Submitted: December 2016

By: ID: 538022

EXCHANGE REPORT FALL SEMESTER 2016

Business School - MSc

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Table of Contents

Table of Contents ..................................................................................................................... ii  

1   General info and preparation ........................................................................................... ix  

1.1   Introduction ................................................................................................................... ix  

1.2   Preparation ...................................................................................................................... x  

2   Exchange studies ............................................................................................................... xii  

2.1   TAX 530 – Taxation of Businesses and Individuals (G, 6 ECTS) ............................. xiii  

2.2   IS614 – Corporate Knowledge Management (G, 6 ECTS) ........................................ xiv  

2.3   MAN645 – Leadership and Motivation (G, 6 ECTS) ................................................... xv  

2.4   MAN630 – Introduction to Entrepreneurship (G, 6 ECTS) ........................................ xvi  

3   Free time and other information .................................................................................... xvi  

4   Final comments ............................................................................................................... xviii  

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1   General info and preparation

1.1   Introduction

The city of Mannheim is located in the Baden-Württemberg region, approximately

100km from Frankfurt to south. The area of the city center is rather small, however, the

city still has around 300,000 inhabitants. The core of Mannheim is called “Quadrate”,

which basically means “a square”. The core of the city is divided to blocks (A1, A2, A3

etc.), so orienteering in the center is easy even without a map.

The University is really impressive; it’s an old castle (‘Schloss’) that has been renovated

after World War II. The university has approximately 12,000 students and in during my

exchange semester there were approximately 1000 exchange students. Most of them

were Business School students. The reputation of University Mannheim is impressive; it

has been considered one of the best business schools in Germany and also in the

European level.

1.2   Preparation

In terms of arrangements, studying in Germany is quite simple. I organized my banking

and insurance things early enough. Important things you need during your exchange are

of course a credit card and an extended travel insurance that covers the whole exchange

period. I used credit card only for booking flights and buying some tickets to events. I

find it also really important to arrange the accommodation things early enough; in

Mannheim, there aren’t enough student housing for all exchange students.

Money

In Germany, people use mostly cash for paying, so one thing to consider is whether to

open a bank account in a German bank (Deutsche Bank, BB-bank, Sparkasse etc.).

However, this is not mandatory at least for EU-citizens; almost everywhere where I

could pay with my Finnish debit card, it worked well. Finns are not used to withdraw

cash every week, but in Germany it is a normal procedure. Every withdrawal of

moderate amounts of money (e.g. €10-€200) costs €0,75 each time. One important thing

to notice is that not all of the payment terminals have the credit/debit option to choose

(grocery stores, restaurants etc.) – so the best case scenario would be if you have a

separate debit and credit cards, not a combination card. As a conclusion, remember

always to have some cash in your wallet.

Insurance

Relating to insurance things, it depends how many travelling days a basic travel

insurance from Finnish insurance company covers. I had to buy one extra month to

extend my personal and luggage insurance for entire exchange period (€30 per month,

OP-insurance). I highly recommend to arrange insurance things properly. Usually you

can adjust the maximum compensation amount for your luggage, so I recommend to

spend few minutes to calculate the value of the stuff that you are going to take abroad.

The easiest way is to visit or contact your insurance company and explain the situation

about the exchange semester.

NB: remember to take your valid European Health Insurance card with, you will need it

later for health insurance things in Germany. You don’t need to pay anything additional

if you’re a citizen of European Union.

Telephone

Another practical issue is telephone subscriptions. Most of the people wants to keep

their present phone number existing. My telecom operator (Sonera) provides 600MB of

mobile data each month in EU-countries and it was enough for me. You can also get a

German telecom provider prepaid (Vodafone, O2 etc., €15 / month), but in Germany

there isn’t too many possibilities for unlimited mobile data usage unlike it is in Finland,

so you need to exploit WiFi-spots every time you can.

Travelling to Mannheim

I preferred to book two-way flights, because at that time it was actually cheaper than

one-way. I booked flights between Helsinki and Frankfurt (Lufthansa), direct flight and

the price was around €230. The best way to get from Frankfurt to Mannheim is an ICE-

train, which costs about €25 (one-way) and takes time less than an hour.

