Master's student Annalena Foth has been working on a marketing concept for social pasta for months: Together with fellow students, she is working on a plan to effectively advertise the pasta produced by people with disabilities at “Lebenshilfe Bayern Mitte”. "The focus is on how quality and inclusion can be successfully combined."
Foth started studying at the KU specifically because of the Consulting Badge Program: The program combines specialist knowledge, practical elements and encourages personal growth in a "unique way". "I am particularly impressed by how much personal responsibility we have and how real the work on the case is. Many university courses are very theoretical – here it is the exact opposite. We work like a real consulting team, with all the ups and downs that a project entails", summarizes Foth.
In addition, it is also a great advantage for “Lebenshilfe Bayern Mitte”, having the opportunity to work together with students, as Managing Director Andreas Jehn emphasizes: "We are interested in the view from the outside, the view of young people, so that we can broaden our perspective." Employees from the HR department and Corporate Communications work with the students to draw up a plan for the pasta product and the associated marketing campaigns. "We, that is our colleagues from the Communications and Production departments, put a lot of energy into the project and have great respect for how much energy the students put into it. For us, it is very important that projects are never for the bin."
Dr. Franz Glatz is impressed by the commitment with which the students approach their pro bono cases. He supervises the pro bono module at the KU. "It's exciting to see how each individual brings their own thoughts to the course – that's what makes the course so special." It opens the students' eyes to what is important in good management consulting, "it helps to develop the sensitivity you need to tease out solutions". In addition, students are supported during their project work by the renowned management consultancy firm BearingPoint, whose experience helps to achieve a quality standard comparable to professional consultancy projects.
The course thus fulfils the goal that Prof. Dr. André Habisch, Professor of Christian Social Ethics and responsible for the Consulting Badge, is pursuing with it and with the program in general: "The certificate offers the unique opportunity to systematically learn the tools for successful consulting projects and to try them out directly in practice." Especially in the case of the pro bono cases, it is a great motivation for the students to be able to "make the city in which they are studying a little bit better with their newly acquired skills," says Johannes Kellner, research assistant and co-responsible for the Consulting Badge Program.
Please note: The students will be presenting this and other projects at the Georgianum in Ingolstadt on January 26 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
