International Business Skills

In this International Business Skills minor you actively build your personal strengths while shaping the professional profile you will bring to future organisations. Success in international business depends on cultural awareness and the ability to adapt—and you develop these skills through real-world experience. This minor goes beyond classroom learning: you work hands-on with an industry partner, visit the client, and receive direct feedback from professionals.

You study alongside students from around the world and collaborate in international teams. Working daily with diverse perspectives strengthens your intercultural awareness and communication skills, giving you the confidence to operate in global business environments.

This applied, hands-on approach shows you how international business works in practice. You learn through doing—interaction, observation, and reflection—in both professional and networking settings.

The minor gives you a strong head start for an international career and helps you make focused choices about your future path. You are an ambitious student with a global mindset: you pursue commercial goals while building respectful, sustainable partnerships.

You develop career-ready international skills in areas such as International Branding and Sales, Human Resource and Facility Management, Social Business Skills, and International Marketing Communication. You apply theory directly to practice by creating a new product concept and preparing its launch in an international market, guided by a tailored marketing communication strategy.

The programme trains you to operate confidently in an international B2B context. It takes place during one semester and contains the following courses:

Please note that the programme reflects a (logical) bundle of courses/subjects and should normally be followed as such. By choosing this package you will have to participate in ALL the courses included. It is not possible to combine (two or more) programmes in one single period.

Assessment

Assessments vary from business proposals to marketing tools, written exams, consultancy reports and organisation of workshops by participants.

In our Course Guides you can find all relevant information about the programme in one practical document. Download them here for your convenience.

• International Business Skills
• Course guide International Branding and Sales
• Course guide Casework
• Course guide Social Business Skills

To enter this programme, you need a foundation of introductory course(s) in Marketing Management.

English CEFR level B2. In the first week, you will take a compulsory English proficiency test.

Please note: If your English language ability proves to be insufficient to participate actively in (parts of) the courses you have chosen, we cannot be bound to the Learning Agreement, neither can we guarantee to offer you the required amount of Study load (EC’s). Teachers might request you to take a diagnostic test at the start of the course to check if your English language ability is sufficient to successfully participate in that specific course. In all cases it is up to the programme manager, to decide if your English language ability is sufficient to be eligible for the programme/course.

This minor challenges you to develop practical international business skills that prepare you for real-world professional environments. By the end of the programme, you will be able to:

• Navigate international business contexts with cultural awareness and a global mindset
• Collaborate effectively in multicultural teams and build professional relationships
• Apply international business concepts to real-life client projects
• Develop and present a product concept and prepare its launch in an international market
• Design and justify a marketing communication strategy for cross-border business situationsCommunicate professionally with stakeholders from diverse backgrounds
• Plan, organise and manage project work in a dynamic international setting
• Demonstrate leadership, initiative and accountability in collaborative envionments
• Reflect on ethical, social and professional responsibilities in international business practice