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Business Administration

M.Sc. Strategy & Sustainability

  1.  University of bamberg
  2. Faculties
  3. Social Sciences, Economics and Business Administration
  4. Subjects and Institutes
  5. Business Administration
  6. Studies
  7. M.Sc. Strategy & Sustainability
  8. Profile & structure

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 & Markets (24 ECTS)
  • B Sustainability (24 ECTS)
  • C Digitalisation, People & Culture (36 ECTS)
  • D Research (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).

In module group A "Strategy" you need to obtain 24 ECTS from two baskets:

  • Basket A1

Pick two of the following modules: "Corporate Strategy and Growth", "Strategic Renewal and Transformation" or "Price Management".

  • Basket A2

Pick two modules from a list of currently six modules, such as "Strategic Practice and Process", "Change Management", "Implementation and Diffusion of Innovations" or "International Finance".

In module group B "Sustainability" you need to obtain 24 ECTS from two baskets:

  • Basket B1

Pick two of the following modules: "Sustainability and Responsibility in Management", "Sustainability Accounting and Reporting" or "Organizational Crisis Management".

  • Basket B2

Pick two modules from a list of currently five modules: "Sustainable (Corporate) Finance", "Seminar Sustainability Reporting", "Corporate Responsibility and Product Management: Competitive Advantages by Sustainable Product Strategies", "European and International Politics" oder "Advanced Macroeconomics".

In module group C "Digitalisation, People and Culture" you need to obtain 36 ECTS from two baskets:

  • Basket C1

Pick two of the following modules: "The Future of Work", Digital Transformation of Value Creation Systems" or "European Human resource Management Program B".

  • Basket C2

Pick four modules from a list of currently more than ten modules, such as "Digitization Finance and FinTechs", "Computational Social Science", "Intercultural Challenges in Customer and Account Management", "Designing a Life With Purpose" oder "Blockchain Applications for Business".

The M.Sc. SAS is a master of science program. It prepares students - among other possible futures - to follow an academic career or to work in a private or public research institute.

As a consequence, SAS includes a module group that allows you to acquire and improve research skills. You can chose two out of several academic research seminars and thus complete 12 ECTS.

  • Research Seminar Business-to-Business
  • Research Seminar Management Accounting & Sustainability
  • Research Seminar International Innovation Strategies
  • Research Seminar Empirical Financial Markets Research

Four months (24 ECTS), typically in semester 4, that is, towards the end of the SAS program.

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.

Please note: The master thesis must in any case be supervised by a professor from the University of Bamberg!

Continue to Why SAS?