Start-ups and SMEs are key pillars of both the German and the European economies. Significant challenges in this context are the establishment of an entrepreneurial mindset among (young) people and the sustainable securing of future personnel requirements for SMEs. 

Accordingly, the specialization S1 "Entrepreneurship & Small Business Management" focuses on the target groups of people interested in founding a company and the management (junior) staff of SMEs. Students are prepared to make prudent decisions as future entrepreneurs and managers in the dynamic and increasingly international environment of medium-sized companies, to act responsibly and to strengthen the innovative capacity of these companies. Therefore, in addition to business management expertise, interdisciplinary methodological and social skills in the context of innovation and corporate management are also the subject of the training.

The study program of the specialization S1 "Entrepreneurship & Small Business Management" is composed of the following thematic focal points and freely selectable components:

The thematic focus is on the topics of organizational and management research relevant for SMEs in the behavioral sciences (such as start-up and entrepreneurship, corporate change, growth and innovation).

Another essential component of the master's specialization is the targeted training of fundamental key qualifications and social skills for the development of a professional and responsible start-up and management personality.

As a student of the S1 specialization, you also have the opportunity to set your own specialist focal points by taking freely selectable courses from the other specialization subjects and to link these to your entrepreneurship and SME focus. The extensive range of corresponding elective seminars thus offers students the freedom to put together an individual portfolio of professional competencies tailored to their personal interests and needs.

Finally, students in the S1 concentration also have the option of attending courses at Flensburg University from the "Small and Medium Enterprises/Entrepreneurship" concentration and receiving credit for them.

The master's degree S1 "Entrepreneurship & Small Business Management" qualifies students for a career entry at the level of middle management as well as for corresponding management positions in medium-sized companies - both from the profit and the non-profit sector. At the same time, students can be sensitized and qualified for the foundation of new companies.

It imparts technical and instrumental knowledge from various functional fields of business administration, management-related key competencies (leadership competence, decision-making competence, analytical competence, entrepreneurial thinking and acting) as well as interdisciplinary competencies, the importance of which will continue to increase in the corporate context in the future (adaptability, creativity, agile working, perseverance, (social) problem-solving ability, collaboration).

The courses offered in the S1 concentration "Entrepreneurship & Small Business Management" are characterized by a strong practical orientation. Students benefit in particular from the close networking of the module leaders with regional companies and players in the small and medium-sized business sector:

In the cross-university Jackstädt Center, the European University cooperates with Flensburg University of Applied Sciences. The Jackstädt Center is the initiator and partner of numerous research and cooperation projects (including VentureWærft and StartUpSH) and provider of diverse free event formats to which students are cordially invited (including jackstädtdialog "Good Work", jackstädt//praxis, ConVenture or #WINspire StartUp Talk). Through close cooperation with the regional business community, the jackstädt center has proven itself to be a competent contact for the topics of entrepreneurship and medium-sized businesses, as well as establishing a network between Flensburg students and medium-sized businesses in the region (e.g., in the form of cooperative theses, internships or working student jobs).  

Students interested in the startup sector benefit in particular from the support of the regional and nationwide startup network, which is closely linked to the campus. Regardless of whether the idea is still being tweaked or a company has already been founded: Topic-specific workshops, experienced experts and other (young) founders support students in all their ventures. Dock 1 of the VentureWærft in the Audimax is the first point of contact and offers a free co-working space for students who want to work intensively on their own startup idea. The other VentureWærft docks (two of them at our Danish partners in Sonderburg) are open to students, as is the "FabLab Ideenreich" at Flensburg University of Applied Sciences. Here you will find various tools and 3D printers to work on prototypes and product improvements. In the future, students will have access to an InnovationLab on campus, where they can develop their ideas from the idea to the prototype based on design processes.

The module leaders of the S1 focus are dedicated to the following topics in research, teaching and transfer:

•  Entrepreneurship & Entrepreneurship Education
•  Diversity & Inclusion
•  Innovation & Organizational Development

Seminars in cooperation with practice partners enable students to combine technical content from their focus of study with real practical challenges and experiences:

In the courses on organizational development and innovation, students learn groundbreaking explanatory and design approaches from the field of organizational learning and innovation management. In addition, practical projects are carried out in the seminars, in which students learn selected methods and tools (such as design thinking and other agile project management methods) for developing new approaches to solutions and apply them in cooperation with industry partners. This diversity of perspectives and the joint examination of real problems form the basis for a successful entry into a leadership and design role in corporate practice.

In the entrepreneurship courses, students gain insights into relevant theoretical and practical concepts of entrepreneurship as well as the Entrepreneurial Personality & Mindset. Based on this, they learn about and use strategies and tools for the development and practical implementation of business ideas (profit to non-profit). Not only commercial but also social aspects play an increasingly important role. In addition to more application-related content, facets of self-management are also developed. Students should be enabled to deal with the challenges and uncertainties that can be associated with starting a business. At the same time, the skills learned are useful for driving innovation within existing organizations. The entrepreneurship education is characterized by a high degree of practical relevance in view of the regular cooperation with local or even "campus-owned" start-up projects and through action-oriented learning.

https://www.jackstaedt-flensburg.de/ (Contact: Angela Bardt-Schmitz)

https://venturewaerft.com/de/ (Contact: Julia Redepenning / Stefanie Jordt)

https://hs-flensburg.de/studium/master/bm Study program in the Master Business Management at HS Flensburg, see module plan "Focus on Small and Medium Enterprises/Entrepreneurship". (Contact: Michaela Arnold / Marc Laatzke studienberatung-PleaseRemoveIncludingDashes-@hs-flensburg.de)

Please always refer to the current course catalog, as there may be deviations from the courses listed below!

The two module supervisors in the S1 focus area supervise bachelor's and master's theses, preferably in tandem of first and second supervisors. Possible topics for theses are within the mentioned foci in research, teaching and transfer. As a student of the S1 focus, please contact kirsten.mikkelsen@uni-flensburg.de with your supervision request for the topic area Entrepreneurship & Entrepreneurship Education. For theses in the field of Organizational Development & Innovation, the initial supervision lies with tanja.reimer@uni-flensburg.de. We also arrange theses in cooperation with practice partners or enable the collaboration in existing research projects. If you are interested, please inquire directly with the primary supervisor about current projects.

Supervision places are limited and will be given priority to students from the S1 focus. We ask for timely contact - ideally combined with a rough idea of the project. This idea will be examined and narrowed down in an initial meeting with the first supervisor. In the next step, the student prepares an exposé of 2-3 pages outlining the problem and the (methodological) approach. Participation in a colloquium during the semester is obligatory. In the colloquium, individual projects are presented by the students (approx. 20 min. presentation on the basis of meaningful slides) and discussed together with all those present. The exposé will be sent to the supervisors at least 1 week before the presentation date in the colloquium.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us by email.