MS Excel is an important tool that allows managers and owners to analyse data and visualize information, supporting immensely in decision making and effective communication across the organisation. It would not be an exaggeration to say that MS Excel is an indispensable part (or even a life partner) of a management professional’s career. Expertise in Excel is highly appreciated and in many cases it is even a prerequisite for job openings. This is why the MBA at Pforzheim University initiated the course titled “Managerial Decision Making with MS Excel spreadsheets” for the MBA students in their second semester. Since 2015 MBA alumnus Andrei Moroc, Associate Director - Shipping Origination at Berenberg, a privately owned bank located in Hamburg, is successfully conducting the course.  

The course was divided into 2 parts. In the first part, which still could be delivered on the university campus, students were introduced to the most important functions of Excel and collectively developed a financial model of an IT consulting business. At the end of the first session, students were given a task to develop their models choosing businesses and functions of their interest. In the second session which took place over 2 days, students were asked to present their respective model to the class and were given feedback by Andrei Moroc to show where there was still space for improvement. Financial models of a restaurant, smoothie company, customer segmentation of an ecommerce business were just some of the models developed by the MBA students.

We highly appreciate that Andrei Moroc developed the Managerial Decision Making class for our MBA program and we are certain that this hands-on course will provide an ideal foundation for our MBA students’ journey to master this tool. 

Text / photo: Shvetang Pai Angle, Class of 2021