International Management & Consultancy | Business Administration

Become a business leader or management consultant with cutting-edge expertise in the growing complexities of doing business in a globalised world.

In today’s rapidly globalising world, more and more businesses are looking for ways to advance internationally. Whether you are a small, local entrepreneur doing business just across the border, or a multinational with multiple offices worldwide, you need to understand what is happening across the border in order to develop successful business strategies. The specialisation in International Management & Consultancy will help you become an expert in helping businesses operate internationally.

You will gain unique expertise in international entrepreneurship, change management and consulting, organisational behaviour, international business development, international strategising, cross-cultural differences, and global supply chain management. Whether in changing operations management, leading people of various cultural backgrounds, reaching new markets, sourcing, or acquiring new companies, your expertise will be highly valued by many businesses worldwide.

What to expect?

How can you manage a change project within an organisation that has multiple offices or plants within different countries? How do you implement a successful business model into a new cultural setting? And how do cross-cultural differences influence collaboration in an organisation – both internally and externally? Through many real-life cases, you will gain hands-on experience within the domain of international management and consultancy. You will learn how to help international businesses raise and stay on top and develop effective cross-border strategies and operations. Moreover, you will learn to navigate the opportunities and risks of global sourcing, co-lead (global) change projects, and deal with cross-cultural differences on globalised work floors.

Examples of courses you can follow during this specialisation:

During the course Change Management and Consulting in a Global Context you will act as if you are a management consultant analysing and advising on a real organisational change process. You will learn to understand how people, including yourself, react to change.
Do you want to expand your horizon and work in businesses abroad as an open-minded and culturally aware manager or consultant? The course Cross-Cultural Behaviour will teach you about the strong impact of cultural differences and behaviours on international business projects.
An effective consultant or manager needs to understand a company’s business model and its usefulness in today’s rapidly changing markets and global contexts. That’s exactly what you will learn in the course Global Strategy and Business Development.

Experienced guest lecturers from successful businesses around the globe (e.g. ING Bank, KPMG, Heineken) as well as (award-winning) professors with (international) business and consultancy experience, will share their knowledge with you. They will provide you with the very latest scientific insights in management trends such as agile, lean, digitalisation, Industry 4.0, and appreciative inquiry. Moreover, you will not only gain in-depth knowledge of the international business arena but also marketable skills in the management of analysis, teams, consultancy and projects. All in all, this specialisation will help you become an all-round business manager or consultant with special attention given to international business and management.

What will you learn?

As a graduate of this Master's and this specialisation, you have acquired specific, scientific knowledge, skills and values, which you can put to good use in your future job.

Knowledge
After completing this Master’s specialisation, you:
- have an understanding of and can interpret the challenges that might occur in doing international business, like, for example, communication barriers or cross-border supply chain issues;
- have thorough knowledge in the field of change management and organisational behaviour and understand the issues that are involved in any organisation undergoing major change processes;
- have a broad overview of cross-cultural differences and how these can influence collaboration within an organisation.
Skills
After successfully finishing this Master’s specialisation, you:
- can successfully lead change projects in cross-cultural settings;
- are able to manage and implement global strategies in changeable markets;
- can advise managers of multinationals, but also local firms interested in doing business abroad, on how to improve their business.
Values
After completing this Master’s specialisation, you:
- view yourself as a global citizen and see the value of cross-cultural cooperation;
- have an analytical mindset that helps organisations and the people within excel;
- are aware of your function as a role model in creating change in organisations.

Other master’s and specialisations

Is this specialisation not exactly what you are looking for? Maybe one of the other specialisations suits you better. Or find out more about these other Master’s:

Master’s in Communication Science (with a focus on Organisational Communication & Reputation)
Master’s in Industrial Engineering & Management (specialisation in Production & Logistics Management)
Master’s in European Studies

Courses & Research