Abstract
The aim of this introductory section is to provide a general overview of the history of business administration as an academic discipline in Germany, as well as in part in the neighboring German-speaking countries of Austria and Switzerland. It illustrates the lines of development and trends that have shaped the subject of business administration over the last 100 years.
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- 1.
On this point and the argument that follows, see also Burr (2011).
- 2.
The traditional diploma curriculum usually lasted 8–12 semesters. The student was able to complete the full undergraduate and graduate program at one university. After 4–6 semesters there was an intermediate examination (Vordiplom), which had to be passed in order for the student to continue the program of study. However, this intermediate examination was not (like the bachelor’s degree today) recognized as the qualified completion of a degree. Typical of the old diploma curriculum was a relatively small bureaucracy and high flexibility in the temporal organization of studies, as well as many choices in determining the combination of subjects. Students enjoyed a high degree of academic freedom. The graduate part of the program after the Vordiplom had fewer mandatory deadlines and rules for students than the currently established bachelor and master’s degree programs. The number of tests during the program was also significantly lower. At the end of the diploma program and after the completion of a diploma thesis there was a comprehensive final exam (diploma), in which the entire curriculum (usually 4–6 semesters after the completion of the intermediate examination) was covered in five written examinations and the same number of oral exams. For students, this meant a very intensive learning effort at the end of the program, but it helped them to understand the relationships between the different subjects.
- 3.
Note that most universities in the German-speaking countries prefer the term “faculty” to the term “school”. The Mannheim Business School and the Goethe Business School (at Frankfurt) are private institutions founded by and closely related to university faculties, with the aim to offer fee-based part-time study programs. Private universities with a sole focus on business administration-related programs, such as the ESMT European School of Technology and Management or the Cologne Business School, tend to name themselves “school”.
- 4.
Due to these problems, some of these projects have failed relatively quickly, such as the private Hanseuniversität Rostock.
- 5.
Note that this “general orientation” does not imply an extended inclusion of liberal arts subjects, as is usually the case in the US system. One reason for this—and for the fact that many bachelor’s programs are scheduled only for six semesters—is that the German high school system traditionally spans 13 years and was assumed to include more liberal arts subjects than in, for example, US high schools. Recently, the number of school years has reduced from 13 to 12, making this argument somewhat obsolete. However, due to the many criticisms that have arisen, it remains to be seen whether the 12-year timeframe will hold as the general model.
- 6.
See www.mbr.bwl.uni-muenchen.de
- 7.
In this section, the term “faculty” is used to characterize the group of people who do the teaching and research at academic institutions. See also note 3, above.
- 8.
Note that the VHB had approximately 2,300 members in 2014, including, however, postdocs, and junior as well as retired professors (at the university level). On the other hand, not all professors have to be VHB members.
- 9.
Similarly, statistics providers such as Statistisches Bundesamt, on which we rely in this chapter, often use broadly defined terms such as “Economics and Business Administration”, indicating that the disciplinary differentiation may be less complete than suggested in the introductory section above.
- 10.
http://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/2140/umfrage/anzahl-der-deutschen-studenten-nach-studienfach/
- 11.
The future prospects of business engineering are further explored in Baumgarten et al. (2015).
- 12.
See http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/european-business-school-rankings-2014
- 13.
http://vhbonline.org/en/service/jourqual/
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Appendix: State-Owned Universities with Business Administration Study Programs (also Included: Industrial Engineering with Focus on Management, Business Administration and Economics) (Status 2015)
Appendix: State-Owned Universities with Business Administration Study Programs (also Included: Industrial Engineering with Focus on Management, Business Administration and Economics) (Status 2015)
Please note this list is not exhaustive.
