International Business Relations

Description

Do you want to understand the links between international business, finance, management and politics? Are you thinking of starting up your business, working for an international corporation, a transnational consulting firm or an international non-governmental organisation?

If so then study SWPS International Business Relations, a unique programme, which combines three different perspectives: International Relations, Political Science, and International Economics, with a strong onus on business-related skills. IBR is an interdisciplinary programme, which equips graduates with practical knowledge and competences that are indispensible in international business, business- and finance-related sectors of public administration, the media, independent professions, international institutions and non-governmental organisations.

Students of International Business Relations are ready and prepared to establish their own businesses, they know how to register charities, foundations or their own enterprises. They can analyse business documents, balance sheets and undertake complex market analyses.

What is more, they are also knowledgeable in international politics, business law, international law and marketing. Students of IBR can perform in public, coordinate decision-making, explain complex financial problems (like the euro crisis) and make speeches about, for example, the future of capitalism. Last but not least, students of IBR know how to utilise information in databases, the internet and other open sources, how to analyse this data and turn it into a practical tool for decision-making.

You only learn, what you can use in your future profession

Why International Business Relations?

• International Business Relations is for practitioners. It combines the practical, business-oriented elements of International Relations, Political Science and International Economics into a concentrated package of knowledge and skills, which gives you a decisive advantage on the job market.
• The IBR programme reduces theory to a minimum you only learn, what you can use in your future profession.
• International Business Relations is interactive as few boring lectures as possible; as many workshops, discussions, learning-by-doing and project-oriented seminars as possible.
• IBR is taught by practitioners for practitioners. Our staff does not teach you, they coach you. They do not tell you, they show you. What is more, they know what they are talking about, because they have already done it themselves: wrote business plans, set up enterprises, established businesses, worked for consultancies, and run charities.
• You may have seen SWPS's Professor Markowski analysing public opinion polls and commenting on Poland's election results on TV. Now he will show you how this is done during his seminar.
• You may want to know how international NGOs work and hear from someone who has worked for them. Then go to Professor Bachmann's seminar. Professor Bachmann is a board member of one of Poland's largest foundations, he has worked for many international NGOs and international think tanks.
• If, on the other hand, you are interested in how terrorism affects international business Dr Rekawek will reveal all. He works for Poland's leading think tank, the Polish Institute of International Affairs.
• Our lecturers have created their own businesses and charities, they work for think tanks, research centres, and they teach what they do, in real life. International Business Relations gives you first-hand knowledge from leading experts, tailored for immediate use on the market.

Detailed Course Facts

• EUR 3500 Year (EEA)
• EUR 3500 Year (Non-EEA)

Tuition fee - 3500 Euro/year; Admission fee - 80 Euro (non-refundable)

• English

Course Content

The IBR Programme consists of three core elements and several modules, some of which overlap with and cut across other modules.

• The "International Relations" Core comprises elements of International Relations and Political Science over three years and provides the basis for practical and more specialised modules.
• The "Economy and Business" Core includes the theoretical and legal parts of the programme and equips you with the ability to write and analyse business documents, coordinate institutional decision-making and develop marketing strategies.
• The "Practice" Core supplements the previous core elements by adding practical and interactive components and shows you the practical applications of the knowledge acquired within all the core elements. The "Practice" Core provides you with practical skills on the analysis of business data, legal documents, the use of databases and statistical programmes as well as the simulation of negotiations, group conflict resolution, marketing and corporate identity.

