MBA for Officers

Flexibility

Officers’ varying experiences and military backgrounds, their range of academic qualifications, diverse military training and different career aspirations are reflected in the maximum flexibility we have built into the MBA programme for Officers, with the ultimate aim of ensuring maximum benefit for every participant.

You can commence your MBA up to two years before retiring from military service. As we always run four parallel MBA groups, each subject is taught twice a year – so there’s always a chance to catch up on seminars if other commitments (e.g. courses, foreign deployment) clash with the envisaged schedule of one to two years.

Participants can select the most suitable elective and compulsory modules on the MBA to pursue their professional aspirations. In addition, there is a choice of partner universities for your period of study abroad and you also get to pick the company or organisation with which you wish to complete your master’s thesis.

Participants who are keen to move seamlessly to a company outside the German Armed Forces can opt for just Level 1 of the programme to gain the Certificate in Management. A full MBA can still be attained at a later date by completing the remaining courses as a part-time professional student on one of the various master’s programmes.

Schedule

Level 1 begins in your choice of March or September each year. We recommend commencing Level 1 one to two years before you retire from military service.

The advanced course (Level 2) runs from April to June each year – generally three months before you leave service. The Forces’ Vocational Training Services (“BFDs”) have confirmed that participants on this programme can be released from duties for the three months prior to leaving service for the purpose of completing the studies required to round off the MBA programme (subject to their superior’s agreement).

The period of study abroad (Level 3) takes place in September and October. We recommend that participants start working on their master’s thesis after that. This will avoid any significant delay compared to other officers leaving service on 30 June.

By then, you will have completed almost all the requirements for your MBA, while significantly improving your language, personal and intercultural skills. You will be superbly equipped for mastering the new challenges of a civilian career.

Starting dates:

Starting dates for Level 1: March or September

Starting date for Levels 2–4: April of the year in which you leave military service until March of the following year

Both the Director of Studies and the Programme Manager, Professor Martin Göbl and Josef Auer, are ex-officers. They are familiar with your situation and can therefore offer excellent guidance in deciding how to make the transition into your civilian career.

Please feel free to get in touch if you require further information or would like one-to-one advice.

Contact details:

Josef Auer
Programme-Manager
Tel.: +49 831 2532-491
josef.auer(at)hs-kempten.de

Prof. Dr. Martin Göbl
Director of Studies
Tel.: +49 831 2532-154
martin.goebl(at)hs-kempten.de

Yes, there is. Officers tend to be more disciplined. In addition, they often adopt a different approach to tackling case studies and seeking solutions. In some cases, a lack of practical experience is evident. On the other hand, precisely when it comes to aspects of leadership, officers actually have a great deal more experience and skills and thus prove extremely competent in discussions.

No, not at all – quite the opposite. Experience with our participants has shown that particularly those who were weaker in English to start with improved their language skills incredibly quickly – and were often very surprised by their own success. This immersive experience meant they quickly learned business English and terminology.

No, because you should be free to determine your own success. However, we will assist you with this process and help you as much as possible.

We chose South Africa for the condensed course and Australia for its outstanding quality. The two options provide entirely different intercultural experiences.

This ties in entirely with our philosophy that besides studying you should also interact with the country and its people to fully benefit from this valuable experience abroad. For this reason, we have taken great care to select options that not only give you the opportunity to attend high-quality courses, but also to live in an environment that encourages you to make contact with the locals. Our choices of Cape Town in South Africa and Brisbane in Australia, which lies on the Gold Coast close to the Great Barrier Reef, are carefully designed to offer you a bona fide “Foreign Venture” while also ensuring it’s a carefree and relaxed experience.

Yes. There is always the option of spending two weeks in South Africa. However, it has to be said that this pathway means you will miss out on a large part of such extremely valuable foreign experience. But of course, this course is more quickly completed, allowing you to return sooner to Germany to write your master’s thesis.

No, it’s not. Our university is entirely independent from the German Armed Forces, which also applies to our MBA programme. Of course, we carefully reflect your special circumstances and distinctive professional background. In addition, some of our team members are also former officers, hence in many respects we are positively disposed towards the German Armed Forces. We have also accrued a considerable wealth of experience in dealing with the Forces’ Vocational Training Services (BFD).

No, we focus on training people how to apply for positions abroad. Applications abroad and completing your master’s thesis or company project in a different country are special challenges that we are keen to carefully prepare you for, which is why we channel our efforts in this direction. The training we provide augments rather than replicates the Kienbaum seminar. We focus on the specifics of application processes for positions abroad and build upon the Kienbaum training.

Once you reach a certain level and beyond, almost every managerial position calls for international experience and pristine English, as either your customers or your suppliers are more than likely to be from abroad. It is crucial for you to have this experience, otherwise you will struggle to work successfully in an international environment. You might respond that you have completed numerous deployments abroad with the military. Rightly so, but the irrefutable fact remains that international business is an entirely different matter and managers require considerable experience in this precise field nowadays.

In Germany, people often aren’t entirely aware of the quality of an MBA and how it differs from a master’s degree programme, with the title “MBA” also being misappropriated for marketing purposes. Only those degree programmes that are EQUAL-accredited in accordance with European regulations qualify to be considered as “genuine” MBAs, containing high-calibre subject matter across the full spectrum of business administration and a period of study abroad, all taught and examined in English. For this reason, prospective MBA students should carefully scrutinise the content and quality of any degree programme. Compliance with these stringent requirements is signified by the “EPAS” seal of quality.

The Professional School of Business & Technology at Kempten University of Applied Sciences has therefore set the highest of standards meet these exacting demands. Officers retiring from the German Armed Forces stand to benefit particularly from these exceptional assets and impeccable quality.