Objectives and competences

Economic globalization is now an inescapable reality, and it is increasingly essential that companies have an internationalization strategy in place to ensure their competitiveness in global environments. The Master's Degree in International Business addresses the need to produce graduates who are equipped to manage global companies operating at the international level, providing students with the knowledge and skills needed to work in the various functional areas of company management.

The Master's Degree in International Business covers all the disciplines students must understand to successfully manage an international company.

The programme enables graduates who have acquired more general training in a Bachelor's Degree in International Business, Business Administration and Management, or a similar programme to specialize and attain the competences developed on an advanced master's course. In addition to theoretical training, students learn by applying their knowledge to analyse and come up with solutions to practical cases and situations like the ones they will have to deal with in their professional roles. 

Thanks to a participatory, case-based approach, students get plenty of practice working on cases that closely reflect business reality. 

Students who successfully complete the programme will have achieved an academic level that allows them to pursue a career with an international company, acting with complete autonomy as chief financial officer, marketing director, director of operations, human resources director or general manager.

Basic information

TypeMaster's degree
Faculty or schoolFaculty of Economics and Business
Branch of knowledge
  • Economic sciences, business administration and management, marketing, commerce, accounting and tourism
Mode of delivery
  • Face-to-face
Credits60
Number of places available40
Length of course1 academic year
Language(s) of instructionEnglish
Approximate price per credit27.67 euros per credit (110 euros for students who are not EU or China nationals and do not currently reside in Spain). Fees for the academic year 2022-2023.
CoordinationFARIZA ACHCAOUCAOU IALLOUCHEN
E-mailbusiness.school@ub.edu
Course detailsIndicators
Open pre-enrolmentYes
Open enrolmentNo
Lead to doctoral studiesYes
Admission for applicants not holding a degree qualificationNo
Bridging coursesYes

Objectives and competences

Objectives

The objective of the university master's degree in International Business is to provide practical, specialized training in the management of global companies, covering finance and accounting, marketing, operations, human resources and strategic management, as well as legal aspects.

The master's degree programme helps students to work more efficiently with solid skills in management or tasks relating to the above areas in international companies of any kind and size. This is achieved through a large number of varied subjects relating to business administration.

Competences

Basic competences
  • Knowledge forming the basis of original thinking in the development and/or application of ideas, typically in a research context.
  • Capacity to apply the acquired knowledge to problem-solving in new or relatively unknown environments within broader (or multidisciplinary) contexts related to the field of studies.
  • Capacity to integrate knowledge and tackle the complexity of formulating judgements based on incomplete or limited information, taking due consideration of the social and ethical responsibilities involved in applying knowledge and making judgements.
  • Capacity to communicate knowledge and conclusions and the grounds on which they have been reached to specialist and non-specialist audiences in a clear and unambiguous manner.
  • Capacity for ongoing self-directed and independent learning.


General competences
  • Creative and entrepreneurial skills (capacity to conceive, design and manage projects/capacity to research and integrate new knowledge and approaches).
  • Capacity to propose a business or innovation project based on an original idea, whose feasibility can then be assessed.


Specific competences
  • Capacity to apply the main concepts and management tools to solve business problems and situations related to the strategic, financial, commercial, operations and logistics management of international companies.
  • Capacity to to adopt a strategic, integrated approach to business problems and to tackle them at international scale.
  • Capacity to analyse and interpret the economic and financial information issued by an international business, in order to make well-considered decisions.
  • Capacity to plan and direct the financial organization and accounting of an international company or group of companies in the global arena, to ensure their profitability and solvency.
  • Capacity to understand and use the marketing tools and instruments required to solve problems and generate opportunities, and to apply knowledge of the principles and tools of research to solve problems relating to market research and international marketing.
  • Capacity to learn appropriate heuristic strategies, methods, and techniques for taking decisions in the operations area of an international business.
  • Capacity to manage the international logistics of a company or group of companies to obtain optimal management of the supply chain.
  • Capacity to manage people and teams in international organisations, in order to increase their motivation and their multiculturalism.
  • Capacity to analyse options, potentialities and opportunities in various regions of global economies; to identify the specificities of each type of market and society, so as to obtain the best effectiveness in action, depending on the responsibility of each professional position.
  • Capacity to acquire advanced knowledge to compile scientific documents, specialized reports, and research assignments in which value judgements are given, in suitable formats for publication or presentation before potential stakeholders at global scale.

