K 066/977 Attention: Please note that this is only a translation of the German Curriculum. Only the German version is officially binding. Curriculum for the Master s Degree Program Management and Applied Economics Page 1 of 9
Table of Contents 1 Qualification Profile... 3 2 Admission... 4 3 Composition and Structuring...... 5 4 Required subjects / modules... 6 5 Elective subjects / modules... 7 6 Courses... 7 7 Subject and Course Substitutions... 8 8 Master's Thesis... 8 9 Examination Regulations... 9 10 Academic Degree... 9 11 Legal Validity... 9 Page 2 of 9
1 Qualification Profile (1) In the master's degree program in Management and Applied Economics, students receive an advanced scientific education. This comprises the acquisition of scientifically founded insights into core questions of business and economics, as well as the interrelation of these subjects. Students should thereby learn to connect issues from the fields of business and economical environment in their work. (2) The course of study qualifies them for a wide range of tasks as economic experts, for management positions in private and public sector enterprises which operate in a complex commercial field such as in consulting firms and in the area of financial management, strategic management of private and public enterprises, as well as for positions in public administration. (3) Apart from a required module in the business and economic core fields, a flexible curriculum should offer the students the opportunity to specialize in specific topical fields according to their own interests and career goals, whereby a reasonable connection to business and economic approaches remains of primary importance. In addition, students receive a chance to acquire familiarity with modern methods of applied empirical economic research, which are employed as analytical instruments in many economic subjects. The courses in this program are offered primarily in English, which allows students to acquire active and passive language skills in their topic of specialization and beyond. (4) The master's degree program in Management and Applied Economics is especially well-suited for students who: are interested in scientific questions and relationships and, having completed a bachelor's degree program, would like to further develop their understanding of the theoretical foundations of the subject and acquire further qualifications in specific areas; would like to apply the qualifications they acquire in various areas of political and commercial employment for analysis and problem solving; wish to pursue a scientific career and attain the qualifications necessary to continue on to a doctoral or PhD program. After completion of this master's program, the graduates should be able to: prepare the background information relevant to decisions and recommended plans of action for political and commercial decision-makers; evaluate commercial and sociopolitical strategies and measures, as well as contribute to their development in an advisory capacity; Page 3 of 9
select and / or adapt frameworks for the adequate theoretical and empirical assessment of specific problems, and to conduct independent analyses using applicable methods; interpret and critically classify the results of empirical analyses, as well as to communicate said results to experts and laypeople alike; follow the development of new commercial approaches and theories, and to independently deepen their understanding thereof in the spirit of lifelong learning. 2 Admission (1) The master s degree program in Management and Applied Economics is assigned to the Faculty of Social Science, Economics and Business according to 54 Abs 1 UG. (2) Prerequisite for admission to the master's degree program in Management and Applied Economics is a bachelor's or "Diplom" degree. This program builds on the bachelor's degree program in Wirtschaftswissenschaften (reference degree program) offered at the Johannes Kepler University Linz. Successful completion of the reference degree program qualifies a candidate in any case without further requirements for acceptance to the master's degree program in Management and Applied Economics. (3) Based on the completion of another academic degree at universities, universities of applied sciences, or other post-secondary educational institutions in Austria or abroad, candidates will be accepted into the master s degree program in Economics, if and only if the completed course of study is equivalent both in content and in scope to the reference degree program in (2). The academic degree will be considered equivalent if courses from the following areas were successfully completed as part of a bachelor's degree program or "Diplomstudium" in the specified minimum amount: Courses in economics of at least 20 ECTS points Courses in business administration of at least 20 ECTS points (4) A program is considered equivalent, in general, if the applicant can prove the successful completion of at least 50% of the minimum amount of ECTS points stipulated in (3) both in economics and business administration. In case there are only minor shortcomings, the rector's office can recognize equivalence conditional on the successful completion of examinations from the above subjects up to 10 ECTS points each. These examinations must be completed during the first two semesters of the master's degree program. Page 4 of 9
3 Composition and Structuring (1) The master's degree program in Management and Applied Economics lasts four semesters and comprises of 120 ECTS points. These ECTS points are distributed among the following subjects and components of the program: Category ECTS Required subjects 56 Electives 26 Master's thesis (including Master's thesis seminar) 24 Free course choices 14 Total 120 (2) The category of free course choices foresees the successful completion of examinations (including in-class examinations) of 14 ECTS points in total, which may be selected from the entire range of examinations offered by all accredited postsecondary educational institutions in Austria and abroad. They serve primarily for the acquisition of additional qualifications beyond the core subjects of this master's degree program and may be completed at any time during the course of study. Courses already completed in the bachelor's degree program or "Diplomstudium" prerequisite to the acceptance to this program may not be chosen during the master's degree program if any other option is available. (3) Recommendations for particularly suitable courses from this category can be found on the homepage of the Department of Economics. (4) The recommendation for a typical and ideal course of study in the master s degree program in Management and Applied Economics is as follows: 1st Semester: 18 ECTS points from Principles in General Management 12 ECTS points from Principles in Applied Economics 2nd Semester: 4 ECTS points from Gender Aspects in Economics 8 ECTS points from Aspects in Applied Economics 18 ECTS points from Management and Applied Economics and/or free courses 3rd Semester: 30 ECTS points from Management and Applied Economics, Electives and/or free courses Page 5 of 9
