Teaching and courses – developing responsible leaders

Our aim is to equip students with the knowledge and the skills they need to become responsible future leaders in the finance function. To this end we take a behavioral and social science perspective, encourage critical thinking, and promote a broad, integrative perspective across silos and functions.

Critical thinking

We recognize that critical thinking and the development of the student’s personality are key to developing responsible leaders.

Student-centered teaching

Our courses are highly interactive and enhanced by case studies and guest lectures by experts from business.

Best-selling textbook

"Einführung in das Controlling" and the accompanying workbook outline the basic principles of controlling.

Our courses

We offer courses in controlling, strategy execution, and problem-solving across all WHU programs.
See the WHU Online Course Guide for more information.

Courses in the Bachelor Programs

Introduction to Business Administration (Prof. Dr. Utz Schäffer), 1^st sem.
3 ECTS, German / English

Research Methods I (Quantitative Methods) (Assistant Prof. Dr. Daniel Schaupp), 2^nd sem.
3 ECTS, Englisch

Research Methods II (Qualitative Methods) (Assistant Prof. Dr. Vera Linke), 2^nd sem.
3 ECTS, Englisch

Management Accounting (Assistant Prof. Dr. Daniel Schaupp), 3^rd sem.
3 ECTS, English

Management Control (Prof. Dr. Marko Reimer), 3^rd sem.
3 ECTS, English

Accounting & Control (Prof. Dr. Lukas Löhlein), 3^rd sem.
3+3 ECTS, English

Structured Problem Solving (Prof. Dr. Utz Schäffer), 4^th/5^th sem.
6 ECTS, English

The CFO - Roles, Career Paths, and Impact on Firm Outcomes (Prof. Dr. Marko Reimer), 4^th/5^th sem.
3 ECTS, English

Finance Function Challenges – A CFO’s Perspective (Honorary Professor Dr. Edgar Ernst), 4^th/5^th sem.
3 ECTS, German

Case Studies in Management Accounting and Control (Prof. Dr. Marko Reimer), 6^th sem.
6 ECTS, English

The Invisibility of Ethical Dilemmas (Assistant Prof. Dr. Vera Linke), 6^th sem.
3 ECTS, English

Accounting for Sustainability (Assistant Prof. Dr. Vera Linke), 6^th sem.
3 ECTS, English

Courses in the Master Programs

Performance Management & Controlling (Prof. Dr. Utz Schäffer)
5 ECTS, English

Strategy Execution (Prof. Dr. Utz Schäffer)
5 ECTS, English

Advanced Organizational Behavior (Prof. Dr. Lukas Löhlein)
5 ECTS, English

Advanced Controlling (Prof. Dr. Marko Reimer)
5 ECTS, English

Courses in the MBA Programs

Strategy Execution (Prof. Dr. Utz Schäffer)
3 ECTS, English (Full-time MBA, Part-time, and Global Online MBA)

Courses in the Doctoral Program

Research Seminar: Introduction to Management Control Research (Prof. Dr. Utz Schäffer)
3 ECTS, English

Research Seminar: Digitalization and Management Accounting (Prof. Dr. Marko Reimer)
3 ECTS, English

Research Ethics and Purpose (Prof. Dr. Lukas Löhlein)
3 ECTS, English

Introduction to Survey Research using Stata and R (Assistant Prof. Dr. Daniel Schaupp)
3 ECTS, English

Theses

Writing a thesis requires the candidates to work independently and with academic rigor. If you are interested in writing your thesis at the IMC, please contact Sebastian Ebert.

Sebastian Ebert

Senior Student Affairs Manager

sebastian.ebert(at)whu.edu

+49 (0)261 6509 462

Teaching cases

The IMC has developed the following teaching cases that are available upon request:

Deutsche Telekom AG: Campus for Planning (A) & (B)
Pope Francis: Driving Strategic Renewal in the Catholic Church
Managing the Centralization Versus Decentralization Trade-off: The Roman Catholic Church Under Pope Francis
Business Intelligence at Bayer: Enhancing Management Decision-Making and Empowering Controlling
Lean Planning at RWE (A) & (B)

Please contact Sebastian Ebert for more information.

Textbooks on Controlling – Covering the basics through to advanced practices.

Five well-established textbooks support our own teaching and make our thinking available to a broader student audience. Our flagship volume – "Einführung in das Controlling" (Introduction to Controlling) – is the best-selling German-language textbook on controlling. It has an accompanying workbook – "Einführung in das Controlling: Übungen und Fallstudien mit Lösungen" – with exercises and case studies. The textbook has been translated into Polish, Chinese, Russian, and parts of it have been translated into English.