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Two young women sitting at a table with laptops, mugs, bottles of cola and tins of energy drinks. The woman on the right is looking over at the one on the left with interest. In the background, other people can be seen sitting at tables.

21 June 2025

Navigating the night with strategy: Learning business by doing business

Students are thrilled by the management simulation event. Studying business with a practical focus.

This page was translated automatically using artificial intelligence (DeepL). The German version is binding. More information about automatic translation

Poor business decisions cost money – either the company’s own or that of its shareholders – with consequences for employees, entire sectors and regions – as is currently evident in the automotive industry. Future managers learn during their studies how to reach strategic decisions and what impact these have. At Mittweida University of Applied Sciences (HSMW), this is taught not only in theory but also in a very practical way.

Of course, it goes without saying that one should not risk one’s own money or that of others here. That is why business games and simulations are part of everyday life on the Business Administration and Industrial Management degree programmes – or form the basis of special events, such as the one held at the end of May. The Faculty of Industrial Engineering at HSMW and the Mittweida Management Institute jointly hosted the TOPSIM Midnight Special – a special management business simulation. More than 50 participants, divided into 13 teams – some of which included international members – took on the challenge of the TOPSIM General Management Simulator. Among them were students from various degree programmes, lecturers and professionals from a range of industries.

The aim was to apply the knowledge acquired during their studies or in their everyday working lives in a practical context and to make strategic decisions in areas such as sales, procurement, research and development, manufacturing, human resources, and finance and accounting. Under the motto ‘Learning Business by doing Business’, the teams acted as competing companies in a virtual market for photocopiers.

Three young women and one young man are sitting at a table with laptops and lots of papers, smiling at the camera.

A young man is standing between a screen and a projection screen, both of which are displaying the same content: a slide with the heading ‘Automatic Credit Financing’.

Three young men with beards are sitting at a table with laptops and piles of papers; they are smiling at the camera.

Experienced trainers from the educational games provider TOPSIM supported all the teams. It was well past midnight before the result was confirmed: the winners were a team of students from the Bachelor’s degree programme in Business Administration. Second place went to fellow students from the Master’s degree programme in Industrial Management. Students from Salzburg studying Business Engineer on an extra occupational basis at the HSMW came third. Everyone gained experience and made new contacts; nobody lost any money.

Numerous groups of people sitting at tables with laptops and drinks on them. A single man in the centre of the picture is looking at the camera. — Prof. Dr Klaus Vollert teaches marketing, amongst other subjects, at the HSMW. He was the driving force behind the Midnight Special.

Klaus Vollert, Professor of Management and Marketing at HSMW, came up with the idea for the Midnight Special and confirms: “Simulation games clearly demonstrate the importance of strategy in business management. Strategy must always precede operational measures. In the simulation, students can experiment in a realistic setting, with the crucial difference that wrong decisions have no consequences.”

Studying Economics at HSMW

A common feature of all degree programmes offered by the Faculty of Industrial Engineering is that they do not focus solely on theory. Whether the focus is on business management, the interface between management and technology in industry, or specialised fields of application such as management in the property sector or in the energy and environment sectors, practical projects and links with businesses form an integral part of the degree programme from the first to the final semester.

The Faculty has redesigned its Bachelor’s degree programme in Business Administration for students starting in autumn 2025. Sustainability must play a greater role in shaping business decisions. This requires a new generation of business graduates who, through responsible corporate governance, can help solve the massive challenges we face, or who are capable of developing entirely new business models. The Bachelor’s degree programme in Business Administration at HSMW offers a unique combination of foundational knowledge and individual specialisation – for example, in digital business models or International Management.