5.24.

2010 Management Practices of the DAAD

The German Academic Exchange Service, better known as DAAD (Deutscher

Akademischer Austausch Dienst), a German national agency, is the largest funding
organization in the world supporting the international exchange of students and
scholars. It is also a registered association and its members are German institutions
of higher education and student bodies.

The DAAD supports this international exchange through the

internationalization of German universities, the promotion of Germany as
an academic and research destination as well as the German language
abroad, assisting developing countries in establishing effective
universities and advising decision makers on matters of cultural,
education and development policy.

To achieve its mission (above), the DAAD’s has set forth the following five strategic
goals:

 to encourage outstanding young students and academics from abroad to come to

Germany for study and research visits and, if possible, to maintain contact with
them as partners life-long;
 to qualify young German researchers and professionals at the very best institutions
around the world in a spirit of tolerance and openness;
 to promote the internationality and appeal of Germany’s institutions of higher
education;
 to support German language, literature and cultural studies at foreign universities;
 to assist developing countries in the southern hemisphere and reforming countries
in the former Eastern Bloc in the establishment of effective higher education
systems.

These goals are met through DAAD’s many international exchange programs and
financial support for students, faculty, researchers and others in higher education as
well as its worldwide network of offices, guest professors, and alumni who offer
information and assistance on a local level.

In the following reports, I examine the DAAD as an organization and analyze

its management practices including: organizational structure and culture,
environment and trends, leadership and management, values and principles,
managing for mission and strategic planning, managing programs, projects, people
and money. Sources of information include the DAAD’s main website www.daad.de
and www.daad.org, its office in New York. The annual reports and newsletters were
also very helpful. Conducting a phone interview with upper management from the
New York office and meeting with a lower level employee in person gave a more
comprehensive picture of its management practices and how they affect personelle
at different levels within the organization. I want to offer my special thanks to these
individuals for sharing their personal experiences working at the DAAD, which have
informed a great deal of my analysis. I hope these reports inspire the DAAD to re-
evaluate its best and worst management practices in order to strengthen its own
identity and more fully achieve its mission.

Sincerely,
Alyssa Geiger

Report 1 DAAD as an organization

Report 2 Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats Environmental Scanning
Report 3 Leadership Management
5.24.2010 Management Practices of the DAAD

Report 4. See also iceberg picture under organizational culture. Values

Report 5 Organizational Structure
Report 6 Organizational Culture
Report 7 Strategic planning
Report 8 Program & Project Management
Report 9 Human Resource Management
Report 10 Managing money