Type of University | Name | URL | Study program |
|---|---|---|---|
Technical | Brandenburgische Technische Universität BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg | BSc Business Administration MSc Business Administration B.Eng. + BSc Business Administration and Engineering M.Eng. + MSc Business Administration and Engineering | |
Technical | Karlsruher Institut für Technologie | BSc + MSc Industrial Engineering with focus on Management | |
Technical | RWTH Aachen | BSc Business Administration and Engineering: Electrical Power Engineering BSc BSc Industrial Engineering, Civil Engineering Specialization BSc Industrial Engineering, Materials and Process Engineering Specialization BSc Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering Specialization | |
Technical | Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg | BSc Industrial Engineering and Management MSc Industrial Engineering and Management BSc Business Administration MSc Business Administration Diploma (postgraduate studies) Business Administration | |
Technical | Technische Universität Berlin | BSc Industrial Engineering and Management BSc Sustainable Management MSc Industrial Engineering MSc Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship | |
Technical | Technische Universität Braunschweig | BSc Industrial Engineering with focus on Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering MSc Industrial Engineering with focus on Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering | |
Technical | Technische Universität Chemnitz | BSc Industrial Engineering BSc Business Administration and Engineering MSc Business Administration and Engineering MSc Industrial Engineering | |
Technical | Technische Universität Clausthal | BSc Business Administration MSc Technical Business Administration BSc Industrial Engineering MSc Industrial Engineering | |
Technical | Technische Universität Darmstadt | BSc/MSc Business Engineering—technical field of studies Mechanical Engineering BSc/MSc Business Engineering—technical field of studies Electrical Engineering and Information Technology BSc/MSc Business Engineering—technical field of studies Civil Engineering | |
Technical | Technische Universität Dortmund | No relevant study programsin Business —Administration | |
Technical | Technische Universität Dresden | BSc Business and Economics MSc Business Administration MSc Industrial Engineering Diploma of Industrial Engineering | |
Technical | Technische Universität Hamburg-Harburg | MSc Industrial Engineering Management MSc International Management and Engineering MBA | |
Technical | Technische Universität Ilmenau | BSc Industrial Engineering and Management | |
Technical | Technische Universität Kaiserslautern | MSc Business Administration BSc Technical Business Administration MSc Technical Business Administration BSc Industrial Engineering with varying technical specializations MSc Industrial Engineering with varying technical specializations MBA | |
Technical | Technische Universität München | BSc Business Administration Management and Technology MSc Business Administration Management and Technology MSc Business Administration Management MSc Industrial Engineering | |
Traditional | Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg | BA Business Administration BSc Business Administration (Public and Non-Profit Management) MSc Business Administration (Public and Non-Profit Management) | |
Traditional | Bergische Universität Wuppertal | http://www.fbe.uni-wuppertal.de/fbe/studiengaenge/wiing.html | BSc Business Administration and Electrical Engineering MSc Business Administration and Electrical Engineering |
Traditional | Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel | BSc/ MSc Business Administration BSc/MSc Business Science BSc/MSc Industrial Engineering | |
Traditional | Europa Universität Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) | BSc International Business Administration BSc Economy and Law MSc International Business Administration MA European Studies | |
Traditional | Fernuniversität Hagen | BSc Business Science MSc Business Science | |
Traditional | Freie Universität Berlin | BSc Business Administration MSc Management and Marketing | |
Traditional | Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg | BSc Business Administration BSc International Business Studies BSc Industrial Engineering and Management BSc International Production Engineering and Management MBA Business Management | |
Traditional | Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf | BSc Business Administration MSc Business Administration | |
Traditional | Humboldt Universität Berlin | BSc Business Administration MSc Business Administration MSc Economics and Management Science | |
Traditional | J.-W. Goethe-Universität Frankfurt | BSc Business Science MSc Business Administration | |
Traditional | Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen | BSc Business Science MSc Business Administration | |
