencies, measurement of potential)
• Core elements for designing a talent management system (atttraction, development, retention, placement)
• Framework for successful talent management

Part C: Deepening in competence & talent management
• Introduction of a talent management system
• Finding talent (selection process, employer tuning)
• Retaining talent (career paths, team development)
• Developing and nurturing talent (coaching, mentoring, talent leadership, psychological testing)
• Developing a competency & talent management strategy

Part D: Instruments of competence & talent management
• Competence model, competence catalog and competences (professional competence, methodological competence, social competence, personal competence)
• Role catalog and role profiles
• Competence diagnosis and appraisal interview
• Competence development plan and maturity model
• Target agreement and performance measurement
• Talent and team analysis
• Analysis of professional interests and assessment of cognitive abilities
• 360-degree feedback and coaching
• HR analytics

Part A: Knowlege Management
• Characteristics and features of knowledge societies
• Definition of knowledge and knowledge management
• Knowledge under consideration of the resource-based-view and knowledge-based-view
• Knowledge as a core resource in competition
• Knowledge generation, knowledge sharing, knowledge protection
• Identification and measurement of knowledge, intellectual capital reports
• Basics of the learning organization
• Identification and structuring of company-relevant knowledge
• Design of knowledge organizations - tools and processes
• Tools and instruments for knowledge workers

Part B: Artificial Intelligence
• Definition of Artificial Intelligence and the connection to digitalization
• Overview of the development of AI (neural networks, machine learning, deep learning)
• Basic applications of AI in modern business management (e.g. automated learning, analysis of data sets, etc.) and especially in knowledge management (natural language processing, natural question answering, semantic preparation of content, human-machine interaction, etc.)

Part A: Digital Marketing
• Background knowledge on e-commerce (customer expectations and requirements; social, legal & ethical issues).
• Online and social media marketing strategies
• Online and social media goals
• Digital marketing tactics (search engine optimization [SEO], content marketing, inbound marketing, social media marketing, pay-per-click, affiliate marketing, native advertising, email marketing, online PR)
• e-Marketing mix and extension of the 4P in the online context
• Organizational requirements for digital and online marketing
• Monitoring, measurement, online reputation management & public relations

Part B: Corporate Communication
• Corporate strategies (offensive and defensive strategies, including digitalization)
• Development strategies (cooperation strategies, coopetition, internationalization strategies)
• Functional strategies (procurement, production, marketing, human resources, finance, and R&D strategies)
• Content-related steps of the strategic management process; strategic analysis.

Part C: Content Creation
• Definition of content creation and distinction from content management
• Creation of texts, blog articles, and posts for social media
• Creation of visual and audio content (videos, photos, podcasts, graphics, etc.)
• Planning and management of social media profiles

Part A: Spreadsheet basics
• Workbooks and spreadsheets
• Cells and cell ranges
• Variables and data types
• Basic commands (sums, statistical functions, if-then function, S and W reference, etc.)
• Basic applications (creating tables and charts, importing and exporting data, pivot tables, etc.)

Part B: Fundamentals of Cost and Revenue Accounting
• Tasks, components, sub-areas, and systematization of accounting
• Contribution of (internal) accounting to corporate management
• Basic concepts of cost and revenue accounting
• Cost accounting systems

Part C: Cost Type Accounting
• Tasks and principles; criteria for classifying cost types
• Recording the most important cost types: materials, personnel, taxes, etc.
• Importance of imputed costs; converting expenses into costs using the cost reconciliation statement (BÜB)

Part D: Cost Center Accounting
• Tasks and principles
• Criteria for classifying cost centers (main and auxiliary cost centers)
• Operating cost allocation sheet (BAB)
• Allocation of overhead costs to cost centers
• Internal cost allocation
• Calculation of manufacturing costs and total costs
• Determination of overhead rates

Part E: Cost Unit Accounting and Calculation
• Tasks and content
• Calculation stages and methods

Part F: Contribution Margin Accounting
• Full costing versus variable costing
• Fundamentals of contribution margin accounting
• Single- and multi-level contribution margin analysis
• Important forms of variable costing
• Determination of the break-even point and margin of safety

