Specialized and Research Groups

The departments within the School of Business are dedicated to practical and innovative research in key emerging fields of economics. Learn more about the departments and research groups and their areas of focus.

Controlling Division

Controllers design and support the management process of goal-setting, planning, and control, and thus share responsibility for achieving goals. Controllers are often referred to within a company as an internal interface. They assist senior management in decision-making but generally do not make these decisions themselves at the highest level. In addition, the Controlling department serves as an interface between Human Resources and senior management. It assists senior management in defining and achieving goals. It also explains why goals were or were not achieved. Within the various departments, it supports department heads by providing suggestions and plans for implementing corporate goals.

From a business management perspective, Controlling forms the backbone of future-oriented corporate development. Based on data from external financial reporting (accounting), situation-specific planning and control systems (management accounting) are used to track the achievement of business objectives and ensure the value-oriented allocation of capital (financial control).

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Finance and Innovation Management Section

The Finance and Innovation Management Research Group takes a specific research approach that combines quantitative and qualitative analyses to design, test, verify, and apply in-depth and well-founded financial and strategic models. The research group’s focus is particularly on the following areas:

  • Business Valuation
  • Mergers & Acquisitions
  • Digital and platform strategies and business models
  • International Finance and Hedging
  • Banking and Insurance Management
  • Investor Relations

These are also documented in a series of publications, such as Feix, T. (2020). End-to-End M&A Design – Resilient Business Model Innovation. Wiesbaden: Springer Science; Feix, T. (2021). Valuing Digital Business Designs and Platform Companies—An Integrated Strategic and Financial Valuation Framework. Springer Science Global Book Series: The Future of Business & Science. Wiesbaden: Springer Science.

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Research Group for Optimized Value Creation THA_ops

The Research Group for Optimized Value Creation at the School of Business at Augsburg University of Applied Sciences (THA_ops) consists of three full-time professors and five research associates. Since 2010, THA_ops has been addressing issues in the regional and national economy. In doing so, the professors draw on their expertise gained from many years of practical experience and combine it with cutting-edge knowledge from theoretical research. Their work focuses on process optimization, lean management, change management, and IT landscape optimization. Projects are supported from the conceptual design phase through to successful implementation.

The focus of these projects is on a holistic approach to process optimization, lean management, change management, and business informatics using a variety of methods. The professional service portfolio includes, among other things, the specific interface analysis of production, logistics, and IT processes—ranging from concept development, project management, and consulting services to the implementation of objectives.

The research group offers continuing education opportunities for logistics professionals, even those without a college entrance qualification. With a strong practical focus, the program emphasizes methods, conceptually structured approaches, IT fundamentals, leadership skills, and legal foundations. Practice-oriented employees from operational departments are provided with the tools they need to independently further develop processes in line with overarching objectives.

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Department of Intercultural Competence and Foreign Languages for Business

The Department of Intercultural Competence and Business Foreign Languages specializes in teaching communication skills to students in international contexts. In an era of growing global challenges, we view our work as a contribution to international understanding through the teaching of relevant language and communication skills. The foundation of any effective intercultural communication in a business setting is the ability to interact with business partners in their language at a professional level. Our members therefore come from the field of foreign languages and work closely with the Center for Languages and Intercultural Communication (ZSI) to ensure that our students achieve the highest language proficiency levels during their studies through real-world training situations and the use of state-of-the-art teaching methods. In addition, we maintain contacts with many partner universities through Erasmus agreements, student exchanges, and faculty mobility, in line with Augsburg University of Applied Sciences’ strategic goals for promoting internationalization.

The other pillar of our team is intercultural competence. Alisa Kasle-Henke provides undergraduate and graduate students with a solid foundation in sociological theories and practical exercises through courses in Cross-Cultural Management and Intercultural Communication. These include problem-solving strategies for students as future managers or members of diverse international teams.

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Marketing Management Section

Expertise. Emotion. Business.

The shared mission of this department is to impart the skills required for the core functions of marketing management: market-oriented business and corporate development, product management, sales, marketing communications, and corporate communications. This encompasses both subject-matter and methodological expertise as well as practical and interpersonal skills. This marketing philosophy helps develop individuals who can inspire others, take on responsibility, and create lasting value for the economy and society.

Prof. Dr. habil. Klaus Kellner, Prof. Dr. Hariet Köstner, and Prof. Dr. Manfred Uhl not only contribute their respective areas of expertise to teaching but also actively integrate them into teaching, research, and practical projects. The marketing team is active in the bachelor’s degree programs in Business Administration, International Management, and International Industrial Engineering, as well as in the forward-looking master’s program in Digital Marketing Management (MMD). In addition, they teach in the continuing education programs offered by Augsburg University of Applied Sciences for companies at the West Bavarian Technology Center (TCW) in Nördlingen.

The main areas of focus are: marketing strategy, business profiling, key account management, and product management (Prof. Dr. habil. Klaus Kellner); marketing and corporate communications (Prof. Dr. Manfred Uhl); and empirical market research and methods (Prof. Dr. Hariet Köstner).

Internationality plays a major role in these programs. Course modules such as International Marketing Management, Corporate Communication, and International Business Profiling address the challenges companies face in international competition and impart not only technical expertise but also intercultural knowledge. Methodological training is also a key priority. Additional modules in the areas of digitalization and AI provide essential methodological knowledge.

Practical projects, guest lectures by experts in specialized areas of marketing management, and guest speakers from companies and nonprofit institutions complement the work of the marketing team. Partners in recent semesters have included, for example, Mercedes, Google, Amazon, BMW, KUKA, GfK, Voxeljet, and many others. 

