Advanced business diploma (cert.)  (Region Zentralschweiz):
10 Provider

A Higher Business Diploma HWD offers graduates:

• Generalist training - practice-oriented and wide-ranging
• get a grip on business management instruments
• Acquire competent basic commercial knowledge
• become a communicative and management-oriented business specialist
• Gain organizational flair and project talent
• sought-after employee in the Swiss economy
• Gain initial specialization in a specialist area or function
• work independently on specialized tasks as an expert
• Create optimal conditions for management training to become a professional or expert

The training course leading to the Higher Business Diploma HWD/VSK qualifies you as a Certified Business Specialist VSK (Association of Swiss Management Schools).

If you have successfully completed all seven modules, you are entitled to use this title.

As an admission requirement for a Higher Business Diploma (HWD) with a VSK certificate, prospective students must have completed basic commercial vocational training, i.e. an apprenticeship. Or a degree from a commercial school at commercial diploma level. Persons with other basic vocational training and several years of commercial work experience are also admitted.

The course content for the Higher Business Diploma (HWD/VSK) is based on the official specifications of the Association of Swiss Management Schools (VSK) for all providers. The basis is the regulations, which define seven mandatory modules that are also relevant to the examination. The individual schools design their courses on this basis, which means that the central content is comparable throughout Switzerland.

The seven compulsory modules at a glance:

• Business administration: Fundamentals of business administration, supplemented by economic topics and legal framework conditions
• Accounting: Bookkeeping, annual financial statements, cost accounting and financial ratios
• Personnel management: personnel management, development and labor law in corporate practice
• Process management: analysis, design and optimization of business processes
• Project management: project planning, implementation and control with practical methods
• Marketing: Market-oriented corporate management, market analysis and strategic marketing planning
• Communication, sales and negotiation techniques: rhetoric, conversation skills and convincing presentation techniques

Some schools also offer voluntary additional modules, for example in the areas of leadership, accounting or German spelling. These expand your specialist knowledge, but do not count towards the official degree.

The seven modules cover key business skills that are essential for a future management position. Students who wish to set additional priorities for the Advanced Business Diploma can use the optional subjects to focus on personal interests or professional requirements.

Each school designs its learning content and focus individually within the given framework. Therefore, there may be slight differences in the actual implementation. To be sure of the content taught at a particular school, we recommend that you contact them directly. A practical contact form is available for this purpose, which can be used to forward the inquiry directly to the selected school.

The following skills can be acquired through a Higher Business Diploma course with a VSK certificate:

• understand, analyze and interpret business contexts and derive corresponding action requirements and options for their management level
• Ability to obtain and evaluate information on current economic and economic policy issues and to make decisions based on this information
• provide meaningful figures and financial data for individual projects/products or areas for the team or group they manage
• understand, analyze and interpret the figures and derive corresponding needs and options for action from them
• successfully apply modern systems and instruments of personnel management in their daily management work in the team/group by incorporating the company's existing guidelines and resources or (co-)designing them themselves
• design processes and changes within their management area in line with tasks, individuals, teams/groups, resources and the company
• Ability to include or plan the most important marketing instruments in the sales program
• Ability to lead meetings and discussions/negotiations competently and master the targeted use of communication tools