During the second semester of the MBA International Management programme at Hochschule Pforzheim, the students are tasked with choosing their first round of electives that will further shape their MBA IM studies. In an effort to remain current in today’s business environment, practical and hands on electives are offered to develop a more in-depth skillset that is often required amongst job opportunities in the market. Among these requirements is often advanced Microsoft Excel knowledge of various functionalities and modeling capabilities. That is why Managerial Decision Making Using Excel is offered as one of three electives in the second semester.
Taught by HSPF’s own alumnus Andrei Moroc, Associate Director at Berenberg Bank, the class focused on vital functionalities and tools in Exceland showcased best practices in modeling and further complex modeling capabilities. Andrei Moroc’s two weekend seminar explored these functions in an initial lecture, then further explained the steps of forming a business case or problem and modeling it to come to a decision and develop various scenarios. After the first of two, two-day sessions the students were then tasked with creating their own business case and creating their own model in Excel. After four weeks, the class then reconvened and presented their cases to the group for feedback and discussion. Innovative topics were created by the students and ranged from the profitability analysis of a milk powder production facility in China to the viability of windfarms in Germany. Other models included a financial analysis on whether to buy or rent real estate property in Germany and the profitability of hot sauce production in Europe.
It was clear each student completed extensive research on the topic of their choosing which resulted in a multidisciplinary learning environment for all.

text: Gabrielle Boimann, Class of 2022