Final Phase International Agribusiness and Trade
Bachelor of Agribusiness and Business Administration
Content programme
First year
In our so-called gateway, the programme starts with two successive terms of coursework that are followed by a five-month work placement. Working through our Competence-Based Learning Approach in the first term, you will participate in a project within the vegetable-processing sector, and also study topics such as marketing & food marketing, organisation theory, logistics and quality management, financial management and project-planning methods.
The second term centers on two projects, one focusing on export opportunities and export proposals in the fish sector, and one on customer service and research in the horticultural sector. To support these projects, six other subjects are also addressed: business environment: products in their broader context; business communication: organisational issues and inter-cultural communications skills; purchase management; researching export opportunities; how to write export proposals and customer-service research.
You will also prepare for your work placement, collecting information on possible host organisations, writing letters of application, and developing your report writing skills.
The second half of the first year is spent on your work placement - possibly your first opportunity to experience real working conditions and to put theory into practice. This culminates in a written report on the placement and the organisation at which it took place. Individually and in groups, you then reflect on the placement and your experience of it.
Second year
The programme starts with two successive terms of coursework, in which you develop a complete export plan commissioned by a real company in the food and flower sector. As before, there are various support topics such as supply-chain management: a vertical look at agribusiness; efficient food-supply chains; food and flower products: their characteristics and markets; human resources management; sales techniques and Dutch language, including a background to Dutch culture and customs.
Much of the final semester will be spent at an agribusiness organisation where you will organise, conduct and present practical research on a professional issue in your chosen field and sector. This culminates in your thesis, report and defense.