The Programme
International Financial Management is your gateway to the international world of finance. We offer you an excellent four-year full-time programme that is very practice-oriented. International Financial Management is a four-year bachelor programme fully taught in English.
During this time you will learn the tools necessary for advising the management of a company on major financial issues. You will be studying in an international environment with students and teachers from all over the world. The assignments you will be working on are international in nature. An internship abroad and six months studying at a foreign university or college are key parts of the programme. After graduation you will be a specialist in international financial issues.
Umesh Rijal
Student International Financial Management
I chose for Economics & Management / HES because it is an internationally oriented school with a multinational and diversified culture.
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We offer a semester-based modular programme. You may start in September or in February. A semester consists of 14 weeks of lessons including projects (this does not include holidays and exams).
Foundation year
The five international programmes within the Business School all share the same courses during the first semester except for one subject (3 ECTS-credits). This is in line with our philosophy.
During the first semester, the students taking these programmes will take the same subjects and will work together on the same project. Entrepreneurship is the main theme that will be dealt with during the courses and the project. You will set up your own company with fellow students. The advantage of this system is that you can easily transfer to a different programme at the end of the first semester without wasting any credits.
Furthermore you attend lessons in several different modules including sports. English as a foreign language is compulsory. The second foreign language can be either Dutch, or Spanish, or French. Examinations take place at the end of each semester, and projects on each module (case studies and learning projects) have to be completed and are assessed in the course of the semester.
Second year
During the second year the subject matter is expanded and explored more thoroughly. Focussing on the international content of the course becomes more important. In the second year you make important decisions regarding the third year of the programme: Around this time you must decide where you wish to study abroad for half a year. In the second semester of this year the selection procedure for study abroad takes place.
Necessary information regarding study programmes offered by the Partner Institutes is available to students, and information sessions are organised. Economics & Management / HES offers Exchange Programmes with some 90 institutes worldwide. During the second year students submit an application outlining exchange programme and partner institute preferences. This is taken into consideration as much as possible when allocating the places available. However, the results of both the first and the second year examinations are the main determining factors. The final decision rests with the Head of the IFM Department.
After completing the IFM programme you are, for example, able to:
- write a business plan;
- give a description of the administrative organisation;
- create a business Balanced Score Card and flow charts;
- give a strategic management recommendation;
- make annual accounts and report;
- calculate tax returns;
- give management information for the making of decisions;
- give a risk analysis of the organisation's costs structure;
- make a cost control plan, investment selection plan and a risk report on existing investments;
- set up a liquidity plan.
Third year
During the third year you will be able to make a personal study plan. You will choose your minor at one of our partner institutes in Europe, the USA or South America and you go abroad for a one semester exchange. After that you will do a placement with an internationally-oriented company, preferably also abroad.
The exchange
While students are abroad, the coordinator for that particular country keeps in contact regulary and visits them when possible. Furthermore, the International Relations Office can provide students with additional information regarding exchanges, such as possible grants.
The placement
Economics & Management / HES has an efficient and helpful Placement Office staff, which works hard to maintain existing contacts and to acquire new contacts with corporations, government, semi-government and non-profit organisations. As a company placement is mandatory for IFM students, the department has a coordinator who looks after the specific requirements of the department; this entails maximising contacts and organising the programme. However, it is the responsibility of the student to find a suitable placement. The coordinator will, of course, make every effort to advise and assist. Members of the IFM staff are assigned a number of students to supervise and will visit them where possible. Students are required to submit a series of interim reports to their advisors and to prepare a comprehensive final report on the placement. Assessment is based upon these reports.
Fourth year
The fourth year is the final year. Students sit their final examinations and have to write their dissertation.
The dissertation is a criterion for successfully completing the study programme. A dissertation is a problem-solving assignment conceived and written by the student. The basis for such a dissertation is a problem or opportunity, international in scope, in the field of finance and management. Using knowledge, skills, and experience gained over the previous three and a half years, the student is expected to explore and analyse relevant data and provide concrete recommendations for the solution of the problem or suggestions for a future line of approach.
A qualified and experienced member of the IFM teaching staff supervises the student throughout the process. The student and the client organisation choose the dissertation subject, which must be approved by the IFM staff member. The supervisors make the final evaluation, and the student must successfully defend the dissertation during an oral examination.