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The holistic approach of the Mannheim Master in Sustainability and Impact Management guarantees that impact management will become an integral element of all operational areas of the company.
We have devised a program structure and course contents that will provide impactful learning.
Participants become proficient in essential management skills with a specific focus on challenges of the future like sustainable impact management in an increasingly digitalized environment. Insights into current best practices from various companies and industries as well as personal skills courses round off the program.
The Mannheim Master in Sustainability and Impact Management is organized in modules that build on each other over a period of 24 months. This allows you to retain full-time employment throughout the program and apply your newly acquired knowledge directly at your workplace. (Click to enlarge the chart)
The Business Fundamentals segments are an integral part of the program. They will effectively guarantee that:
They moreover provide basic knowledge for later more specialized courses.
Working in a team with your fellow students, you will apply the knowledge and methodologies acquired throughout your studies in a hands-on project for one of our partner companies.
Essential program elements such as the Sustainability and Impact Management Master Project require that you work with classmates in heterogeneous teams, just as you would at your workplace. Personal skills courses (e.g. presentation skills, agile methods, etc.) foster the necessary key qualities you need for management positions.
The program includes regular workshops where participants can take a deep dive into current topics and practical challenges. These events further provide room for networking and exchange of knowledge. Over and above individual learning, we aim to create a community that fosters peer learning.
Make an impact. Please find a detailed description of exemplary courses of the Mannheimer Master in Sustainability and Impact Management below.
Over the recent year, the traditional distinction between for profit and non-profit organization has been shifted to allow for a new variety of organizations in between. Specifically, social entrepreneurs have increasingly set out to use market-based business models to solve social or environmental issues and make a positive impact. Further, social intrapreneurs are increasingly contributing to the sustainability transformation of large organizations with some companies even setting up structured programs to support them.
Learning Goals – In this course, participants...
Sustainability communication can be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, stakeholders want to be informed about an organizations‘ impacts. On the other hand, talking too much about one‘s own sustainability achievements may lead to perceptions of greenwashing and trigger stakeholders‘ skepticism. Further, new communication pathways, e.g., via social media offer avenues for two way communication and dialogue which so far, remains underexplored by many organizations.
Learning Goals – In this course, participants...
The European Action Plan for Financing Sustainable Growth, or Sustainable Finance Action Plan, focuses on the Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) fields of activity in order to achieve sustainability goals together with the financial sector.
This is also accompanied by binding legal requirements for companies. The EU taxonomy, for example, represents a uniform classification system for sustainable economic activities and investments for six defined environmental objectives.
Learning Goals – In this course, participants...
Making an organization more sustainable oftentimes means introducing change to the organization which may lead to resistance. Such change processes have to be carefully designed and managed to be effective and managers need to have a clear understanding of stakeholder attitudes and organizational dynamics.
Learning Goals – In this course, participants...
Markets are key drivers of sustainability and an increasing consumer demand for sustainable products has led to mainstream retailers including sustainable products into their portfolios. At the same time, in many industries, what consumers report in surveys with regards to their sustainability attitudes differs greatly from what they really do at the checkout (referred to as the consumer paradox). Companies for instance frequently complain about a lack of willingness-to-pay for sustainable products. Understanding market dynamics and consumer demand are thus urgently needed skills to steer towards sustainability.
Learning Goals – In this course, participants...
The course is structured around climate change and decarbonization challenges and opportunities in a corporate context. This involves an introduction to climate change and carbon regulation. Furthermore, it involves corporate decarbonization efforts and a review of recent developments in practice with a focus on emerging climate technologies.
The objectives are threefold:
The course provides an introduction into economic concepts of environmental regulations. Why can the regulation of certain economic activities be beneficial and necessary in a market economy? Which crucial role do institutions and property rights have in order to overcome the so-called “Tragedy of the Commons”? How can the efficacy and efficiency of regulatory interventions such as bans, standards, carbon markets, environmental taxes and disclosure regulations be assessed?
Learning Goals – In this course, participants...
Following the „what can‘t be measured can‘t be managed“ logic, organizations have increasingly introduced scientific methods of impact measurement to make their sustainability-related impacts transparent and comparable. Some organizations have further started to assign monetary values to these impacts. This practice is referred to as valuation.
Learning Goals – In this course, participants...
Environment-Social-Governance – Governance is one of the three key pillars of sustainable business and the key to realizing positive impacts on people and planet. Various organizations have redesigned their governance to not only ensure responsible business practices, but also to incentivize and thereby shape the sustainability transformation.
Learning Goals – In this course, participants...
In the management of sustainability, accounting plays a crucial role to enable decision makers to include sustainability impacts into their decision making. Many organizations are this redesigning their accounting systems to include sustainability-related information. Further, over the last years, the public awareness of tax evasion practices has continuously increased. While these practices may be legal, a strong social norm is emerging that views avoiding tax payments as socially irresponsible. Instead of making large donations, many argue, companies should start by paying their taxes.
Learning Goals – In this course, participants...
The financing of companies relies on access to financial markets. It is thus essential to understand the set of a company’s financing choices as well as functioning of these markets, both the private and the public ones. This understanding also requires knowledge about the basics of financial valuation. Information asymmetries, within the company and across a company’s different stakeholders, are inherent to the valuation process. Accounting is a standardized tool that is supposed to reduce these information asymmetries and enhance corporate transparency. To efficiently communicate with their stakeholders, future managers need to understand basic accounting methods and regulation.
Learning Goals – In this course, participants...
Marketing Fundamentals is designed to introduce participants to key concepts, tools, and practice of marketing. An effective and sustainable implementation of marketing concepts requires knowledge of key relationships between the 3 Cs - internal (company) and external (competitors and customers) environments. This course will especially address issues pertaining to marketing strategy, segmentation, targeting, and positioning and its implementation via specific marketing activities.
Learning Goals – In this course, participants...
The course Business Analytics aims to equip students with the necessary skills and knowledge to analyze and make data-driven decisions related to sustainability and environmental issues. Throughout the course, students will work on hands-on assignments to apply the concepts they learn to real-world sustainability challenges and will enhance their analytical skills.
Topics covered in this course include:
All information is subject to approval by the university committees. Therefore, changes to study design and content as well as admission requirements are still possible.