People who can think and act entrepreneurially both as employers and employees, especially qualified and dynamic entrepreneurs, are increasingly needed to create and ensure the foundations for good economic growth and for the further development of our societies. In order to qualify employers and employees, in particular to qualify entrepreneurs, to cope with current and future challenges and to create entrepreneurial thinking and acting as well as entrepreneurial spirit in society, it is necessary to have a suitable vision of the qualified entrepreneur.

Graduates of the Master’s degree program in Entrepreneurship will have extensive and practical specialist knowledge. In addition to business management and entrepreneurial expertise, important analytical skills, leadership competence (and the ability to develop companies), methodological competence, intercultural competence and other soft skills are taught, which guarantee a high “employability” on the national and international job market after graduation.

In addition to the business management background, the graduates also will have the expertise to independently design and achieve business goals. Even in situations of limited information, they will be able to understand complex contexts and to present alternative courses of action in specific situations.

Furthermore they will develop a holistic view of companies. This includes the ability to resolve goal conflicts and priorities, as well as to make trade-offs in decision-making in order to secure differentiation potential for a sustainable market presence and survival.

The graduates of the Master’s degree program will

• be able to create and implement innovations, especially innovations that involve novelties and quantum leaps, as these are becoming increasingly important for all regional economic progress
• demonstrate ethical, social and corporate responsibility
• be able to create an innovative corporate culture, which is important for success, especially for the realization of innovations
• have the necessary intercultural understanding and communication skills to enable them to manage culturally diverse companies

The Master's degree program in Entrepreneurship does not train students for a sector-specific job description. The fields of application are manifold and include national and international companies, but especially start-ups and family businesses. During the program, students will be comprehensively prepared for starting their own business and for a career in innovative small and medium-sized enterprises or in national or international groups.

The graduate of the program will be able to create and/or manage and develop a small or medium-sized enterprise or a unit of a larger organization. Modules such as “International Entrepreneurship”, “Managing Family Businesses” or “Corporate Entrepreneurship” reinforce these skills.

Successful graduates will be able to start or continue a career as self-employed professionals (new ventures) as well as entrepreneurial leaders or managers in companies (corporate entrepreneurship), social and non-profit organizations and other industry sectors. At the same time, graduates will also have opportunities to pursue an academic career.

Like all other degree programs of the department of IBA, the Master’s degree program in Entrepreneurship offers flexibility in terms of how the program can be completed. Students can opt for the traditional classic program, or alternatively, they may prefer to choose the cooperative program. The difference between both can be seen in the study plan below. Additional information on the cooperative degree program can be found in the section “Information on Cooperative Studies”. In addition, it is possible to shorten the standard period of study from 4 semesters to 3 semesters by excluding the placement semester. On successful completion of the program, students will receive a Master’s degree in

• 4 semesters with 120 CP or in
• 3 semesters with 90 CP.

The structure of the Master’s program follows the entrepreneurial life cycle. In the first semester, students will acquire knowledge, skills and competences concerning the topic of “Founding a company”; in the second semester concerning the topic of “Growth” and the last semester concerning the topic of “Advanced development and special forms of entrepreneurship”.

Therefore, the program can be divided into the following sections:

1 ǀ Semester 1: Founding a company

The core subjects are arranged according to the entrepreneurial life cycle and are extended and built upon over the course of the program.

„Starting a business” is the focus of the modules “International Entrepreneurship” and “Creativity and Innovation” in the first semester. Students develop the skills to start their own business, develop a business plan, identify entrepreneurial opportunities and present them to investors. Entrepreneurship, business model and business plan development, business model trade-offs, innovation, creativity and idea generation as well as design thinking elements are the main focus.

Closely related to this, the module “Strategies of Internationalization” equips students with the strategic management tools and skills to lead, develop, change and restructure a company. The right strategic positioning in highly competitive markets and the development of competitive advantages are particularly important for startups.

