Get settled on campus, learn about the study programs, student initiatives, and the WHU Sustainability Management Center!
Take an active role and participate in the annual Rhine Cleanup with SensAbility x WHUSH.
Note: The examples shown here are for illustrative purposes only.
Master in Management: Curriculum
One program, countless course combinations. A program built to reflect its subject. And its students. WHU’s flagship MSc Program has a strong reputation for good reasons — expert faculty, small classes, a focus on practical learning. And the leaders we help grow. Welcome to the Master in Management.
Your personalized path to success
Chart your career trajectory with our comprehensive curriculum, offering structured guidance and flexible options for a tailored study experience. Immerse yourself in essential business skills through six core electives, followed by specialized studies in six electives matched to your interests. Opt for concentrations such as Business Analytics, Leadership, and Innovation from a selection of eight.
Beyond academic rigor, engage in a range of student clubs, conferences, and industry events — enriching your life at WHU. Acquire practical expertise and cultivate meaningful connections with peers, alumni, and valuable WHU partners.
Curriculum
Year 1
Quarter 1 | Core Electives & Electives
September - October
Core Elective - Accounting & Finance (choose one course)*
- Accounting and Financial Analysis
- International Tax Strategy
Core Electives - Economics (choose one course)*
- Financial Markets, Banking and Monetary Policy
- Industrial Organization
Core Electives - Strategy & Management (choose one course)*
- Corporate Governance
- International Strategy
Electives:
- B2B Pricing: Negotiation, Calculation, Strategy
- B2C Price Management
- Data Visualisation & Storytelling
- Game Theory
- Predictive Analytics
- The Analytics' Edge
- Transportation Management
*All core electives can also be chosen as electives.
Quarter 2 | Core Electives & Electives
November - December
Core Elective - Data Analytics (choose one course)*
- Actionable Customer Analytics
- Advanced Methods of Market and Management Research
- Decision Support & Analytics
Electives (choose two courses):
- Advanced Corporate Finance
- Advanced Organizational Behavior
- Generative AI for Business
- Heinz-Nixdorf-Lecture: Strategic Intellectual Property Management
- Performance Management and Controlling
- Prescriptive Analytics and Machine Learning
- Strategy Making in Professional Sports
- Value Creation in Family Firms
- Venture Capital Finance
*All core electives can also be chosen as electives.
Quarter 3 | Core Electives & Electives
January - February
Core Elective - Marketing & Sales (choose one course)*
- Product and Shopper Marketing
- Sustainability and Marketing
Electives (choose two courses):
- Data-driven Business Optimization
- E-commerce Operations Management
- Economics of Financial Markets and its Institutions
- Financial Technologies
- Managing Data Science
- Managing The Family Business
- Mergers & Acquisitions
- Negotiations
- Psychology and Economics
- Responsible Leadership
- Strategic Technology and Innovation Management
*All core electives can also be chosen as electives.
Quarter 4 | Core Electives & Electives
March - April
Core Elective - Supply Chain Management (choose one course)*
- Industrial Excellence
- Sustainable Operations Management
Electives (choose two courses):
- Building and Scaling Successful Companies - the WHU founder lecture
- Data Driven Entrepreneurship
- Financial Statement Analysis and Valuation
- Health Economics, Policy and Management
- Innovating for a sustainable future
- Leadership in Professional Service (working title)
- Leading the High-Performance Sales Force
- Luxury Brand Management
- Managing Resilient and Sustainable Supply
- Psychology of Leadership
- Strategy Execution
- Supply Chain Optimization
- Text, Image, and Video Mining
- Visual Prototyping
*All core electives can also be chosen as electives.
Concentrations
September - April
Concentrations allow you to specialize in selected business fields.
The Master-in-Management program currently offers the following eight concentrations, each with its associated courses:
- Financial Accounting:
- Advanced Corporate Finance (Quarter 2)
- Financial Statement Analysis and Valuation (Quarter 4)
- Business Analytics:
- Data Visualisation & Storytelling (Quarter 1)
- Managing Data Science (Quarter 3)
- Text, Image, and Video Mining (Quarter 4)
- Economics:
- Economics of Financial Markets and its Institutions (Quarter 3)
- Health Economics, Policy and Management (Quarter 4)
- Innovation:
- Heinz-Nixdorf-Lecture: Strategic Intellectual Property Management (Quarter 2)
- Strategic Technology and Innovation Management (Quarter 3)
- Data Driven Entrepreneurship (Quarter 4)
- Innovating for a sustainable future (Quarter 4)
- Marketing:
- B2C Price Management (Quarter 1)
- Leading the High-Performance Sales Force (Quarter 4)
- Luxury Brand Management (Q4)
- Strategy:
- Performance Management and Controlling (Quarter 2)
- Managing The Family Business (Quarter 3)
- Strategy Execution (Quarter 4)
- Leadership:
- Advanced Organizational Behavior (Quarter 2)
- Responsible Leadership (Quarter 3)
- Psychology of Leadership (Quarter 4)
- Supply Chain Management:
- Transportation Management (Quarter 1)
- Managing Resilient and Sustainable Supply (Quarter 4)
- Supply Chain Optimization (Quarter 4)
Year 2
Summer | Internship
May - July
You will gain valuable work experience and the opportunity to apply theory learned in class through an internship in Germany or abroad. The Career Center supports you in finding an internship position via a broad range of activities such as individual career counseling, workshops, and company presentations.
