“We look forward to meeting you here at THWS or elsewhere in the world as you consider business schools and programs. We will be glad to guide you through our application process and to support you before, during and after your Master Transformation studies.”
_{Cornelia Lorenz
Coordinator Master Transformation}

Practical & future-oriented
Our master's program is aimed at anyone who wants to actively shape change in business, society, and technology. Interdisciplinary content and real-world projects will prepare you to tackle transformative challenges.

Flexibility & personal support
Small group sizes and a modern teaching concept enable individual support, personal attention, and maximum flexibility—ideal for working professionals or career changers. 

Flexible entry through individual modules
Thanks to the modular structure, individual modules can be taken as part of a module-based course of study. This allows students to test the course in advance—with full credit transferability in the event of later entry. 

Actively shape transformation
Whether it’s digitalization, sustainability, or social change — here, you don’t just learn about transformation, you become a creator of it! Your ideas are heard and given the space they need to grow.

International environment & strong networks
Study in an international environment and benefit from our global network of companies, organizations, and partner universities — the perfect foundation for your career at home and abroad.

Master Transformation - The perfect next step in your career

The MBA Transformation offers graduates numerous career prospects. With a degree in this innovative and practical program, you will be well equipped for specialist and management positions in international and interdisciplinary contexts. Thanks to the strong international network and practical training at THWS, you will have the opportunity to successfully shape your career both at home and abroad and actively participate in global transformation.

Here are some of the career opportunities open to you:

Management positions: 
Become a Chief Transformation Officer or project manager in a company and lead transformation projects to successfully redesign business strategies.

Consulting and coaching: 
Work as a transformation manager or change manager and support organizations in their digital and organizational transformation to optimize their structures and processes in the long term.

Project management: 
As a project manager or innovation manager, you will steer innovative projects from conception to implementation, particularly in areas such as digitalization, sustainability, and organizational change.

Business start-up: 
Use your entrepreneurial skills to realize new business ideas in the field of transformation as a start-up founder or co-founder.

Science and research: 
Pursue an academic career as a research coordinator or research assistant and take advantage of the opportunity to earn a doctorate to be at the forefront of transformation research.

Your semesters in detail

First Semester

The modules of the first semester offer different approaches to analyzing and understanding the environment of organizations. Accordingly, the modules form the basis for a fundamental understanding of transformation management. In the first semester, fundamentals for understanding transformation processes are taught. Thereby, cooperations between humans, intelligent machines and the output of algorithms are related to their impact on global coexistence as well as economic relations. In this context, knowledge of physiological and psychological capabilities and behavioral fundamentals is imparted, and resulting human-machine communication possibilities are derived. In parallel, complex ecosystems are discussed, which are examined from different perspectives using conceptual, methodological and contextual approaches.

The students learn important basics of dynamic systems and deal with different legal concepts as well as their influence on society and economy. Furthermore, the topic of social and economic values will be discussed. To this end, the importance of defined purposes and values in the context of societal developments is first discussed at the macro level. The importance for organizations is further discussed on the meso level. Finally, for a personal examination of purposes and values, a consideration of the micro level follows. In combination, these insights form the basis for the conscious assumption of responsibility in transformation processes.

Second Semester

The modules of the second semester include current approaches and concepts within the various fields of transformation. The focus is on management, i.e. consciously influencing transformation processes. In the module "Managing and Leading Humans", students will have the opportunity to develop and expand their skills in the areas of transformational leadership and management, with a particular focus on interpersonal communication as a key success factor in transformations. Personal reflection on the achieved learning success as well as the perceived competence development plays an important role. Subsequently, the conscious influence on organizational dynamics is analyzed and discussed with regard to its specific characteristics on management processes. Different concepts such as Lean Management or Product Life Cycle Management will be introduced and transferred to concrete fields of application.

Finally, by dealing with models and simulations, students will learn to what extent independent decisions based on risk effects can be made on the basis of standardized situations. For this purpose, application purposes, possibilities and limitations of models will be discussed.

Third Semester

The modules of the third semester serve the independent application of what has been learned in the project and master's thesis. Through special forms of learning such as group work in hybrid settings, blended learning for independent consolidation of topics, and workshops with design thinking character, students will acquire the content as well as the methods and will subsequently be able to profitably apply this acquired knowledge in practice. Module 7 (Applied Transformation Project) offers students the opportunity to carry out their own transformation project in a group outside of the university.

An individual, in-depth examination of a topic is required in Module 8 (Master Thesis and Master Seminar) and can take place independently of the university location, as the electronic teaching and learning formats are already familiar and practiced. A detailed description of the individual modules can be found in the module handbook.

The modules of the Master Transformation

Experiences that matter:

Insight into the career paths of our alumni

Nishanth Choyal - Shaping the digital future

Nishanth Pradeep Choyal moved from India to Germany to actively help shape the digital transformation. He completed the MBA program in Transformation at THWS, where he strengthened his strategic and digital expertise. Today, he works as a Global E-Commerce Channel Manager at WAGO, successfully applying his knowledge in lean thinking, innovation, and process optimization on a global scale. “At THWS, I didn’t just acquire knowledge – I learned how to apply it effectively,” he says.

