Kristoph, you are staying for your PhD at the KLU. We are very pleased about this.
It was great to receive further job offers than the one provided by the consultancy I have been cooperating with, but I realized during the work on my thesis that there are still a lot of aspects in the context of Sales and Operations Planning which need to be investigated in greater depth.
Were you not in need of a break from writing and researching after finishing your thesis?
Actually, I really enjoyed the time doing “my own research,” especially when I learned that BearingPoint, formerly KPMG Consulting, appreciated my results very much and my supervisors also confirmed that I did a really good job. I think that all of us were very scared of this four month-long master’s thesis, but as we realized later, these fears have been around for no reason. This was due to the excellent support from our supervisors. Furthermore, we felt that we learned all the methods and tools required for writing a thesis throughout the program.
Why did you decide on the PhD rather than accepting a job offer?
When Prof. Dr. Sandra Transchel made me an offer to study for my PhD at the chair of Supply Chain and Operations Management I did not have to think about it a lot; recapping the exciting last two years in the “KLU atmosphere” was enough for me to decide to continue studying in Hamburg at the KLU.
What was your most insightful time during your master’s studies?
After the internship, which I did at BearingPoint, we all went abroad for one term. Some of us went to Ohio, others to Rotterdam, Vienna, New Delhi, and Monterrey. I went to amazing Shanghai, China. That four-month stay definitely broadened my horizons in every sense.
Did you have any worries when you started studying at a newly-founded university?
Those worries disappeared quickly. I already realized during my internship that people were so impressed by the profound knowledge I had gained during my studies at the KLU so that they made me a job offer more than a year before our graduation. This experience and feedback resolved all uncertainties that we might have had at the beginning of our studies.
More information about Kristoph Ullrich.
More information about Professor Dr. Sandra Transchel.