Quarter 1 - 2 | Semester Abroad
September - December
The Master in Management Program also includes a semester abroad at one of WHU's 200 partner universities worldwide. During the semester abroad, you will gain a global perspective and immerse yourself in another culture.
Quarter 3 - 4 | Thesis
January - May
The Master thesis concludes your studies, providing you the opportunity to apply the skills and knowledge you have gained throughout the course of the Master Program. While writing your thesis, you will be supervised by a WHU faculty member. You may also write your thesis in collaboration with a company.
A helpful guide to our courses
For more information about all of the courses included in our Master in Management, please click below to see our Online Course Guide.
Learning objectives & final grades
Here you will find an overview of all the learning objectives and comeptences that you will achieve with a Master's in Management: Qualification goals Master in Management (PDF, 145 KB)
Would you like to know how successful our students have been in the Master in Management program over the past years? You can find an overview here: Distribution of Final Grades MiM 2010-2024 (PDF, 140 KB)
Go further: Double Degree
After two semesters at WHU, students have the opportunity to earn a second degree by completing two semesters abroad at one of our Double Degree partner universities. In addition to a Master of Science degree from WHU, the second degree will either be a Master of Science or an MBA.
End of August – September
Welcome Week & Rhine Clean-Up
October
WHU Sustainability Management Center
Take MiM Elective: Transportation Management (Professor Ringbeck): Transportation is essential to the functioning of a global economy. As a major GHG emitter, it is also a key contributor to climate change. Learn about future trends and new management approaches to make travel and logistics companies more sustainable, both economically and environmentally.
Support the WHU Sustainability Management Center and take on projects to help connect stakeholders on and off-campus to take action towards a sustainable future.
Support the WHU Sustainability Management Center and take on projects to help connect stakeholders on and off-campus to take action towards a sustainable future.
November – December
WHUSH Charity Concert & Guest Lecture on ESG Investing
Organize (or perform at!) the WHUSH Charity Concert to help raise funds for WHU’s community projects in Rwanda.
Participate in a guest lecture on ESG investing with Hendrik Schmidt, governance expert at Germany's largest asset manager DWS: “Why the G-Force matters - Insights from an institutional investor.”
Participate in a guest lecture on ESG investing with Hendrik Schmidt, governance expert at Germany's largest asset manager DWS: “Why the G-Force matters - Insights from an institutional investor.”
January – February
MiM Electives
Responsible Leadership (Professor Müthel): The environmental, economic and social crises of recent times have brought the need for responsible leadership to the forefront. Future leaders in business need to have key skills in understanding societal grand challenges and knowing how to tackle them to be able to lead through uncharted waters.
Sustainability and Marketing (Assistant Professor Schmitz): In an increasingly carbon-restricted world, companies need to build and communicate the business case for sustainability. Solve a real-life case with a company to learn how marketing methods evolve to address this challenge.
Sustainability and Marketing (Assistant Professor Schmitz): In an increasingly carbon-restricted world, companies need to build and communicate the business case for sustainability. Solve a real-life case with a company to learn how marketing methods evolve to address this challenge.
March – April
SensAbility – The WHU Impact Summit & MiM Electives
Be inspired at SensAbility – The WHU Impact Summit. Engage with leaders and entrepreneurs actively shaping and supporting social and green business. Network and speed-date with recruiters to secure your internship.
Take a MiM Elective: Health Economics, Policy and Management (Professor Hagist): Health care is one of the biggest and most important markets around the world. It is not a regular economic commodity and is widely considered a right, not a privilege. Dive into the complex interplay of private companies and regulators in this market and grapple with difficult questions of access and equity.
Take a MiM Elective: Health Economics, Policy and Management (Professor Hagist): Health care is one of the biggest and most important markets around the world. It is not a regular economic commodity and is widely considered a right, not a privilege. Dive into the complex interplay of private companies and regulators in this market and grapple with difficult questions of access and equity.
May – End of August
Summer Internship
Join Henkel Adhesives as Global Market Strategy and Operational Excellence Intern for the summer. Explore how different Strategic Business Units support B2B and B2C customers to develop and bring to market more innovative and sustainable products and solutions. Deepen your understanding of the complexity of achieving real-world sustainability gains in deeply interconnected value chains.
September - December
Semester Abroad
Complete a semester abroad at the Fudan School of Management in Shanghai. Gain first-hand insights into how the use of digital technology and electrification can help slash GHG emissions while economic growth also triggers substantial challenges in areas such as resource depletion and wealth distribution.
January – May
Master's Thesis
Write your master’s thesis on talent acquisition challenges for purpose-driven startups with Professor Faems, Chair of Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Technological Transformation.
Your thesis is shortlisted for the In Praxi Outstanding Thesis Award, which recognizes a thesis that generates impact for both business and society.
As graduation approaches, you are debating the pros and cons of founding a startup that traces carbon in food supply chains or joining the sustainability practice of a strategy consulting firm.
Your thesis is shortlisted for the In Praxi Outstanding Thesis Award, which recognizes a thesis that generates impact for both business and society.
As graduation approaches, you are debating the pros and cons of founding a startup that traces carbon in food supply chains or joining the sustainability practice of a strategy consulting firm.
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