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Division of Human Resources Management, Labor Market Research, and Strategy

Human resources and strategy topics are an integral part of the bachelor’s degree programs in Business Administration, International Management, and International Industrial Engineering at the School of Business. Students can also focus on this area in the master’s program in Human Resources Management. However, the department also teaches outside the faculty, for example in the Master’s program in Environmental and Process Engineering at the Faculty of Mechanical and Process Engineering.

Prof. Dr. Erika Regnet is an expert in human resource leadership, human resource development, demographics, aging workforces, and equal opportunity. Prof. Dr. Sarah Hatfield’s research focuses on change and performance management. She also addresses trends such as agility in organizations and aspects of Generation Y. Prof. Dr. Michael Freiboth primarily teaches the subject areas of international human resource management, corporate strategy, and labor law. Prof. Dr. Jens Horbach teaches labor market economics and empirical social research in the Master’s program in Human Resource Management.

In addition to teaching, the program emphasizes active networking in research as well as practical projects. Prof. Dr. Erika Regnet offers at least one practical project each academic year in collaboration with regional companies. Recent topics have included: an employee survey for the Evangelical Regional Church of Württemberg, trend analysis in national and international human resources marketing, and a survey of the career expectations of “Best Agers.” Students apply their knowledge in practice under Prof. Hatfield’s guidance in change consulting. Last semester, Köhninger Organizational Consulting developed solutions for selecting digital media in change communication and for training change agents, among other things. Prof. Dr. Freiboth also places great emphasis on practical relevance. Project topics include the employment value proposition in an international context, employer branding, social media recruiting, expatriation, and leadership in an international context. Prof. Dr. Horbach focuses his research on issues related to the labor market and the economics of innovation. In a current research project, he is investigating the importance of gender-diverse teams for corporate innovation.

Participants:

The School of Business hosts the Augsburg Human Resources Day twice a year. Discover the latest research and insights from human resources management and labor market research:

THA Augsburg Human Resources Day

Law Section

The Law Section supplements the economics curriculum with a foundation in legal knowledge that students will need in their future careers.  The team—comprising Prof. Dr. Micha Bloching, Prof. Dr. Julia Wicke, and Prof. Dr. Felicitas Maunz—not only incorporates their areas of expertise into teaching but also integrates and links them with other courses in the curriculum. In addition to its involvement in the bachelor’s programs in Business Administration and International Management, the Law division oversees the master’s programs in Marketing/Sales/Media and Taxation and Accounting—offered in collaboration with Ingolstadt University of Applied Sciences—as well as the master’s program in Human Resource Management, offered in collaboration with Munich University of Applied Sciences. In addition, the department is involved in the course “Fundamentals of Student Self-Organization,” which is designed to help students in all offered bachelor’s programs get off to a good start in their studies.

Key areas of expertise include: international business law, labor law (Prof. Bloching), European and social security law (Prof. Wicke), as well as competition, trademark, advertising, and media law (Prof. Maunz).

Practical projects, field trips, and interactions with companies (e.g., Sky, ADAC, ProSiebenSat.1, etc.) help students understand the relevance of the intersections between law and business. Regular visits to courts or government organizations (such as the Federal Labor Court, the European Court of Justice, or the European Parliament) are intended to provide students with insight into case law and legislation.

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Tax and Accounting Section

You have to be a philosopher to file an income tax return. It's too difficult for a mathematician.

Albert Einstein (1879–1955)

In light of this insight, the Tax and Accounting Section sees itself as the “philosopher” of the faculty. A defining feature is the diverse, practice-oriented focus of the individual instructors’ teaching. The four full-time professors draw on a wealth of experience from their work at major accounting firms, as independent tax consultants, or in the private sector. They teach in a practice-oriented manner and enable students to confidently address tax law issues in both corporate taxation and individual taxation. In the field of accounting—the heart of every business—all three accounting systems relevant to German companies are taught and applied: accounting in accordance with the German Commercial Code (HGB) for all business entities, tax balance sheet regulations, and the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). We teach at various levels, both within the bachelor’s degree programs in Business Administration, International Management, and International Industrial Engineering, as well as in our flagship program, the Master’s in Taxation and Accounting.

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Department of Economics

Economics courses provide students with an understanding of complex macroeconomic and financial contexts from both theoretical and empirical perspectives. In particular, students are expected to learn to think in terms of economic models, which will enable them to conduct well-founded analyses of current economic policy issues.

The team led by Prof. Dr. Jens Horbach and Prof. Dr. Maria Lehner, which is active across all degree programs in the School of Economics, makes a special effort to integrate their own research into their teaching. Research focuses on issues in environmental and innovation economics, the analysis of financial markets, and statistical and econometric evaluations.

The department has a strong international focus. In teaching, supporting international students is a high priority. A large portion of the courses is offered in English. In research, the focus is on peer-reviewed publications, national and international research collaborations (including with the ZEW in Mannheim and the SEEDS network at the University of Ferrara), as well as presentations at international conferences and workshops.

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Research Group for Applied Business Psychology

The Research Group for Applied Business Psychology (Applied Psychology for Research and Innovation Lab - THA_april) aims to apply findings from psychological research to the design of work and organizations. The research group emerged from the B.Sc. program in Business Psychology with the specific goal of supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in overcoming current challenges—such as sustainability and digitalization—by building future-oriented skills and facilitating change processes. Key areas of focus for this research group include human-centered AI development, the creation of immersive and gamified learning formats, and initiatives to secure skilled workers and enhance employability.

Members of the research group