CAS Entrepreneurial Leadership

Project Management
When a new complex project is to be developed and implemented, sound project management knowledge facilitates its successful planning and control. You will learn central principles of project management as well as concrete tools and aids. Furthermore, you will learn how to plan the individual project phases (incl. activities, results and decisions) and how to monitor and control your project well on the basis of a practical case study. Important aspects of project communication, information, documentation as well as the interaction of the different roles and project traps are also taught.

Accounting and Controlling (Fundamentals)
You will learn about the different subsystems of external (balance sheet/income statement) and internal accounting. A practice-oriented model case accompanies you through this module day. You will be able to derive from it the essential instruments of financial corporate management – especially for SMEs – for yourself and your professional challenges. You are aware of the tension between liquidity/profitability/stability in which every company finds itself. An overview of additional tools (such as cost accounting or balanced scorecard) and an integration into the general topic of the CAS round off this module day.

Self Leadership
Entrepreneurs are often particularly challenged to lead themselves and others effectively and to maintain the effectiveness of themselves, their team and their company at a high level in the long term. Exploring one’s own strengths, drivers, resources, values and goals provides an exciting foundation for both personal development and leadership skills training. Based on psychological models as well as exercises and practical examples, on this module day you will develop insights into the promotion of your own performance, motivation and leadership skills.

Business planning, legal and business basics
In this module, the legal and business management “tools” for entrepreneurial activities are taught and the interaction of the individual building blocks for business planning is demonstrated. The instruments for a business plan from a legal and business management perspective are concretized with case studies. The financing of the business idea as well as the securing of sales/market success as main challenges are in special focus.

Digital challenges
Digital technologies are changing the way we live and work. They open up great opportunities for companies to revolutionize the interaction with customers and employees. However, digital technologies also raise new expectations among these same stakeholders. Our conclusion: Only those who deal intensively with the digital transformation, identify their own opportunities and derive actions from them will be able to serve the needs of demanding customers and employees in the long term and thus be successful. So the question is: Are you ready for the digital transformation? Let us inspire you with innovative business cases and help you identify the opportunities that digital transformation offers your company. Let’s start the transformation of your company together today with a first small step.

Business idea, creativity and social networks
New products and services are usually based on ideas from individuals or teams. Regardless of whether the idea becomes a stand-alone company or a new line of business, additional resources are needed to implement an idea. Especially in the service sector, but also for technological innovations, the focus is on human and knowledge resources. Individuals and teams therefore need to activate their creative potential and their social network. Using concrete examples, you will learn how creative approaches can be used specifically for the entrepreneurship process.

Business Modeling
The success or failure of companies is determined by the type of business model. Methodical thinking in the context of business models helps to explain the key factors of business success. Future opportunities of companies are assessed on the basis of the underlying model. You can see how value is generated, what its benefits are, who is a customer, and what revenues and costs are generated. You get to know the business model in the context of case studies and your own business idea as a thought model.

Economic environment
Every company has to deal with macroeconomic issues as well as business issues. The business activity and decision-making of every company are significantly influenced by the macroeconomic environment. Therefore, dealing with basic macroeconomic issues is of great importance for entrepreneurs. To this end, an overview of the most important macroeconomic issues such as business cycle and growth policy, exchange rate issues, and monetary policy is provided. In particular, it will be discussed
why and how such issues affect entrepreneurial activities.

Strategic corporate management
Value-generating products and services are characterized by sustainable competitive advantages. In the context of strategic corporate management, the development, planning and implementation of corporate goals – illustrated as a strategy process – are discussed in particular. Concepts for the internal and external analysis of the enterprise and/or environment form the information basis for action alternatives. The development, evaluation and implementation of business and corporate strategies are discussed. In particular, the central role of managers in this process is addressed and important decision areas are demonstrated by means of a concrete case study.

Diversification and concentration as key issues of overall strategy
Within the framework of the overall strategy (corporate strategy), companies determine their future fields of activity. This often involves abandoning previous activities (concentrations) or establishing new activities (diversifications). After an overview of the forms of diversification and concentration, a procedure for developing the overall strategy is presented. This procedure is applied to a case study. The example allows the discussion of concentration and diversification variants in a concrete context.

Microtechnical Engineer HTL, is Managing Partner, Co-Owner and Chairman of the Board of Creaholic SA, where he has co-invented more than 400 innovation projects and over 150 patents. He is co-inventor and president of WoodWelding SA. As co-inventor of the Wood-Bone-Welding technology, he won the Swiss Technology Award and the Swiss Economic Award. In addition, he serves as a board member in other technology companies. He is an expert in the fields of creativity and innovation and inspires on the topic of entrepreneurship.

