IB - International Trade (B.A.)

Study language English Intake Spring + Fall Duration 6 semesters
ECTS 180 Type of study Full Time Qualification Bachelor
Semester abroad Integrated Internship Integrated Campus Cologne
Tuition (Cologne) 5.310 €* Financing More info >>
*The displayed prices are semester fees. For non-EU students' fees please check the tuition fees information page. Status: Jan 2020.

Study Course Plan

Semester 1 Semester 2 Semester 3 Semester 4 Semester Abroad Semester 6

Business Operations
3 ECTS

  • Introduction: Basic business, economic, and market principles and key terms
  • External Business Environment
  • Global Markets
  • Competitive Environment
  • Internal Environment
  • Management, Leadership & Motivation
  • Business Function: HR
  • Business Function: Operations
  • Business Function: Marketing
  • Business Function: Finance and Accounting
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Business Ethics and CSR
  • Emerging Business Trends

Business Law
3 ECTS

  • Survey on different legal systems and the harmonizing effect of EU Law
  • Concluding a contract
  • Different types of contracts and their typical features
  • Performance and obligations
  • Solving problems (e.g. failure to perform, liabilities)
  • Safeguarding creditors’ rights
  • Forms of business organizations

Mathematics
3 ECTS

  • Introduction to functions, graphs and interpretations
  • Understanding Derivatives
  • Applications of Derivatives
  • Understanding Differential Equations
  • Applications of Differential Equations
  • Understanding Logarithms
  • Applications of Logarithms

Statistics
3 ECTS

  • Introducing data and statistics
  • Descriptive statistics and exploratory data analysis
  • Introduction to probability theory
  • Discrete and continuous probability distributions
  • Sampling and sampling distributions
  • Interval estimations
  • Hypothesis development and testing
  • Simple linear regressions

Financial Accounting
3 ECTS

  • The purpose of accounting
  • Formal rules and assumptions, national law, IFRS, US-GAAP
  • The system of financial statements and accounts
  • Accounting for services and merchandising
  • Inventory valuation
  • Receivables
  • Plant, natural and intangible assets
  • Liabilities
  • Owner’s equity of corporations
  • Value-added tax
  • Accrual accounting
  • Basic ratio analysis

Applied Financial Accounting
3 ECTS

Marketing
3 ECTS

  • Marketing Definition and Process
  • Marketing in Context of Corporate Strategies
  • Internal Analysis and Marketing Environment (Micro)
  • Marketing Environment (Macro)
  • Consumer Buying Behaviour
  • Market Segmentation
  • Strategic Brand Management
  • Marketing Instruments (Product, Price Place, Promotion)
  • Marketing and Sustainability

Human Resource Management
3 ECTS

  • Recruitment and Attraction
  • HR Planning, Controlling & Instruments
  • Training and Employee Development
  • Motivation and Leadership
  • Compensation and Benefits
  • Performance Appraisal and Management
  • Certificate of employment
  • HR Ethics
  • Trends in HRM

Foreign Language
2 ECTS

The focus of the module is on introducing language for both business and academic study purposes. The aim of the courses are to build competencies in a second foreign language (e.g. Spanish, French) either in continuation of their prior knowledge or at a beginners’ level. Next to the second foreign language the moduls 19 and 20 (first and second semester) contain a Business English course.

Business English
2 ECTS

The aim of this course is to solidify the students’ existing language competencies, as independent users of English, and to enable them to apply this to their studies, focusing on educational and business domains. Since English is the medium of instruction in their respective study programmes, students are expected to reach a proficient user level in English within the first year.

Personal Skills
2 ECTS

Soft skills courses help students to develop interpersonal skills. These courses aim to enable the students to develop and/or strengthen relevant skills that are of particular interest to them or that are seen as a prerequisite for employee selection in particular work sectors. Courses are offered in the fields of

  • Scientific Working and Study Skills
  • Rhetoric and Presentation Skills
  • Business and Society

Microeconomics
3 ECTS

  • Introduction into microeconomic models
  • Consumer theory
  • The theory of the firm
  • Competitive markets
  • Market failure:
  • Market power and monopoly
  • Oligopoly and monopolistic competition
  • Externalities
  • Asymmetric information
  • Introduction to game theory

