D
EGREE PROFILE OFBachelor of Business Administration (BBA)
Degree Programme: International Business and Management Studies (IBMS)
TYPE OF DEGREE &LENGTH Single degree (240 ECTS credits/4 years)
INSTITUTION(S) Hanzehogeschool Groningen, International Business School (Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Groningen;
International Business School) The Netherlands
ACCREDITATION ORGANISATION(S) Nederlands-Vlaamse Accreditatie Organisatie, NVAO
(Accreditation Organization of the Netherlands and Flanders)
PERIOD OF REFERENCE The programme was accredited on 1 January 2008 for a period of 6 years.
CYCLE /LEVEL Bachelor’s degree
QF for EHEA: 1st cycle EQF for LLL: level 6 NLQF: level 6 LANGUAGE OF INSTRUCTION English
MODE OF STUDY Full-time
A PURPOSE
The object of study in the Bachelor programme in International Business and Management Studies is the dynamics of the international economy within which companies operate and the application of appropriate management activities in this context. The primary focus is on the international dimension of conducting business. The programme aims at training students, on the basis of a broad and primarily professional international orientation, to assume commercial and economic management positions.
B CHARACTERISTICS
1 DISCIPLINE(S)/SUBJECT AREA(S) In the IBMS study programme attention is paid to the four functional areas:
international marketing and sales;
international finance: financial analysis and problem solving;
international management and organisation, HRM;
international corporate planning: its evaluation concerning international regulations, international legislation aspects, and case law.
Other discipline areas are:
international strategic policy of the international company;
the organisation’s ICT requirements;
international relations;
intercultural competence development.
2 GENERAL /SPECIALIST FOCUS The general focus of the programme is on International Business and Management. In the final year of study, students are offered a choice of specialisations: International Marketing, International Management, International Finance and Accounting, Internationale Betriebswirtschaft (German track).
3 ORIENTATION The IBMS degree programme has a generalist and applied orientation in the field of international business and
management.
The IBMS graduate will be able to implement or direct different integrated international business operations in the fields of international marketing, finance and management.
The IBMS graduate will be aware of the changing international business environment and he will have a command of intercultural communication.
4 DISTINCTIVE FEATURES The programme is taught in English, which is a second language for the majority of the student body. A study period abroad (1 semester; 30 ECTS credits) and a work placement abroad (1 semester; 30 ECTS credits) are compulsory parts of the programme.
It is also possible to follow parts of the IBMS programme in German (Betriebswirtschaft).
Intercultural competence development and the command of two languages are other distinctive features in the IBMS programme.
Students whose performance is above average may opt to do the Honours Talent Programme (30 ECTS credits) on top of the Bachelor programme.
IBS received a distinctive feature on internationalisation from the Dutch accreditation organisation NVAO.
C EMPLOYABILITY &FURTHER EDUCATION
1 EMPLOYABILITY IBMS graduates are generalists with an international orientation. Consequently, they will usually end up in one of the many different positions ranging from account manager, public relations manager, product manager, sales and marketing manager to international treasury manager or human resource manager. Some graduates prefer to start their own businesses or become consultants.
An IBMS graduate fulfils these tasks at operational level and should be able to direct the tasks on middle management or tactical level.
2 FURTHER STUDIES IBMS graduates have access to second-cycle degree programmes (Master) in related fields of study.
D EDUCATION STYLE
1 LEARNING &TEACHING APPROACHES
The IBMS programme is competence-based.
2 ASSESSMENT METHODS The IBMS programme uses a wide variety of assessment methods, which includes written and oral exams, the assessment of the individual contribution to group project work and assignments, performance assessment of the work placement, continuous supervision of academic progress, student self-assessment, co-assessment and peer assessment.
E GRADUATE COMPETENCES
The competences of the graduate are based on the national Framework Competencies IBMS, International Business & Management Studies, as approved by the National Platform IBMS in 2010.
1 GENERIC
I Interpersonal competences 1. Leadership:
the ability to take initiative and a leading role within a (project) team in order to reach a defined goal.
2. Cooperation:
the ability to actively contribute to a group product or result.
3. Business communication:
a. the ability to express oneself fluently and correctly in English, both in speech and writing;
b. the ability to lead discussions, express ideas, make proposals, draft reports and give presentations;
c. the ability to make proper use of audio-visual aids in presentations;
d. the ability to express oneself at an intermediate level in a second foreign language (in addition to English and his native language).
II Task-oriented competences 4. Business research methods:
a. the ability to apply relevant scientific insights, theories and concepts, to combine several subjects, to gather information and draw conclusions in a methodical and reflective manner;
b. the ability to act carefully and punctually and to produce output that is literate, numerate and coherent.