Access and admission

Applicant profile and access requirements

Recommended applicant profile

Students of the master's degree must be interested professionally in the functional areas of an international company.

For this reason, applicants for the master's degree in International Business should hold a bachelor's degree in International Business, Business Administration and Management, Economics, Law, International Relations, or Engineering.

The master's degree is taught in English, which is why students must present an official certificate evidencing a good command of this language.

In all these cases, the Coordinating Committee could decide that candidates must take bridging courses before they start the master's degree.

Access requirements and conditions

General requirements
In accordance with Article 16 of Royal Decree 1393/2007, of 29 October, students wishing to be admitted to a university master's degree must hold one of the following qualifications:

  • Official Spanish university degree.

  • A degree issued by a higher education institution within the European Higher Education Area framework that authorizes the holder to access university master's degree courses in the country of issue.

  • A qualification issued by an institution outside the framework of the European Higher Education Area. In this case, applicants must request homologation of the degree to its equivalent official Spanish university qualification or obtain express approval from the University of Barcelona, which will conduct a study of equivalence to ensure that the degree is of a comparable level to an official Spanish university qualification and that it grants access to university master's degree study in the country of issue. Admission shall not, in any case, imply that prior qualifications have been recognized as equivalent to a Spanish master's degree and does not confer recognition for any purposes other than that of admission to the master's degree course.

Specific requirements
Any student with an appropriate qualification for taking a university master's degree in Spain can apply, according to current legislation. Students who hold a bachelor's degree in International Business, Business Administration and Management, Economics, Law and International Relations, as well as engineers, are given priority.

Candidates must have at least level B2 English (the language of instruction), according to the European Framework of Reference for Languages, or an equivalent qualification.

Bridging courses
The Coordination Committee of the master's degree assesses whether a candidate needs to take bridging courses. Bridging courses, which are worth no more than five ECTS credits, address the following subjects: Principles of World Economy, Quantitative Tools, and Principles of International Companies. Bridging courses are taught during the two weeks prior to the start of the master's degree sessions.

In these cases, and in accordance with Royal Decree 861/2010, the training courses are considered master's degree credits for the purposes of public fees and the award of grants and financial aid.

Pre-enrolment

Calendar

Complete the application form for the master in International Business, which will allow the academic committee to evaluate your candidacy.


- First period: applications received from 15 January'26 February 2024. Notification of decisions: 22 March 2024.

- Second period: applications received from 27 February'22April 2024.
Notification of decisions: 24 May 2024.

- If places remain available, there will be a third pre-enrolment period.

Notes:

  • Pre-enrolment fee: A pre-enrolment fee of 30,21 euros is charged. Students who apply to more than one master's degree must pay the fee for each pre-enrolment request. Pre-enrolment requests cannot be processed until this fee has been paid.Fees will only be refunded if the master's degree in question is suspended.
  • Reserved places: A maximum of 5% of the new places of the master's degree are reserved for students who meet the general and specific access requirements and accredit the recognition of a degree of disability equal to or greater than 33%.

Required documentation

Selection criteria

The selection process is based on the following selection criteria:

  • 1) A previous qualification in a field related to the master's degree (50%). Holders of bachelor's degrees in International Business, Business Administration and Management, related disciplines, and degrees with an international orientation shall be given priority.

  • 2) Academic experience acquired by the candidate in previous studies (40%). Previous training in business and international business shall be reviewed. Candidates should demonstrate that they have a sufficient level of training to meet the requirements of the master's degree subjects.

  • 3) Professional experience in the area of international business management (5%). Credit is given for professional experience in fields related to the course subjects.

