Area Management
The area Management consists of five chairs which cover the dominant management functions and important institutional fields in management. These chairs are:
- Strategic and International Management
- Organizational Behavior
- Human Resource Management
- SME research and entrepreneurship
- Public & Nonprofit Management
The area offers two courses „Management I and Management II“ in undergraduate studies (Bachelor of Science). These courses cover management functions from a general management perspective. Starting with foundations of management the fields of strategic management and controlling are dealt with in the first course. Management II concentrates on organizational behavior, leadership, employment relations and human resource management.
For Master programs the area offers the following fields of specialization:
Strategic and International Management
The internationalization of German economy and the globalization of markets require business administration courses with international focus. The objective is to chart and analyze the distinctive features arising for business administration in the course of this process of internationalization.
It is the aim of the course in Strategic and International Management, to allow students to gain insight into the complexity of managing multinational companies. Furthermore, an understanding of multicultural issues is encouraged. Studying Strategic and International Management provides the opportunity to train management issues in context and offers possibilities for interdisciplinary research.
We follow a general management approach linking substantiated theoretical knowledge with practical experience. The following courses are offered:
- Strategic Management
- International Entrepreneurship Research and Practice
- International Financial Management
- International Corporate Governance
- Intercultural/Global Management
- International Value-Chain Management
Students of the courses are especially qualified for jobs in international companies, in small- or medium-scale firms as well as in companies with a high degree of activity abroad. In the context of structural change in the global economy and the necessary international strategic focus of companies, the subject Strategic and International Management is especially topical.
Organizational Behavior
In teaching and research the Chair of Organizational Behavior deals with different approaches to explaining organizations, in particular, with Max Weber, Taylorism and its recent variants (time management, benchmarking etc.), Human Relations Movement and Organizational Psychology, Behavioral Theory (Herbert Simon, James March), Contingency Approach, New Institutional Economics, Evolutionary Approaches (Population Ecology and others), Neo-institutional Theory (John Meyer, Richard Scott), Theory of Structuration (Giddens), Luhmann’s System Theory.
In teaching, special emphasis is on the Contingency Approach which allows to analyze differences in the formal structure of organizations and the context factors that explain these differences (organizational size, technology, national cultures and internationalization, dynamics of the environment etc.).
Another of the chair’s focuses is on consultancies and the knowledge which they generate and disseminate. A large part of this knowledge consists of management fashions like lean production, total quality management, business process reengineering, etc.
The chair’s teaching encompasses the following courses:
- Organization Theories (all theories that are listed in the first paragraph)
- Organizational Structure (an analysis of organizational structures and the influences on it, inspired by contingency theory and based on empirical studies)
- Organizational Behavior (motivation, work satisfaction, teams, etc.)
- Organizational Design (management fashions, consulting, the relationship between organizational theory and organizational design)
- Information Systems & Organization
Each course encompasses a lecture and exercises.
The chair’s research concentrates on decision making in organizations, organizational learning, collaborations of specialists in innovative projects, consulting, management fashions, and history of organizations. Results of this research are published in international and national management journals.
Human Resource Management
The focus in research is on strategic human resource management, international and comparative systems of corporate governance and employment relations, and personnel management in the public sector. Examples of research projects which are based on empirical studies are „Arbitration in German Companies“; „The changing Role of Participation in new Forms of Production“; „Flexibilization of Pay“; Development of Employment in the Metropolitan Rhein/Neckar area.
The conceptional background of studies in this field is the Strategic Human Resource Management approach. Different forms of integration of corporate strategy and Human Resource strategy and consequences for Human Resources planning are shown. The role of the Human Resource Department consists of a strategic business partner and it is organized as cost, service or profit center. Human Resource Management instruments have an operational and a strategic dimension and are organized as a Human Resource cycle.
The cycle starts with selection of personnel for business processes. Performance in the business process is appraised through methods of performance appraisal. The results of performance appraisal contribute to compensation and development. Performance based pay is one component of compensation systems which is accompanied by job evaluation, gain sharing, and employee stock option plans. Human Resource development is embedded in organizational and strategic development. Based on the above conceptual approach studies in Human Resource Management also refer to systems of employment relations and methods of personnel research. Case studies and project seminars serve as a practical orientation. The following courses are offered:
- Strategic Human Resource Management
- Human Resource Management and Employment Relations
- Human Resource Instruments
- Human Resource Development
SME research and entrepreneurship
In teaching and research the Chair of SME research and entrepreneurship deals with topics related to starting and managing new firms. Investigating the start up firm we mostly take an interdisciplinary perspective. We blend the business, economic, sociological, geographical and psychological perspective regarding newly founded businesses.
