International Business

In the first year, you lay a solid foundation for your future in international business. You immediately apply your knowledge in challenging business cases for real clients. This year you work on themes such as:

• Internationalisation
  Learn how to grow a business internationally and put innovative sectors from Zeeland on the world map.
• Language skills
  Choose an additional language: Dutch, German, French or Spanish.
• Strategy Development: Discover how to determine the best strategy to enter a new market.
• Supply Chain Management: Analyse and improve the supply chain of a small, international company.
• Corporate Social Responsibility
  Help entrepreneurs from developing countries comply with European regulations.
• Human Resources
  Identify strengths and weaknesses in HR processes at growing companies.
• Exporting
  Learn how an existing company can successfully launch a product or service abroad.

In the second year, you will deepen your understanding of the world of international business and work on real projects.

Themes this year

• Negotiation Strategies
  Advise on effective negotiation strategies for international partners.
• Market analysis
  Determine which market is most suitable for a particular product or service.
• Digital Collaboration
  Optimise collaboration between employees of a multinational company with digital solutions.
• Process optimisation based on SDGs
  Improve a process of an international SME based on the Sustainable Development Goals.
• International Supply Chain
  Improve an existing company's international supply chain, focusing on financial benefits.
• Product Development
  Develop a new product or service for an existing company.

Your own company

During the second study year of International Business, you set up your own student company, together with some of your fellow students. Together, you brainstorm about the product or service you will bring to the market. You write a business plan and, of course, you should not forget about the financial picture and marketing.

The third year of study is dominated by your minor and work placement abroad.

Minor

You take a minor abroad, where you immerse yourself in a field that interests you while discovering a new culture. You will take your chosen additional language into account.

Internship

You will do an internship abroad and gain valuable work experience in an international environment. You take your chosen additional language into account.

In the fourth and final year of the International Business programme, you focus on two main components. In the first semester at HZ, you prepare for your graduation project in the second semester. Here you will learn everything you need to conduct a successful research project. In the second semester, you apply your knowledge in practice: you do an internship at a company of your choice, in the Netherlands or abroad.

In the first year of the programme, you choose an additional language, which you learn over the course of four years. The languages you can choose from are Dutch, German, French and Spanish. You take this language into account when selecting your minor and internship.

In the Netherlands, the standard of higher education is maintained through an accreditation system that ensures legal regulation and quality assurance. All programmes at HZ University of Applied Sciences are examined and approved by the accreditor, the Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO). This means that they meet the quality requirements for accredited higher education set by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, ensuring that you are always choosing a programme of high standard.