Methods of Company Management

The main objective of the lecture Methods of Company Management is to teach the basic principles of scientific management to students enrolled in a mechanical engineering or medical technology course as well as members of other faculties. The lecture teaches the organizational management of technical and in particular manufacturing-specific company processes. This entails knowledge and methods of the following areas:
• Organizational design (operational structure, organizational structure, process structure, cooperation, corporate networks)
• Order processing (Development and design, work planning and steering, material disposition, order management, quality management, optimization)
• Accounting (bookkeeping, cost and performance calculation, fiscal metrics)
• Strategic corporate planning (planning levels, methods of internal and external analysis, target setting, strategy development, indicator systems and controlling)
• Leadership (leadership function, motivation theory, leadership behavior)
• Corporate wage policy (requirements management, performance analysis, wage-setting)
• Labor law (role and tasks, right of co-determination, wage agreements, employment relationship)
Furthermore, in order to prepare students for the challenges of the current industrial development, the influence of the digitalization (Industry) on company management and the development of business models is presented.

Students who attended the lecture and successfully passed the exam will be able to effectively choose and apply the learned methods and concepts. Additionally, students have gained a deep insight into the business processes within engineering and manufacturing companies. In addition, they are able to assess and redesign existing processes. Using the methods and concepts of organizational design, order processing, and strategic corporate planning students are able to evaluate and plan different strategies and procedures. With the acquired knowledge in the area of leadership, students can analyze and apply different leadership behaviors and theories. Furthermore, they have gained profound knowledge in the fields of accouting, corporate wage policy and labour law and can use included methods. Students have acquired an insight in the current challenges caused by digitalization and can evaluate and redesign existing business models in order to meet the new requirements.

Bachelor's Degree in engineering or an equivalent degree in the fields of mathematics, physics, material science or production and business administration as well as the ability to solve complex interdisciplinary problems.

By private study, students learn basic principles and relevant technical terms of company management. They independently solve exercises before the lecture. Results and answers are discussed and analyzed together during the lecture. In addition, students are required to read additional scientific articles and books. Guest lecturers from high management positions in industry strengthen the con-tact to industry through guest presentations.

PowerPoint presentations,
lecture notes,
exercises.

Bullinger, H.-J.:
Arbeitsgestaltung - Personalorientierte Gestaltung marktgerechter Arbeitssysteme. Stuttgart: Teubner 1995. ISBN: 3-519-06369-7. (Technologiemanagement).
Eversheim, W.:
Organisation in der Produktionstechnik - Band 1: Grundlagen. Düsseldorf: VDIVerlag 1996. ISBN: 3-540-62314-0.
Eversheim, W.; Schuh, G. (Hrsg.):
Betriebshütte - Produktion und Management Bd. 1. 7., völlig neu bearbeitete Aufl. Berlin: Springer 1996. ISBN: 3-540-59360-8.
Haberstock, L.:
Kostenrechnung I. 13. Aufl. Berlin: Erich Schmidt 2008. ISBN: 978-3-503-10699-8.
Wiendahl, H.-P.:
Betriebsorganisation für Ingenieure. 5. Aufl. München: Hanser 2005.

In order to receive the 5 ECTS credits, students have to pass a 1.5 h (90 min) written exam. The exam consists of two parts weighted 1:1.The first part predominantly contains single-choice questions and short calculations, the second part focuses on the calculation schemes needed to efficiently manage a company. Allowed utilities are a non-programmable calculator, a dictionary and writing utensils.