The bachelor’s degree course entitled Global Economics and Business Management is an international management study programme with a foundation in economics which allows students to focus on a particular region of the world. Not only does the programme hold many classes in English, but students also learn a second foreign language. They also spend a compulsory semester at an international partner university and a further semester in an internship abroad. Based on their chosen focus area, students enjoy the best possible training and preparation for working in international companies, German chambers of foreign commerce abroad, competence centres for markets and many other kinds of international organisations.
Global Economics and Business Management (B. A.)
Bachelor of Arts (B. A.)
7 semester
Winter
Structure
Your degree studies in Global Economics and Business Management begin with an induction week, during which you will acquire basic learning and working techniques to prepare you for the field of business management and independently conduct a business analysis.
In the first degree phase, you will learn the principles of business management based on the latest academic knowledge in seminars with an international focus. You will also acquire skills in such important subjects as digital transformation and business models, operations management, international accounting or marketing and sales. In addition, you will learn from the very beginning to understand and explain the behavior and interaction of economically acting entities such as private individuals, companies and the state from an economic perspective as well. You will learn an additional foreign language (e.g. Chinese or Spanish); your choice of world focus region later on in your studies will be based on your selected language. The first degree phase also includes course in business English and scientific writing as well as the acquisition of intercultural skills.
Around half of the classes are taught in English.
Beginning in the second degree phase, almost all courses will be held in English. In the fourth semester, you will choose your first main focus area. There are three options available for you to choose from: The focus area in Global Supply Chain Management is designed to enable you to consolidate your understanding of and ability to control a company’s international value chains. Students selecting the focus area Digital Business and International Business Models will learn how to construct digital business models with an international focus. Those choosing the third alternative of Internationalization and Global Markets will be laying the foundations for a career on an institutional level, in which they will be acting as mediators and disseminators in support of global business developments across national borders.
Choosing the second focus area Global Management and Intercultural Competencies in the fifth semester allows you to subsequently focus on one world region. This is where you have a chance to focus on a particular region of the world. For this focus area, you will spend one semester studying abroad at one of our partner universities. The partner university can be located in one of three focus regions, depending on the foreign language that you chose in the first degree phase. These regions are: EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa), AMER (North and South America) and APAC (Asia-Pacific, Australia, Oceania). In the sixth semester, you will additionally complete an international placement in a company or institutional organisation, ideally in the same focus region.
A number of international partner universities offer you the chance to acquire a double degree. If you choose to do this, you will be required to complete two theoretical semesters at the university. Please see the FAQs below for more information.
After completing the subsequent bachelor’s thesis, you will acquire the academic title of Bachelor of Arts. This will enable you either to embark directly on a career or to go on to take a master’s degree and engage in further specialisation.
Curriculum
1. Semester
Fundamentals of Business Administration, Entrepreneurship, internal. Management
Microeconomics
Quantitative Methods
Foreign Language 1
Business Language/English Business Communication and Negotiation
2. Semester
Digital Transformation
Operations Management
Macroeconomics
International Accounting
Foreign Language 2
Intercultural Studies
3. Semester
Marketing and Sales
Corporate Finance
Cost Accounting and Cost Management
Human Resources Management, Organisation and Leadership
Foreign Language 3
Business Language / English Scientific Writing
Project Social Engagement
4. Semester
International Economics
Sustainability CSR and Compliance Management
Intern. Business Diplomacy and Cross Cultural Management
Major Field of Study 1
Foreign Language 4
5. Semester
Theoretical semester abroad
Strategic Management
Current Issues in Economics
Project Management
Major Field of Study 2
6. Semester
Internship semester abroad
7. Semester
Elective Sustainability / Management Discipline
Business Simulation
Revision of Business Theory
Seminar Bachelor's Thesis
Bachelor's Thesis
Quick Info
The Global Economics and Business Management program starts in the winter term. Application via Hochschulstart (DOSV) is not necessary. Registration for the study program starts on May 2 for the winter semester. Online application is possible via the Primuss applicant portal of THI.
Find more details on our bachelor application here.
Applicants must be fluent in English.
The following link provides specific information about the procedures regarding the course-specific suitability and the application process and for admission to the undergraduate degree programme Global Economics and Business Management.
