International Business Administration

International, High Quality Programme in Amsterdam’s main business district

The programme in International Business Administration at VU University Amsterdam will put you right at the very heart of Amsterdam’s vibrant business district. You will enjoy both the challenge and small scale of the programme, and all of the cultural and leisure activities that Amsterdam has to offer. The IBA programme has a clear international orientation and is taught entirely in English. The international character of the programme is reflected in our lively mix of international and Dutch students, and in the international orientation of our staff. Students from over 50 countries across all continents have already come to study at our faculty.

Learning about business in an international context

The IBA programme at VU University Amsterdam will give you the theoretical knowledge you need and introduce you to the practical application of disciplines that are at the very core of international business administration: Strategy, Marketing, Finance, Accounting, Organization, HRM, IT and Logistics.

Our IBA programme will help you to develop an integrated perspective for understanding and influencing international business issues. You will learn to think strategically, to have a balanced overview of diverse and interconnected organizational issues, and to make decisions that affect many different components of an organization.

Looking further, asking questions

Organizations have human resource departments that deal with personnel, the human capital of the company. This department needs to build policies that encourage people to stay with the organization and they have to improve flexibility at the same time. Barriers to switching positions need to be taken down in order to improve employee mobility. The key questions involved are: how do you take barriers away? How do you manage talent in the organization?

How do you create an alliance between two multinationals?
What do the Senseo Coffee machine, Beertender and the film Finding Nemo have in common? They are all products of strategic alliances between companies, and they benefited all parties involved. These kinds of relationships can be fraught with trouble, however, and they often fail miserably. Can we find a formula for success?

How do you improve the car manufacturing process?
While automotive manufacturing practices have undergone drastic transitions as a result of the widespread adoption of lean production techniques over the last two decades, distribution systems have remained largely unchanged. By comparing different production systems, old ways can be analysed and new methods of production can be invented.

Can you influence consumer behaviour with music?
Studies show that background music influences consumer behaviour. They assess the quality and the atmosphere of a location based on the music they hear. It isn’t yet clear, however, whether we are able to influence the time and effort consumers need to make a decision on buying something. Can we help people to make better decisions by using background music? Or stimulate them to buy a product on impulse?

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