NB: if you book a two-way ticket straight away, check when is the last exam date of

your faculty and book the return flight according to that.

Housing

One of the most important thing is to seek for accommodation early enough. There are

possibilities for student housing in Mannheim, however they are almost immediately

fully booked. I tried to get student housing, with bad results. I applied for a flat in

website called “WG-Gesucht” and actually found a flat next to the university. Many of

the exchange students lives in area called “Ulmenweg” – that is maybe the most

common accommodation for exchange students. However, I’d also suggest to search for

private housing, because you can find much more reasonable housing closer to the

University. I noticed in the early beginning of my exchange semester that the location of

the apartment really matters; if you live close to the University, also everything else is

near and you don’t need use public transport or bicycle at all.

2   Exchange studies

I’d recommend to check the course catalogue before the exchange period, to get an

insight what courses would be interesting for you. The lecture period started in the

beginning of September.

If you want to study German language, you need to be fast when the course registration

starts; they are immediately fully booked. Also some courses have limitations for

participants. In Mannheim they basically draw lots if the course is fully booked, so the

“first come first served”- method doesn’t usually apply in this University; you might get

dropped out from the course even if you registered in the course within first students.

All of my courses were courses of Business School, held in English. The course

offerings were good for exchange students, because Masters programs in Mannheim are

usually in English. As a Business Law student, I was also allowed to take courses from

faculty of Law or Economics. In the Business School, they provide different variations

to perform courses. There are courses held in the traditional form, block seminars and

intensive courses. I would highly recommend to divide the pressure of the final exams,

for example performing one or two intensive courses, that usually have the exams

directly after the one or two weeks lasting lectures.

The core thing relating to final exams in Mannheim is the time limitation. The exam

time in Business School is around 60-90 minutes, but the amount of the content is still

substantial. The questions in exams are usually not too difficult, but a common thing is

to know things by heart and there really isn’t time for creative thinking – you literally

have to puke all of your knowledge out.

According to my own experiences, a good recipe formula for exam preparation is to

study the course material properly, find some previous exams from Dropbox (apply for

Dropbox where they store some previous exams) and practice the previous exams with a

stopwatch, so that you’d get a touch how the actual exam situation is going to be. The

exams are sometimes graded with normal distribution method, so other students

performing might affect to your grade.

The course evaluation in Business School is usually 100% exam or in case if there’s

group tasks, the distribution of final grade consists usually approximately of 70% exam

and 30% group work.

The lectures in Business School started in the beginning of September and finals period

ended in 20th of December. There’s an orientation week in the end of August, before the

lectures begin.

Orientation week October 29 – September 4, 2016

Lecture period September 5 - December 9, 2016

Examination period December 9-22, 2016

2.1   TAX 530 – Taxation of Businesses and Individuals (G, 6 ECTS)

This course was mainly about international taxation, but also focus was now and then in

German taxation. The lecturer was Dr. Prof. Christoph Spengel. I found his teaching

very good; he is truly a professional what comes to taxation comprehensively. He is also

a good lecturer and he can illustrate complex issues in practical way. I can gladly

recommend.

The main areas of this course were personal income tax and corporate income tax, but

we also touched on e.g. local profit taxes and value added tax. Grading was 70% of

written exam (90 min.) and 30% of individual assignment + group presentation of a

real-life case related to different tax issues.

In some of the courses (rarely) in University of Mannheim, lecture slides are not going

to be available in the database; you have to buy a bunch of lecture slides that are

printed, they usually cost around €10. It applied in this particular course. However, the

course was good and useful, so I wouldn’t abandon the course because of that.

Case study was maybe more demanding compared to its share from the final grade

(30%). However, I learned a lot of things during the case study and it might be helpful

for the final exam.

For the final exam we had 90 minutes and it basically consisted of few shorter questions

and few case-based questions. The exam was based on the lecture slides. The difficulty

of the exam was moderate but the time limitation makes it though. Also some basic

calculations were included, relating e.g. to intercompany financing.

Altogether, degree of difficulty of this course was moderate, but I found it pretty useful.

