Department of Management Sciences

Practical projects within the 2021/2022 winter semester

The Department of Management Sciences offers the following practical projects in fall/winter semester 21/22.

 

 

 

Digitalising customer relationships with MS cloud solutions (Mr Klasen)

Once they have completed their studies, virtually all graduates will find themselves relying on information systems for support in their day-to-day work. Being specialists in business management, a considerable proportion of them will carry out their tasks using a customer relationship management (CRM) or enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.   

So why not take advantage of the opportunity to gain some initial experience in developing, implementing and providing these helpful solutions in a practical project? 

During the practical project, participants will work together in independent groups with the aim of analysing the success factors and challenges involved in introducing customer relationship management systems or platforms for supporting cross-company cooperation.  

Each semester, the focus of the practical project will shift in line with specific real or made-up customer projects from a wide variety of industries, but it is generally geared towards introducing business solutions in a process-oriented way based on Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Microsoft Power Apps or Microsoft SharePoint/Microsoft Office 365.  

In addition, CRM systems help companies maintain a consistent customer focus and organise customer relationships and the work processes associated with this in a systematic way. As well as being introduced to the concept of modern CRM systems, the students are presented with various other aspects, including examples from practice.

Collaboration platforms are a “computer-based system which helps a group of people carry out their range of tasks or achieve their goal and offers an interface for a shared working environment”. 

 [ Top of Page ]

 

 

 

Digital Social Innovation Lab (Prof. Dr. Kopf/Ms Theune)

The “Digital Social Innovation Lab: Digital social innovations for people with special needs” practical project looks at the creation, further development and relevance of social innovations primarily in the context of digital assistance systems designed to support elderly and disabled people.  The participants work together to examine the applicability and feasibility of social innovations – i.e. “new social practices that address social challenges in a context-oriented and targeted way that promotes common interests” (confer Kopf et alii 2015, page 7)* – within the framework of various project ideas and against the backdrop of the digitalisation of the social sphere.
The students gain an insight into the social innovation landscape and are given the chance to flesh out selected ideas in small groups and develop them further on a practice-oriented basis. The aim is to devise and present an implementation concept for a project idea. The seminar focuses on driving and evaluating social innovations based on digital possibilities in a practical way and in two different areas of society.
The Verband für Digitalisierung der Sozialwirtschaft (vediso e.V. – an association for the digitalisation of the social economy), which provides support in actively shaping digital transform across Germany through its 70 or more member companies, is acting as a partner for this practical project.

*Source: ZiviZ Survey (2017): Vereinssterben in ländlichen Regionen – Digitalisierung als Chance (“The death of society in rural regions – digitalisation as an opportunity”). 

 [ Top of Page ]

 

 

 

Lean method training/factory simulation (Mr Kemnitz, graduate in economics)

Mission statement: The Department of Management Sciences has developed a factory simulation in a project led by Martin Christian Kemnitz (graduate in economics) with a view to strengthening practice-oriented skills development in lean production. The aim of this project is to make production structures and processes something that can be experienced in a tangible way based on the examples of numerous automotive plants, seminar providers, consultancy firms and universities. To this end, an assembly line has been designed, developed and set up, on which 30 complex LEGO cars (with each car made up of 621 components) are put together as part of a just-in-time flow manufacturing process. This approach, which uses a number of lean production methods, means that cars are built in the factory simulation according to the standards of large automotive manufacturers and the associated logistical processes are simulated. This factory simulation is undergoing further development during the 2021/2022 winter semester.

 [ Top of Page ]

 

 

 

Marketing and branding in European association work (Prof. Dr. Klaus Deimel, Natalie Chirchietti)

Background: In rural regions in particular, existing community associations often struggle to find and retain new active members. This problem with attracting new recruits threatens the existence of rural associations, which are largely set up on a purely voluntary basis (cf. ZiviZ Survey, 2017). In the “Marketing and branding in European association work” practical project, students learn about the work done by the twinning association Partnerschaftsverein Neunkirchen-Seelscheid. To make association life more attractive again and promote the European ideal amongst young people in particular, the project aims to come up with a new marketing and communication concept for the association and give it a new conceptual and visual identity. The Partnerschaftsverein Neunkirchen-Seelscheid encourages an active exchange between twin towns and communities in France, England and Poland.