Business lawyer and partner at Kellerhals Carrard. He focuses on actively supporting startups and SMEs in all business phases and challenges, primarily in the areas of corporate & transactions, financing, technology and sales/market impact. Thomas Bähler is also a member of several boards of directors and is engaged as a business angel in various companies.

Professor of Business Administration at the University of Bern, specializing in Strategic Management. After his doctorate at the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration and his habilitation at the University of Vienna, he has taught and conducted research at various European and US universities. Projects are planned and implemented in cooperation with renowned national and international companies.

Head of Distribution Zone Northwest Switzerland at Logistics Services, Post CH AG. Before taking on this role, he was a strategic Human Resource Business Partner for PostMail. After completing his degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology at the University of Berne, he gained broad consulting experience as a management consultant and trainer at effex AG and the ifa Institute for Occupational Medicine, and completed a Master of Science in Organization Development at the University of Klagenfurt while working. He teaches part-time at the ZHAW and the University of Bern and advises companies on personnel, leadership and organizational development.

More than 25 years of experience as CFO at companies in the private sector, including as Head of Group Controlling at the BKW Group, have formed the basis for him to support companies in strategic and operational activities since 2006 as an assigned Head of Finance/Human Resources. In addition, he is active in adult education: As a lecturer in accounting / controlling at the level of higher vocational education (federal degrees / FH) as well as on behalf of the RAV in seminars for unemployed executives. After his commercial banking apprenticeship he graduated as a business economist FH (HWV), a NDS corporate development FH, the federal FA trainer and the teaching diploma teaching HF at the PH Zurich.

Founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Livesystems Holding AG. During his master studies he founded his startup, which was awarded the Swiss Economic Award. With the products passengertv, gasstationtv and cityscreen, the Livesystems Holding Group today owns the largest digital “out of home” advertising network and with Nau.ch the fifth largest online news portal in Switzerland. It reaches an audience of more than 3.4 million people in Switzerland every day.

MA UZH in Business Administration. Involved in disruptive innovation topics for more than 20 years; expert for startups. Jan Fülscher helps entrepreneurs and organizations that want to work with startups. He is a coach at Innosuisse, Swiss Innovation Challenge and others. He also teaches seminars on entrepreneurship at universities and universities of applied sciences. He is co-founder of two Business Angel Clubs and several other initiatives for and with startups. Furthermore, he was investor and co-founder in about 15 companies. His main topics are financial planning, financing, pricing, product-market fit, tactics for successful entrepreneurship.

Rector of the Thun School of Economics. As a former foreign exchange trader, after studies in Bern and St. Gallen, he has been active for over ten years as a lecturer at universities of applied sciences in the field of corporate development and in management consulting. He sees the transfer of knowledge as the main task of his work. With his strategy work, which is particularly aimed at small and medium-sized companies in industry and services, he supports companies in the fundamental planning and conception of their future.

Professor of Corporate Management at the University of Fribourg. His research focuses on strategic management, corporate planning and decision methodology. In addition to his activities as a board member of various companies, he is co-author of books with strong practical relevance.

As Senior Project Manager of eduxept AG, she accompanies strategic projects in the field of education. In Cambodia, she has been on the road for over 10 years as founder and president of the Eyes Open Foundation, which provides schooling for children. Broad business experience characterizes her practice-oriented activities: Head of HR & Finance at PB Swiss Tools, before that paralegal at the law firm Häusermann + Partner. She gained experience at the corporate level through her work for the Board of Directors of Swisscom. After her commercial training in the notary’s office, she continued her education, such as this CAS and an EMBA in General Management.

Entrepreneur with various companies and trainer/coach with a focus on leadership and talent development. After her studies in Industrial and Organizational Psychology at the University of Bern, she worked for several years in various companies in HR and Organizational Development and was Head of Outreach at the Entrepreneurship Center of the University of Bern from 2015-2021. Today, she is involved in entrepreneurial talent development in Switzerland and internationally, including in collaboration with SwissSkills.

Chief Marketing Officer at Swiss Casinos. As a certified Transformation Coach and Senior Customer Experience Consultant, he accompanied renowned customers in their digitization projects in his former role at GARAIO and knows the challenges from the customer’s point of view from practical experience. As communications manager and member of the organizing committee of “BärnHäckt”, he shaped the exciting 48h hackathon for companies with digitalization challenges for several years. As a Virtual Reality Consultant, he was employed in the vehicle development department of Mercedes-Benz at Daimler AG in Sindelfingen and experienced the transformation of technology up close in over 5 years.