International Business

Examinations handbook – International Business

You can find information about the exams, as well as about the registration and deregistration deadlines, in the examination schedule and in myHAW.

Please be sure to register (or deregister) for your exams on time via myHAW. Registration requests will not be accepted after the deadline. If you write an exam that you are not registered for, it will not be considered as completed.

Examinations handbook

Course curriculum

The course offers a systematic approach to business intelligence and advanced data analytics. Various statistical methods and data mining techniques are introduced in theory and practice using case studies.

Special emphasis is placed on methods for processing relevant information and summarising analytical results in order to gain new insights relevant for the strategic objectives and decisional support of a company.

The area of business intelligence tools is complemented by selected topics on competitive analytics intended to help companies assess relevant factors and drivers of success vis-à-vis competitors, customers or markets.

The course focuses on the major issues and underlying concepts of modern corporate finance. Topics will be addressed from the perspective of large corporates with international activities, i.e. multinational enterprises. It examines in detail the core theories of corporate finance that can be used to develop and evaluate rules for financial decision-making. The implications of these concepts for operational management problems and for strategic boardroom decisions are also discussed.

Topics covered include the net present valuation and separation theorem (Hirshleifer, 1985), the equity valuation model (Gordon and Shapiro, 1956), the irrelevance of the debt-to-equity ratio (Modigliani and Miller, 1958), the irrelevance of dividend policy (Modigliani and Miller, 1961), the agency theory models (Jensen and Meckling, 1976), the capital asset pricing model (Sharpe, 1964; Lintner, 1965) and the efficient markets hypothesis (Fama, 1970). Additionally, portfolio allocation theory (Markowitz, 1952) and option pricing model (Black and Scholes, 1973) are touched upon.

The seminar prepares students to manage processes within organisations and in different cross-cultural business and management contexts and helps students develop a critical awareness of the complexity of managing culturally diverse organisations.

Drawing from advanced research on the impact of national and subcultures on organisations, it explores the effects of cultural diversity on central management processes on the one hand and aims to increase students' understanding and consciousness of their own practices, assumptions and beliefs with regard to organisational behaviour on the other.

Students develop transferable skills that will enhance their performance in cross-cultural working and international business environments and their ability to deal with people problems within organisations.

The course enables students to develop financial models that support management decisions. The theoretical framework is based on the principles of modern managerial and financial accounting. The focus is on financial analysis, integrated planning of financial forecasts, and valuation. The technical aspects of spreadsheet modelling are also addressed. The course looks at corporates and projects in the form of foreign direct investments, with greenfield and brownfield projects also touched upon. It discusses modelling options and underlying theoretical concepts, examining their impact on model outcome.

Topics addressed include discounted cash flow models in the form of the weighted average cost of capital approach, the flow to equity approach and the income approach as well as valuations based on economic value added and cash flow value added. The course is designed to enable students to develop an individual approach to economic problems while strengthening their technical skill sets.
 

This module provides a managerial approach to the legal and ethical issues that come along with the operation of international businesses.

Students acquire expertise on the regulatory environment for management decisions through case-based learning. The cases address issues relating to different areas of law, such as the EU single market, competition law, IP law and licensing, manager liability, investor relations/ad hoc reporting obligations, corporate governance, the handling and management of contracts and standard trade terms, data protection law, etc.

Students learn to understand markets and market institutions as regulatory constructs and become aware of the potential strategic relevance of policy decisions. They obtain a deeper understanding of essential legal institutions by applying selected methods used in the economic analysis of law.

The course covers topics related to international logistics, cross-business cooperation alongside the supply chain, and the creation of international supply chains.

It provides an understanding of the core physical and administrative processes in international logistics. Based on this understanding of the supply chain links, the course then analyses some of the main tasks in logistics management. Students also study topics related to the management of international supply chains. Using relevant case studies, they analyse the link between a company's supply chain strategy and its corporate strategy as a central element of existing logistics conceptions.

The module provides in-depth insights into the operation of the international monetary system – particularly the European monetary system – and its connections with companies' activities, particularly with respect to its financial conditions.
 
Students in the course acquire the ability to draw conclusions about the impact of monetary policy decisions on financial markets and the real economy.
 
The module considers more recent approaches to the macro-economic analysis of monetary policy decisions, thereby providing an integrated perspective on the interaction between monetary authorities, financial markets and international corporations.

The course provides an understanding of the development and current position of MNEs in the global economy and focuses on their distinctive features. It looks at the issues and underlying concepts of international business activity involving MNEs and host/home country institutions. The patterns and main determinants of MNE activity are analysed based on the revisited OLI paradigm (Dunning, 2008).

Further topics covered include an internal and external perspective on MNE activity, including the analysis of MNE internationalisation processes based on the value-added network approach (internal), as well as the impact of MNE activity on the following dimensions of the host/home country economy (external): economic growth, employment and human capital development, technological capacity and innovation potential, balance of payments and the structure of trade, market structure, spillovers and linkages. In addition, emerging market multinationals (EMMs) and their strategic choices are analysed in the context of appropriate case studies.

In the course, students learn how to use technology to implement efficient business processes and develop competitive products and services.

A major focus is the new product development business process, from the generation of new ideas to the launch of new products and services. The role of CAD and virtual prototyping technologies is discussed, as well as the application of lean and total quality management methods.

The objective of the strategic management course is to provide students with advanced knowledge of corporate-level strategies and the strategic process. As prospective managers in an international enterprise, students are given the opportunity to analyse business opportunities for international companies. They are thus introduced to an integrated theoretical and practice-oriented perspective on strategic analysis and strategic management – with a focus on corporate-level strategies and internationalisation.

The objective of the strategic marketing course is to provides students with advanced knowledge of the state of international marketing strategies based on business and corporate-level strategies. As prospective brand managers in an international enterprise, students are given the opportunity to strategically support the launch or relaunch of a national or an international brand. They are thus introduced to an integrated theoretical and practice-oriented perspective on international marketing strategies.

General examination and study regulations for the Bachelor's and Master's degree courses in the Department of Business, Faculty of Business and Social Sciences, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (APSO-W), 22 November 2012

First amendment to the general examination and study regulations for the Bachelor's and Master's degree courses in the Department of Business, Faculty of Business and Social Sciences, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (APSO-W), 28 August 2020 (in German only)

Degree-course-specific examination and study regulations for the International Business (M.Sc.) Master's degree course at Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, 28 November 2013

International Business (M.Sc.) degree course, April 2016

Course timetable

Information about your timetable

Examination schedule – current semester

Deregistration for the exam in the summer semester 2023

Information sheet for exam registration 2023

Link to FORMS deregistration form

Application for recognition of credits completed at universities (in German only)

Application for recognition of skills attained outside a university setting (in German only)

Statutes on recognition of credits (in German only)

Please see the Information sheet for students on recognition and calculation of credits (in German only)

Application to interrupt and withdraw from an exam pursuant to section 24 of the general examination and study regulations (APSO-W) for health-related reasons

Application to extend the deadline for a written exercise for health-related reasons

Sick note (Krankmeldung) for an exam

Application to complete a Bachelor's or Master's thesis

Application to extend the submission deadline

Declaration of consent for online publication

The usual time allocated to complete a Master's thesis following receipt of the application is 26 weeks.

You can find detailed information in the general examination and study regulations for the Department of Business.