In our teaching we convey the theoretical concepts behind entrepreneurship that are derived for instance from industrial organization, strategic management, and organizational sociology.
But we also stress the practical implications of the field. Students will learn how to write a business plan, how to develop a business model, how to raise money, develop a marketing plan and manage a business successfully. A special interest is placed on fast growing companies and on the particular challenges they are confronted with.
The chair’s teaching encompasses the following courses:
- Theories of entrepreneurship (such as industrial organization theory, strategic management theory, neo-institutional theory, population ecology theory, psychological theory)
- International entrepreneurship (entrepreneurship and geography, institutions and entrepreneurs, international comparisons in entrepreneurship, internationalisation of high tech start ups)
- How to develop a business plan (business model, competition analysis, operations, finance, marketing)
- Managing the growing enterprise (innovation, financing, organization, human resource, management concepts and strategy)
- Information and communication technology & small and medium sized enterprises
Each course encompasses a lecture and exercises.
The chair’s research concentrates on firm and industry dynamics. We also study the employment chances of minorities, management concepts for small and medium sized companies and several important issues related to family businesses. Results of this research are published in national and international management journals.
Public and Nonprofit Management
The Chair and Department of Business Administration, Public & Nonprofit Management aims to develop and improve management concepts and instruments for public administrations, state-owned enterprises and private nonprofit organizations (NPOs).
In terms of research we have a strong focus on marketing management problems of Public & NPOs (i.e. Public Service Orientation, Managing Nonprofit Relationships, Fundraising). The use of marketing in Public & NPOs began in the late 1960s but this has accelerated in recent years and has in the meantime been widely accepted and practiced. However, there are various ways in which Public & NPO management differs from management in for-profit organizations. One of the main aspects of Public & NPO management is the need to market products and services to a wide range of target groups. Marketing strategies help to attract resources (e.g., time from volunteers, money from government and the public) as well as to allocate resources (e.g., running a campaign to persuade people to stop smoking). In the for-profit sector, which faces multiple markets as well, this is usually a minor problem because success in marketing to customers serves the interests of most of these publics. Another characteristic of Public & NPO management is that marketing activities are still perceived as undesirable, too expensive, and a waste of stakeholders’ money. However, we do not emphasize exclusively on marketing problems, but we look as well at other functional aspects. Accounting, procurement, organizational design and human resource management in public administrations, state-owned enterprises and private nonprofit organizations are examples of our other functional specializations.
Besides research, teaching on bachelor, master and Ph.D. level is a major focus in order to broadly diffuse the developed concepts and instruments in the public and nonprofit sector. This is motivated by the strong belief that managerial know-how required in public and private nonprofit institutions cannot be learned in general management courses mainly dealing with private for-profit enterprises only. Furthermore our opinion is that future managers of Public & NPOs must be able to use quantitative empirical methods in order to be able to deal with the challenges that are facing the two sectors. Therefore, we put a strong effort on the conceptualization and operationalization of latent (non-observable) constructs (i.e. reputation, satisfaction, retention, and identity of stakeholders), because these important variables have to be measured and managed.
Besides from political and administrative sciences and public and private law, the specific characteristics of acting in the public interest and of management practices in public and private nonprofit organizations are taken into account in research and teaching projects.
By studying Public & Nonprofit Management one is well prepared for management tasks to fulfil in public administrations of the Executive (federal, provincial, municipal authority), the Legislative (i.e. administration of parliament) or the Judiciary (i.e. administration of Justice). A second row of potential employers include the Public Corporations, which can be either publicly maintained enterprises or belong to the so-called mixed economy. Last but not least there is a growing number of privately owned nonprofit organizations (NPOs), which can be distinguished between the “Services for own-account NPOs” (such as associations, federations) and the “Services for third-party NPOs” (such as hospitals, social service organizations).
So, by studying Public & Nonprofit Management one has an excellent position for a high number of highly interesting, responsive and well paid positions in business practice. Last but not least successfully finishing this subject enables students to apply for a doctorate and start an academic career in a dynamic and fascinating functional and branch-specific environment.
Mannheim Business School Programs
The Management area also contributes courses in MBA and Executive MBA programs of the Mannheim Business School. These course modules focus on International Management, Change Management, Human Resource Management and Employment Relations in Europe, Organizational Behavior.
Doctoral Studies in Business
Studies in Management are part of the Doctoral Studies in Business program. The area Management contributes courses in Corporate Governance, Behavioral Theory of the Firm, Strategic Management.
