Both our Executive and Full-time MBA covers six main areas of becoming an effective manager of business and leader of change.

Module 1 - Managing Yourself and Others

Leading individuals and groups effectively is the key to managerial excellence, as global challenges can only be met by knowledge-based, people-centered strategies based on a highly motivated and empowered workforce. We designed this module to help you meet this challenge.

Objectives are to be achieved in four steps: First, the module will provide you with a framework for managing individual, group and organizational performance. Second, it will help you understand the behavior of people in organizations and acquire competencies critical to the shaping and management of their behavior through an HR system. Third, we discuss current questions and personal dilemmas concerning managing your own careers and meeting critical challenges in your professional life. And fourth, at a one-day training event we review a conceptual framework and develop your negotiating and communication skills in order to be able to fully meet your goals both in your external and internal environment. 

Module 2 - Managing in Regional and Global Context

In order to understand business, you must understand the broad global picture as well as the markets surrounding you. This module discusses the latest European institutional and regulatory developments and trends and policies related to CEE money and capital markets.

The module offers a comprehensive analysis of the main factors influencing international financial relations, including major market actors, the various marketplaces and the institutional-legal-political framework of foreign exchange transactions. In order to provide an answer to the question whether capital markets are speculators’ playfields or sources of development, the module discusses issues as diverse as the Lisbon Plan, pension financing and the financing of government and corporate debts. Furthermore, the module emphasizes the conditions of doing business in the CEE region. We analyze investors' motives, government policies and economic fundamentals in different countries as well as cultural factors in relation to the direction and size of capital flows.

Module 3 - Managing Business Performance

Our aim is to provide participants with a comprehensive view of the methods that successful organizations use to set up targets, support decision-making, measure, evaluate and report on corporate performance.

An organization’s success is primarily associated with its financial results. Thus it is essential for managers to be able to understand the different analytical tools in accounting - from traditional profitability analysis to contemporary methods of shareholder value analysis. Managers also have to know how strategic and operative decisions influence short and long term financial performance. You will develop an understanding of different methods of financing and the tools for linking short and long term financial decision-making. Furthermore, we focus on the relationship between the different dimensions of organizational performance and gain a deeper insight into the planning, measuring, evaluating and reporting processes that foster the mobilization of the whole organization in order to reach strategic objectives.

Module 4 - Managing Operations and Systems

The module examines the managerial challenges of how organizations deliver value. The module offers an understanding of aligning processes, cooperating along the supply chain and adopting advanced technologies to achieve a high level of organizational output.

In the last decade, managing operations and systems have fundamentally changed due to the tremendous development of information and communication technologies (ICT). The technology leverages new perspectives on process management, transforms traditional supply chains and enables or threatens new or existing businesses. The economic crisis highlighted the importance of new methods for improving the efficiency and the effectiveness of operations in organizations. The module explores successful tools like business and process modeling, MRP and ERP, lean management and six sigma, out- and insourcing, shared service centers, electronic procurement and marketplaces. ICT - especially the Internet - is even more embedded in these methods. Furthermore, the module emphasizes how the Internet transforms relationships with suppliers and customers, and the role of competition and cooperation.

Module 5 - Managing the Market

The module covers all aspects of marketing that create and sustain value, both for the company and the customer, and which require specific managerial attention. The focus is set on core marketing decisions (such as positioning and customer value creation) but we also elaborate on the methods facilitating related business decisions, including market segmentation and modeling.

Further on, we will discuss specific managerial issues about new product development, product and brand management, value creation and pricing, sales and distribution and advertising. What is the right product mix and when should we release new products? What is the optimal price? What distribution channels should we use and how can we avoid channel conflict? What is the best way to deliver the right positioning to the audience? These are all questions that need to be answered to become effective marketers.

In order to provide deeper insight and to capture best practices, the module presents leading marketing practitioners from a variety of industries with differing marketing characteristics.

Module 6 - Competition and Strategy

The module deals with the strategy process and the changing competitive environment of enterprises, as all business strategies must reflect the relevant competitive environment and aim at sustainable competitive advantage.

The strategic process is the process of finding the best way to achieve the goals of the company. We will show you how to find this optimal way – which necessitates an understanding of the external environment and internal capabilities, the breaking down of the company into segments, the creation and evaluation of options, the development of a preferred strategic option – and of course the ability to use the right tools analytically and synthetically. You will become familiar with the different targets, capabilities and external conditions that influence the strategy of a company. Furthermore, you will also become familiar with current changes in the competitive environment of a company in the region, along with the drivers of these changes regarding markets, resources and legal environment and the ways to adapt to such changes, to balance stability and dynamics.