Learn how to communicate in a way that transcends borders, and leads to lasting working relationships. Find out how cultural differences impact on the way we communicate – both verbal and non-verbal – and investigate their influence on organisational structures and business operations.

Our course topics

The background of cultural dynamics (what is culture, how does culture develop, intercultural communication awareness ...).

The impact of culture on teamwork (verbal and non-verbal communication, managing time, task distribution, dealing with hierarchy ...).

Interventions to facilitate the process of opening up (active listening, cultural dialogue ...).

Regulating mechanisms of exclusion (power balance, power sources ...).

Preventing and solving cultural misunderstandings (culture shock, cultural dialogue, conflict management, the effect of different national cultures on management styles).

Money makes the world go around. A solid sales department will attract new clients and develop existing clients in order to make more money...
We will explore sales in all its aspects from marketing and sales automation to upgrade strategies in order to create loyal clients. Sales team management and negotiation tactics will be dealt with to complete your training.
A full course set in an international environment, filled with lots of exercises and thrilling role plays.
Are you up to it?

Case studies with „real life“ simulated situations in the area of international marketing. A prerequisite is advanced knowledge in Marketing and Int. Management. Get an overview of the current internationalization and marketing strategies of multinationals as well as small/midsize companies. Learn from the chances and risks of different market penetration. Real cases with companies. Take a deeper look into Hidden Champions and their Internationalisation.
Content example:

• Global Aspects of international Trade
• Globalisation and success factors of economies
• Trade relations between Germany; Estonia and the world
• Success factors Hidden Champions Case on Stabilo
• BMW’Int. Marketing Strategy with Case BMW in South Africa
• Culture and Marketing in an int. environment
• Branding, Brand Tree case with Nestle
• Relationship Marketing
• 7 P’s of Marketing
• Marketing Controlling
• Advertising
• Marketing Plan with the case of a Small beauty company

The course is focusing on the way Imagineering contributes to the success of e-Business. Transformational next to transactional marketing brings all parties closely together and enables strong and intense personal reactions; people want to belong to and to be involved because they love to be involved.

Theory will be translated into real action when constructing in small teams an imagineering programme for a real life e-business company. This course will have an irreversible impact on your life as marketer and/or an e-business professional. We want to welcome you to the inspiring world and memorable experience of this course ‘imagineering for sustainable happiness’.

You gain a solid knowledge of Digital Marketing Solutions and its business performance metrics, Google Digital atelier theory and practice and Google Analytics in depth - theory and practice.
More info: https://grow.google/intl/europe/digital-workshop

This course will be presented in a highly interactive, dynamic manner through a series of interactive lectures/workshops. The topics to cover during the course are:

• Contemporary theory of lean start-up principles and practice
• New product development process following lean principles
• Co-creation and open innovation
• Business model design
• Revenue model design
• Lean analytics and tools
• Making a pitch for funding

The world is constantly changing.  Organizations are challenged to adapt to these changes or to perish. Therefore, the search for new opportunities is a constant concern at each level of the organization. 
In this course, you will be guided into the world of new ventures and how they can be found and evaluated. Consequently, the creative process of finding solutions to meet the demands of the new opportunities, will be trained focused on igniting specific skills and competences: Working well with others, Self-learning, Discovering and Sharing information, empathy, “Observing and Listening the others”, Working in group dynamics. 

As pillar knowledge you will learn the Design Thinking for innovation approach, model, process and creative tools. The week seminar will involve hard-work but also a playful learning environment based on exploring. Students grow a creative attitude and the right mindset to become game-changing professionals.

Complementary to thorough proficiency in English you can develop your skills in Dutch. Dutch is the local language of Antwerp where you will be living for a while. The approach concentrates largely on listening, reading and speaking. These three skills will be combined with the fourth skill, the writing skill, in your assignments.

Over 50% of the world’s population lives in cities and this percentage will increase up to 70% by 2050. Our world is facing unprecedented challenges in terms of climate. In order to stop climate change and its disastrous consequences, we need global warming to stay within a rise of 1,5 degrees Celsius. 

In the intensive course Smart & Sustainable Cities we will explore how cities can play a crucial role in adapting to the effects - and even contribute to the mitigation - of climate change. The approach is a practical one. Theoretical concepts of the Smart Sustainable City, Data sources and Commons in the City are going to be illustrated with practical examples and concrete cases, especially from the experience as commoners in the city. The course is focussed around three main domains of the smart sustainable city: Smart Urban mobility, Constructions and buildings, (Limited) Resources. The students will get the opportunity to visit a project in the city of Antwerp and make a try-out with a smart tool (Citizen Science).

