Globalization has brought benefits for many stakeholders, with some disadvantages and imbalances as well. Firms are the backbone of economic systems and the main actors of the internationalization of the economy. A proper understanding of how firms can successfully manage internationalization can contribute to increasing the benefits while reducing the risks of globalization. The new integrated MSc in International Economics and Business Administration (IEBA) has a focus on firms, to prepare students to understand and manage the internationalizations processes both in Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) and SMEs. The innovative elements of this program are the a) the emphasis placed on the international choices of firms, not (only) countries or sectors; b) the combination of the rigorous approach of Economics with the relevance of Business Administration; c) the major involvement of firms and/or their associations in the program design, in the choice of its geographical coverage and in the focus on specific topics; and d) the use of innovative methodologies, such as the Service Learning, the project-work and in general the development of soft-skills to enhance the engagement of students into firms’ problems. The core HEs are the Universities of Bamberg, Bordeaux and Verona, with Porto in the making and the Wroclaw possibly further down. APs will be firms - both MNEs and SMEs, as such and/or represented by their associations - with which the faculty members of IEBA will interact constantly in building the syllabuses, in focusing on the skills to be acquired by the students, in covering the relevant countries from which to attract perspective students. Moreover, additional Academic APs will be represented by other HEIs placed in EU and non-EU countries selected, among other things, also according to their potential interest as trading partners for our graduates’ actual and potential employers and to be consistent with the overall Erasmus Mundus coverage objectives.
Globalization has brought benefits for many stakeholders, with some disadvantages and imbalances as well. Firms are the backbone of economic systems and the main actors of the internationalization of the economy. A proper understanding of how firms can successfully manage internationalization can contribute to increasing the benefits while reducing the risks of globalization. The new integrated MSc in International Economics and Business Administration (IEBA) has a focus on firms, to prepare students to understand and manage the internationalizations processes both in Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) and SMEs. The innovative elements of this program are the a) the emphasis placed on the international choices of firms, not (only) countries or sectors; b) the combination of the rigorous approach of Economics with the relevance of Business Administration; c) the major involvement of firms and/or their associations in the program design, in the choice of its geographical coverage and in the focus on specific topics; and d) the use of innovative methodologies, such as the Service Learning, the project-work and in general the development of soft-skills to enhance the engagement of students into firms’ problems. The core HEs are the Universities of Bamberg, Bordeaux and Verona, with Porto in the making and the Wroclaw possibly further down. APs will be firms - both MNEs and SMEs, as such and/or represented by their associations - with which the faculty members of IEBA will interact constantly in building the syllabuses, in focusing on the skills to be acquired by the students, in covering the relevant countries from which to attract perspective students. Moreover, additional Academic APs will be represented by other HEIs placed in EU and non-EU countries selected, among other things, also according to their potential interest as trading partners for our graduates’ actual and potential employers and to be consistent with the overall Erasmus Mundus coverage objectives.