IBMS

The four year IBMS programme in Leeuwarden is unique because it is offered as a partnership between three universities of applied science: Stenden university, NHL University and Van Hall Larenstein. The programme was put together based on the knowledge and expertise of all three universities, which allows you to take full advantage of all they have to offer. You will have your own study coach and various support offices to help you, contact with international students and plenty of opportunities to join in international exchange programmes.

 

The first 2.5 years of IBMS are based at Stenden university, and this is also the institution at which you must enrol and be registered. You will start with a broad basic programme and will learn aspects of for example marketing and sales management, mangement and organisation, export and logistics, communication, human resource management, cultural aspects in international business, management skills, quality control and english business communication.

Working together in groups, we focus on the development of your career. Also, next to English, you will learn a second language. Currently, for internationals this is Dutch and for dutch students this is Spanish.

 

In the third year, you will be able to choose one of the specializations offered by and based at the three universities:

 

This spezialisation trains you to start your own company or take up a management position in a retail organization. It covers new developments in the retail industry such as fair trade and e-tailing. As a graduate you can start your career as a product, marketing or supply chain manager, as an independent international entrepreneur or as a sales manager with an international retail chain like IKEA. Alternatively, you could opt for a marketing position at the head office of a company like Ahold.

Projects can be seen as a specific category of business activity. Because projects per definition are temporary in nature, their effective organisation requires specific knowledge and skills different from those in regular business operations. Furthermore, in today’s global environment business projects are more and more international. This can imply things like geographically dispersed project teams working in different locations and time zones, increased financial risks and new types of decisions to be made on e.g. staffing. This specialisation aims to educate starting professionals who are able to work in international business projects in various industries.

 

As one of the most important exporting countries for agrarian food products, the Netherlands play a pioneering role in the food and

agribusiness industry. This specialization has a special focus on International Sustainability Management. The programme produces professionals who are not only well trained in the production, management and marketing of products, but are also knowledgeable about quality, food safety and sustainability. You will be able to measure and interpret consumer behaviour as a starting point for developing new products and business strategies. Food and Agri-business Management is an interesting and practical specialisation offering plenty of international career opportunities with large multinationals like Unilever or Nestlé.

 

This specialization deals with the strategic choices a company faces when entering new international markets. You will learn to evaluate the strategic aspects of international business, to analyse a country and the market where the business takes place, and to design and execute an entry strategy. In short, you will learn to make strategic choices in a company’s internationalisation process; choices that will be essential for the implementation of a good export plan. As part of this specialisation, you will actively work on international business competencies in a real business environment. Graduates of this specialisation will go on to become, for example, export managers, account managers or country managers with large multinational companies like Shell, Philips or Bosch.

 

Can you lead innovations in business models? Old business models don’t work anymore, so companies need to innovate. Do you have what it takes to lead imagination, to lead design, to lead creativity? Are you the leader that can develop new business concepts for existing products (intrapreneurship) or create a completely new business model? Innovation of business is per definition an international activity; the world has become one marketplace. The leader for business innovation is a servant leader, a builder of ideas, a coach for design teams and a very good strategist.