Agility is becoming more and more important in business, especially when it comes to how business can make itself fit for the future, promote the topic of sustainability or young entrepreneurs found a start-up. Especially at universities, there is still a rather limited offer in this regard. For this reason, Hof University of Applied Sciences has launched a course in the Master Digital Business Management that fills the gaps and at the same time makes the model of the examination form more relevant to the interests of the students.
In the course “Agile Project Management”, we not only aim to teach students the course content, but also set a clear focus on the start-up scene by combining entrepreneurship and agility. This should encourage students to turn their idea into a business model.”
Prof. Dr. Jens Kirchner, Dean Faculty of Business and Economics
Agility in teaching
Agility is a broad term, especially when it comes to how business should respond in the future to issues such as digital transformation or destructive market changes. If the statements of former students are anything to go by, the educational gap for those entering the workforce is still very large. “So far, we have only been prepared for the topic of agility in a very theoretical way,” says Bengü Ismail, a student in the Digital Business Management master’s program. Thus, in addition to knowledge and basics of methodological approaches, students often lack a clear connection to practice. To close this gap, the Faculty of Business and Economics has anchored the agile approach SCRUM in teaching. SCRUM is a framework for agile project management and is already a set standard in many industries.
SCRUM certification
Many students acquire the basic knowledge of agile during their studies, but often do not know how to apply it in practice. The reason for this is that there is no focus on a concrete method during studies. In addition, it is difficult for students to clearly distinguish themselves from the competition with their knowledge in applications or job interviews, since there is no concrete evidence of the acquired knowledge. This is where the university comes in and, in addition to the classic forms of examination, offers students the possibility of external certification in agile project management – SCRUM – which is recognized in practice. In this way, graduates can have the passed SCRUM Master included in their grade. In doing so, the university uses the official SCRUM examination scheme and reimburses students for the cost of certification.
Entrepreneurship in Hof
Entrepreneurship is an important topic for many students, but often young entrepreneurs lack a methodical approach on how to put their own idea into practice.”
Professor Dr. Stefan Huch, Department of International Business Management, Business Process and Project Management
In this topic, too, students can draw on the knowledge acquired during SCRUM certification, which in turn facilitates possible paths to self-employment for them. In this way, weak points can be quickly identified during the presentation by the Entrepreneur Practice Project, which the students are then expected to improve with the help of prototypes or presentations. This could be, for example, an app, a platform solution or an online store.
Advantages for graduates
Not all students want to found a startup after graduation; many graduates aspire to work in industry. But here, too, many companies are looking for applicants with qualifications in the agile environment – a clear competitive advantage for graduates of the Master Digital Business Management who have earned SCRUM certification.
But students who already have a job in a company can also score points with the university’s SCRUM certification. This is because, on the one hand, they show a high level of initiative, a willingness to constantly develop themselves and an awareness of being an important part of the transformation of companies.
As a student, I really appreciate the practical orientation of the SCRUM certification in the field of agility. Although I am first taught theoretical basics, the Entrepreneurship practice project and SCRUM certification give me the opportunity to directly apply and consolidate the knowledge I have learned in practice.”
Bengü Ismail , Student
On the part of the companies, the advantage is that lengthy and expensive training is eliminated and the students can start immediately in the subject. This is also in the interest of Hof University of Applied Sciences, namely to maintain practical relevance in addition to research and teaching, a win-win-win situation, so to speak.
