Deep dive into both corporates and new ventures
The curriculum of this Master’s covers both the corporate environment and new ventures. How do innovative companies, like Apple and Amazon, create value through developing new products, services and processes? How do they keep changing their business models to fit the increasingly digitalised world? And how do entrepreneurs identify valuable opportunities? How do they develop strategies and plans, and acquire the necessary resources to implement their ideas?
Prepare to get convinced. Take 90 seconds to find out why you should study MSc Business Administration at the University of Amsterdam. View the highlights of this study programme and elevate your career in 1 year.
The programme
Entrepreneurship and Innovation is one of the tracks of the MSc Business Administration. During your Master's you will follow 5 general courses and 3 track-specific courses. You will finish with a thesis. If you have a fundamental drive to challenge the corporate environment, you can participate in our Honours programme Sustainability.
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Compulsory courses
Ethics and the Future of Business
The purpose of this course is to explore the trends, core concepts, theories, and approaches of business ethics and corporate sustainability. The course is divided into a general part and a track-specific part.
Business Seminar and Professional Skills 1 & 2
To prepare you for your professional career, this course is a combination of a series of corporate guest lecturers in Royal Theatre Carré and an offering of professional skills training e.g. Presentation Skills, Programming with Python and more.
The Business Lab: choose your electives
In The Business Lab, you can choose from a wide selection of electives we call business labs. Each one is connected to a corporate partner. You will be challenged to solve real-world business issues, working in international teams and presenting your solution to the company.
Research Foundations & Thesis Proposal
This course is meant to support you in writing you research proposal for you Master's thesis. During the course, you will learn how to change a general topic into a specific research proposal.
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Track-specific courses
Theories of Entrepreneurship and Innovation
In this course, you will learn how established firms and new ventures create value through the implementation of innovations. Entrepreneurship and innovation are considered complementary and connected management disciplines. Become acquainted with this exciting realm by getting to know the most important and advanced theories and models in the field and combining theory and practice through real-life cases and guest lectures given by successful entrepreneurs and innovators.
Innovation Management
In this course, you will obtain an insight into how innovative companies discover, develop and exploit opportunities for new products, services and business models; discuss theories on entrepreneurial and innovation networks such as design thinking, sustainability, digital innovation and business modelling; and acquire valuable insights into how firms create and manage innovations from guest lecturers from highly reputable companies.
Entrepreneurship in the Digital Economy
The digital economy is transforming how businesses are structured, how firms interact, and how consumers purchase goods and services. This course provides a series of frameworks for creating and managing ventures founded around digital technologies or digital business models. You will obtain an insight into digital entrepreneurship and understand the critical factors needed to develop a successful start-up in the digital economy.
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Thesis
The Master’s thesis is the final requirement for your graduation. It is your chance to dive deep into a topic that you are enthusiastic about. A professor in your field of choice (track) will supervise and support you in writing your thesis.
Upon graduation, you will be awarded the title Master of Science (MSc).
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Honours programmes
Highly motivated students can participate in the MSc Business Administration Honours programmes Sustainability or Data Driven Management. These challenging programmes are a great chance to stand out for future employers.
Great ideas can come from anywhere, right? That’s what Heineken was thinking when they created their own crowdsourcing platform: a ground-breaking way to facilitate the creation and exchange of ideas for innovation on brewing technology, beer recipes, packaging and sustainability. Discuss how Heineken designs and manages its open innovation process to maximise the creative output of its innovation communities. What can other companies learn from this?
The programme turned out to be incredibly practical and autonomous.Mauricio Vallejo Isaza - track Entrepreneurship and Innovation Read about Mauricio's experiences with this Master's
Contemporary issues
Examples of real-life business cases and company projects you will discuss:
- Samsung vs Apple: How to evolve from a follower to an innovation leader?
- Deloitte Digital: How to use big data for innovations? How to manage innovations that disrupt not only other industry players, but also your own organisation?
- Bunq and the future of online banking: How will the financial market change in the following decades? How do blockchain technologies transform and disrupt the financial and other industries? What opportunities do entrepreneurs have to disrupt these markets?
- Circular economy in Amsterdam: How can we make Amsterdam more sustainable?
You will kick off your studies with 'UvA in Carré', a series of inspirational seminars featuring prominent speakers from leading companies such as ING, L’Oréal, Vodafone, Ahold Delhaize, VandeBron and Google. They will present their visions on current business issues and share their insights and experiences.
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Internship and exchange
If you have completed your curriculum, you can do an internship or go on an exchange abroad. For international students it is an excellent opportunity to experience the Dutch labour market.
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Dutch language course
Are you interested in learning Dutch? There are different options to give you the opportunity to maximise your Dutch experience and prepare for your future job in the Netherlands.
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Study associations
Many of our students are members of a study association. It is fun and useful for your future career at the same time. Faculty student associations are a great way to meet fellow students and future employers. They organise study trips (abroad), career events, weekly debates, parties and receptions with drinks. Sometimes you can also purchase your textbooks and course syllabi at reduced rates.
Overview Study Associations
- Faculty student association Sefa
- International Student Committee (ISC,part of Sefa)
- International Student Network Amsterdam (ISN, part of Sefa)
- Study Association Actuarial Sciences, Econometrics and Operational Research (VSAE)
- Financial Study Association Amsterdam (FSA)
- Marketing Association Amsterdam (MAA)
- International study association (AIESEC)
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Student associations
Amsterdam has a thriving student community with many activities organised outside of the university’s grounds. You will find student associations focusing on networking, specific interests and sports. It is only at sororities and fraternities that you can expect an initiation ritual (hazing).
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Student participation
At university, you are entitled to make your voice heard and assess the quality of your own education. Students can participate in the discussion on the university's education policy in various ways, such as by joining the Programme Committee, the Faculty Student Council or the first-year focus group. You can also stand for election and dedicate your efforts to the programme and your fellow students.