The FT enables students to connect current events with course principles and gives them current, real-world material for their assignments. It is a necessity to our program’s goal-oriented approach to problem solving.
Vice Dean, Hochschule Esslingen University of Applied Sciences
A global player
Esslingen University’s three core areas are engineering, management, and social sciences. These core strengths are reflected in the Esslingen MBA in Industrial Management, which emphasizes the three fields of Operations Management, Marketing and Sales, and Finance. Constantly playing to its strengths, Esslingen University is one of the leading universities in Germany for applied sciences.
Esslingen’s MBA in Industrial Management strives to improve the quality and productivity of enterprises by educating highly capable professionals. These are then able to discover, develop, and validate new principles, theories, and methods.
Members of the department are brought together by common interests in process management, decision making, information, and internationality. Over 90% of Esslingen’s MBA program are international students. This motivates students to consider a career in a global environment and helps to provide them with the necessary skills to act internationally.
Incorporating the latest developments and trends
In order to provide students with an international perspective and real-world examples, Esslingen University made the FT available to all MBA students and faculty as part of an FT Professional Subscription.
The goals were to develop commercial awareness and business acumen, so that students are informed about current issues in their discipline, and able to give practical examples to classroom discussion about academic theories. This is a theoretical complement to the real-case scenarios that students work with through their company visits, where students are posed a real problem by the corporate partners and work to solve it.
Professor Michael Flad says he regularly uses FT content in his MBA program, for example asking students to recommend three articles to their classmates, discuss the topic, and role play an advisory role to the CEO involved in the news.
Take charge and lead from the front
One case study used was Porsche’s plan to go ahead with production of its pure electric concept. Students were challenged to give their recommendations on how to react and adapt if they were advising CEOs of Porsche’s competitors, such as Tesla, Daimler or BMW. As Professor Michael Flad shares, “This methodology brings business subjects to life. Insights into executive decision-making help students learn practical methods to implement in their work situations.”
At Esslingen University, an FT Professional Subscription is an ideal solution to foster practical, data-led teaching methods by directly linking with real world business news. This allows students to transfer practical learning directly from the classroom to become effective leaders in their future career. Professor Michael Flad concludes, “The FT enables students to connect current events with course principles and gives them current, real- world material for their assignments. It is a necessity to our program’s goal-oriented approach to problem solving.”
About the Esslingen MBA
The Esslingen MBA began in 1998 and was one of the first English-taught MBA programs in Germany. It is a highly competitive and internationally recognized MBA program in industrial management that focuses strongly on the interconnection of Finance, Marketing and Sales, and Operations Management. It teaches students a competent and goal-oriented approach to problem-solving. The course is particularly sought after by German companies with foreign operations, such as Festo, Bosch, and Daimler.