You can attend the course if you have previous knowledge about taxation and financial

accounting. I can recommend this course for everyone who wants to get a good

overview of international taxation.

2.2   IS614 – Corporate Knowledge Management (G, 6 ECTS)

Corporate Knowledge Management belongs to the area of Information Systems. I chose

the course because it was 2 weeks lasting intensive course and it didn’t require previous

knowledge of Information Systems. Previous knowledge of management helps in this

course, but it’s not essential.

We had lectures from Monday to Friday, so approx. 10 lectures. The final exam was

held on December, during the finals period. Lectures were held by Dr. Kai Spohrer. I

find him motivated and good lecturer.

The course was related to knowledge; how to manage knowledge in organizations and

how can different IT-solutions can be helpful with real-life problems related to

knowledge. At first, I found the course content pretty theoretical and complex.

However, we could choose to do a short case study in small groups, which would cover

20% of the final grade. I highly recommend to do the group task, because it didn’t

require too much work and you can achieve a good grade from it with small efforts.

Also the group task was similar with the final exam, so it helps with exam preparation.

Final exam was an open book exam (80% of the grade), so we were allowed to use any

printed or written notes. Exam time was 60 minutes. The exam was similar type case

that the group task was and there were bunch of previous cases available; they are really

helpful practice for the final exam. Also exam questions were revealed in the beginning

of the course. The main idea in the exam is to present a solution for particular problem

that is related to knowledge. The difficulty of the exam isn’t too bad if you’re prepared,

but the time limitation of 60 minutes doesn’t allow to think too long.

This course wasn’t really related to my main studies, that’s why I chose it; to try

something new. I can recommend it for everyone who is interested about organizational

issues, use of knowledge in organizations or technological solutions in organizations.

2.3   MAN645 – Leadership and Motivation (G, 6 ECTS)

Leadership and Motivation focused mainly in different perspectives and studies that are

related motivational factors of leaders and subordinates. The course was held by Dr.

Prof. Torsten Biemann and also sometimes by Max Mühlenbock (MSc). In my opinion,

both of the lecturers were good. In the course, there were a lot of participants (around

200). The course doesn’t have requirements for participation, but if you master basics of

statistics (correlation coefficient), it helps you in the course and in the final exam.

Naturally, previous knowledge of leadership helps.

In the course, there were traditional lectures once a week and sometimes exercise

sessions, that prepared students for the final exams. I can recommend to participate in

exercise sessions. Relating to the content, we gained a broader perspective, what kind of

factors and leadership features affects to the performance of an individual or a team. We

discussed about leadership traits, skills, styles and situational approaches.

The course included also a group task that was related to a paper or a particular topic.

Group work was approx. 25% of the final grade and getting a decent grade wasn’t too

difficult.

The part that I didn’t like in this course was the final exam, because you literally need to

study all of the course content by heart. The exam consisted of around 10 shorter

questions and the rest of the exam (3/4) was longer questions. Exam time was 60

minutes and its really short time compared how much content the exam had. Lecture

slides were enough for the preparation of final exam. If you’re not afraid of memorizing

a lot of theories and details, I can say that this course might be worth attending.

2.4   MAN630 – Introduction to Entrepreneurship (G, 6 ECTS)

Introduction to Entrepreneurship provides theoretical knowledge about entrepreneurship

and practical guidelines when talking about establishing businesses. The course was

based on traditional lectures, a guest lecturer and case study sessions. Lecturer were Dr.

Jan Zybura, who is really passionate about entrepreneurship and well aware of

entrepreneurial field of study.

The course didn’t have any group tasks, so the grading was based 100% of the final

exam. I liked the course content, because it consisted both theoretical knowledge about

entrepreneurship, but also a practical approach. I learned e.g. about startup financials,

social networks, business models, business plans and characteristics of an entrepreneur.

In case study sessions we discussed about entrepreneurial success stories like Dropbox,

Apple, Zipcar and Singulus. Case studies were also relevant to understand for the final

exam. There’s also so called Startup-lounges during the semester, where people could

gather, network and gain a deeper insight about entrepreneurial topics.

