As part of the master's degree option Controlling and Consulting, students take on the role of management consultants and help companies to solve real-life problems. In the option module led by Prof. Dr. Fischbach and Prof. Dr. Rathje, students work with a different company each semester. In the 2020 summer semester, the German Red Cross Emergency Services Rheinhessen-Nahe was our collaboration partner.

Dean Abrahams, Head of Administration at the German Red Cross Rheinhessen-Nahe Emergency Services, and Jörg Steinheimer, Managing Director (both graduates of Mainz University of Applied Sciences), wanted help with various calculations of material and staff costs, as well as suggestions for setting up a pay scale structure and a corresponding reporting system. The students dealt with classic controlling topics and developed suitable solutions. At the same time, the special circumstances of a rescue service provider had to be taken into account – certainly a very fascinating task.

The plan was to hold the company presentation on the premises of the German Red Cross Emergency Services in Mainz. The COVID-19 lockdown at the start of the summer semester dashed these plans. Nevertheless, an intensive exchange of ideas was ensured synchronously and asynchronously using various online platforms. Mr Köhler, who is responsible for corporate communications and project management at the emergency services, even organized a virtual tour of an ambulance for the students.

The students worked in teams, met online and managed to present great results to the representatives of the German Red Cross Emergency Services at the end of the semester. To quote Mr. Steinheimer: "We can really work with the results. The project has already helped us a lot." With this, he thanked the students for their commitment at a final meeting, which took place on site at the emergency services facility in compliance with hygiene regulations.

As part of the Strategic Human Resource Management option in the MSc in Management (on-the-job and full-time), students worked together with the HR department of DB Cargo AG in the 2019/2020 winter semester. At the beginning of the semester, DB Cargo AG's HR staff presented three topics (digital learning, performance management and dual-operating organizational forms), which the students worked on both theoretically and practically as "HR consultants" until the end of the semester. Each project team was supervised by a subject mentor from DB Cargo, who acted as the "client" interface to the company and provided access to internal data and interviewees. The very successful project work provided a wide range of topic-related impetus and recommendations for action, which were presented at the conclusion at DB Cargo AG's headquarters in Mainz.

As part of Prof. Dr. Susanne Rank's HR option, the MSc Management full-time & part-time students were invited to Fraport on April 19, 2013 by Manuel Schulz, Head of Access Management.

He and his colleagues gave a live demonstration of the requirements placed on airport and aviation security processes and the associated ground staff. At the same time, we were introduced to the latest system for performing aviation security checks, the MX2 lane concept. We were able to experience the extent to which human-machine interaction contributes to process optimization on site, thank you very much! Manuel Schulz contributed a digitalization project for our master's students to find solutions last semester.

At the start of a joint project with the U.S. Army and the U.S. Air Force, students from the master's degree programs in Management and Management part-time visited Clay Barracks in Wiesbaden-Erbenheim. As part of the Controlling and Consulting option, students have the opportunity to acquire practical experience by working on various US military projects. Professors Dr. Britta Rathje and Dr. Sven Fischbach have now organized a project with the US Army and the US Air Force for the third time. You can find more information here.