Areas of expertise

The Automotive & Mobility competence field addresses operational and economic issues in the context of a changing mobility and automotive industry. The focus is on innovative concepts for individual and collective mobility, technological developments such as AI-supported control systems, mobility and traffic data management, and the design of a consistent user experience.

The transformation toward sustainable, connected, and intermodal mobility requires new strategies for production, logistics, and mobility services. The intelligent networking of public and individual modes of transport is a central pillar of a societal mobility transition. The focus here is on economic, ecological, and technological requirements in order to develop sustainable mobility solutions.

Business informatics has become indispensable to the design and optimisation of management processes at every level of business. Business informatics exists at the interface between commerce and IT and has increasingly become the starting point for today’s most innovative business models. This application and design-oriented field combines research and practice while focusing on various issues of commercial process management (especially subject-orientation), mobility services, IT-innovation management, and “lean IT.” Particular consideration during this course of study is devoted to the interdependency of economics, information technology and the environment.

The dynamic buyer’s marketplace of today is characterized by short product lifecycles and increasing demand for novel products. The area of expertise Logistics & Supply Chain Management recognizes this fact and is dedicated to the cultivation of commercial value to gain a competitive advantage.  By employing the value-based Flow Management approach and considering product family and appropriate production concepts (e.g. ETO, MTO, ATO, MTS), the SCM-Process has to be optimized accordingly to reduce time-to-market and leadtimes.  This process allows for increased flexibility and an optimized security of supply, while at the same time demanding minimal stock in order to gain broad coordination with customer cycles. To be factor in commercial success, this process-oriented approach must be accompanied by complementary IT solutions making the market-driven High Speed Logistics (even real-time logistics) concept possible.

Finance, Controlling and Taxation is a field dedicated to the development of innovative approaches in the achievement of real business objectives.  Students will employ number-oriented, scientifically practical methods with applications in all phases of commercial growth. Finance, Controlling and Taxation trains graduates in dealing with the external requirements companies face (e.g. financial statements and tax returns), as well as internal control measures (e.g. controlling and cost accounting), and facing critical business decisions (e.g. investment and financial matters, holding procedures, legal strategies). This dynamic area of expertise is rooted in social responsibility, understanding the principles of sustainable and value-oriented economic management while, at the same time, recognizing economic and legal realities.

We see Human Resources as an important partner in business with an overarching function employing innovative tools and services while lending support to other related business units within the greater commercial organisation.

This area of expertise is aimed at the development of personnel, organisational design and further factors guaranteeing success for growing and evolving businesses. Such growth can be achieved through the holistic management of competence as well as through the targeted design of new personnel instruments, organisational development tactics, or any number of transformative processes within HR. This high level of Human Resources & Organisational Management innovation is directed not only at the internal structure of the company as a whole, but also has significant application in the development of the HR departments themselves.

Social skills and leadership are the two main areas of focus within HR and organisation development, and needless to say these vital skills are thoroughly examined and cultivated in this area of expertise. The guiding principle: “HR competence to create value”.

The area of expertise “Marketing & Sales” aims at creating value for both the customer and for the company – in the B2B as well as in the B2C arena.

Based on market research and market analysis all required information is retrieved to define marketing and sales strategies and align strategic and operational objectives and processes. The generation of sustainable competitive advantages emerges seamlessly from the strategic positioning – in fact, the design of marketing communications, product management, pricing and conditions, as well as of sales management and of customer-related processes, are based on this. Special focus is placed on the integration of online marketing, mobile marketing and social media. The international dimension of marketing and sales management is also an integral part.

The area of expertise “Retail & Consumers” examines international trends, consumer behaviour, the strategic alignments of trading companies, the tools of trade marketing, modern management tools, issues of corporate social responsibility and leadership in trade.

The main research emphases include strategic trade management, e-commerce and multi-channel distribution in commerce, globalisation, trade logistics, retail controlling, supply-chain management in international trading companies, as well as brand management and the cultivation of strong international brands. Research activities in this department include scientific publication encouraging knowledge transfer related to teaching, training and various practical projects with retail organisations.

Strategy, Technology, Entrepreneurship & Management focuses on those success factors that contribute to a company´s sustainable positioning in its environment by building up and maintaining customer advantages and competitive edge. 

Following a holistic approach and starting at the normative level of business development, the areas of Market Strategy, Technology Strategy, Value Chain Strategy, People Strategy, Public Relations Strategy and Financial Strategy are linked together in a consistent way. This is the foundation to develop innovative business models that also reflect on the aspects of economic, ecologic and anthropologic sustainability in a responsible way.

The field of economic and media psychology examines human experience and behavior in economic and media contexts. The focus is on topics such as consumer and user behavior, digital communication, media impact, user experience, and motivation and collaboration in the world of work 4.0. Psychologically based methods are used to analyze decision-making processes and social relationships in order to effectively shape media, organizations, and markets.