Dipl. Ing. Frank Schlüter has been teaching education at the Hochschule Niederrhein for four years. Prior to that, he lectured in Hameln for five years at the Weserbergland University of Applied Sciences. As a trained management consultant, he brings a wealth of prior knowledge and experience to his module and is able to provide his students with both comprehensive advice and inspiration.
Which module do you teach and how is it structured?
I am responsible for the project module 305 "Strategy Consulting", which takes place once a semester. This is an interdisciplinary module in which students get together in a consulting group of 3-5 people to implement a private project or a project of their company. In the individual groups, strategies are developed and problems are worked out. First, a kick-off meeting is held to establish the framework for the module. A project agenda is then developed to define the goals as well as the content, to review the available resources and to record the individual sequence of steps that need to be worked out. During the semester, in addition to intensive coaching, an interim presentation and a final presentation will follow. In the final reflection report, individual expectations of oneself and of the group are recorded. Students with different previous experiences and with different specialisations in their professional life come together and enrich each other with their own insights. As a rule, business topics are taken up.
What content do the students deal with in the module?
Two projects are currently being implemented in the "Strategy Consulting" module. On the one hand, a strategy with a business plan and start-up decision for a tradesman app is currently being created. In this, a kind of "virtual Telephone Exchange" is created, in which errors are identified and analyzed in advance in order to solve problems without a telephone help or to better understand the problem in order to better prepare for the necessary work or the existing complication. In addition, the project aims to find out if an app like this can establish itself in the market and bring in profitable numbers. The other project deals with a company that focuses on flavors in food. The aim here is to find out how the company's image (corporate identity) can be improved and which factors are currently playing a role. These include, for example, an analysis of international competition and customer and employee satisfaction. In this case, the company's top management is brought on board and the extensive findings can subsequently be implemented in the company.
What makes your module special for students?
The module offers many advantages for students. In contrast to other universities, the career-integrated MBA Degree programme at the Hochschule Niederrhein teaches practical orientation. Students can draw on the knowledge they have acquired at any time in their professional lives. Thanks to the practical work, they already gain a lot of experience during their studies and gain new perspectives. Because the module is based on voluntariness, the students are very motivated and bring a lot of joy and creative ideas to the implementation.
