Program Overview

International Business Administration

The International Business Administration (IBA) program is a comprehensive study of all essential business disciplines in a genuinely international context with a strong focus on people in a cross-cultural environment. The program is multi-disciplinary, covering everything from management and organization to cross-cultural marketing, and from information technology to international strategy.

Program Description

The IBA program is designed to provide students with a thorough understanding of the international business environment and the skills necessary to operate successfully in a globalized world. The program is taught in English, and students have the opportunity to study abroad in the third year.

Program Structure

The IBA program consists of three years, with the first two years focusing on fundamental disciplines relevant to any internationally operating business professional. The third year offers students the opportunity to develop their personal profile, with a mandatory exchange semester and a specialization in a discipline of their choice.

First Year

The first year consists of obligatory courses, including:

• Academic Skills
• English Language Test
• People in Business and Society
• Research Participation I
• Business Mathematics
• Organization Theory
• Global Sustainability
• Business Statistics
• Global Supply Chain Management
• Accounting
• Cross Cultural Marketing
• Business Processes

Second Year

The second year continues to introduce the core disciplines of IBA, with a strong focus on research skills, including both quantitative and qualitative research methods. Students also have the opportunity to select electives that appeal to their personal interests and start to shape their own personal profile of expertise.

• Obligatory courses:
  • Business Information Systems
  • Organizational Behavior - Human Resource Management
  • Finance
  • International Business Law
  • Research Participation II
  • International Strategy
  • Business Research Methods I - Quantitative
  • Business Research Methods II - Qualitative
  • Integrative Research Project
• Electives:
  • Data-driven Decision Making in Business
  • Optimization in Business
  • Accounting in Multi-National Enterprises
  • Digital Innovation and Virtual Organizing in a Global Setting
  • Human Resource Management Practices: A Global Perspective
  • Corporate Finance in Emerging Economies
  • Marketing in Emerging Economies
  • Supply Chain Management in Emerging Economies

Third Year

The third and final year of the program offers students the opportunity to develop their personal profile. In the first semester, students participate in a mandatory exchange program, studying at a foreign partner university. In the second semester, students specialize in a discipline of their choice, preparing them for related Master's programs at the School or elsewhere.

• Obligatory courses:
  • Thesis
  • Ethics
• Specializations:
  • Accounting
  • Digital Business and Innovation
  • Economics
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Finance
  • Financial Management
  • Human Resource Management
  • Management Consulting
  • Marketing
  • Strategy and Organization
  • Transport and Supply Chain Management

Honours Programme

The Honours Programme (HP) contains 30 EC on top of the regular program and offers several advantages to ambitious students. The program consists of at least 12 credits of SBE honours courses, at least 12 credits of interdepartmental honours courses, and 6 credits for an elective that students are free to choose within all honours courses offered by the School or elsewhere by Vrije Universiteit, the University of Amsterdam, and Amsterdam University College.

Minors

Students can choose from a variety of minors, including:

• Minor Entrepreneurship
• Minor Understanding and Influencing Decisions in Business and Society
• Minor Health Care Management
• Minor Real Estate Economics and Finance
• Minor Risk Management for Financial Institutions
• Minor Applied Econometrics: A Big Data Experience for All
• Minor E-Business and Online Commerce
• Minor Sustainability: Management and Innovation
• Minor Brain and Mind
• Minor Sustainability: Global Challenges, Interdisciplinary Solutions
• Minor Sport, Movement and Health
• Minor Economics
• Minor Islam
• Minor Digital Humanities and Social Analytics
• Minor in English
• Minor Gender and Diversity
• Minor History
• Minor Literature
• Minor Psychology and the Brain
• Minor Law and Global Society
• Minor Technology, Law and Ethics
• Minor Development and Global Challenges
• Minor Peace and Conflict Studies
• Minor Political Science
• Minor Philosophy

Additional Courses

Students can also take additional courses to fulfill entry requirements for SBE Master's programs, including:

• Analysis I
• Econometrics I
• Numerical Methods
• Operations Research I
• Probability Theory
• Econometrics III
• Financial Accounting
• Financial Markets and Institutions
• Microeconomics II
• Quantitative Research Methods III - Economics and Finance
• Analysis II
• Econometrics II
• Operations Research II
• Statistics
• Financial Econometrics
• Management Accounting
• Programming for Economists

Transitional Arrangements

In case of curriculum changes, a transitional arrangement applies to higher year students who still have to take courses from the old curriculum. The transitional regulations are stated on the website as well as in the Teaching and Examination Regulations (OER).