Leadership competence is reinforced in the modules “Business Psychology” and “Leadership and Intercultural Management”. These provide students with the competence to successfully link their theoretical management knowledge with practical application. However, they also learn how to deal with challenging situations that are typical in the corporate life cycle, as well as how to cope with the failure of start-ups and how to deal with mistakes. Management of failure and resilience are critical success factors for founders. Thus, the program Entrepreneurship is not only about becoming an entrepreneur, but also about being an entrepreneur.

In “Project and Change Management”, students of the classic program strengthen their ability to plan, structure and implement change in companies, as these skills are essential for everyday business life in companies with rapid and frequent changes. In addition, the students practice working together on diverse projects learning how to cope with potential conflicts in international teams. The cooperative program ensures that students are offered equivalent learning outcomes during their practical phase in the company.

2 ǀ Semester 2: Growth

Early development, consolidation and growth are the entrepreneurial focuses of the second semester with the modules “Management and Marketing of Innovations” and “Managing Family Businesses”. This includes strategies for growth processes, maintaining and expanding the innovative drive in young companies, but also the development of structure and organization in small companies. Family businesses often confront entrepreneurially minded graduates with particular challenges.

The modules “Intellectual Property Rights” and “Advanced Corporate Finance” also form the focus of the entrepreneurship training. They familiarize students with the basic rules and challenges of protecting intellectual property and financing options, for example for scaling up start-ups.

In addition to the core elements of the program, students choose one additional specialization from a carefully selected group of elective modules, thus increasing their expertise in their preferred areas. These elective modules represent state-of-the-art business management specializations and reflect the relevant activities of the value-added process of an internationally active company.

These compulsory elective modules include:

• E-Commerce
• Advanced International Controlling
• Global Careers, Employee Motivation & Organization Design
• Strategic Marketing & Relationship Marketing
• International Supply Chain Management
• Analytics and Digital Consulting

The elective modules are all, without exception, internationally oriented and, thanks to small group sizes, enable very practice-oriented teaching. Project work, workshops or excursions to international companies and/or organizations are often offered.

Finally, the second semester of the classic degree program includes a special high application-oriented format: the “Entrepreneurship Boot Camp”. Here, students will be intensively engaged in the creation of start-up concepts and actively work on problems of selected start-ups in different stages of development. The cooperative program ensures that students are offered equivalent learning outcomes during their practical phase in the company.

3 ǀ Semester 3: Placement semester

The third semester is designed as an internship semester. It comprises a continuous period of at least 20 weeks and must be completed in a company in Germany or abroad. The goal is to apply the acquired specialized business knowledge and skills and entrepreneurial competencies in practice and to implement them in a professional way.

It is possible to shorten the standard period of study from 4 semesters to 3 semesters by excluding the placement semester. These have to be proven by one of the following options:

• Proof of relevant professional work experience of at least one year after the successful completion of the Bachelor's degree and prior to the commencement of the Master's degree program.
  This proof has to be submitted as a certificate from the employer and must include the type, duration and scope of the employment as well as the main focus of the professional activity, both individually and in total.
• Proof of a Bachelor's degree with at least 210 CP.

The shortening must be notified by the time of registration for the Master's thesis.

It is recommended to complete an internship semester as this is where the knowledge gained can be deepened and important contacts for the further career can be made. The duration of 20 weeks ensures a comprehensive insight into the company and the work areas.

4 ǀ Semester 4 (3): Advanced development and special forms of entrepreneurship

Change, further development and special entrepreneurial issues are the focus of the fourth (third) semester. “Social Entrepreneurship” represents a rapidly growing area in the start-up landscape and requires a modified way of thinking and design of start-ups, especially when weighing up non-financial and financial goals. “Corporate Entrepreneurship” strengthens the intrapreneurship education of students and enables them to transfer entrepreneurial approaches to the structures of existing large companies or private and public institutions.

The last semester is also reserved for writing the Master’s Thesis in the form of a research topic related to a selected area of entrepreneurship or innovation management. The Master's thesis can be written in a company, whereby the students apply their expertise in a company. Finally, the writing of the Master's thesis enables students to apply the knowledge and skills they have acquired during their studies to real-life corporate problems within a specified period of time.