Applied Microeconomics
3 ECTS

Supply Management
3 ECTS

  • Industrial Buying Behaviour
  • New perception of supply management
  • The procurement marketing process
  • Situation Analysis: Defining critical supply problems, potentials, targets and strategies
  • Need Analysis: Defining the demand
  • Evaluating and Selecting Supply Markets
  • Supplier Evaluation: Find the ‘right supplier’
  • Supplier Relationship Management: Importance of supplier collaborations
  • Supplier Negotiation Process: Strategies and tools
  • Green procurement: Describing a sustainable procurement model
  • Creating a basis for sustainable procurement and integrating sustainable measures into procurement processes
  • Sustainable supplier management: Key theories and practices

Strategic Management
3 ECTS

  • Introduction to Strategy and Strategic Management
  • External Analysis: understanding opportunities and threats the environment offers
  • Internal Analysis: uncovering strengths and weaknesses of the organization
  • Generic business-level strategies for competitive advantage
  • Basic Corporate-level strategic choices for long-term profitability
  • Diversification strategy
  • Internationalization
  • Mergers and acquisitions
  • Strategic entrepreneurship
  • Strategic leadership
  • Social Responsibility and Ethics of Strategic Management
  • Basics of Corporate Governance

Market Research
3 ECTS

  • Introduction to Market Research
  • Defining the marketing research problem and developing an approach
  • Research design
  • Secondary Data
  • Qualitative research
  • Quantitative research
  • Scaling and sampling
  • Fieldwork and Data preparation
  • Basic data analysis (how to use it)
  • Report preparation and presentation

Cost Accounting
3 ECTS

  • Rationales of cost accounting
  • Simplistic methods of overhead allocation
  • Job costing
  • Process costing
  • Activity-based costing
  • Overcapacity costing
  • Joint product costing
  • Overhead analysis sheet
  • Concepts of relevant cost and revenue
  • Budgeting

Introduction To Finance
6 ECTS

  • Finance: Goals, Functions and Environment
  • Financial analysis and Financial Forecasting
  • Managing Working Capital
  • Sources of Short-Term Financing
  • Capital Markets and Investment Banking
  • External financing resources: Debt capital
  • External financing resources: Equity capital
  • Capital Budgeting: The Time Value of Money
  • Capital structure and the Cost of Capital

Business English
2 ECTS

The aim of this course is to solidify the students’ existing language competencies, as independent users of English, and to enable them to apply this to their studies, focusing on educational and business domains. Since English is the medium of instruction in their respective study programmes, students are expected to reach a proficient user level in English within the first year.

Foreign Language
2 ECTS

The focus of the module is on introducing language for both business and academic study purposes. The aim of the courses are to build competencies in a second foreign language (e.g. Spanish, French) either in continuation of their prior knowledge or at a beginners’ level. Next to the second foreign language the moduls 19 and 20 (first and second semester) contain a Business English course.

Personal Skills
2 ECTS

Soft skills courses help students to develop interpersonal skills. These courses aim to enable the students to develop and/or strengthen relevant skills that are of particular interest to them or that are seen as a prerequisite for employee selection in particular work sectors. Courses are offered in the fields of

  • Scientific Working and Study Skills
  • Rhetoric and Presentation Skills
  • Business and Society

Macroeconomics
3 ECTS

  • Indicators: Gross Domestic Product and its major components, Inflation
  • Labour Markets and unemployment
  • The classical AS-AD model
  • Keynes’ IS-LM Model
  • The basic RBC model
  • Monetary Policy
  • Fiscal Policy

Applied Macroeconomics
3 ECTS

International Management
3 ECTS

  • Determinants & dimensions of culture in business
  • Culture & styles of management
  • Culture & corporate structures
  • Culture & leadership
  • Culture & corporate strategy
  • Cultural change in organisations
  • Culture and international marketing management
  • Cultural diversity in organisations
  • Business communication across culture & barriers to intercultural communication
  • Working with international teams
  • Conflicts & cultural differences
  • Developing intercultural communicative competence

Digital Management
3 ECTS

  • Global competition and the transnational corporation in the global economy
  • Emerging markets
  • Institutions governing competition
  • Formal and informal institutions
  • Organizational designs for multinational companies
  • Location-based aspects: Competitive advantages of countries
  • Organization, local adaptation and the need for standardization
  • New approaches in International Management (Born Global, QRC, …)
  • Networks and innovation
  • Managing people in multinational enterprises
  • Managing expatriates
  • Leadership and management behaviour in multinational companies

Integrative Case Study
3 ECTS

International Trade Management
3 ECTS

International Trade Theory & Policy
3 ECTS

International Trade Law
3 ECTS

Foreign Language
4 ECTS

The focus of the module is on introducing language for both business and academic study purposes. The aim of the courses are to build competencies in a second foreign language (e.g. Spanish, French) either in continuation of their prior knowledge or at a beginners’ level. Next to the second foreign language the moduls 19 and 20 (first and second semester) contain a Business English course.

