We live our values.
We stand for responsibility for ourselves and others
We are guided by the educational ideal of a versatile and well educated young person who
- is ready to take responsibility,
- understands leadership as a service to their community and society,
- is capable of a change of perspective and of questioning their own construction of reality,
- is able to look “behind the scenes” of the apparently self-explanatory on the basis of profound expertise and a corresponding academic education,
- is willing to transcend inner and outer boundaries and to engage with new and unfamiliar experiences
and has thus acquired the ability to independently develop their personality in the sense of lifelong learning.
We are guided by the ideal of a university teacher by vocation, who
- participates in this development (also beyond the completion of studies), promotes and challenges it,
- has a passion for academic achievement and teaching of excellence and passes this on to the students,
- sees the university less as a place of instruction and more as a space for enabling students’ own learning experiences and competence development,
- is curious and interested in interdisciplinary exchange with colleagues and interdisciplinary research,
- enjoys innovation and experimentation
- is willing to understand the didactic and methodological challenge of passing on experience and knowledge as a joint construction of reality between teacher and learner and at the same time as an opportunity for their own further development.
We act on the assumption of the ideal of a university that
- – literally – considers itself a service provider for the students, the economy and society,
- through its competitive orientation, seismographically detects developments and trends and integrates them into its research and teaching – thus becoming a marketplace for the requirements of those who have a demand for education on the one hand and the requirements of those who have a demand for qualified employees on the other.
Our teaching is explorative, interdisciplinary and practice-oriented
Qualification objectives, content and teaching and learning methods are coordinated and, as integral components of a didactic concept, open up the opportunity for students to assume (leadership) responsibility at an academic level in their profession and in society. This is helped by the fact that lecturers go beyond imparting knowledge and skills to mentor students, are aware of their responsibility for students’ development opportunities and see themselves as part of a community of learners and teachers.
Our didactic approach is characterized by a triad of instruction, construction and reflection in the individual modules and units. With the aid of self-regulated, discovery-based and playful learning and based on a foundation of concentrated and sound knowledge, the students shall be enabled to make their own learning experiences, to integrate their knowledge and skills with previous knowledge and experiences and to build their own qualification and competence profile. We seek to enable them to compare their experiences and perspectives with those of others and to critically question them.
The ability to change one’s perspective is an important educational objective of our University. This objective is supported by our interdisciplinary orientation. Learning contents are to be conveyed from the points of view of various disciplines and, if possible, through an interaction and discourse between representatives of different disciplines. The disciplinary diversity of the staff is an advantage that was intentionally created. The concept of integrative modules with a standardized module examination requires and supports close interdisciplinary exchange.
We pursue the strategic goal of integrating theory and practice as far as possible through cooperation with actors from business and society. The strong practical orientation is underpinned by the fact that the committees are made up of representatives from business and society. Our future goal is to further institutionalize the multitude of bilateral and informal cooperation and to increasingly procure third-party funding in the context of research cooperation projects with partner businesses.
We distinguish ourselves by assigning a central role to the personality development of the students – not least with regard to leadership ability. Elements of personality development and the acquisition of key competences shall be an integral part of all curricula. We pursue the strategic goal of individualizing our products, programmes and support services so that students can develop their different talents and develop their personality in the best possible way. Modern teaching formats such as eLearning and blended learning shall be used in line with the intention of the individualization strategy.
We pursue an interpretative and constructivist approach to economics
Our academic profile is characterized by an interest in economic and entrepreneurial action. We assume that economic reality is constructed and staged through the attribution, interpretation and negotiation of meaning and significance on the part of those involved and that economic interaction is culturally and socially shaped. In addition to quantitative research, qualitative research methods are of particular importance. In this sense, we pursue an interpretative approach to economics.
In recent decades, this approach has become an innovative and promising branch of economics, insofar as it views the subjects of various sub-disciplines of economics from a new perspective. In doing so, economics draws on thought models inspired by the social sciences, for example from (micro)sociology, cultural anthropology and linguistics and communication sciences, and creates a new understanding of the economy and society.
We qualify young people to take on management and leadership roles in business and society. In addition to cognitive-theoretical knowledge (“rules”) and availability knowledge (“tools”), this also includes orientation knowledge. Orientation knowledge is knowledge of ethically justified purposes and goals. Orientation knowledge arises in the construction of meaning. Orientation knowledge means culture, reflected life. In this sense, we are characterized by a cultural-scientific and constructivist orientation.
We are committed to the principles of academic self-administration and participatory cooperation between all those involved in university life. As an academic institution and as part of the scientific community, we are aware of our responsibility for the transfer of (applied) research into teaching and practice and for compliance with scientific standards. We are prepared to develop a profile and set priorities in the interests of the quality-oriented further development of the university and its stakeholders.
We are a glocal university: internationally oriented and locally rooted
We see ourselves as an international institution with an intercultural character. Our internationalization strategy focuses on Central and Eastern Europe, the Arab countries, South East Asia, Latin America and the Anglo-Saxon countries. We offer the languages of these regions as a second (English: first) foreign language and organize English-language degree courses and degree courses with a compulsory stay abroad. We strive for partnerships with comparable universities abroad for student and lecturer exchanges and for cooperation in the field of research. We strive to continuously increase the proportion of foreign professors, visiting professors and foreign students. We will promote the support and integration of foreign students.
In performing our tasks in teaching, studying and research, we see ourselves as having a special responsibility towards our city, the region and the state of Baden-Württemberg as well as the people and companies living here. We seek trusting cooperation with all social groups, companies and other universities and scientific institutions.
We want to make our contribution to the university’s ability to build relationships to regional, national and international networks.
As a non-profit organization, we compete with other universities for the best talent, ideas and tasks. Our services and programs are aimed both at those seeking education and training and at companies and institutions. In order to assert and assert ourselves as a state-recognized university under private sponsorship at the interface between education and the labor market, we strive for a permanently high and constantly improving quality in our service areas.
We are committed to being close to the market. When developing new study programs, we focus on promising industries and sectors with a high demand for academic professionalization. With the participation of students and representatives of the business community, we assess our curricula on a regular basis with regard to changing demands in the education and labor market. In this context, we strive for a high degree of innovation in our programs and integrate the topic “Change and Innovation“ into our curricula. Our offers and target groups are geared to the concept of “lifelong learning”. On the one hand this means that we already have offers for gifted pupils and on the other that (if possible) we continually accompany and coach our graduates and others beyond their first university degree.
We base our offers and target groups on the concept of “lifelong learning”. On the one hand, this means that we already offer programs for talented students and, on the other hand, that we accompany and coach our graduates and third parties beyond the first university degree (if possible) in the long term.
We work with a focus on service and quality
The behavior and decisions of each of the University executives are measured against the following benchmarks: clarity and consistency, respect and fairness, sense of proportion and comprehensibility. Each executive shall ask for and provide positive feedback, be willing to accept criticism and to exercise self-criticism, and actively and continuously work on the improvement of their own leadership skills.
We delegate tasks and adhere to the principle of unity of task, competence and responsibility: The person who has a task has the decision-making authority in this respect and bears the responsibility. We are aware of the objectives of the University and know how we can contribute to their realization and to the continuous improvement, as individuals, in teams and as a part of the University.