This course introduces the use of information in organizations and the role of information systems in creating competitive advantage. It covers (1) information systems in competition, (2) designing information systems, (3) ethical issues, and (4) marketing applications such as CRM, SCM and digital/mobile marketing tools. The course also introduces students to critical thinking skills with practical marketing examples and case studies."

Ever wonder how marketing has been used to shape norms and promote positive social change? Never before have social challenges been more at the center of public debate. Learn how marketing can be applied outside the commercial marketplace to the solution of social problems such as drug abuse, smoking, excessive drinking and drive sustainable goals such as recycling, sustainable business, and wellbeing. Get an overview of advanced areas of interest within the marketing discipline – Sustainable Marketing and Social Marketing. Sustainable Marketing is a process that applies commercial approaches, social principles, and green initiatives to communicate and deliver value that benefits communities and the environment. Guided by ethical principles, Social Marketing aims to foster behavioural change through a synergy of activities and is a useful guide for leaders in business, the non-profit community, and governments. Contemporary issues covered in this course include the link between Sustainable, Green, and Social Marketing sub-disciplines; advertising literacy and ethics; media's role in the Social Marketing mix; and the use of fear in changing consumer behaviour for the better. You will have the opportunity to discuss, analyse and evaluate a variety of marketing strategies that can support social change. Inspired by real-world examples and highly interactive workshops, you will be challenged to design your own creative Social Marketing Campaign for a non-profit organisation with a potential real-world implementation. In doing so, the course seeks to encourage well-informed understanding of emerging areas in the field of marketing. 

The course has been designed to get students to understand current and coming technologies and their impact on the brand to consumer interaction. The course is taught by a three times IMAX movie director & entrepreneur, together with a former B2B marketer, TikTok creator and academic. It teaches students to assess technological impacts on sectors, companies, brands and particularly modern marketing. It opens students’ eyes to understand how different geographic regions differ in technology adoption and how culture, habits, and legislation shapes technology adoption behavior. Throughout the course, students will be immersed into the world of blended reality, designing the future brand to marketplace interaction for two real life companies. Students will therefore not only be challenged to tackle the emergent language of immersive technologies, its limitations, ethical considerations or costs, but also how to manage a complex project in an international environment. This includes convincing an organisation’s top management of the threats and opportunities immersive technologies hold and why a particular organisation should invest into these technologies. After completing this course, students will gained new insights and an understanding of the world of innovative technologies and how these are likely to disrupt how humans, consumers and brands interact with information and each other. 

The digitalisation of our world and the perceived value for each generation, changed the way "marketing" can play a role in the business of tomorrow. Mr. Kotler's “4P” or “5/6C” model has been challenged by modern technologies and consumer's way-of-thinking (sustainability, local solutions on a global scale, personalization, ...). It's important to evolve as "future marketeer" using the frameworks of (modern) marketing theories in order to choose the right positioning for your brand/product/service. The course focusses on the latest trends in the different marketing theories and models. During each session, we will firstly elaborate the marketing topics in theory, which are then put into practice and discussed in smaller groups.   If you want to know why SAVE is a much more "modern" and practical model than the classical "4P" from our beloved Mr. Kotler, then we expect you very soon in this course. 

This course will prepare you to assist the CEO in building and steering the corporate reputation of the company as well as his/her personal reputation both in a traditional PR/PA environment as well as in a digital, social connected world.

• The importance of a corporate reputation for all the stakeholders of an organisation.
• The correlation between corporate reputation and (financial) performance.
• The building of reputation capital (respecting the 3P principle).
• The principles of good reputation management (visibility, differentiation, authenticity, transparency and consistency).
• The digital back reputation campaign.
• Issues- and crisis management.

Complementary to thorough proficiency in English you can develop your skills in Dutch. Dutch is the local language of Antwerp where you will be living for a while. The approach concentrates largely on listening, reading and speaking. These three skills will be combined with the fourth skill, the writing skill, in your assignments.

Calculations and projections are important tools in business management. Learn how to work with statistics, market data and mathematical functions to develop simulations and forecasts in this hands-on seminar.

During this course, you will be part of a team of about 50 students that will work together on the 'Week of Sustainable Entrepreneurship' in Antwerp. During this 'Blended Intensive you will collaborate on sustainable & circular challenges of local entrepreneurs and learn about innovative approaches and views towards Sustainable Entrepreneurship. At the background are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from the UN which are an urgent call for action by all countries - developed and developing - in a global partnership.

During the project week, the students, coaches and organizations will work with the critical friend method. During the project week and 2 online sessions in advance, they work through the 'Critical Friend' method that was developed by the research group 'Entrepreneurship in Change' of the Hanze and of which the students receive a certificate. The 'Critical Friend' method is an instrument for equal interaction and knowledge sharing. The 'Critical Friend' sessions involve all participants in the challenge, including residents, for example. During the work, participants formulate challenges and present these challenges in a 'Critical Friend' circle.