5. Planning and organizing:
a. the ability to plan, manage, control and evaluate personal work activities and group work in projects;
b. the ability to make use of relevant techniques in his activities to monitor his own performance.
III Intra-personal competences
6. Learning and self-development:
a. the ability to know one’s strengths and weaknesses and to indicate how and when he intends to improve his weaknesses;
b. the ability to recognize the limits of one’s competencies, to critically evaluate and account for one’s own actions;
c. the ability to take initiative and work independently.
7. Ethical and corporate responsibility:
understanding of the ethical, normative and social issues related to the professional practice and accepting the responsibility for one’s actions.
2 SUBJECT SPECIFIC
I International Business Competences 1. International business awareness:
the ability to outline and evaluate the key patterns and trends in international business
principal institutions on international business. The graduate can assess the impact of these trends on his own activities as well on business policy.
2. Intercultural competence:
a. the ability to explain the differences between national, organisational and occupational cultures and to outline strategies for adapting to these differences in e.g. human resources management, marketing and intercultural communication;
b. the ability to identify the relevant dimensions of cultures and a developed self- awareness of one’s own cultural background.
II General Management Competences
3. International strategic vision development:
the ability to use one’s conceptual and visionary skills to contribute to the development and evaluation of the internationalization strategy of a company.
4. Business processes & change management:
the ability to research and analyse relevant international business problems, to propose policy goals and objectives and to prepare alternative solutions in order to optimise business and human resources processes in order to strengthen the synergy between strategic, structural and cultural aspects of the organisation.
5. Entrepreneurial management:
a. the ability to pro-actively seek and commercially evaluate business opportunities for both new and existing products/services;
b. the ability to take risks in order to optimize business profit. To ability to write and defend a business plan for a (start-up) company.
III Functional Key-Areas Competences
6. International marketing and sales management:
a. the ability to perform a country-analysis on macro, industry and micro level, to conduct an international market survey in order to assess foreign market opportunities and competition;
b. the ability to formulate market-entry strategies, to draft an international marketing plan and to implement, co-ordinate and control the international marketing programme.
7. International supply chain management:
the ability to assess processes and decisions involved in developing international, i.e.
export/import operations, focussing on supply chain management and to explain the meaning and application of key logistical concepts.
8. International finance & accounting:
a. the ability to perform and evaluate a wide variety of cost and revenue calculations, to transform (cost and revenue) data into information needed for decision making and to contribute to the budgeting process (management accounting);
b. the ability to evaluate and to contribute to key accounting summaries (profit & loss account, balance sheet, and cash-flow statement), to outline the differences between various (external) reporting standards (among which IFRS) (financial accounting);
c. the ability to evaluate investment opportunities (capital budgeting), to contribute to and assess the mixture of long-term (international) debt and equity financing (capital structure), to contribute to and evaluate short-term assets and liabilities (working capital management), to contribute to managing (financial) risks (financial management).
9. International human resource management (HRM):
a. the ability to understand and integrate the availability, employability, motivation and vitality of people (employees) as the key factors of (I)HRM;
b. the ability to identify, evaluate and develop the broad spectrum of functions and responsibilities related to the management of Human Resources;
c. the ability to formulate the responsibilities and tasks for the proper running of an HR Department; the ability to formulate the relevant leadership features in resolving HR related issues;
d. the ability to understand the importance of generating (quantitative) HR data and HR information relevant for the evaluation and development of corporate or organisational strategy.
F COMPLETE LIST OF PROGRAMME LEARNING OUTCOMES
The IBMS graduate has the ability to demonstrate:
- he awareness and understanding of dynamics of the international economy within which companies operate and the ability to implement the appropriate management activities in a multicultural and international environment;
- knowledge and understanding of the pillars of international management i.e.: international business environment, international general management, international key areas (marketing and sales, supply chain management, finance and accounting and human resource
management);
- to prepare, assess and contribute to the implementation of the international strategic policy of the company (visionary and entrepreneurial abilities to contribute to the development of the corporate internationalization strategy and the organizational policy, taking into account the goals and constraints of the organisation and with respect for the ethical and moral codes of the graduate’s profession);
- a command of at least two languages and the ability to cooperate in an intercultural environment of international business and management (intercultural competence);
- the skills to contribute to a team or take the lead with the focus on results, exhibiting proper skills in the area of team work, negotiating, problem solving, planning and organizing;
- to reflect on own performance and both give and receive feedback, to benefit from these for pro-active self-development, including considerations regarding ethical and corporate responsibility issues;
- an open and exploring attitude, with the ability to tackle complex issues, to search and identify information from a broad range of resources, and to draw conclusions in a methodical and reflective manner.
These intended learning outcomes have been derived from the nationally defined professional profile, which was approved by the National Platform of IBMS programmes in the Netherlands in 2010.
This DPP was finalised on 18 June 2013.
