Business & Society
Are you ready to become a 21st century leader? In this world, the ability to influence and enthuse others with a corporate social vision is more important than ever. We believe that the most impactful leaders always weigh both sides: Business & Society.
During this programme we will teach you business and leadership skills and address social ills, like climate change. You will learn to lead with both caring and clear analysis. You will advance your individual goals and contribute to the local community.
We also teach you to understand the ways that your success, in whatever role you pursue, is intertwined with the society you live in.
In this programme we also encourage you to develop your ideas with regard to diversity & leadership, business strategies, sustainable business solutions & customer needs. Ideas you need to succeed in local and global organisations.
"The first step is to establish that something is possible; then probability will occur”- Elon Musk
You work in small international and multidisciplinary teams on solving cases for businesses and policy makers. Based on desk and field research and your classes which support the projects, you will be able to present your own sustainable and competitive business ideas and concepts to the target audience.
To develop your skills to successfully market & position an idea we included a case competition for one of the courses. All teams of the programme are participating in this competition.
Our programme was carefully designed in collaboration with local companies, the municipality of Rotterdam and the famous Rotterdam Case Academy. We aim to give you a local and a global perspective on business and the society. You will also get to know local entrepreneurs of the Rotterdam area and learn how they build their businesses.
Since Rotterdam is one of the leading cities in the world to conceptualize and realize sustainable roofs, we are proud to partner with the municipality of Rotterdam to expand your horizon for this particular subject.
Moreover we will introduce you to case cracking in a competitive environment. Together with the Rotterdam Case Academy we will train you in case solving skills with real business challenges. You will compete against other teams so may the best team win!
There are 3 leading projects modules:
- Business & Consumer behavior : describe Personas & the Customer Journey (4 weeks)
During this project you will get introduced to 2 famous businesses in Rotterdam: Jordy’s Bakery & Kaapse Brouwers (Brewery). In this creative marketing assignment you focus on personas of the businesses and the customer journey. - Sustainable Business Innovation: “Sustainability & multifunctional roofs. A good idea, but how do we ‘make it happen’? (6 weeks)
In this competitive project you work in teams on an assignment for the Municipality of Rotterdam. Rotterdam faces many urban challenges: climate change, energy transition, urbanization, biodiversity loss, new forms of mobility, circularity. Due to its history, Rotterdam has a unique roof landscape consisting of 18.5 km2 of flat roofs ranging from low rise buildings in the harbor to high rise buildings in the city center. In a busy city with a high population density, the roof landscape provides space for multifunctional use - a potential that waits to be further explored and developed in sustainable ways. Hopefully your team can provide the Municipality of Rotterdam and the rooftop owner with the right advice. May the best team win! - Business Strategy & Skills: Case Competition (3 weeks)
Under the umbrella of the Rotterdam International Case Academy, we proudly present a program which will train you in case cracking skills. In a fast moving business environment these skills are extremely valuable should you want to pursue an ambitious career.
The Rotterdam University is ranked highly and received already many awards within case competition tournaments, so you are in the hand of experts.
You will receive several cases which you try to solve with your team. At the end of the first week you will receive your final sustainable business case challenge with whom you are going to compete with against other teams. Needless to say, the competition case is based on a real business challenge.
Besides the 3 leading projects, we offer the modules Society & Business Communication and Cultural Diversity & Leadership.
About the course Society & Business Communication
Business and society are inextricably linked. In this part of the course, students explore global societal issues from a glocal Rotterdam perspective. The course discusses several social problems related to business, such as inclusivity and diversity, sustainability, healthcare, public education, and fair trade. Students will select a topic related to social issues and business in Rotterdam, and research how different businesses, activists, institutions, and organizations try to think of possible solutions for these social problems. Students are also asked and encouraged to present in the lecturers how societal issues, business and activism are intertwined in their home countries to exchange ideas and alternatives of enterprising with a societal impact.
People active in this field are often very passionate and feel great social involvement, and are constantly in dialogue with, for example, specific interest groups, government institutions, and other possible partners. Therefore, its key to communicate on these societal messages as clearly as possible, which is where the Business Communication part of the course comes in with support on integrated Academic Writing and Presentation skills.
Furthermore, will the module leadership and diversity provide you with the right tools to develop yourself in becoming a competent leader in the 21st century.
About the course Cultural Diversity & Leadership
The main purpose of this module is to introduce the concepts of Diversity & Leadership within the business environment, as well as to enable students to apply these concepts in their daily practices and study. The module is going to be 50 % theory and 50% practice driven. By the end of the semester students will have developed an awareness about commonalities and differences regarding the way business practices are done in the Netherlands, and in their own countries. In addition, they will learn about different layers of diversity within organizations, and their influence/impact on current/ global business practices; develop themselves as effective learners, leaders and group members when being a part of international environment. During the lectures/ workshops students will be introduced to different tools and methods, such as how to conduct interviews at a professional level, how to access their own intercultural proficiency level, intelligence types, and Emotional Intelligence with the help of tests that are going to be provided by the lecturer. Students will have a possibility to work with the “self- role” concept: seeing yourself and understanding your own behavior as a person who functions within a particular organizational (and life) system.
If you have successfully completed this exchange programme then you are able to:
- Be a critical and creative innovator
- Be a Global Leader
- Work together in a multi-perspective context (International, intercultural)
- Develop your intercultural proficiency level by taking control of your own learning process.
Ingangseisen
Completed years of study
2 years of a 4-year Bachelor’s degree
1 year of a 3-year Bachelor’s degree
You will enrol in the 3rd year of the programme.
Study area
Business
Language requirements
All exchange programmes require a good command of English, as all classes are conducted in this language. Although exchange students are not required to submit an official English test score during their application, we would like to stress that exchange students are expected to have an English level similar to IELTS 6.0, CEFR B2 or TOEFL 550 / iBT 80 / 213 cBT. We trust our partner universities to only nominate students who meet this requirement, therefore ensuring they will not face any difficulties in class due to the language.
Required documents
As part of your application for this exchange programme you will be asked to submit the following documents:
Curriculum Vitae
Transcript of Records
Please ask for an official Transcript of Records at your home university. This document must be up-to-date, meaning that all courses that you took so far as part of your current study programme should be included.
Motivation letter
We kindly ask you to write a motivation letter that covers:
The reason(s) you want to join the programme. Show that you understand the content of the programme and explain why and how this matches with your interests and ambitions. Please focus on your first choice and briefly on your second/third choice when you write your motivation letter.
Your qualifications: Explain, based on past experiences and accomplishments, why you are able to successfully participate in the programme. The letter should be no longer than 1 A4/Letter format.
All documents need to be translated in English.
Important information:
The period of the progmme is 13 weeks instead of 20. This means that the programme starts on 2-9-2024 and ends on 13-12-2024.
Toetsing
Variety of assessments
Aanvullende informatie
More information can be found on Business & Society - Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences (rotterdamuas.com)
Costs
Books: €100,-
Travel expenses fieldtrip: €250,-