The final exam was held in the finals period during December. Exam time was 60

minutes. In the exam there were two parts; first part consisted of shorter questions

relating to course content. Second part had an imaginary case situation, which tested

insights about business model. Also some calculations were included. Mastering LTV

and CAC calculations helps you during the course and in the final exam.

What I liked in the course was that it’s not necessary to know details by heart – the idea

is to gain a broader overview about entrepreneurship. I can recommend this course, it’s

useful if you don’t have previous knowledge of entrepreneurship or if you’re planning

to establish your own business someday.

3   Free time and other information

Mobility

It’s possible to buy a semester ticket for public transport, which is around €150. For me

it wasn’t relevant, because I lived under 1km from the University. Also the whole

Quadrate is so small that I hardly used public transport at all. There’s also a service for

using public bicycles, called “VRN Nextbike”, which can be pretty handy if you need to

reach for longer distances. One-time costs for public transports are quite similar that

they’re in Finland.

Cost of living

Cost of living is quite similar than in Finland, from some parts cheaper. Costs related to

studies are not high, for my courses only thing I had to buy was one bunch of lecture

slides that cost €10. For other courses lecture slides were enough. Also the University

has many libraries, if books are needed. About accommodation, rental costs are pretty

similar than in Finland. I lived in a flat shared with 3 other people and my rent including

all fixed costs was €335.

Groceries makes the difference; it’s basically cheaper in Germany compared to Finland.

Also restaurants are substantially cheaper. What comes to student life and partying,

Germany is a suitable place.

Getting to know other students and free time

In terms of meeting new people, there’s a student association called “Visum”, that

organizes student parties and other kind of free time activity, e.g. travelling. I highly

recommend to attend Visum activities, especially in the beginning of the semester to

meet new people. Also the local people in University of Mannheim are open, because

the University has a lot of regular students coming from different countries.

General information for the local area, weather, cultural differences

As I mentioned before, Mannheim is really centered city and distances are short. In the

beginning of the fall semester, the weather was really hot (approx. +30); Mannheim is

one of the warmest areas in Germany. Also during the winter period, temperatures differ

between -3 and +9. So from the weather point of view, Mannheim is nice. For European

people it’s quite easy to adapt into German culture, I don’t see any superior cultural

differences. However, students in the University are really committed to their studies

and they give their 100% to achieve good grades and secure a promising future. That

was kind of a cultural shock at first. What comes to people generally in Germany,

people are more open here and it’s easier to get known with new people, compared to

Finland.

Traveling in the host country

Because there isn’t so much to do in Mannheim during free time, I’d recommend to

travel especially in the beginning of the semester. Distances aren’t too long to neighbor

countries, so I’d consider traveling to France, Italy, Belgium or Austria. Basically

there’s a cheap way to travel (Flixbus), which has reasonable prices but takes a lot of

time. If there’s possibility to travel with train, I’d consider that possibility, because ICE

or TGV-trains are fast and comfortable, but more expensive. For example, there’s direct

connection from Mannheim to Paris, which takes only approx. 3,5 hours.

4   Final comments

I’d definitely recommend this University for people who want get an experience of

studying one of the top Universities in the European level. Teaching here is definitely

top quality and people are really committed to their studies. I’d say that studies in this

kind of University brings a great additional value in your degree. Also you get to

challenge yourself during the finals period. If I’d come here for another semester, I’d

pick more intensive courses or block seminars instead of traditionally held courses. Too

many exams require a huge amount of studying, so it’s important to divide the pressure

of the exams for longer time scale. I had one exam in the end of October and three

exams during December and it was doable. I’d still rather take one exam less during

December.

I gained truly new perspective during my exchange semester; I got known with people

coming from all around the world, learned how to study and live outside Finland,

learned German language and gained a lot of insights about German culture. I liked to

be here, although studying here is tougher than in any university in Finland. However,

the studying environment makes you to push harder, so afterwards it’s rewarding. In

terms of growing up personally, I became more open towards new people and found a

new feature of myself, that I can adapt to living abroad and still enjoy. Especially I’m

thankful of the new connections and good friends that I got to know during the

exchange semester. I was always hesitant to apply for exchange semester. Afterwards I

can say that it was one of the best decisions I’ve made.