Personal Skills
2 ECTS

Soft skills courses help students to develop interpersonal skills. These courses aim to enable the students to develop and/or strengthen relevant skills that are of particular interest to them or that are seen as a prerequisite for employee selection in particular work sectors. Courses are offered in the fields of

  • Scientific Working and Study Skills
  • Rhetoric and Presentation Skills
  • Business and Society

Corporate Tax
3 ECTS

The overall aim of this module is to introduce students to the basic concepts of corporate taxation, especially the different types of taxes, transparent and intransparent entities and the value added tax.

Management Information Systems
3 ECTS

  • IT and MIS as enablers of strategic decision making
  • E-business, networks, and mobile technology
  • Infrastructure, hardware and software
  • Databases and data warehouses
  • Business Intelligence
  • Networks and communications
  • Operations management and supply chain management
  • Enterprise resource planning
  • Limitations and risks of IT systems and applications
  • MIS market trends, major providers and IT solutions.
  • The role of social media in business
  • Industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things

Business Elective 1
3 ECTS

These courses aim to enable the students to develop and/or strengthen relevant skills that are of particular interest to them. Electives allow students to expand their knowledge.

The following are examples of the types of courses on offer:

  • International Marketing
  • International Human Resource Management
  • Organisational Behaviour
  • Global Supply Chain Management
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Diversity in Business
  • Corporate Social Responsibility
  • International Accounting
  • Advanced Statistics
  • Design Thinking
  • Quantitative Social Media Research
  • SAP as Enterprise Resource Planning Software
  • Snack Content
  • Harvesting and analyzing social media data for business purposes
  • Industry 4.0

Business Elective 2
3 ECTS

These courses aim to enable the students to develop and/or strengthen relevant skills that are of particular interest to them. Electives allow students to expand their knowledge.

The following are examples of the types of courses on offer:

  • International Marketing
  • International Human Resource Management
  • Organisational Behaviour
  • Global Supply Chain Management
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Diversity in Business
  • Corporate Social Responsibility
  • International Accounting
  • Advanced Statistics
  • Design Thinking
  • Quantitative Social Media Research
  • SAP as Enterprise Resource Planning Software
  • Snack Content
  • Harvesting and analyzing social media data for business purposes
  • Industry 4.0

Business Project
6 ECTS

The overall objective of this course is to provide students with possibility of applying their business knowledge on concrete business situation (real or scenario-based), related to the field of their specialization.

By the end of the module students should be able to:

  • Define project goals for the “client”.
  • Work under the set timeframe and agreed project scope.
  • Cooperate in the international project teams.
  • Plan and conduct secondary and primary research to gather necessary information: understand which information is needed and where to look for it.
  • Conduct analysis of the “client business”: be able to understand the researched information in a wider context.
  • Evaluate markets/ industries/ competitive landscapes.
  • Develop possible strategic directions for the “client” business.
  • Formulate recommendations

Global Supply Chain Management
3 ECTS

Strategies Of Multinational Enterprises
3 ECTS

Foreign Language
4 ECTS

The focus of the module is on introducing language for both business and academic study purposes. The aim of the courses are to build competencies in a second foreign language (e.g. Spanish, French) either in continuation of their prior knowledge or at a beginners’ level. Next to the second foreign language the moduls 19 and 20 (first and second semester) contain a Business English course.

Personal Skills
2 ECTS

Soft skills courses help students to develop interpersonal skills. These courses aim to enable the students to develop and/or strengthen relevant skills that are of particular interest to them or that are seen as a prerequisite for employee selection in particular work sectors. Courses are offered in the fields of

  • Scientific Working and Study Skills
  • Rhetoric and Presentation Skills
  • Business and Society

Semester Abroad
25 ECTS

Students spend their fifth semester abroad at one of our many distinguished partner universities. The CBS International Office helps students to find the right university, prepare their application and select suitable courses ahead of time.

Bachelor Thesis Tutorial
1 ECTS

During the Bachelor Thesis Tutorial you will learn the fundamentals for your Bachelor thesis: Defining the topic as well as structuring the thesis and you will learn the theoretical knowledge for scientific working.

