Syllabus

Title
5920 Course 4 - Business Project
Instructors
PD Dr. Aleksandra Klein, MSc,MIM(CEMS), Dr. Maria Fischinger, Univ.Prof. Dipl.Math.Dr. Gerhard Speckbacher
Type
PI
Weekly hours
2
Language of instruction
Englisch
Registration
02/16/15 to 02/28/15
Registration at the institute
Notes to the course
Dates
Day Date Time Room
Monday 04/27/15 02:30 PM - 05:00 PM D4.0.039
Wednesday 04/29/15 01:00 PM - 04:30 PM TC.3.10
Wednesday 05/06/15 01:00 PM - 04:30 PM TC.3.10
Wednesday 05/13/15 01:00 PM - 04:30 PM TC.3.10
Wednesday 05/20/15 01:00 PM - 04:30 PM TC.3.10
Wednesday 05/27/15 01:00 PM - 04:30 PM TC.3.10
Wednesday 06/03/15 01:00 PM - 04:30 PM TC.3.10
Wednesday 06/10/15 01:00 PM - 04:30 PM TC.3.10
Wednesday 06/17/15 01:00 PM - 04:30 PM TC.3.10
Wednesday 06/24/15 02:00 PM - 04:30 PM Ort nach Ankündigung
Contents

In this course, students will work on a real-life project and take the role of consultants for an Austrian subsidiary of the world’s largest private education company specialized on language learning, educational travel, cultural exchange and academic programs. The participants will have to translate their theoretical knowledge into thorough business, market and industry analysis and propose ideas and concepts that can and will be implemented by the partner firm.

The focus will be on the innovative design of management control systems and performance management for maintaining high-level customer services and implementing regional business strategies. The project will cover among others the following aspects:

- Detailed analysis of the customer experience process

- Thorough analysis of customer satisfaction in the region

- Definition of key success factors and corresponding key performance indicators

- Benchmarking study

- Recommendations for changes in the current client satisfaction/ assessment surveys

- Suggestions for optimization of employee performance KPIs and/ or relevant management controls

Students will learn to manage a demanding project in a large team, apply their theoretical knowledge to find creative, hands-on solutions and to “sell” ideas and solutions to the top management team of the partner firm. Through group work students will also learn a great deal about coordinating efficiently and effectively with their peers.
Learning outcomes

After completing this course students will have the ability to:

- organize and manage a large-scale project in the field of management control

- structure complex and ill-defined problems

- apply their theoretical knowledge from different fields to find creative hands-on solutions to real-life problems.

Apart from that, completing this course will contribute to students’ ability to:

- be an effective, hard- and soft-skilled team member

- work effectively in a team-based structure 

- convince top managers to implement the solutions proposed by the project team.

Teaching/learning method(s)
The course will combine various learning methods to deliver the different topics to the students. These will include readings, open class discussions, team work, individual team coachings and workshops held by practitioners.
Assessment
The final grade of the course will depend on:
- peer evaluation (individual)
- project report and presentations (individual + group)
- customer satisfaction - evaluation by partner firm (Group)
Other
The kick-off event of our project will take place in Retz (lower Austria) in March 2015. Participation is compulsory!
Last edited: 2014-12-05



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