The MSc in Corporate Communication is offered jointly by the Faculties of Communication Sciences and of Economics of the Università della Svizzera italiana, USI, situated in Lugano – Switzerland. This full-time study programme comprises 120 ECTS spread over 4 semesters (usual duration 2 years) and is entirely offered in English.
Corporate communication is today considered a key management function. It is about managing relationships with the organization’s stakeholders in order to maximise the corporation’s reputation capital and thus to guarantee access to strategic resources. Corporate communication specialists need to acquire solid general management skills in order to carry out their roles effectively.
This Master develops analytical and decision-making abilities for corporate communication, grounded in a sound knowledge of organization, business economics and management.
To this purpose, the programme develops analytical and decision-making abilities for corporate communication, grounded in a sound knowledge of organisation, business economics and management. In order to help develop these analytical and decision making skills, lectures are integrated with more active teaching methods, consisting of discussion of case histories, role-playing, business games, individual and group projects, etc.
Graduates from the programme will be ready to enter the corporate communication profession at a management level. The skills acquired meet the requirements for professional careers in organisations of different kinds as well as in corporate communication agencies and consulting firms. Graduates will also be able to undertake specialised roles, in areas such as internal communication, media, financial relations, public affairs or marketing communication management.
The programme stretches over two years (120 ECTS credits) and is structured to allow the students to personalise their study curricula according to their individual interests. Typically, in the first semester students attend the general management classes in order to acquire the basics of management. The second and third semesters are dedicated to core courses and electives. Students are required to take core courses that regard specific communication management topics and methodology and to complete their curriculum with elective courses. They can also acquire minors in four areas: Digital Marketing-Digital Communication, Content Design, Public Communication and Corporate Social Responsibility. During the last semester students work in teams on a field project and individually write up their master’s thesis.
Destinatari
The formal requirement for admission to the Master’s degree in Corporate Communication is a Bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences granted by a recognised university.
Candidates are expected to have acquired basic concepts of management, economics, marketing, statistics and communication sciences. Tutorials in accounting and marketing are offered before the beginning of the programme, while a tutorial in statistics is organised during the programme.
Candidates with a Bachelor’s degree from a University of Applied sciences may be admitted with a study debt of 30-60 extra ECTS to be earned:
- with Bachelor’s courses at USI which can be attended during the Master studies (please note that bachelor’s course at USI are taught in Italian)
- with Bachelor’s courses at another recognised University prior to start the Master studies. The university and list of courses to attend has to be agreed with the Director of the Master.
The Master in Corporate Communication is taught entirely in English. Applicants whose first degree was not taught in English, are required to at least have earned a B2 certificate according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages or an equivalent level of another proficiency certificate – e.g. TOEFL, IELTS.
Whilst it is an important requisite to be fluent in English, candidates do not need to know or learn Italian in order to successfully participate in the programmes.
As Lugano is located in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland, students might be interested in acquiring the basics in Italian, in order to be able to get around in everyday life.
The University of Lugano offers an Italian language study programme organized in various modules. All its non Italian-speaking students, researchers and professors are invited to participate free of charge.
Sbocchi occupazionali
Graduates from the programme will be ready to enter the corporate communication profession at a management level. The skills acquired meet the requirements for professional careers in organisations of different kinds as well as in corporate communication agencies and consulting firms. Graduates will also be able to undertake specialised roles, in areas such as internal communication, media, financial relations, public affairs or marketing communication management.
Contenuti
The two-year programme consists of general management courses, core courses, elective courses and the Capstone Work.
The General Management courses (30 ECTS) cover the main areas of management and are offered in common with the Master in Marketing and the Master in Management. These are compulsory and to be taken during the first term.
The Core courses (36 ECTS) are specialization courses distributed on the second and third term. They include two methodology courses (Data Analysis and Corporate Communication Research). Core course are compulsory.
The Elective courses (24 ECTS) are to be chosen from relevant courses on corporate communication related topics. The list of electives offered during each term can change. The choice of an elective is to be agreed upon with the program coordinator. Electives can be taken during the second and third term of the program (if needed also during the fourth term). The selection of specific elective courses allow students to obtain ‘minors’.
The Capstone Work (30 ECTS) consists in the Field project (12 ECTS) and the Master’s Thesis (18 ECTS), both to be carried out in the fourth term.
Sem. I General Management (30 ECTS)
- Managerial Economics 1
- Strategic Marketing
- Organizational Behavior
- Corporate Strategy
- Accounting
- Essentials of Finance
Sem. II Core Courses (36 ECTS)
- Corporate Identity and Image
- Integrated Marketing Communication
- Investor Relations
- Sponsoring and Partnership Management
- Issues and Crisis Management
Sem. III
- Internal Communication
- Law
- Public Affairs
- Data Analysis
- Corporate Communication Research
Sem. IV Capstone Work (30 ECTS)
- Field Project
- Thesis
During the second and third semesters, students are required to earn 24 ECTS of electives courses.
Students can choose the courses they are interested in, among (a) elective courses offered in four distinctive minors, (b) other electives and (c) core courses offered in other USI’s Master programmes.
Students can decide to obtain one or two ‘minors’ by taking all courses listed in the minor(s) of their choice. Every ‘minor’ consist of four courses of 3 ECTS for a total of 12 ECTS.
- Minor in Digital Marketing or in Digital Communication
- Minor in Content Design
- Minor in Public Communication
- Minor in Corporate Social Responsibility.
Note
Durata The academic year runs from September until June. Courses are held from September until December and from February until the end of May. The academic year also includes 3 exam sessions (January, June and September). Costo Tuition fees for the Master's degrees amount to CHF 4,000 per semester. Applicants whose official residence was in Switzerland (including Liechtenstein and Campione d'Italia) at the time of the final high school exam (Maturità) pay a reduced semester fee of CHF 2,000. Tuition fees are payable at the beginning of each term, by the deadline indicated on the invoice; fee payment is an essential condition for matriculating or renewing one's enrolment. Borse di studio e finanziamenti The Foundation for the Lugano Faculties of USI will award a total of 60 one-off study grants of the amount of 4'000 CHF each. The merit based grants are given to first year students admitted to a USI Master program starting in September. Other study grants are available. For more details, please, visit the following link: http://www.usi.ch/en/formazione-borse_studio.htm
