The Master's degree programme imparts a high level of professional, mediation and social competence in ten modules and the Master's thesis.
Study Contents
The Master's programme Communication Management imparts a high level of professional, mediation and social competence in ten modules and the Master's thesis. The focus is on strategic communication and corporate communication, financial communication and non-profit communication. This addresses attractive professional fields with the best career opportunities. In addition to overarching competences for digitalisation, content as well as control and planning, which are indispensable in consulting, among other things, important fields of action such as internal communication, public affairs, sustainability and ethics, branding and marketing communication as well as investor relations are deepened. This is done through a combination of lectures, seminars, exercises and case studies with many guest lectures from practice.
Analytical and methodological skills are trained from the first semester onwards in small student groups that implement research projects from conception to the preparation of a scientific paper and the organisation of a virtual professional conference. This is then deepened holistically in the research and transfer projects: A team of students and lecturers works on a current task together with changing practice partners and thus demonstrates creativity, methodological skills and team spirit.
In order to prepare the students specifically for the requirements in the global work context, a complete module of the third semester is internationally related; in addition, courses are offered in English in every semester. Finally, the Master's thesis offers students the opportunity to work on a topic of their choice in depth over several months and thus to distinguish themselves personally.
The study plan shows an overview of all modules. The module descriptions explain the competence goals and teaching formats.
This column of the degree programme focuses on conceptual, theoretical and conceptual foundations of communication management.
The central perspectives and theories of corporate and organisational communication as well as current international PR research are taught in the module "Strategic Communication". In-depth discussions are held on how communication contributes to the value creation of organisations and how processes can be optimised through controlling methods. The module "Communication Control and Planning" deals with management tools as thinking tools for consultants and managers as well as the conception of creative communication campaigns. In the module "International Communication", students work on various case studies with an honorary professor and head of communication of a global corporation; in addition, well-known international researchers in the subject present their work in a virtual lecture series.
This column deals with competences for communication management in specific types of organisations and fields of action.
In the module "Management and Leadership in Companies", central concepts of business administration are taught in order to establish connectivity with the language of top management. At the same time, the module "Nonprofit Organisations and Communication" deals with the special features of this type of organisation. The seminars in the module "Fields of Action Capital Market and Competition" are dedicated to changing topics of communication with investors and analysts as well as customer communication and brand management (branding). Similarly, the module "Fields of Action Politics, Society and Organisation" deals with research results and concepts for communication with politics, authorities and interest groups as well as employees. A special focus is on sustainability, legitimacy, CSR and ethics.
This column develops methodological competences and skills for the implementation of complex projects with a consultancy and practical orientation.
The module "Research and Analysis Methods" teaches empirical methods and statistical evaluation procedures. In addition, in combination with a seminar in the following semester, the entire process of a research project is run through, from the formulation of a research question to empirical data collection and analysis to the development of a scientific manuscript with peer review and presentation at a professional conference. The module "Digitalisation, Technical Innovations and Content" discusses current developments and transformations in organisations and communication units. In the three parallel research modules, changing projects are realised with practice partners using scientific methods - from the evaluation and development of new processes to the implementation of industry studies.
Independently carrying out a research project lasting several months - that is the goal of the Master's thesis in the fourth semester, which is accompanied by a colloquium. The thematic range is wide. Many students take up current topics from the industry or global research and work empirically. Others devote themselves to interdisciplinary questions with a conceptual focus. All theses are personally supervised by the professors of the department.
Study Documents
You can find more details on the study contents in the study plan, the module descriptions and the examination and study regulations for the Master Communication Management. All documents are valid from WS 2021/22; earlier versions can be found in the Official Announcements of the University of Leipzig.