In Antwerp, international groups of students will work together for a week on the sustainability challenges and cases of entrepreneurs. The participants are Belgian and Erasmus students from Karel de Grote, students from JAMK (Finland) and students from the Hanze University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands.

This course focuses on how consumers behave in respect to their (1) budgets, (2) acquisitions, (3) usage, and (4) disposal or trading-in of goods.

The Leadership and People Management course takes a two-fold approach to leadership practices and the different challenges of managing people in the multicultural and diverse workplace of the post-Covid world. Incorporating theoretical studies and  practical exercises, a mix between an academic approach and a business training, the course is structured around lectures, interactive sessions, workshops, individual and group presentations. Use will be made of case studies (Harvard Business Review), video and other material. Student work includes role plays, games, and concrete projects of varying degrees of difficulty. Students will study different areas within the three important building blocks in leadership and managing people.   

• Psychological with a focus on the individual

Example themes such as: emotional intelligence, discovering value systems, self-limiting beliefs, self-awareness, self-discipline and self-motivation.

• Social-psychological with a focus on the relational

Example themes such as: power and influence, motivation vs manipulation, empowerment and engagement, teamwork and communication skills.

• Situational context with a focus on the organisation

Example themes such as: organisational design, organisational culture, challenges of a multicultural workplace, risk vs crisis management and geopolitical and economic challenges in the post-pandemic world.

Delve into the inner workings of international trade. Develop your knowledge of documents in international trade, compare and evaluate payments and financing techniques such as documentary credit arrangements, and learn how to apply Incoterms ® to international trade transactions.

To be competitive in this era means having a supply chain that is innovative, sustainable, and digital. Organisations are aware of the significance of the supply chain seen as their backbone and cornerstone of their competitive edge. This course explores and explains how supply chains have evolved and become more adaptive and digital than ever before. The consequences of supply chain innovations and how it sets in motion transformations and transitions of the supply chain and value chain will be addressed and used to set the stage for a company simulation. In this course we want to give you the tools and techniques to identify and analyse supply chain innovation and see how this affects its governance. Are you ready for this challenge? 

The Belt & Road Initiative (BRI), also known as The New Silk Road will change the logistics patterns between China and Europe: how did transport, trade flows and supply chain organisation between China, Eurasia and Europe change over the last ten years and how will it look like in the near future? In this course you will get a picture of the logistic changes and trade potential this “project of the 21th century “ will give. 
We look at Chinese investments in several European and Eurasian countries, among which the new developed rail connection between Western China and Germany and the Chinese owned port of Piraeus in Greece. How are these countries connected to the BRI? Trade between these countries and China will be pictured and also legal aspects, like customs, sanctions and other restrictions in trade between countries, like Russia, China and Iran will be described. 

In this introductory course an overview of different maritime topics will be provided. As such, the students can build an overall picture of the importance of maritime transport and will get a base knowledge of the composing elements. Topics that will be covered include the different types of cargo and ships, the difference between liner shipping and chartering, the importance of containerisation, types of containers, the use of flags of convenience, safety in shipping (conventions of international organisations and loadlines), types of ports, handling equipment, etc. When the student has finalised the course he will have an overall picture of the maritime and port sector.

Get an insight into the SAFE-framework of the World Customs Organization (WCO) and see how this impacts global customs procedures. Dig deeper into the world of customs and understand how it shapes international trade policy and what it means for economic operators

Cross border trade and global procurement is an established and natural phenomenon. Learn to assess the risks involved by simulating an import or export transaction. Carry out an in-depth analysis of a product, its market appeal, the country where it was manufactured and the supply chain. Check the legal obligations under your sale contract such as delivery, customs clearance and payment. Draft the necessary contracts for sale, finance, transport and insurance, and have a sound grasp of the legal ramifications in the event of a breach.

The course builds on, and extends, concepts experienced in “Foundations of Business Administration”.
The four pillars of general management (planning, organising, leading and controlling) will be revisited. Links will be introduced from these four pillars to strategic choices and made apparent through cases.

• Sustainability of Management as the core of Strategic Management
• What is Strategic Management – definition and basics 
• Why Strategic Management – conceptual framework 
• Normative, strategic and operative management 
• Strategic analysis external view 
• Strategic analysis internal view 
• Strategic formulation at business level 
• Strategic formulation at corporate level 
• Strategic implementation 
• System and structure in context to strategic management 
• Hidden Champions
• Mid-Size Companies strategy
• Selected specific strategic topics (innovation, internationalization...)