Modules

• Students take the Theoretical Module in the first year of study in order to become familiar with the basic features of International Relations, Political Science and International Economics, which is necessary in order to understand the remaining modules.
• The European Integration Module is strongly oriented toward economic issues connected with the business environment of the Common Market, European Monetary and Financial Integration and the Schengen Area. This will enable you to find your way through the complex maze of the EU's institutions, the legal framework of the EU and the jungle that is EU lobbying, think tanks, interest groups and other organisations which have grown up around the EU's official institutions.
• The Global Module focuses on the provision of knowledge about global trends in business and politics in non-European areas, including international organisations and international financial regulations, emerging markets and new emerging powers. This module is supplemented by two elective modules.
• These two elective modules concentrate either on cultural aspects of international relations and business or on issues connected with politics and diplomacy. Depending on your choice you will take courses which deepen your knowledge on international cultural trends and cultural relations or international politics, including additional information about Poland's and its neighbours' political and economic systems and their external relations. The latter element was introduced in order to prepare you for a career in Poland and its neighbouring countries or for those students who wish to continue their studies at Masters level.

Specialisations

Beginning from semester 5 of International Business Relations, we offer students a choice between three specialisations, each of which is designed for a specific group of professions.

• INTERNATIONAL BUSINESSThis specialisation is the most general one. It provides an overview of current discussions at international level about the development of the economy, the future of capitalism and globalization trends. It enables students to understand business information, economic media and to take part in debates about macroeconomics.
• INTERNATIONAL PROJECT MANAGEMENTIRM prepares students for work in quickly-assembled working groups consisting of people from different ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds, which are brought together in order to carry out projects for a specific period of time and then disperse and work on other projects. Project Management requires particular skills: the ability to communicate with unknown people, to cope with cultural diversity, to react quickly in situations where little information is available and to analyse this information rapidly without resorting to prejudice. The skills acquired within this specialisation enable graduates to carry out any international project and are not restricted to the requirements of one profession.
• INTERNATIONAL TOURISM MANAGEMENTHere we concentrate on the knowledge, skills and competences needed in order to work in international tourism, from small agencies to large hotels, from the logistics of air transport to the political economy of mobility and migration.
  Our courses, predominantly workshops and seminars, are mostly interactive and practical and are conducted by specialists in the relevant field and practitioners who either used to work in their respective field until recently or have combined teaching with their professional work.

Requirements

TheAdmission Officer will contact you when your online Application Form (not for Erasmus applicants) will be registrated. Should you have any problems, please fill PDF Application Form and send your application form to this email: admissions@swps.edu.pl Following documents will be needed for further procedure:

To apply to International Business Relations,you need:

• a certificate proving your proficiency in English, or
• the results of placement test

Documents required after the qualification and before the beginning of the academic year:

• a copy of a visa
• a copy of an insurance policy, a copy of the European Health Insurance Card or a certificate of accession to the National Healthcare System (NFZ) immediately after the beginning of studies
• the original of your high school diploma (before the process of nostrification)
• the original of the legalization/apostille (before the process of nostrification)
• the original of a Polish translation of your high school diploma and the legalization/apostille before the process of nostrification

Documents required untill the end of the 1st semester (in cases when nostrification is required):

• the original of a sworn translation into Polish of the certificate of your high school diploma and the legalization/apostille*
• a certificate of the nostrification** of your high school diploma
• the original of your high school diploma

* Legalization or Apostille is an official confirmation that a signature, seal or stamp on a document is genuine. This document stating that your diploma is valid in Poland is required for the completion of the admission process.

Work Experience

No work experience is required.

Related Scholarships*

• Academic Excellence Scholarship

  "The Academic Excellence Scholarship can provide up to a 50 % reduction in tuition per semester. These scholarships will be renewed if the student maintains superior academic performance during each semester of their 3-year Bachelor programme. The scholarship will be directly applied to the student’s tuition fees."

• Alumni Study Travel Fund

  Scholarships for students who are already attending the University of Reading.

• Amsterdam Merit Scholarships

  The University of Amsterdam aims to attract the world’s brightest students to its international classrooms. Outstanding students from outside the European Economic Area can apply for an Amsterdam Merit Scholarship.

* The scholarships shown on this page are suggestions first and foremost. They could be offered by other organisations than University of Social Sciences and Humanities.