Programme Curriculum
The curriculum has been designed to empower working professionals to make informed decisions. Students develop confidence in decision-making by regularly solving an average of 24 practical management problems, as opposed to simply memorising theory for the purpose of passing examinations.
GMBA 6100
6 ECTS
International Management
In Module GMBA 6100, students gain an understanding of how their workplace is interconnected with the broader international context. They assess the impact of globalisation and the significant technological changes on their workplaces, both in the present and for the foreseeable future. This knowledge serves as a foundation for discussions on strategy in Module GMBA 6200, which focuses on Strategy and Transformation.
Additionally, IBR encourages students to evaluate their skills in communication and negotiation across cultural boundaries. To help them recognise the distinctive characteristics of their home country within the global landscape, students will be tasked with designing a proposal aimed at attracting foreign direct investment to their workplace.
Course units include:
- The Nature of International Business
- Cross Cultural Management
- International Business Law
GMBA 6200
10 ECTS
Strategy and Transformation
In Module GMBA 6200, IBR shifts the focus from international environments to the students’ role as manager and the specific context of their workplace, which could be an existing company, a start-up, a non-profit organisation, or a strategic business unit. IBR provides students with the opportunity to evaluate their personal management skills and the principles they apply in leading and supervising the people in their immediate professional sphere.
One of the key determinants of success in an executive position lies in the ability to effectively manage both themself and the individuals around them. In the second part of this module, IBRs encourages students to formulate strategies in a world characterized by uncertainty and unpredictability. IBR undertakes this endeavour within the classroom in a residential periods and also in the context of the students’ own workplace.
IBR examines how to adeptly navigate the business landscape, particularly within the students’ own workplace, in a time when digital technology and artificial intelligence are reshaping the way one conducts business. This module serves as a foundational element of the MBA programme.
Course units include:
- Principles of effective management
- Tasks and tools of effective management
- Strategy residential
- Mastering Complexity through Navigation
GMBA 6300
10 ECTS
Finance
In Module GMBA 6300, students engage in the analysis and assessment of their company or workplace's performance by examining financial data and other relevant information that they have access to. Furthermore, as part of this analysis, students also evaluate their personal case's performance, which may involve considering potential investments based on an analysis of internal account data.
Lastly, IBR challenges students to plan for ongoing performance improvements based on the insights and conclusions drawn from their previous analysis and the experiences gained during the residential period.
Course units include:
- Financial Accounting
- Financial Planning
- Finance residential
- Advanced Financial Planning
GMBA 6400
10 ECTS
Marketing
In Module GMBA 6400, IBR initiates by defining and analysing marketing opportunities. IBR guides students through the process by addressing questions such as how to establish a market for a new product or service and how to expand into new geographical markets for an existing product or service.
Next, students delve into the significance of marketing research and how it can contribute to reducing risks associated with making marketing decisions.
The marketing residential segment provides students with an opportunity to craft a comprehensive marketing plan for a product or service of their choice. Alternatively, they may opt to work on a start-up concept as a personal case and develop a marketing plan for it.
To conclude the marketing module, students explore in greater depth the strategies for entering the market. This encompasses considerations on how to efficiently reach their target customers, select cost-effective sales and promotion channels, and potentially form crucial partnerships.
Course units include:
- Strategic Marketing
- Marketing Research
- Marketing residential
- Leading Marketing Innovations
GMBA 6500
10 ECTS
Human Resources
In Module GMBA 6500, students explore the concept of human resources as a strategic asset, meant to align with and support their company or workplace's overall strategy. This module provides them with an opportunity to assess their own role within an ongoing employee development programme. This assessment includes exploring options for enhancing existing systems for evaluating the performance of the HR department.
The HR residential segment is designed as a practical workshop. It offers dedicated time for introspection on the students’ leadership qualities and prospects for personal development. As a result of academic discussions on skill development, students gain insight into why the greatest danger lies not in failure but in achieving success without a clear understanding of why.
To conclude this module, IBR shares with students the knowledge about developing management skills and how to cultivate productive, healthy, satisfying, and growth-promoting relationships with others in their work environment. The aim is to assist them in enhancing their personal management competencies and effecting positive changes in your behaviour.
Course units include:
- Learning and Employee Development
- Appraisal and Performance of HR
- Human Resources residential
- Development of Management Skills
GMBA 6600
10 ECTS
Operations
To begin, IBR equips students with the skills necessary to enhance their personal performance as a project manager. In the second part of this module, we initiate a discussion on how operational activities can align with and support the broader business strategy, regardless of whether students are involved in the service or manufacturing sector. This conversation also delves into what scholars consider the primary role of operations during the era of globalisation, which is supply chain management.
Both operational and supply chain management serve as the fundamental components for exploring the fourth industrial revolution, known as Industry 4.0, with its origins in Germany. The operations residential segment provides students with the opportunity to witness Industry 4.0 in action and derive practical insights that can be applied in their own workplace.
In the final course unit, IBR introduces students to the balanced scorecard approach, which helps organisations translate their strategies into appropriate metrics for monitoring success. This unit integrates many of the concepts and principles they have learned throughout the course units on strategy, finance, marketing, operations, and human resources.
Course units include:
- Project Management
- Operations Processes and Supply Chain Management
- Operations residential
- Strategic Performance Management
GMBA 6800
6 ECTS
Digital Leadership and Transformation
Students enrolled in Module GMBA 6800 should not expect to be promoted to the role of chief programmers upon graduation. Instead, the focus of this module is to help students gain an understanding of how digitisation and the profound technological transformation are reshaping the way business is conducted in the contemporary world. IBR aims to convey the actions that must be taken today to ensure the sustainability of their business in the future.
As students approach graduation, IBR provides them with an opportunity to revisit and apply the knowledge they have acquired by evaluating how digitisation may potentially disrupt the operational aspects of managing their workplace. Specifically, this assessment will centre around the sales component of their business model, and they integrate the insights gained from Module 6800 into a revised strategy map.
Course units include:
- Innovation and Digital Technology
- IT and Customer Relations
- Managing IT and Strategy
GMBA 6999
20 ECTS
Master Thesis
With finalising your own research project, the Global MBA comes to an end. As experienced throughout the programme, we ask you to solve a practical management problem again, which obviously differs in scope from smaller assignments you wrote before. Important for IBR is that you will create value for you personally and/or the company that you selected as a case.
This module starts with a comprehensive research residential that guides you step by step in designing a very practical road map for your research project. Opposite to all other residential periods, the research professor works with each student on a one-on-one basis. This offers you a maximum of personal attention and guarantees that you have a very clear perspective of how to tackle your research project.
Those students that plan to continue their education at PhD level – perhaps even the Global MBA like many IBR graduates – will particularly enjoy Module 6999 as it sets a solid foundation for doing research in industry and academia.
