SAS qualification goals

The master of science program "Strategy & Sustainability" leads to a degree that qualifies students both for practical jobs in organizations and for academic jobs in universities and other scholarly research institutions.

It aims at

  • developing students' ability to analyse managerial problems and challenges in companies and other organizations
  • focusing on strategic decision making and on sustainability 
  • using scientific methods and developing innovative solutions.

This ability should allow graduates to use their profound knowledge both in a context of companies and not-for-profit organizations as well as for their own academic research career, for example in the form of a doctoral project (Ph.D.).

Moreover, the SAS program also develops the ability to understand cross-disciplinary and cross-functional challenges using strategic analyses and concepts of sustainable management. 


Academic skills

Students who have succesfully completed the M.Sc. program SAS,

  • are able to compare core models and theories;
  • have developed profound and integrated managerial knowledge;
  • have developed the competency to analyse and understand complex scholarly problems;
  • have shown through their final thesis (master's thesis) that they are able to conduct a research project;
  • are able to select complex qualitative and quantitative methods;
  • are able to develop own ideas and to critically evaluate their implementation.

Ability to pursue a qualified professional activity

Students who have succesfully completed the M.Sc. program SAS,

  • have the ability to find solutions for complex and new questions of strategic management, taking into account the requirements of current sustainability regulations and thinking;
  • are able to apply their knowledge in a concrete professional context in different industries or political environments;  
  • know how to use their theoretical knowledge as well as management instruments they have discovered during their studies to create their own idiosyncratic solutions when working on complex problems and developing their ideas, for example in a report (such as their masters thesis).

Personal development

Students who have succesfully completed the M.Sc. program SAS,

  • are able to reflect critically on models and theories and to develop a convincing line of arguments to explain a topic
  • are able to take decisions, set priorities and distribute tasks; they take responsibilities for themselves and their task within the group
  • know their abilities and skills (subject, method, and social skills) and have concrete ideas how to further develop them
  • are able to identify the current state-of-the-art in a research stream through their own analysis of the relevant literature
  • critically analyse the societal background of companies and their strategic decisions
  • take responsibilities based on the professional values that guide their activity or profession
  • are able to conduct their own analysis leading to an optimization of processes within their company and the market it operates in 
  • take decisions considering long-term effects and unintended collateral effects when preparing decisions.