Bachelor Thesis
12 ECTS

During your 6th semester you are working on your Bachelor thesis. You have 12 weeks to complete your thesis and the subject is freely selectible. A supervisor from CBS will support you and you can write the thesis in collaboration with a company as well.

International Trade & Finance
3 ECTS

Omn­channel Commerce
3 ECTS

Business Simulation Game
4 ECTS

In a business simulation game participants have to manage their own virtual company which operates in the same market as other participant-operated competitors. This involves making typical management decisions in realistic environments. Beside the deepening and active examination of subject-specific knowledge the simulation games also include the team environment, where interaction, communication and prioritization are of paramount importance. Participants learn how to manage risk and uncertainty while time is limited and information constrained. Group-reflections help to take over different perspectives and to discuss pros and cons of content- as well as behaviour-related actions.

Personal Skills
2 ECTS

Soft skills courses help students to develop interpersonal skills. These courses aim to enable the students to develop and/or strengthen relevant skills that are of particular interest to them or that are seen as a prerequisite for employee selection in particular work sectors. Courses are offered in the fields of

  • Scientific Working and Study Skills
  • Rhetoric and Presentation Skills
  • Business and Society
general business teaching units
programme specific teaching units
interdisciplinary competencies
elective area

A national or international internship is firmly anchored in the curriculum during the semester break. Starting in the summer semester, Bachelor students complete an internship between the 5th and 6th semesters. If the programme starts in the winter semester, the internship takes place between the 4th and 5th semesters. Our Career Services department will help you find a suitable company.

Melanie Damrow

+49 (0) 221 93 18 09-31

Get in touch

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Major in International Trade: Trade Management Studies

Trade is becoming ever more international, more diverse – and more exciting. Thanks to free trade, less boundaries, digitalization and fast logistics, today just about everyone can order a smartphone directly from China and have it in their hands two days later. Or dinner ingredients can be delivered fresh and right to home – a logistical masterpiece. Trade is an industry that is constantly reinventing itself and where anything is possible. This is a challenge for large multichannel trading companies and e-commerce only providers, who, in order to stay on the right track, are looking for experts who have a holistic view of purchasing opportunities, sales channels and consumer behaviour. If you study trade management with us, you will be among the most sought-after professionals, a master of traditional and digital commerce, moving billions for large corporations later on.

Studying trade management at CBS is part of the International Business Studies programme where you will specialize in International Trade. Lectures are held in English. In semesters 3 to 6 you will acquire deep business knowledge, starting with the basic principles: theories of international trade and trade management as well as international commercial law and customs regulations. This enables you to already start working on a business project in the fourth semester, where you will solve a task in the field of international trade – either as a case study or with an actual partner company. Including a presentation. The practical orientation is so important to us because of its profound importance in getting your career underway.

Master supply chain management globally

Goods and information flow freely between companies. All around the globe. Complex networks have emerged. Mastering them requires knowledge, skills and understanding. A Trade Management study will enable you to manage the complex supply chains of future employers and ensure that the right goods are in the right place at the right time.

Become familiar with multinational strategies

A globally operating trade company has multiple possibilities for handling flows of goods. In which countries should purchases be made? Which markets can be dominated? How to organize the logistics? How to finance the goods? How important is e-commerce? On the basis of up-to-date business cases, you will discuss options and learn how to develop your own strategies.

Internationality is key. And the basis of this study

Studying International Trade Management with us in English is a logical conclusion. After all, English is the language you will need later on in your career. No matter which country you plan to work in. Additionally, we encourage you to take up another foreign language with us. But you can also choose to continue perfecting your English. You will also get to know the international trade itself while spending a semester abroad at one of our partner universities or during an internship abroad. This way you will learn about cultural differences up close and personal – a big plus when heading up negotiations later on in your career.

A world of careers in the trade world at your fingertips

You can work for a major trade conglomerate in Germany, go to work abroad for a German company or begin your career directly at an international corporation. Think of the large multichannel trade organisations, specialized medium-sized enterprises, the well-known e-commerce powerhouses or start-ups all over the world. With your decision to study International Trade Management in English at CBS International Business School, you are sending a strong message with your CV – and above all, you will acquire excellent, practice-oriented expertise that will help you to stand out.

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Matthias Pollmann in the alumni interview
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Make an appointment for a non-binding study consultation, take advantage of a trial lecture or visit one of our informational events.
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