MSc in Business Administration – Strategy and Management in International Organizations

In the two-year master’s program in Business Administration - Strategy and Management in International Organizations (SMIO) we aim to educate future leaders with good judgment, who can analyze complex problems and make well-balanced decisions.

The learning pillars of the program are research-based knowledge grounded in rich empirical examples, a focus on critical and in-depth analysis, and communication of results. The program combines the depth of a research master with the rich practical examples and casework intensity of a more practical master. The program courses therefore each lay a solid research foundation in the form of articles and books by both classic and contemporary great thinkers. On top of that, each course provides insights into the workings of a number of international organizations (ranging from Starbucks and Apple to The Red Cross) and empirical phenomena (from CSR and outsourcing trends to business development in East Africa). Students then use their research-based foundation to draw connections, define problems, and analyze through for example casework and projects. Each course also practices the students’ communication skills in one or more areas, through the writing of argumentative essays, oral presentations, feedback sessions, debates, and café seminars.

The program seeks to simulate the future work environment of the students, and hence learning processes are centered in teamwork, leadership, and organization, and set in an environment where the study tempo and expectations are high and the diversity of people great. Over the past years, we have received students from more than 60 different countries, ranging from Argentina to Zambia. A typical SMIO class consists of some 20 different nationalities, which brings interesting perspectives to discussions as well as insights into the different markets of the world. The cultural mix enables us to use the class itself as a teaching tool, where the development of cross-cultural competencies becomes a positive side effect of for example team projects.

From day one, we actively work with team processes where taken-for-granted ideas are challenged and the students’ abilities are stretched, step-by-step. Our SMIO students are typically highly committed and hard-working, used to assuming responsibility, and working under pressure in a multicultural environment where a variety of perspectives have to be turned into workable solutions. Challenging assignments and tight deadlines hone the students’ bonds and SMIO students therefore generally get to know each other well, forming an international network for the future.

Building strong ties

The program has been designed to ease socialization and make students quickly form ties across cultural boundaries. Initially, courses work actively with socialization through team building as well as leadership and organization exercises. Furthermore, the SMIO Big Brothers and Sisters, a group of six to eight handpicked senior students, support our new students from the moment they are admitted and act as mentors and role models as well as organize activities ranging from BBQs to company visits.

We know who you are

We deliberately aim to keep the program small (about 40 students per intake). This means that as an SMIO student you are a familiar face to your teachers and most of them will know you by name. Student-teacher interaction is quite informal, and teachers are generally approachable and interested.

Syllabus

Introduction

The Business Administration - Strategy and Management in International Organizations program is a second cycle program that leads to a Master of Science (120 Credits) degree with a major in Business Administration. This two-year master’s program provides the students with good analytical skills based on solid academic knowledge and rich empirical examples. The program's overall aim is to contribute to the education of a new generation of researchers and practitioners, competent to understand science and business as social phenomena. The international environment of the program will also provide the students with good cross-cultural competencies and communication skills. The students are ready for management positions or consultancy work. Besides, the program is designed to provide post-graduate training in Business Administration at an advanced level and prepare for future Ph.D. studies.

Aim

National Qualifications according to the Swedish Higher Education Act

Knowledge and understanding

For a Degree of Master (120 credits) the student shall:

• demonstrate knowledge and understanding in Business Administration, including both broad knowledge of the field and a considerable degree of specialized knowledge in certain areas of the field as insight into current research and development work
• demonstrate specialized methodological knowledge in Business Administration.

Competence and skills

For a Degree of Master (120 credits) the student shall:

• demonstrate the ability to critically and systematically integrate knowledge and analyze, assess and deal with complex phenomena, issues and situations even with limited information
• demonstrate the ability to identify and formulate issues critically, autonomously, and creatively as well as to plan and, using appropriate methods, undertake advanced tasks within predetermined time frames and so contribute to the formation of knowledge as well as the ability to evaluate this work
• demonstrate the ability in speech and writing both nationally and internationally to clearly report and discuss his or her conclusions and the knowledge and arguments on which they are based in dialogue with different audiences, and
• demonstrate the skills required for participation in research and development work or autonomous employment in some other qualified capacity.

Judgment and Approach

For a Degree of Master (120 credits) the student shall:

• demonstrate the ability to make assessments in Business Administration informed by relevant disciplinary, social, and ethical issues and also to demonstrate awareness of ethical aspects of research and development work
• demonstrate insight into the possibilities and limitations of research, its role in society, and the responsibility of the individual for how it is used, and
• demonstrate the ability to identify the personal need for further knowledge and take responsibility for his or her ongoing learning.