4th Semester: 6 ECTS points from Management and Applied Economics, electives and/or free courses 1 ECTS points from the master's thesis seminar 23 ECTS points from the master's thesis 4 Required subjects / modules (1) The following required subjects must be completed to obtain a total of 56 ECTS points: 977PIAE10 Principles in Applied Economics 12 977MAEC10 Management and Applied Economics 32 977GAEC10 Gender Aspects in Economics 4 977AIAE10 Aspects in Applied Economics 8 (2) The subject Management and Applied Economics is broken down into the following subjects / modules: 977BAEC10 Business and Economics 12 977MADI12 Management Dimensions 8 977RSMT10 Research Methods 6 973GMCPCFI10 Corporate Finance 6 (3) The subject Research Methods comprises the following subjects, of which one must be chosen depending on the area in which the master s thesis is composed. Should the master's thesis be written in the area of business administration, the subject Methods in Management Research must be completed. Should the master's thesis be written in the area of applied economics, the subject Methods in Applied Economics is required: 977MTAE10 Methods in Applied Economics 6 973MIMR10 Methods in Management Research 6 Page 6 of 9
5 Elective subjects / modules (1) The following electives are to be completed for a total of 26 ECTS points: 977PIGM10 Principles in General Management 18 977ELEC10 Electives 8 (2) The subject Principles in General Management is divided into the following modules, of which three must be chosen for a total of 18 ECTS points: 973GMCPSMG10 Strategic Management 6 973GMCPMAR10 Marketing 6 973GMCPORG10 Organization 6 973GMCPHRC10 Human Resource & Change Management 6 973GMCPMAC10 Managerial Accounting 6 973GMCPFAC10 Financial Accounting 6 (3) The modules chosen in accordance with (2) will be documented in the master s degree diploma. (4) For the electives category, courses from the following list with a minimum amount of 8 ECTS points must be completed: 971MECO10 Methods in Economics 18 973LCGL10 Leadership Challenge: Globalization 12 973LCIN10 Leadership Challenge: Innovation 12 971ECOT10 Economic Theory 12 973LCSU10 Leadership Challenge: Sustainability 12 977ATAE10 Advanced Topics in Applied Economics 12 (5) Should a subject be completed in its entirety by the choice of courses as outlined in (4), this will be documented in the final transcript. 6 Courses (1) The title and type of each subject s individual courses, the corresponding amount of ECTS points, the number of hours per semester, the course capacity, the priority ranking system for inscription in courses with limited capacity as well as any prerequisites for registration can be found in the handbook of subjects and courses ( Studienhandbuch ) of the Johannes Kepler University Linz. Page 7 of 9
(2) The course types used and the corresponding examination procedures are defined in 12 16 of the Laws of Study section of the charter of the Johannes Kepler University Linz. 7 Subject and Course Substitutions Subjects in accordance with 4 and 5 or courses in accordance with 6 ( 1) may be substituted by other study-specific subjects or courses up to a total amount of 18 ECTS points, provided that the goal of preparing for a future career in academia is not impaired and that the choice of recommended subjects or courses has a clear purpose with regard to the program s aims outlined in the qualification profile, scientific coherences, and the supplement the preparation for a future career in academia. The application for subject or course substitutions must be submitted to the vice rector (VizerektorIn für Lehre). 8 Master's thesis (1) In the course of the master's degree program in Management and Applied Economics, students must write a master's thesis in accordance with 81 UG and 36 of the Laws of Study section of the charter of the Johannes Kepler University Linz. (2) The master's thesis must be composed in the form of a written essay in the amount of 23 ECTS points. (3) The master's thesis serves to prove the student s capacity to work on a scientific assignment independently as well as methodically and substantially correct. The topic of the master s thesis is to be chosen from one of the following subjects: Management and Applied Economics or Electives. The assignment should be devised in such a way that it can be reasonably treated within six months. (4) The master's thesis can also be composed in a foreign language provided that the advisor agrees to such an undertaking. In this case, it is recommended to involve an instructor qualified with the subject matter in the foreign language. (5) To enhance the supervision during the composition of the master's thesis, an accompanying master's thesis seminar (1 ECTS point) must be successfully completed, which incorporates the content relevant to the subject matter as well as presentation skills. Before submission, the results of the master's thesis must be presented for evaluation in the master's thesis seminar. (6) The subjects "Principles of Applied Economics" (12 ECTS points) and "Aspects of Applied Economics" (8 ECTS points) must be successfully completed before a master's thesis topic can be assigned. Page 8 of 9
9 Examination Procedure (1) The examination regulations of the subject examinations as well as the standards for in-class examinations can be found in the handbook of subjects and courses ( Studienhandbuch ) of the Johannes Kepler University Linz. (2) The master's degree program in Management and Applied Economics is concluded with a master's examination. The master's examination is a comprehensive examination, which is to be completed in the form of subject examinations of required subjects and the chosen electives in accordance with 4 and 5. The successful completion of the master s degree program further requires a positive (i.e. passing) grade on the master's thesis, the master's thesis seminar and the free courses in the minimum amount stipulated in 3 (1). 10 Academic Degree (1) Graduates of the master's degree program in Management and Applied Economics will be awarded the academic degree "Master of Science", abbreviated "MSc" or "MSc (JKU)". (2) The corresponding diploma will be issued in German with an English translation. 11 Legal Validity (1) This curriculum takes effect on October 1st, 2010. (2) The changes in 3 (1) and (2), 4 (1) and (2) and 5 (1) and (2) take effect on October 1st, 2012. (3) The changes in 3, 4 (2), 5 and 8 take effect on October 1st, 2013 Page 9 of 9