# What are central characteristics of the International Business program that make it especially relevant for study applicants interested in business, management and economy?
The internationally fast changing economic, entrepreneurial and socio-cultural context of the last decades allows anticipating that tomorrow companies and organizations will be different, so that they will need managers with a new vision towards business administration. And, of course, in a way... tomorrow is now!
Our program in International Business provides participants with a well-founded and balanced set of knowledge and abilities in business administration that qualify them to develop managerial activities within every kind of company or organization, from start-ups to global players, from industrial companies to non-profit organizations. But where does this “new vision” come from? Well, from the fact that we understand management as a cultural practice, diversity in international organizations as a chance to generate synergy and ethics as a driving factor of today’s companies. This vision allows our graduates to grasp the relations between economic, social and environmental processes on a global, transnational and local level in a reflective way. Hence, qualifying them to innovatively generate solutions to issues and paradoxes of today’s organizations, moving themselves within the networks of a globalized world.
# What is special and unique about studying International Business at Karlshochschule?
Something very specific about the International Business program at Karlshochschule is that, along with the mentioned fundamental education in business administration, students are able to sharpen their profile by selecting one of these three specializations: Intercultural Management, focussing on an updated understanding of the interrelation between communication, culture and diversity in organizations; Responsible Business, that aims to the development of socially and environmentally sustainable concepts of business; or Marketing, setting the accent on consumer culture and digitalization. I am convinced that these very future oriented specializations, on the one hand contribute to enhance the employability of our graduates and, on the other hand, prepare them properly for their master program.
Nevertheless, studying at Karlshochschule is a special experience for a number of reasons that are not exclusive for the International Business program, but refer to the university as a whole and its diversity (and I mean this is literally: for instance, we mix groups from different study programs, because we know well that they mutually inspire and learn from each other). I’m referring to the international environment, to the cultural approach to management and society, to the attention set on ethics and citizenship, to the importance of acquiring practical experience during the study, to the constructivist didactic approach, positioning the students at the centre of the process, and to the importance granted to personality development.
# What is important to know about the relations and cooperation among students as well as between the students and professors within the International Business program?
Our classes are taught in English… but we are multilingual, multicultural, multi-ethnic and multinational, for our students have very different origins and biographies and, despite being quite young, they possess a wide range of diverse experiences, many of them internationally acquired. This is the reason why, when they work together, one has the opportunity of witnessing a magical moment of creativity and mutual motivation. I always say that the students are undoubtedly the main asset of the International Business program. They are very inquisitive and I really believe that we accomplish their expectations with a team of lecturers, who have both, an interesting combination of academic career and great research records on the one side, and strategic thinking and practical experience on the other. But we have also certain expectations: we want to attract students who are willing to actively participate in the classes and contribute with their insights. Of course for doing so they need solid fundaments; hence the International Business program steers clear from mainstream understanding of what is a “university of applied sciences” providing its students with a firm theoretical basis and a decidedly scientific set of analysis and research instruments. Therefore studying in our program is not only an exciting adventure but also an intellectual challenge. Along with this, our credo is all about interaction and exchange: Learning from first-hand experiences and observations, personal and team analysis, abstraction, development and implementation helps students to “really” autonomously develop their own knowledge and competences in a significant way. It may be through case studies or simulations and games, practical workshops or company projects - In every module our students will have the opportunity to learn from real or close-to-real situations.
