Course Topics
The objective of this laboratory is to apply and thereby broaden students´ skills regarding analyzing and crafting strategies, organizational structures, processes, information management and corresponding technologies. Additionally, soft-skills and interpersonal ability to communicate and negotiate should be developed and/or improved. Students –ideally in collaboration with a similar cohort from Baruch College– will be assigned to specific business problems of firms and conduct consulting tasks that include application of knowledge acquired in previous courses especially in the BAC track of the Ms A&F or comparable majors. Through presenting the results of the consulting work in front of clients, lecturers, and fellow students communication skills are enhanced. • Role and functions of management consultants • Methods, instruments, and tools of management consulting • Communication with clients • Reporting and presenting results Because of the laboratory character of this course which contains active off-campus / on-site work with firms and organizations, and a possible collaboration with international students from Baruch college full commitment and active participation is needed from those students who work on client projects, as it is crucial to achieve the learning objectives associated with the specific purpose and design of the course (e.g., interaction, teamwork, negotiation). Domestic trips to the HQs of the participating client firms as well as an oversee trip to Baruch College are mandatory for attending students. There is the need to notify the Faculty Secretariat until the 29th of January 2026 regarding the decision to attend and participate as a full team member. Those students who decide to take the course –e.g., because it is mandatory– but are not able to actively attend/participate, need to indicate this in written form before the start of the semester (15th of February 2026). They will be provided with a term assignment with a comparable workload and limited processing time, i.e. 3 months.

Teaching format
Some basic introductory sessions, frequent weekly feedback with client firms and lecturer and (re)directing sessions, final presentation preferably in front of clients; roundtable discussions and self-reflection.

Educational objectives
ILO (Intended Learning Outcomes) ILO 1 – Knowledge and Understanding ILO 1.1 Knowledge of economic-business models and tools for managing companies, whether family-owned or small-sized or internationally oriented. ILO 1.2 Understanding of the design and management of institutional and organisational structures related to corporate governance systems. ILO 1.3 Knowledge of tools and business processes developed to recognise, understand, and guide change and manage the impact of transitions on the organisation. ILO 1.4 Understanding of strategies for efficient communication within the organisation and towards various stakeholders. ILO 1.5 Knowledge of Management topics that characterise the roles of financial analyst, portfolio manager, risk manager, and consultant. ILO 2 – Applying Knowledge and Understanding ILO 2.1 Ability to conduct critical analysis and formulate solutions to complex problems in national and international interdisciplinary contexts within organisations of varying sizes. ILO 2.2 Ability to integrate the results of economic-financial communication and quantitative data analysis into corporate decision-making models. ILO 2.3 Ability to frame and evaluate organisational situations and problems from a multidisciplinary perspective, integrating business, economic, legal, financial, and statistical-mathematical disciplines. ILO 2.4 Ability to engage and interact with heads of different functional areas of the company, with financial markets, and with professionals in corporate and tax law. ILO 3 – Making Judgements ILO 3.1 Ability to apply acquired knowledge to make managerial and operational decisions and to solve problems related to administration and finance in companies, intermediaries, and financial markets, while jointly considering multiple analytical perspectives, from economic to legal, financial, strategic, and managerial. ILO 3.2 Ability to select data and use appropriate information to describe a problem concerning the management of companies, intermediaries, and financial markets. ILO 3.3 Ability to relate models and empirical evidence in the study of companies, intermediaries, and financial markets. ILO 4 – Communication Skills ILO 4 Ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing, the specialised content of individual disciplines, using different registers depending on the audience and the communicative and educational purposes, and to assess the educational impact of such communication. ILO 5 – Learning Skills ILO 5.1 Ability to identify thematic connections and establish relationships between different cases and contexts of analysis. ILO 5.2 Ability to frame a new problem systematically and to generate appropriate taxonomies. ILO 5.3 Ability to develop general models based on the phenomena studied

Additional educational objectives and learning outcomes
Knowledge and understanding: Knowledge of key aspects of management consulting and methodological approaches Applying knowledge and understanding: Applying this knowledge through interpreting the task, setting up a project, collaborate with team members and the client, to presenting results Making judgments: Ability to comprehend the clients’ needs and restrictions, to choose appropriate methods and presentation tools. Communication skills: Learn and practice to communicate effectively with client, team members, and supporting lecturing staff. Experience cross-cultural teamwork and environments. Learning skills: The need to gather and interpret data from different sources to solve or at least illustrate management problems advances learning skills. Interpersonal communication skills; presentation and negotiation skills

Assessment
Option A - Attending/active: Efforts and engagement shown ‘in-class’, during kick-off meetings, weekly ‘Jour-Fixe’ sessions, and in the client-student (consulting) communication and collaboration; demonstrated ability to access internal and external data-sources to solve the problem (30%), final report (50%), and team presentation (20%). Option N - Non-attending/no participation: Quality of a scholarly review article (20 text pages; approx. 10,000 words plus references, appendices if needed) on topical issues relevant for example to the consulting sector. Topics are only assigned by the lecturer at the beginning of the semester at the explicit request of the non-attending student. The student can submit non-binding suggestions. The due date of the work will be the exam date. A brief ‘contract’ based on an exposé provided by the student will be signed or agreed upon by the candidate and the lecturer. It is expected that the student shows exceptional effort for being provided an exception, i.e. non-attending. Knowledge of the basic literature listed below is required as well as proficiency in writing scholarly papers. The paper has to be written and presented in German and counts for 80% of the course grade. The remaining 20% is based on a written exam (MC; closed-book) in German. ILOs 1-5 assessed

Evaluation criteria
Option A - Attending/active participation: See above; clients’ satisfaction and evaluation; breadth and depth of analyses; quality of report (content and formal requirements); quality of presentation (content and presentation skills) - (ILOs 1. - 5.) Option N - Non-attending/no participation: Content (complexity and difficulty), structure, comprehensiveness, writing, quantity and quality of scholarly sources used, and formal issues (e.g. citation and layout) – in short rigor and relevance and quality of presentation (content and presentation skills). (ILOs 1. - 2., 3.2., 5.2)

Required readings

Grant, R.M.: “Contemporary Strategy Analysis”, 9th ed., Wiley (ISBN: 9781119120834)

Nippa, M. & Petzold, K. „Functions and Roles of Management Consulting Firms - an Integrative Theoretical Framework.“ In: A.F. Buono (Ed.), Developing Knowledge and Value in Management Consulting: Research in Management Consulting, Volume 2. Information Age: Greenwich, CT: pp. 209-230.

Supplementary readings

Nippa, M. & Schneiderbauer, D. (2004) „Erfolgsmechanismen der Top-Management-Beratung. Einblicke und kritische Reflexionen von Branchenken-nern.“ Physica: Heidelberg, Berlin.

Further information
Since the majority of the course consists of external customer- and peer-oriented teamwork, their assessment of individual performance—in addition to continuous assessment in the consulting process—is included in the overall assessment. Free riding or dropping out of teamwork during the course should be avoided out of solidarity with the other students.