International students
Anyone with an international university degree/higher education qualification wanting to study at a university in Germany needs a so-called Hochschulzugangsberechtigung (HZB), or higher education entrance qualification. This lets applicants show that their educational background or professional qualification allows them to study in Germany, i.e. they have the necessary higher education entrance qualification to register for a course.
The recognition of the qualification is linked to certain requirements. If the certificate of education is recognised as a higher education entrance qualification in Germany, the international student may apply for all courses (general qualification) or for certain courses (subject-specific qualification). Two to three semesters of study in the home country may be recognised as a higher education entrance qualification in Germany, depending on the country of origin. Source: German Academic Exchange Service, DAAD, June 2016.
The following link provides information for university applicants from abroad about the application process at the THI.
Applicants from non-German-speaking countries applying for a German-language degree program must also provide proof of sufficient knowledge of the German language with level B2.
Proof of having passed the German language exam must be submitted at the latest upon enrollment. A list of language certificates classified as equivalent can be found under General Statutes on the pages of the Office of Legal Affairs.
The dual studies programme enables a combination of practical training elements in a company with the theoretical education provided by the university. There is a choice of either the joint model (academic study + vocational training) or the degree course with vocational experience (academic study + intense practical phases). There is an obvious advantage to students here: practically oriented academic study generally enables a particularly smooth transition from university to the world of work. What is more, the student usually receives financial remuneration from the company concerned.
The Global Economics course offers both models.
In the joint model, students may start working at the company several months before the start of the first semester, depending on the company concerned. At the start of the course there is an alternation between theory (during the semester) and practical experience (between semesters and during the practical semesters). In order to embark on a dual studies programme, students have to apply to both a company and to THI (be sure to take note of company application deadlines!). See here for details of partner companies.
More info on our dual studies-pages, or check dual cooperation partner companies. Even if no partner company is currently active in this degree programme, you are welcome to contact us.
- Management position in internationally operating companies
- International management consultant
- Manager in a competence centre for markets
- Country specialist in a chamber of commerce and industry
- Consultant in a chamber of foreign trade
The language of instruction for 80% of the classes in the Global Economics and Business Management programme is English. The acquisition of a second, additional foreign language is compulsory. It is also compulsory to spend at least one year abroad in the focus region that you have selected, including one semester at an international partner university abroad and one semester in a mandatory internship at a company abroad. The THI International Office and the THI Career Service can support you in planning and organising your period abroad.
It is also possible to take a double degree, which means you will acquire two full qualifications at the same time, one at the THI Business School and one at a foreign partner university (Canada, Mexico, Finland, Australia). To do this, you are required to study at the partner university for at least one year. More information about double degrees is available from the THI International Office.
Selection options focus area 1:
- Global Supply Chain Management
- Digital Business and International Business Models
- Internationalization and Global Markets
Selection options focus area 2:
- Global Management and Intercultural Competencies EMEA/APAC/AMER (selection of a single focus area)
FAQs
All necessary foreign language courses are offered by the Language Centre of the THI. The courses are free of charge to students of the THI.
The THI has 140 partner universities all over the world. The THI International Office can support you in your own efforts in planning and organising your study period abroad.
Yes, this possibility does exist. To do so, go to the PRIMUSS student portal under "Mein Studium > Anrechnung/Anerkennung von Leistungen und berufspraktischen Zeiten".
Yes, junior study programmes exist to enable very good school students to start a degree course early.
No, this is not possible. In the first degree phase, some of the compulsory courses are taught in German.
Level B2 in accordance with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages
Level B2 in accordance with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
Programme director
And some more contacts
Prof. Dr. Silke Wolfenstetter
Phone: +49 841 9348-3545
Room: F215
E-Mail: Silke.Wolfenstetter@thi.de
Prof. Dr. Peter Augsdörfer
Phone: +49 841 9348-2070
Room: F213
E-Mail: peter.augsdorfer@thi.de
Iris Schmidt, Dipl.-Kffr.
Phone: +49 841 9348-3303
Room: F206
E-Mail: Iris.Schmidt@thi.de
Module Handbook
Study and Examination Regulations
Study and examination regulations (SPO) (German only) deal with judicial matters concerning your study course. You find all SPOs on the website of the legal department.