Minto Mathew – From an MBA at THWS to Career Success in Germany

In this video, Minto Mathew, 33 years old and originally from India, shares his journey from studying for an MBA at what is now THWS to working as a Project Controller at the TRIPS Group in Grafenrheinfeld. He talks about what the program gave him – from hands-on experience and exciting business cases to valuable professional connections. He also explains why strong networking and intercultural exchange still play a big role in his career today.

Testimonial

"The Master Transformation has been incredibly enriching. One thing that will always stay with me is the engaging and interactive approach to teaching and learning. The curriculum is perfectly designed to reflect current business needs, and I never thought I would grasp topics like change management, agile work structures, and sustainability in such a memorable way. These lessons have left a lasting impression on me and have shaped how I approach my professional life. The program also honed my leadership and management skills by encouraging teamwork, strategic thinking, and adaptability—qualities that are critical in today’s dynamic business world."
_{Wafa Mahin
Graduate 2024, Master Transformation}

 

 

"Organizations are looking for employees to help them transform their business models, processes, structures and value propositions in a sustainable way. They are increasingly recognizing that this depends on the mindset of the employees involved and are therefore following the motto of recruiting their employees according to their attitude and mindset and providing them with the necessary expertise themselves. For change to happen, people need a sense of why they should change something. Our Master Transformation programme has recognized the signs of the times, shapes the mindset of students based on a deep understanding of human, intelligent machine and the complex ecosystem in which organisations are embedded. Self-reflection, mindfulness, empathy and creativity can be applied by students in practical projects."
_{Prof. Dr. Uwe Sponholz
Degree Programme Director, Master Transformation}

"We are currently experiencing times of great transformation - of organizations as well as societies and individuals. Our MBA as a generalist master's program helps to understand and actively shape these multi-layered transformations. Not simply online or only in presence, but rather are our curriculum and didactics "all-in". With both nurturing and challenging international companions, we acquire both relevant professional skills as well as transformative personal, social, and self-competencies for future critical and scientifically informed active design of transformation processes."
_{Prof. Dr. Bernd Ankenbrand
Degree Programme Director, Master Transformation}

Your competency development in detail

The MBA Master Transformation is designed as a generalist program with a focus on management issues. Transformation projects must be mastered at all hierarchical levels across all specialist departments. Transformation today is significantly fuelled by digitalization, climate change and changing values. You will systemically learn about these drivers and reflect upon them in such a way that possible future scenarios can be designed. During the course of study, methodological, personal and social competencies are acquired for future critical and scientifical design of transformation processes.

What is special about the program is its interdisciplinary approach. The students are supported in their studies by lecturers from six faculties of THWS as well as external experts. In the first semester, participants develop a fundamental understanding of why people find it so difficult to transform processes, structures, value propositions and/or business models under volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous conditions. Building on this, students can test leadership and management methods taught in the second semester in University projects before applying their understanding and knowledge of methods in transformation projects at organisations outside the University in the third semester.

Professional skills

You will be prepared to take on entrepreneurial, leadership or even cultural roles through critical, reflective and responsible actions. To this end, they are prepared on the basis of fundamental knowledge about

• people as drivers of and affected by transformation processes as individuals as well as part of a team/group, society,
  
• the value system of people (micro), organizations (meso) and societies/economies (macro) and its influence on the meaningfulness and necessity of a transformation,
•  intelligent machines to support the planning and implementation of these transformation processes, and

• the complex ecosystem as an institutional framework with norms, standards and laws to be observed and as a highly dynamic, non-linear context characterized by uncertainty in which transformations take place.

In this respect, the course leads in modules 1 to 3 to an in-depth understanding of the success factors of transformation projects. Furthermore, in the second semester (modules 4 to 6), students gain a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of various theories and concepts of change management and organizational development.

Methodological skills

Building on this, the course qualifies you in terms of your methodological competence by teaching you in the modules of the first and second semesters methods of

• Horizon scanning for trend analysis,

• Systems and Design Thinking as well as other agile project management methods,

• product lifecycle management,

• interdisciplinary and intercultural communication via different communication channels and formats,

• to increase the human creativity potential,

• optimizing team collaboration, including moderation and leadership techniques, and

• business and process modeling, and apply them in small transformation projects in the second semester.

Self- and social skills

Throughout the course of study, special importance is attached to increasing the students' self- and social competence by having them

• design their own plan of knowledge foci and adapt it during their studies,

•  reflecting on and assessing themselves and others through personality profiles regarding strengths and weaknesses as well as appropriate roles in change projects,

• go through an MBSR (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction) course as well as meditations to increase resilience in stressful change processes,

• know and classify their own mindset and

• receive permanent feedback from lecturers on their development progress.

Master Transformation - Meet your Faculty

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Module Handbook

Study and Exam Regulations 

FAQ

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