Part G: Management concept controlling
• Companies and their goals
• Controlling as the basis for successful business management
• Strategic and operational controlling
• Integrated budgeting system

Part H: Efficient corporate planning and budgeting
• Corporate planning as a core element of controlling
• Strategic planning
• Operational annual planning & budgeting
• Medium-term planning as a link between strategy and budget
• Modern planning concepts

Part I: Performance measurement and management reporting
• Corporate control with key figures and key figure systems
• The concept of the balanced scorecard
• Operational budget control and forecasting
• Management reporting
• Measures to improve financial performance

Part A: Personnel functions in the company:
• Management and functional function
• Tasks of the personnel department (personnel recruiting, personnel development, personnel maintenance)• Organization of the personnel department

Part B: Personnel selection & recruiting
• Requirement, ability and suitability profiles
• Instruments of personnel selection (application documents, selection interviews, psychological tests, assessment centers, legal framework, digitalization in personnel recruiting)
• Digitalization in personnel recruiting

Part C: Personnel assessment & development
• Purpose of personnel assessment
• Approaches to personnel assessment (trait-oriented, activity-oriented & results-oriented approach)
• Appraisal interview

Part D: Employee Management
• Motivation and motivation theories
• Cognitive choice theories (valence, subjective probability, action motivation)
• Self-regulation theories (management-by-approaches)
• Need-tension theories (Maslow's pyramid, Richards & Greenlaw's motivation model, Herzberg's two-factor theory)
• Maturity continuum according to Argyris
• Job satisfaction and motivation
• Motivating work design (job rotation, job enlargement, job enrichment)
• Modern working world and digitalization incl. New Work

Part E: Remuneration
• Basics of wage differentiation (wage rate differentiation, wage form differentiation, collective agreement)
• Compensation and motivation/satisfaction

Part A: Basics
• Meaning and definition of family businesses
• Strengths and weaknesses of family businesses / shareholder value vs. stewardship approach
• Positioning and strategy; leadership behavior in family businesses
• Selected practical examples and reflection

Part B: Handover and takeover process
• Dynamics of family businesses based on selected models (circle model, life cycle model, familyness construct, strategic management, bulls eye approach)
• Role models in the context of company handovers & successions
• Company succession as a potential crisis situation for the family business
• Possible forms of business succession (external vs. internal)
• Success and failure factors of a successful business handover or takeover

Part A: Leadership
• Definition and characteristics of leadership; Leadership vs. management; Leadership 4.0
• Overview of leadership theories; Historical genesis of leadership concepts; Systemic-integrative leadership approach
• Methods: supervision; work efficiency; work effectiveness; open space; in-depth interviews
• Leadership: performance; leadership success; leadership efficiency; leadership effectiveness
• Environmental demands on leadership in terms of promoting performance
• Implementation of leadership approaches in organizations will be discussed and reflected upon through case studies

Part B: Change Management
• Definition and relevance of change management
• Change management in the context of Industry 4.0 and digitalization
• Organizational learning
• Change management approaches according to Lewin and Kotter
• Typologies of actors in the change management process
• Change managers and change leaders
• Success and failure factors in change management

• Forms of internationalization and globalization
• Internationalization strategies
• Problems and solutions of the international context dependency of small and medium-sized enterprises, especially in emerging markets
• Special features of intercultural communication
• Cultural Awareness
• Management of international teams
• Solving intercultural conflicts
• Management in an intercultural context.

Part A: Fundamentals of business modeling:
• Characteristics, elements and levels of business models
• Working with current business model concepts: Business Model Canvas
• Value Proposition Design
• Business Model Navigator, Business Model Kit, Lean Startup, Design Thinking, Sprint, "AndersArtigkeit" etc.

Part B: Analysis and development of business models:
• Development and evaluation of business ideas (trend research, future industries, etc.)
• Procedure for business model innovation
• Special features of business model development: e.g. digital business modeling, high-tech start-ups, web-based business models, service-based business models;

Part C: Examples of innovative business models
Examples from the business-to-consumer sector; examples from the business-to-business sector. Examples for small and medium-sized enterprises