  • 4) Letters of recommendation from former lecturers or people who have had a close relationship with the candidate (5%). Credit is given for letters of recommendation from former lecturers that describe the candidate's academic performance in the lecturer's subject and in the course in general.

Notification

The body in charge of resolving applications is the master's degree Admissions Committee. This procedure is carried out in the period established in the pre-enrolment calendar. Once the Committee has met and the corresponding resolution has been reached, electronic confirmation is sent. The faculty's Master's and Doctoral Office will contact admitted students to inform them of the steps to take to complete enrolment.

Enrolment

As a general rule, at the UB you will be required to enrol online. Remember that you can lose your place if you do not enrol on the day you have been assigned

Course curriculum

Subjects and course plans

Distribution of credits

Type ECTS
Compulsory 32.5
Optional 17.5
Compulsory placements 0
Compulsory final project 10
TOTAL 60

List of subjects

Subject Type Language Credits
Specialization: International Business
Business Practices Optional 2nd semester 5
Companies in Emerging Sectors Optional 2nd semester 2.5
Conflict Management in Negotiation Optional 2nd semester 2.5
Cooperation and Strategy in Finance and Insurance Optional 1st semester 2.5
Corporate Innovation and Competitiveness Optional 1st semester 2.5
Corporate Social Responsibility and Business Ethics Optional 2nd semester 2.5
Creative Cities II Optional 1st semester 2.5
Creative Cities: Intervention Models and Entrepreneurial Dynamics Optional 1st semester 2.5
Digital Business Management: Information Systems, Big Data and E-Commerce Optional 2nd semester 2.5
Doing Business in Asia Optional 2nd semester 2.5
Doing Business in Europe Optional 2nd semester 2.5
Family Business, Innovation and Globalization Optional 2nd semester 2.5
Final Project Compulsory 2nd semester 10
Global Financial Markets Optional 2nd semester 2.5
Global Marketing Compulsory 1st semester 5
Global Political Ecology Optional 2nd semester 5
Global Supply Chain Management Compulsory 1st semester 5
International Business Strategy Compulsory 1st semester 5
International Human Resource Management Compulsory 1st semester 5
Legal Aspects of Global Business Compulsory 1st semester 2.5
Multinational Accounting Compulsory 1st semester 2.5
Multinational Financial Management Compulsory 1st semester 5
Multivariate Financial Analysis Optional 1st semester 2.5
Organizational Behaviour and Corporate Governance Optional 2nd semester 2.5
Quantitative Analysis Applied to International Business Optional 2nd semester 2.5
Research Methods in International Business Compulsory 1st semester 2.5
Topics in International Economics Optional 2nd semester 5
Topics in International Policy Optional 2nd semester 5

Previous years

Placements

Placements in a company or another type of organization are an integral part of university studies, providing first-hand experience of working methodologies in students' chosen professional fields. They offer invaluable practical experience for the transition into work after graduation.



Placements are supervised by tutors and subject to assessment. They are therefore included in the academic record.  There is also an option to complete non-curricular placements of up to 500 hours, which can be extended to 900 hours. For both curricular and non-curricular placements, an educational cooperation agreement is signed between the UB and the company, institution or other organization at which the placement will be carried out.



Institutional information


Career opportunities

What can you work on ?

Increasingly, companies assume responsibility for areas that until recently were mainly government concerns: social security networks, technical regulations and general regulations. In addition, consumers are becoming more aware of the form of production in responsible international companies. Pressure from stakeholders has convinced many multinationals that they must adopt corporate citizenship programmes, including policies on environmental responsibility, child labour, conditions in the workplace, and principles of ethics in business practices.

The master's in International Business covers all these aspects and provides students with the knowledge required to manage an international company, taking into account the environment, from the perspective of finance, marketing, operations and logistics, or strategy. On completion of the master's degree, students are ready to work in export companies, multinationals, public entities (in autonomous communities, the state, or internationally) dedicated to economic and trade promotion, and in non-governmental organizations focused on international cooperation.

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