Regulations governing the master's degree programmes in Business
Information Systems and International Management at the FHNW
School of Business, part of the University of Applied Sciences
North-western Switzerland (FHNW)
(Translation and adaptation of the following document in German: 'Studienreglement der Masterstudiengänge Business Information Systems und International Management an der Hochschule für Wirtschaft Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz (FHNW), 1.9.2015)
Pursuant to the Framework Regulations governing programmes at the FHNW in the area of education dated 2 February 2015, the Framework Regulations governing limitations on the availability of places in the programmes (bachelor’s/master’s degrees) at the FHNW dated 12 December 2011, and the Study Regulations governing bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the FHNW School of Business, the Director of the FHNW School of Business hereby approves these Programme Regulations issued by the Head of Education of the FHNW School of Busi-ness.
Part 1:
Programme-specific regulations
§1 Scope
1 These Programme Regulations supplement the Study Regulations by gov-erning the following aspects of the master's degree programmes at the FHNW School of Business (§2 para 3 StuPO HSW FHNW 2015): a. Requisite level of linguistic competence;
b. Procedure relating to the introduction of admission restrictions; c. English key words relating to the grades;
d. Requirements for graduating from the degree programme.
2 These Programme Regulations apply to all Master of Science degree pro-grammes offered by the FHNW School of Business.
§2 Linguistic competence
1 The decision to study toward a master's degree presupposes adequate lin-guistic competence in English.
2 The requisite level of linguistic competence is C1 under the Common Euro-pean Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).
3 As a rule, the linguistic competence of a candidate is assessed during an interview as part of the admission procedure.
4 Should the linguistic competence be deemed inadequate, the candidate can be asked to provide formal evidence.
5 Taking each case on its merits, this formal evidence can be furnished prior to the commencement of studies or during the course of the first semester as determined by the Head of Programme.
6
Failure to provide the said evidence after expiry of a reasonable period of grace constitutes a serious breach of obligations under § 30 StuPO HSW
Page 2 of 4 Valid from: 1 September 2015 © FHNW FHNW 2015 and leads to immediate exclusion.
§3 Procedure relating to admission restrictions
Precautionary waiting lists Applying to more than one site Allocation of the site
1 If applications for study places reach the maximum number of places availa-ble, precautionary waiting lists will be maintained in the event of the imposi-tion of admission restricimposi-tions.
2 If the President of the Board of Directors of the FHNW orders the imposition of admission restrictions, applicants on the waiting list will be allocated plac-es subsequently becoming free at the site affected in accordance with the criteria of §6 para StuPO HSW FHNW.
3 Applicants prepared to enrol for the same programme at more than one site of the FHNW School of Business will be entered in each of those sites' wait-ing lists. On receivwait-ing a place, that applicant's name will be removed from all the sites' waiting lists. Applicants may declare themselves prepared to study at more than one site or ask for their names to be removed from waiting lists at any time for as long as that applicant's name is entered in a waiting list. 4 If, in the end, the President of the Board of Directors of the FHNW does not
order the imposition of admission restrictions, applicants on the waiting lists will all be admitted to the relevant programmes.
5 The allocation of places in the event of the imposition of admission re-strictions does not include the right to study at a particular site. In the inter-ests of an orderly conduct of studies, the FHNW School of Business in this event reserves the right to specify not only the allocation of places, but also the place of study within the School.
§4 English key words relating to the grades
1 The key words attached to the 6-point grading scale are as follows:
German English
6.0 hervorragend excellent
5.5 sehr gut very good
5.0 gut good
4.5 befriedigend satisfactory
4.0 genügend pass
3.0 ungenügend fail
2.0 schlecht fail
1.0 sehr schlecht fail
.
2 In the binary grading scale, the equivalent in English of "erfüllt" is "pass", and that of "nicht-erfüllt" is "fail".
§5 Requirements for graduating from the degree programme
criteria
List of mod-ules
Master's the-sis
Business Information Systems come to a successful conclusion at the FHNW when:
a. All compulsory and elective compulsory modules have been passed (or recognised, if judged to be of equal value), and
b. The minimum number of ECTS credits have been earned in each of the module groups (or recognised, if judged to be of equal value), and c. The master's thesis has been submitted at the FHNW and has been
awarded a grade of 4.0 or higher, and
d. The student has earned the requisite 90 ECTS credits in accordance with the Study Regulations governing these programmes, and
e. A minimum of 30 of these ECTS credits (including those of the master's thesis) have been earned at the FHNW.
2 The compulsory subjects and criteria for fulfilling the elective compulsory subjects are contained in the accompanying list of modules. If the list of modules is changed, and with it the requirements for successfully complet-ing the programme, the new list applies to all students.
3 It is a matter for the Heads of Programme whether to apply transitional pro-visions should the change to the new requirements constitute an unreason-able burden.
