Course Description

Change Management is a relatively new interdisciplinary area that focuses on how to instigate and achieve productive change among individuals and groups within organizations. In today’s shifting corporate landscape, the ability to manage change is vital for every business leader. In this course, you will move beyond a basic understanding of the topic, gaining in-depth scientific and practical insights into the principles, practices and tools involved in meaningful socio-organizational change. You will familiarize yourself with the processes of coaching, consulting, projects and leadership. You will also study the dynamics of change within teams and departments, as well as the conditions for successful change within these units. Other key topics include business re-engineering, culture change, restructuring, re-organization, IT-based process change, change participation, resistance to change, strategy change, M&As (mergers and acquisitions), and the increasingly popular self-managed work groups. You will learn to apply your knowledge during plenary discussions, using the Harvard Business School Case Method, write and present a creative group paper on a relevant topic, participate in an Insights Discovery workshop aimed at helping you to understand yourself and others, and reflect on various aspects of your group project, including your own behavioural preferences and the unique team dynamics that facilitated or inhibited effective collaboration. All of this will equip you to effectively manage and consult on (international) organizational and team-level change.

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International New Technology-Based Ventures (INTBVs) are an exciting place to work. An INTBV is a start-up launched by one person, or a team, often at a (tech) university or from within an established company. On top of the usual challenges of starting a business, entrepreneurs in INTBVs face the additional uncertainties of often complex and dynamic technological and regulatory environments, liability and outsidership. In this elective, you will come to understand the origins, processes, challenges, technological environment, and results typical of INTBVs. As the field of study is rapidly evolving, your front-line, science-based knowledge will equip you to contribute in a meaningful way. On the practical side, you will interact with tech entrepreneurs, comparing theory with practice. The track covers vital INTBV-related topics, including Born Globals, International Opportunity Recognition International Networks, Product-Market Selection, International Market Selection, and Entry Mode Selection.

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The main difference between managing well a service firm or plant in the Netherlands or abroad lies in the cultural field: In foreign countries most often things go in a different way from what we are used to at home. Moreover, supply chains most likely cross national borders; Dutch firms typically expand to other regions in the world; born-globals see the world as their sales market; and work-floors are increasingly multi-cultural. If not aware of the strong impact of cultural differences and behaviours, people doing international-business projects can incur in major failures (e.g., Daimler-Chrysler or Renault-Volvo mergers). In order to effectively prepare you to future international challenges and make you more valuable to prospective employers, this course teaches up-to-date knowledge but also practical skills to effectively deal with cross-cultural behaviour. In terms of teaching methods, the course includes a diversified range of state-of-the-art teaching methods, such as: (guest) lectures, case studies, simulation games, interviews with consultants who worked abroad or in a multi-national context, and group assignments. All in all, this course is fundamental for those students who intend to expand their horizons and work in businesses abroad as open-minded and culturally-aware managers or consultants.

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This course will equip you with valuable knowledge of global sourcing and the global organization of purchasing and supply management within an international company.  In most companies, organizing the purchasing and supply department is the responsibility of the Chief Purchasing Officer, the CPO – a role for which this elective course offers excellent preparation. Purchasing is one of the most rapidly globalizing business functions. That is why coordinating global sourcing efforts is often assigned to the company’s management. In this course, you will also come to understand the opportunities and risks involved and become equipped to help companies effectively organize this vital aspect of their business.

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This course draws on the basics of a business model and its usefulness for a company in today’s rapidly changing markets and global contexts to map consequences for strategy and business development. Following the structure of a business model, the topics include Customer Value Analysis, Customer Relationships, Value Proposition, Capabilities, Resources, and Activities. We will discuss the roles of partnerships, such as strategic alliances and joint ventures, and focus on the competitive aspect of strategy development and its implications for business models. Throughout the course, you will learn to see how different parts of a business model relate to each other, and how any change in one part may create opportunities and challenges for strategic change and business development. You will gain hands-on experience by working on cases for companies challenged with strategic, marketing and business development problems. Together with other students, you will systematically analyse these cases based on the business model, and drawing out the implications for strategic change and business development. You will also learn to probe the future of a business by using strategic foresight techniques – and to develop strong business models in order to make the future happen.