_Are you curious about what it is like to study at LiU? Join us for a chat about what it is like to live and study on our campuses in Sweden. We offer free webinars and recordings for both prospective and admitted degree students throughout the year. Visit our _ _Meet us online _ _page. _

About Linköping University

Linköping University will never rest on its laurels.

In close collaboration with the business world and society, Linköping University (LiU) conducts world-leading, boundary-crossing research in fields including materials science, IT and hearing. In the same spirit, the university offers many innovative educational programs, many of them with a clear vocational focus, leading to qualification as, for example, doctors, teachers, economists, and engineers.

The university has 32,000 students and 4,000 employees on four campuses. Together we seek answers to the complex questions facing us today. Our students are among the most desirable in the labor market and international rankings consistently place LiU as a leading global university.

LiU achieved university status in 1975 and innovation is our only tradition.

History of Linköping University

In 1975 Sweden’s sixth university was founded in Linköping. Since then Linköping University (LiU) has grown considerably, expanding to Norrköping and Stockholm.

Linköping has been an important center of learning since medieval times when Linköping Cathedral offered a school with extensive international contacts and its own student hall in Paris. In 1627 the Cathedral School became the third upper secondary school in Sweden and in 1843 a college for elementary school teachers began operations. In Norrköping, the Fröbel Institute – Sweden’s first college for training pre-school teachers – was founded in 1902.

From university college to university

What would later become Linköping University began to take shape in the mid-1960s. Higher education in Sweden was expanding and in 1965 the Swedish Parliament decided to establish a branch of Stockholm University, together with a university college of engineering and medicine, in Linköping.

In the autumn of 1967, the branch of Stockholm University moved into premises in central Linköping. There the first students could take courses in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Two years later the units for engineering and medicine got underway.

In 1970 education and research started moving into the recently built Campus Valla, a short distance from the town center. Buildings A and B were the first to be completed. The same year the various parts were merged to form Linköping University College, including faculties of engineering, medicine and arts, and sciences.

The new university college was the first in Sweden to offer study programs in Industrial Engineering and Management and Applied Physics and Electrical Engineering, both starting in 1969. A few years later, in 1975, Linköping University launched Sweden’s first Computer Science and Engineering program.

1975 was also the year when Linköping University College became Linköping University, the sixth university in Sweden. In line with the 1977 reform of the Swedish higher education system, teacher education was also transferred to Linköping University.

Interdisciplinary research and problem-based learning

Linköping University has always worked with innovation in education and research. In 1980 the newly formed Department of Thematic Studies adopted an approach that was new in Sweden. Research was organized in interdisciplinary themes, such as Technology and Social Change or Water and Environmental Studies. Scientists worked across boundaries to solve complex problems. LiU was also first in Sweden to introduce graduate research schools for different themes. The model later spread to other parts of the university and became a national success.

The new Faculty of Health Sciences (Hälsouniversitetet), formed in 1986, combined governmentally and regionally funded education. It introduced a radically changed methodology, being the first in Sweden to use problem-based learning, PBL. Later, LiU became the first university in the world to allow students from different health sciences programs to treat actual patients on a student-managed training ward.

Expansion to Norrköping – and Stockholm

A significant milestone in the history of the University was the opening of Campus Norrköping in 1997. Some programs had previously operated from Norrköping, but the number of students now grew drastically in line with government efforts to expand higher education. Historical factories in the former industrial district were again filled with life, as they were filled with classrooms, laboratories, cafés, a library and of course students.

Linköping University also expanded to Stockholm when the reputable Carl Malmsten School of Furniture sought a collaborative partner from the academic sector. The Malmsten furniture design and handicraft programs became part of LiU in 2000. After almost 60 years at Södermalm in central Stockholm, Malmstens moved to new premises on the island of Lidingö in the autumn of 2009. LiU got its fourth campus.

Buro Millennial / Pexels

LiU in figures

Some important figures for Linköping University.

Education

• 32,000 students (full-time equivalents 17,907)
• 21,400 on Campus Valla
• 5,500 on Campus Norrköping
• 3,900 on University Hospital Campus (US)
• 2,100 distance students and students in other locations, including Campus Lidingö

(Some students take courses on more than one campus.)

• 120 study programs, of which 27 are international programs in English
• 550 single-subject courses
• Exchange agreements with 400 universities in 50 countries
• 2,400 international students
• 2,200 first cycle degrees
• 2,700 second-cycle degrees

Research and scientific training

• 300 professors
• 1,200 PhD students
• 40 licentiate degrees
• 140 doctoral degrees

Staff

• 4,000 employees (full-time equivalents 3,156)