Training Spotlight

How Will Data Transfer Work in the Future?

Panel discussion at the Steinbeis Management Series at School GRC

In January, the new year of events got underway at the School of Governance, Risk & Compliance (School GRC) at Steinbeis University Berlin (SHB) as part of the latest Steinbeis Management Series. The topic for discussion this time was “Inquiries and due diligence after Safe Harbor – How will future US data transfers work without data?”

The event was organized after the Safe Harbor agreement was declared invalid last year by the European Court of Justice. Judges ruled that data protection was insufficient in the United States, and, as a result, companies and bodies were no longer permitted to simply transfer personal data to the USA. The implications of the new ban – on internal investigations or due diligence related to company transactions – were just some of the aspects discussed at the event by Bertram Raum (Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information), Dr. Christian Schefold, and Dr. Ariane Loof (Dentons law firm). The panel also explored the changes that are likely as a result of a new EU data protection agreement with the USA and the impact of new data protection guidelines on companies in all sectors of industry.

The evening was moderated by Birgit Galley, director of School GRC. After a lively discussion, the 50 guests enjoyed the atmosphere. The evening was organized with the support of the Dentons law firm.

The Steinbeis Management Series has been running since 2010 to provide a debating for partners and friends of School GRC from the world of politics, public administration, business, and teaching. The panel typically explores current issues relating to compliance and white-collar crime. An anniversary publication of the Steinbeis Management Series containing extracts from the first 13 exciting panel events can be ordered through the school website.

School of Management and Technology (SMT) Expands Portfolio

Business School Memmingen merges with the SMT

Business School Memmingen (BSM) and the School of Management and Technology (SMT) have stepped up their cooperative agreement and are now operating as a single school. The two establishments have already enjoyed a close relationship for a number of years, and since late last year, Business School Memmingen has been an integral part of the School of Management and Technology. The merger means that the SMT now has a new campus in Memmingen and its degree program has been extended to include a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration and a Bachelor of Science in Business IT.

Business School Memmingen was founded in 2006 as a Transfer Institute belonging to Steinbeis University Berlin (SHB). This resulted from an initiative launched by the authorities in Memmingen to strengthen the educational infrastructure of the region of Swabia for the long term. Ever since, it has collaborated closely with the Steinbeis Center of Management and Technology (SCMT) and its School of Management and Technology. The focus of BSM on bachelor’s degrees is a good complement to the master’s degrees of the SMT. The next step will be to raise the level of collaboration. In October 2015, BSM was completely integrated into the activities of the SMT. The site in Memmingen will be retained to serve as a new SMT campus. This continues the aim of bolstering Memmingen’s standing as a city of education. The master’s degrees offered by the SMT help expand the local offering, and the region as a whole will benefit from many years of educational experience.

Boosting Memmingen as a location also allows SMT to work on new degree programs as it continues to expand its portfolio of services. The agreement has already started bearing fruit and plans are currently underway to launch another master’s degree: a Master of Science in Business IT is scheduled to kick off in the fall of 2016.

Award-Winning Graduates and Lecturers

Graduation ceremony at the School of Management and Technology

41 graduates bid farewell to the School of Management and Technology at Steinbeis University Berlin. The goodbyes were part of a ceremony held in January and attended by more than 150 guests. The 2015 Professor Pleitner Prize and a variety of other honors were awarded at the event.

In an opening speech by the President of Steinbeis University Berlin, Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Johann Löhn appealed to the managers of the future to remain open to change, to always keep an eye on things happening in related areas, to bridge gaps between the apparently irreconcilable, and to identify new potential.

During the evening, Matthias Kraft was honored as the top student on the bachelor program. His university supervisor Georg Villinger praised Kraft for his highly structured approach to work and for his amazing stamina and scientific discipline, likening Kraft with a master’s student. Kraft carried out his project for Schüller Furniture Works, who as sponsor of his degree project gained tremendous benefit from the program; in the past year, the SHB graduate rose to become head of organizational development.

The top master’s graduate on last year’s program was Christian Kolodziejczak, who was also the class representative. His supervisor Prof. Dr. Friedrich Augenstein was full of praise for the graduate for his achievements and contributions to lectures, acclaim that was mirrored by his employer, the consulting firm Ernst & Young Deutschland GmbH.

The third award of the evening came with the bestowal of the Professor Pleitner Prize. This award was introduced in acknowledgement of Prof. Dr. Hans Jobst Pleitner and honors the best lecturer on the program. Of the 65 lecturers on the program, Dr. Daniel Villiger was named 2015 Lecturer of the Year. The award winner expressed his gratitude for the honor via video link as he was unfortunately unable to attend due to a work commitment. 

