Forms of cooperation

Under academic supervision, small groups of students carry out projects at companies over the course of two semesters to give them the opportunity to apply and test their theoretical knowledge in practice. Typically, these projects involve conducting current-state analyses, developing target concepts, and implementing prototypes. Common components include organizational and process analyses, market studies, and the development of management information systems.

In collaboration with regional and national companies, individual students develop concepts and partial solutions for specific problem areas as part of a two- to six-month thesis project.

In practice-oriented dissertations, doctoral candidates work closely with a company to examine business problems that are sufficiently complex to warrant several years of research, are so fundamental that no immediate solutions are available on the market, and lend themselves to academic analysis. Such a project can also serve as a personnel development measure, to the extent that the individual in question is simultaneously being prepared for a future role within the company.

Externally funded R&D projects are the most flexible form of knowledge transfer. Depending on the nature and scope of the problem, research assistants and/or students work under the supervision of a department chair. The projects result in scientific solutions that are both innovative and practical.