Traditional | Katholische Universität Eichstätt-Ingolstadt | BSc Business Administration BSc International Business Administration (German—Chinese) BSc Business Science MSc Business Administration MBA | |
Traditional | Leibniz Universität Hannover | BSc/MSc Business Science BSc/MSc Industrial Engineering | |
Traditional | Leuphana Universität Lüneburg | BA Business Administration BSc Business Management BSc International Business Administration and Entrepreneurship MA Management MSc Management and Engineering | |
Traditional | LMU Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München | BSc Business Administration BSc Business Science MSc Business Administration | |
Traditional | Universität Augsburg | BSc Business Administration BSc Industrial Engineering MSc Business Administration MSc Industrial Engineering | |
Traditional | Universität Bamberg | BA Business Administration MA Business Administration BA/MA International Business Administration | |
Traditional | Universität Bayreuth | BSc Business Administration BSc Industrial Engineering MSc Business Administration MSc Industrial Engineering | |
Traditional | Universität Bremen | BSc Business Studies MSc Business Studies BSc Management and Electrical Engineering MSc Management and Electrical Engineering BSc Management and Production Engineering MSc Engineering and Management | |
Traditional | Universität der Bundeswehr Hamburg (Helmut Schmidt-Universität Hamburg) | BSc/MSc Business Administration BSc/MSc Industrial Engineering | |
Traditional | Universität der BundeswehrMünchen | MBA International Management B.Eng. Industrial Engineering BSc/MSc Business Administration, Economics and Organization | |
Traditional | Universität des Saarlandes | BSc Business Administration MSc Business Administration | |
Traditional | Universität Duisburg-Essen | BSc Business Administration MSc Business Administration BSc/MSc Industrial Engineering | |
Traditional | Universität Erfurt | BA Management | |
Traditional | Universität Göttingen | BSc Business Administration MSc Business Administration BSc/MSc Business Science | |
Traditional | Universität Greifswald | Diploma Study of Business Administration BA Law, Business Administration, Human Resource Management | |
Traditional | Universität Halle-Wittenberg | BSc/MSc Business Administration BSc Business Science | |
Traditional | Universität Hamburg | BSc/MSc Business Administration BSc/MSc Industrial Engineering | |
Traditional | Universität Hohenheim | BSc Business Administration and Economics BSc Business Science MSc International Business and Economics MSc Management | |
Traditional | Universität Jena | BSc Business Administration MSc Business Administration BSc Business Science | |
Traditional | Universität Kassel | BSc/MSc Industrial Engineering BA Business Administration and Economics | |
Traditional | Universität Leipzig | MSc Business Administration BSc/MSc Business Science | |
Traditional | Universität Magdeburg | BSc /MSc Business Administration BSc International Business and Economics BSc International Management BSc/MSc Industrial Engineering MSc International Economics and Finance | |
Traditional | Universität Mannheim | BSc Business Administration MSc Management MBA | |
Traditional | Universität Marburg | BSc/MSc Business Administration | |
Traditional | Universität Münster | BSc/MSc Business Administration | |
Traditional | Universität Oldenburg | BA Business Administration MA Innovation Management MA Business Science | |
Traditional | Universität Osnabrück | BSc/MSc Business Administration BSc Business Science | |
Traditional | Universität Paderborn | BSc Business Science BSc/MSc International Business Studies MSc Business Science | |
Traditional | Universität Passau | BSc Business Administration and Economics MSc Business Administration | |
Traditional | Universität Potsdam | BSc/MSc Business Administration MBA | |
Traditional | Universität Regensburg | BSc/MSc Business Administration | |
Traditional | Universität Rostock | BSc Business Science BSc/MSc Industrial Engineering | |
Traditional | Universität Siegen | MSc Industrial Engineering BSc Business Administration MSc Management and Markets MSc Entrepreneurship and SME Management MSc Controlling and Risk Management MSc Accounting, Auditing and Taxation | |
Traditional | Universität Stuttgart | BSc/MSc Technical Business Administration MSc Business Administration | |
Traditional | Universität Trier | BSc/MSc Business Administration | |
Traditional | Universität Tübingen | BSc Economics and Business Administration MSc General Management MSc International Business | |
Traditional | Universität Würzburg | BSc Business Science MSc Business Management | |
Traditional | Universität zu Köln | BSc Business Administration MSc Business Administration MSc International Management |
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Knyphausen-Aufseß, D.z., Burr, W. (2017). Higher Education in Management: The Case of Germany. In: Dameron, S., Durand, T. (eds) The Future of Management Education. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56091-9_3
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