4 Heads of Programme are also authorised to organise tailored curricula for students experiencing hardship as a result of changes to the list of modules. This is of particular application in the case of students who have been study-ing for a long time (due to breaks in studies and/or module re-takes) and for whom a change to the list would mean a further extension to their studies. 5
The master's thesis is a compulsory module, wherein students demonstrate their ability to deliver an assignment involving applied research in a manner that is autonomous, methodologically sound and technically correct.
6
Students are required to pass all the modules of the programme's Research group of modules prior to embarking on a master's thesis, and their pro-posed topic must have been reviewed and approved.
7 Thesis topics are reviewed and approved by a panel consisting of the Head of Programme and at least one Module Coordinator from the relevant mas-ter's programme.
8 The master's thesis must be submitted no later than five months after receiv-ing the go-ahead. Students will be informed of their deadlines before they embark on their theses.
9 Prior to embarking on their theses, students will be informed of the require-ments relating to the topics of master's theses, the procedure relating to the process and the assessment procedure.
10 The master's thesis is marked by the supervising lecturers. Their assess-ment is based on the written thesis and the student's oral defence of it. 11 A master's thesis submitted late or deemed to be plagiarised will be
award-ed grade 1.0.
12 If the master's thesis is awarded a grade below 4.0, a new thesis featuring a new topic can be written, but only once.
13 If the master's thesis receives the grade FX, a single attempt can be made to improve it, or a new thesis featuring a new topic can be written, but only once.
14 On successful completion of the programme, students are awarded the de-gree of Master of Science FHNW in International Management or Master of Science FHNW in Business Information Systems.
Page 4 of 4 Valid from: 1 September 2015 © FHNW Award
Part 2:
Final and transitional provision
§6 Entry into forceThese Programme Regulations take effect on 1 September 2015.
ATTACHMENT: Module groups and associated modules degree course „MSc Business Information Systems Full Time / Part Time“
ECTS-Credits Core Modules
Alignment of Business and IT 6
Business Process Management 6
IT Management and Cloud Computing 6
Strategic Management in the Digital Economy 6
minimum ECTS-Credits required in this module group: 24
Projects
Manager’s Shadow Project 3
Innovation Thinking Project 6
Master Thesis Research Proposal 6
Master Thesis 15
minimum ECTS-Credits required in this module group: 30
Electives
Business Analytics: Quantitative Methods 6
Business Intelligence 6
Challenging International Managers and Leaders 6
Compliance Management and Governance of IT 6
Digitalization of Business Processes 6
E-Business and Mobile Business 6
Entrepreneurship and Economic Development 6
Innovative Topics in Information Systems 6
Knowledge Management and Competence Development 6
Knowledge Processing and Decision Making 6
Optimization for Business Improvement 6
Supply Chain Management 6
Independent Learning Module 6
ATTACHMENT: Module groups and associated modules degree course „MSc International Management Full Time / Part Time“
Research Methodology and Master Thesis ECTS-Credits
Research and Innovation Path 2015 onwards 3
Advanced Qualitative Research Design 2015 onwards 6
Research Design and Applied Statistics 2008 - 2014 6
Qualitative Research Methods 2008 - 2014 6
Practice-oriented Research Project 2008 - 2013 15
Practice-oriented Project 2014 6
Master Thesis Proposal 2014 6
Master Thesis 15
minimum ECTS-Credits required in this module group intakes 2015: 36
minimum ECTS-Credits required in this module group intakes 2014: 39
minimum ECTS-Credits required in this module group intakes 2008- 2013: 42
General International Management
Entrepreneurship and Innovation 2015 onwards 6
Financial Reporting and Coporate Finance 2015 HS onwards 6
Community Action Project 2015 onwards 3
Cross-cultural Management and Leadership 2008 - 2013 4
Cross-cultural Management and Leadership 2014 onwards 6
Manager‘s Shadow Project 2008 - 2013 2
Manager‘s Shadow Project 2014 onwards 3
International Accounting and Finance 2008 - 2015 FS 6
Developing International Business Strategies 6
minimum ECTS-Credits required in this module group intakes 2015: 27
minimum ECTS-Credits required in this module group intakes 2014: 21
minimum ECTS-Credits required in this module group intakes 2008 - 2013: 18
Electives
Cross-cultural Consumer Behaviour 6
Corporate Reputation and Brand Development 6
Marketing and Strategy in a Globalizing World 6
Social Media and Customer Experience 6
International Human Resource Management 6
Leading People in Changing Environments 6
Headhunting- Talent Acquisition and Development 6
Challenging International Managers and Leaders 6
Local Clusters and International Competitiveness 6
BRICS The Business Realities 6
Negotiating International Strategic Alliances 6
Disruptive Change and Enterprise Transformation 6
Business Analytics for Research 6
Finance and Financial Risk Management for International Firms 6
Management Accounting and Controlling in an International Context 6
Independent Learning Module 6
minimum ECTS-Credits required in this module group 2015: 24
