The sustainability challenge

Among the many challenges organisations face today, transforming their own operations to become more sustainable AND contributing to making the world a more sustainable environment is probably the most complex.

But organisations have no choice. We have no choice. We must succeed in improving ecological and social sustainability while maintaining economic sustainability. For a sustainable future, organisations need new ideas, they need talent, and they need profound knowledge of what sustainability means.

The SAS answer

The master of science program 'STRATEGY & SUSTAINABILITY' (SAS)

provides you with profound knowledge about ways to a more sustainable future
develops you into the talent modern organisations so urgently need
trains you to develop innovative ideas for sustainable progress.

In other words: Our aim is to educate the leaders of tomorrow! Be it as Chief Sustainability Officer, as CEO, as a manager of an NGO, or as a leader in an international organisation.

How SAS does it

SAS leads to a degree that qualifies students for a career either in professional practice or in research institutions (universities, research centers, etc.).

It is an academic and research oriented degree program with many touchpoints with management practice.
We work closely with organisations to ensure that what you learn is relevant while also guaranteeing that what you learn is based on facts and established tools.
By offering the M.Sc. SAS entirely in English, we aim to bring together a community of students from Europe and around the world.

Sustainability is a global challenge. It requires global answers. But to move forward requires know-how and motivation. Studying SAS allows you to understand the interplay between organisational strategy and sustainability management with scholarly methods. It trains you to make your contribution and, in fact, to make a difference.

So: Come to Bamberg! Study SAS!

Program structure

Upon the succesful completion of all module groups in the SAS program, the Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences (SOWI) awards the degree ?Master of Science“ (M. Sc.) in Strategy & Sustainability.

The program encompasses five module groups for a total of 120 ECTS (European Credit Transfer System):

A: Strategy and markets (24 ECTS)
B: Sustainability (24 ECTS)
C: Digitalisation, people and culture (36 ECTS)
D: Research seminars (12 ECTS)
E: Master thesis (24 ECTS)

Within each of the five module groups, you can choose from a pool of available courses, which can be found in the current module handbook. Please note that the Master's programme is still in its infancy and the possible curriculum is constantly expanding (e.g. following the switch to English as the language of instruction).

The current version of the module handbook can be found here: /abt-studium/aufgaben/modulhandbuecher/sowi/modulhandbuch-master-strategy-and-sustainability/

In the module group A "Strategy", you have to obtain 24 ECTS from two baskets, with 12 ECTS from the A1 basket and 12 ECTS from the A2 basket:

Basket A1 (12 ECTS):

Org-M-05: Corporate Strategy and Growth
Org-M-06: Strategic Renewal and Organizational Transformation
VM-M-01: Price Management

Basket A2 (12 ECTS):

Inno-M-03: Implementation and Diffusion of Innovations
Org-M-07: Strategic Practice and Process
PM-M-06: Change Management
VM-M-02: Business-to-Business Marketing & Purchasing
BFC-M-02: International Finance
Fin-M-11: Strategic ESG-Risk Management

In the module group B "Sustainability", you have to obtain 24 ECTS from two baskets, with 12 ECTS from the B1 basket and 12 ECTS from the B2 basket:

Basket B1 (12 ECTS):

CTRL-M-03: Sustainability Accounting & Reporting
Inno-M-04: Organisationales Krisenmanagement
Inno-M-09: Management of Sustainable Innovations
VM-M-15: Sustainability and Responsibility in Management

Basket B2 (12 ECTS):

MAEES1.2: Advanced Macroeconomics
MAEES8.3: Macroeconomics and International Finance 3
Fin-M-12: Sustainable (Corporate) Finance
VM-M-25: Sustainability at the bottom of the pyramid
VM-M-26: Corporate Responsibility and Product Management
PWM-IE-V: Vorlesung (MA) Internationale und europ?ische Politik I
IRWP-M-11: Research Seminar Sustainability Reporting

In the module group C "Digitalisation, People and Culture", you have to obtain 36 ECTS from two baskets, with 12 ECTS from the C1 basket and 24 ECTS from the C2 basket:

Basket C1 (12 ECTS):

PM-M-02: The Future of Work
PM-M-11b: European Human Resource Management Programme B
SCM-M-07: Digital Transformation of Value Creation Systems

Basket C2 (24 ECTS):

PM-M-03: International Dimensions of Human Resource Management
PM-M-10: Leadership and Management Development
PM-M-11a: European Human Resource Management Programme A
PM-M-11c: European Human Resource Management Programme C
VM-M-17: Designing a Life with Purpose
VM-M-09: Intercultural Challenges in Customer and Account Management
VM-M-14: Blockchain Applications for Business
WiP?d-M-20: Educational Management
WiP?d-M-14: International Vocational Education
PWM-CS-V: Vorlesung (MA) Computational Social Science I
PWM-CS-HS2: Hauptseminar Computational Social Science II
Fin-M-13: Digitization Finance and FinTechs

In the module group D "Research Seminars", you have to obtain 12 ECTS. The offered classes prepare students - among other possible paths - to follow an academic career or to work in a private or public research institute. You can choose among the following alternatives:

VM-M-04: Research Seminar Business-to-Business
CTRL-M-02: Research Seminar Management Accounting & Sustainability
Inno-M-05: Research Seminar on International Innovation Strategies
Fin-M-14: Empirical Financial Markets Research

The module group E “Master Thesis” with 24 ECTS credits consists of the mandatory module "ORG-M-08 Qualitative Methodology in Strategy and Organization Research" (6 ECTS) and the master thesis (18 ECTS).

Information regarding the registration process for your master thesis is available from the exam office: Prüfungsamtes.

For the supervision of your master thesis you will typically contact a Professor in management (BWL). You may also address a request to the exam commission (Prüfungsausschuss) in case you wish to have another Professor from a different field as your supervisor (e.g. VWL, Soziologie, Politik). If so, you also need to obtain a "Betreuungszusage" (i.e., the confirmation of the willingness to supervise your work) from the Professor from the different field and include it in your demand to the exam commission. Your demand can be made by email.

It is in many cases possible to write your master thesis in cooperation with a company, a government agency, an NGO, or other organizations. The process needs to be coordinated by a chair (Lehrstuhl), typically by your supervisor.

Exemplary curriculum

Since the M.Sc. SAS is a four-semester program, you should earn 30 ECTS credits per semester. This corresponds to five lectures/seminars of 6 ECTS credits each. Below is an example of a study plan. You can customize it according to your interests and your desired skill profile by referring to the lectures or seminars offered in the respective baskets (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2) in the module handbook.

The current version can be found here ? /abt-studium/aufgaben/modulhandbuecher/sowi/modulhandbuch-master-strategy-and-sustainability/.