Small Enterprise Promotion and Training

• A university degree in economics, social sciences, natural sciences or engineering, or a comparable university degree;
• Professional experience of usually at least two years.

Oral and written knowledge of English (B1 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages)

6000 euros for the whole programme, plus the semester fee

The degree programme is geared towards specialists and executives in the fields of management consultation for SMEs and business development. Students are mainly recruited from developing countries and transition economies.

Established in Leipzig, the Small Enterprise Promotion and Training Master of Business Administration (MBA) combines questions of the professional management of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with problems and perspectives of business and economic development. It provides a thorough understanding of management as the basis for positions of leadership not just in the private sector, but especially in institutions and organisations involved in business development and foreign assistance. The spectrum ranges from the very smallest activities on the threshold of subsistence all the way through to dynamic medium-sized enterprises with good growth prospects. In addition to aspects of income and employment security, students examine questions as to the growth and innovation potential of small and medium-sized enterprises, the prerequisites for their international competitiveness, and their integration into global economic cycles.

Graduates are equipped with the following knowledge:

• expertise and specialised knowledge of the promotion of small and medium-sized enterprises, especially in the specific context of developing countries and transition economies
• expertise and specialised knowledge of the particular aspects of founding and successfully managing small and medium-sized enterprises
• awareness and knowledge of the specific institutional, legal and social environment of small and medium-sized enterprises
• an ability to evaluate small and medium-sized enterprises, projects, programmes and private sector development policies
• communication, presentation and leadership skills
• an ability to work in interdisciplinary teams and different cultural contexts.

First semester:

• Module 101: Foundations of economics and development
• Module 102: Entrepreneurship management
• Module 103: Strategies for the development of small and medium-sized enterprises

Second semester:

• Elective modules
  • Module 201: Innovation management in small and medium-sized enterprises
  • Module 202: Marketing in small and medium-sized enterprises
  • Module 203: SME finance
  • Module 204: Competence development in SMEs
  • Module 206: Internship in Germany or Europe (6 weeks)
  • Compulsory module:
  • Module 205: Research methodology and project management

Third semester:
Each participant conducts his or her research project in conjunction with a business development institution in his or her home country.

Fourth semester:

• Module 401 SEPT colloquium

• Study regulations (SO) and examination regulations (PO), curricula and module descriptions (in German)

Course start: Winter semester (if the minimum number of participants enrol)
Application deadline for applicants who will pay their own tuition fees: 15 March of the year of enrolment
Application deadline for DAAD scholarship holders: 1 October of the previous year
Application portal: SEPT

The maximum age is 35.

Compulsory curriculum in English