100% Interactive: Online@SIBE

SIBE now offers two degree programs completely online

The School of International Business and Entrepreneurship (SIBE) at Steinbeis University Berlin (SHB) recently launched two new degree programs. The two programs, Master of Laws (LL.M.) and M.A./MBA (USA) are part of a new concept to offer international students a chance to share degree courses. These students are on the Master of Arts in Management program at SIBE and the MBA degree at Post University, Malcolm Baldrige School of Business in Connecticut. The degrees are not the only things that are new, since the approach to teaching is also now different. Previously, the SIBE executive degree programs revolved around classroombased teaching. Now it is possible to study for these programs online so there is no need to travel to seminars or exams.

Speaking at a university conference on digitalization, Cornelia Quennet- Thielen, who is the State Secretary and Department Head at the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, recently challenged people to, “Do more to exploit the potential of digital technology.” By offering this new degree program, SIBE can be considered a pioneer in leveraging this potential. Being able to take part in the program online is a decisive factor for students on both of the degree programs, especially when it comes to studying toward a degree in parallel to managing a career or family. For people in employment or people living abroad, such “asynchronous” online degrees are an ideal way to gain a high-quality academic education.

When planning the online degree program, the key issue was therefore not just to ensure that such a degree will work in technical terms. It was much more important to safeguard the teaching quality. To this end, SIBE worked with Post University in Connecticut, which has already been involved in Web-based teaching for 30 years. The Connecticut university offers an online MBA which is ranked by the U.S. News & World Report. Collaboration has resulted in a method that allows students to learn the curriculum interactively online. Working in small groups, students regularly participate in discussion forums and collaborate through online platforms. This process is supervised by experienced teaching professionals. The degree revolves around real-life teaching methods based on actual management projects. These always relate in one way or another to leadership. The key idea is not just to acquire knowledge, but also to develop important skills like creative thinking and critical assessment. Key aspects of the LL.M and M.A./MBA (USA) offered by SIBE are a close affinity with other students and teaching staff, carefully posed questions, well-prepared teaching materials, and instruction that focuses carefully on the needs of students.

Certified Continuing Professional Development Courses on Lighting and Energy Efficiency

Steinbeis Transfer Institute certifies program in Costa Rica

The Costa Rican chamber of commerce (CICR) represents the interests of companies in Costa Rica and plays an important leadership role in promoting better terms, work conditions, and sustainable development in the manufacturing industry. One factor that has a direct impact on the competitiveness of manufacturing enterprises is energy. In 2012, CICR joined forces with GIZ GmbH (the German Association of International Collaboration) to work more closely on improving energy management in industry. As part of this work, it has developed a program to become an Administrador de la Energía. Its training has now been certified by the competence institute unisono, a Steinbeis Transfer Institute at Steinbeis University Berlin.

Spanning several courses, the program instructs students on how to set up more professional, effective, and efficient energy management at their company. Since launching the program four years ago, more than 40 experts have shared their know-how with over 130 people working in industry in Costa Rica. To do justice to the rising number of demands placed on companies when it comes to energy efficiency management, a course has been developed and now launched to specialize in lighting and energy efficiency. To improve the quality of knowledge sharing and take a first step toward making the curriculum more uniform, the chambers of industry in the region decided that their energy efficiency courses needed certification. This led to the organizers meeting with the experts at kiu (the Steinbeis Transfer Institute called kompetenz institut unisono), which is part of Steinbeis University Berlin. The collaborative project is already bearing fruit and now all members of the Federation of Industry Chambers of Central America (FECAICA) are in a position to offer certification courses to participants under the name “Administrador de la Energía” with a specialization in “Lighting and Energy Efficiency.”

The first step involved sealing the collaborative agreement between the CICR and kiu to go ahead with the certification program. The next step will now be to expand the agreement to include other chambers of commerce, especially in Honduras and Guatemala, where the aim is to start offering the first courses in lighting and energy efficiency within the next year. Training lasts 80 hours and covers a variety of practical and theoretical modules, technical workshops, and a business report as a concrete example of applying what has been learned to a real situation. The report has to examine a specific issue facing the business based on the premise that several energy efficiency measures will be introduced to a business.

Ten participants enrolled in the current program applied for certification from the Steinbeis Transfer Institute kiu. They completed their specialist course in lighting and energy efficiency in December 2015, which concluded with an official ceremony at the chamber of commerce headquarters in San José, the Costa Rican capital. Speaking at the closing ceremony, Ana Lucia Alfaro, coordinator of the 4E program run by GIZ for Costa Rica and Panama, highlighted that, “CICT’s development of employee training programs in collaboration with their integrated CIM experts is making a significant contribution to the competitiveness of industry, thus helping to compensate effectively for continual rises in energy prices.”

The program director, Didier Cascante, expressed his delight with the highly practical nature of the training, saying that he believes there is huge potential to use new lighting technology and energy more efficiently, not just in Costa Rica but also throughout the region of Central America.

Contact

Peter Schust, Didier Cascante
Steinbeis Transfer Institute kompetenz institut unisono (Ulm)

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