Learning objectives: Once they have successfully completed the practical projects, the students should:

  1. be able to formulate and present marketing and communication strategies,
  2. be able to develop and present brand strategies and branding concepts,
  3. be able to plan and implement projects independently using management practices,
  4. be familiar with the basic aspects of association work,
  5. be able to analyse and demonstrate brand and marketing tools used by existing social organisations.

 [ Top of Page ]

 

 

 

Obstkäppchen (Mr Kossack/Ms Raddatz)

Second objective

Communication and project management:

  • How should communications and project management be structured throughout the scale?
  • Which tools (e.g. customer relationship management (CRM) modules, communication software) should be used and what are the advantages and disadvantages of each one?
  • How often should Obstkäppchen and the cooperation partners report to one another and in what level of detail? 

 [ Top of Page ]

 

 

 

Linking sectors. Evaluating potential for the business areas of Stadtwerke Bonn (SWB) (Prof. Dr. Dr. Peren)

Description of the project: Linking individual business areas of energy supply companies, as is the case with the topic of “mobility and energy”, is one of the forward-looking consequences of a changing society. At a time when mobility demands are shifting, traffic-free city centres, water districts and e-mobility districts are being incorporated into plans for building developments and energy generation is being factored into waste disposal, future-oriented concepts and a holistic approach for public service companies are important – and indeed essential.
The aim of this student project is to identify promising links, develop models for the city of Bonn and evaluate their potential for the utility company SWB Energie und Wasser.

 [ Top of Page ]

 

 

 

Strengthening the social sector through pro bono projects at universities, based on the example of H-BRS (Prof. Dr. Zacharias)

Objective: Pro bono services and competence-based voluntary work are unique tools for enabling students to get involved in action on site or online. Pro bono projects offer benefits for everyone involved. The aim is to ensure that good social ideas are provided with the right professional and voluntary support.

  • Investigating the incentives and needs of students who get involved in pro bono programmes and identifying internal individual factors that increase student participation in pro bono programmes within the university framework.
  • Investigating and developing appropriate pro bono formats for students with regard to specialist subjects/fields of study, duration, timing, budget, requirement for in-person/online involvement, etc.
  • Drawing up a concept/guide for universities for implementing and funding pro bono programmes for students.

 [ Top of Page ]

 

 

 

Start-up zero waste shop (Prof. Dr. Klaus Deimel, Cathleen Müller)

Background: Sustainable consumption is a current topic that refuses to go away. Zero waste shops are one possible response to this issue. Particularly in villages, where there is a stronger connection with local produce and possible producers are closer at hand, there is potential for a zero waste shop to become well-established. This practical project examines whether this is actually the case and what customers really want. A customer survey and analysis are being conducted in collaboration with business founder and H-BRS student Lea Bockem to identify opportunities for improvement and form a basis for future decisions and marketing initiatives. The seminar involves a lot of independent work, most of which can be done during the event itself. The project events are mainly being conducted in person.

Learning objectives: Once they have successfully completed the practical projects, the students should:

  1. show proficiency in basic project management and be able to put it into practice independently,
  2. be capable of using software (Unipark) to create, evaluate and process empirical polls and surveys,
  3. have conducted independent research for a customer survey and created, carried out and evaluated a survey of this kind,
  4. have gained insights into a start-up and an idea of how to run a zero waste shop.

Information about the zero waste shop can be found on the following web page: https://www.facebook.com/pg/Unverpackt-Seelscheid-330422431616766/posts/

 [ Top of Page ]

[ Back to Newsletter]