Business Administration: Management Consulting

Program Description

New technologies, internationalization and connected markets have sparked a wave of transformation in the world of organizations. Many organizations are looking for answers on big questions. What strategy should we follow? Which organizational form fits best in the new environment? How do we ensure our change efforts pay off? Consultants play a crucial role in helping organizations to find answers to those often fussy questions, and they guide them during implementation, when solutions have been defined.

The MC programme challenges students to gain the knowledge, mindset and skills a 21st century consultant needs. In the courses they experience open questions, they study the bigger professional challenges consultants face, apply inductive and abductive approaches to find answers, and they are trained in methods to present their answers convincingly. Creative problem solving and rhetoric are a key in the program, as consultants have to be convincing. That is the only power they can exploit in interaction with their clients, when acquiring assignments, when developing solutions and during implementation.

Highlights

The MC programme prepares students for a perfect first job. Being consultant gives you the opportunity to discover the not-for-profit and business world while working for different clients. The program provides students with the research mindset that will enable them to become a thought leader in their field, and it develops their critical and analytical skills.

There is no other programme at the nexus of practice and academia that teaches students to structure and analyze fuzzy problems. Moreover, in academia the field of consultant studies is quite nascent. That creates ample opportunities for students to contribute to academic research on consultants with their masters’ thesis.

What`s Included

Students have to apply and develop theory about consultants as well as carry out empirical research to solve client problems. The Research Seminar provides a methodological background, the other courses a theoretical background.

The learning line on skills includes groupwork and presentation skills, exercises on solving unstructured problems, evaluation skills, and creative skills necessary to develop advice.
Students are sent out into the world and will experience the tensions between theory and practice, plans and implementation, reflection and action, what is good for a client company vs what is good for society. They will be challenged to define their own position in this.