Managers in business, public administration and the non-profit sector face increasingly complex challenges. The conditions of a VUCA world – volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous – place considerable demands on managers in a wide range of areas. They must be able to process the information available to them in a targeted manner and arrive at appropriate, well-founded solutions, often under considerable time pressure. The people involved can be a key factor in success or failure and therefore require particular attention.

Traditional management programmes often focus on managing and understanding day-to-day business, covering areas such as finance, management accounting, marketing, and macro- and microeconomics. However, they rarely address the specific issues that become particularly important in challenging situations, such as decision-making, human factors and information management. The Master of Advanced Studies in Effective Leadership (MAS in Effective Leadership) fills this gap by developing the skills required to lead effectively in situations where there is an urgent need for action.

The MAS in Effective Leadership combines academic foundations with tried-and-tested methods through a collaboration between the University of Lucerne and the Swiss Armed Forces' Armed Forces College (AFC). While the MAS in Effective Leadership is ideally suited to reserve officers, it is explicitly aimed at participants without a military background as well, giving them access to relevant content and methods from military leadership training.

The MAS in Effective Leadership stands out from other programmes through the following features:

• A focus on challenging, high-intensity situations
• A strong practical orientation through training partnerships, exercises and the hands-on application of course content
• Developing and consolidating the ability to make well-considered, well-founded decisions
• An understanding of leadership as a means of achieving impact
• Continuous development of course content to reflect the latest academic research and developments in practice