Guest lectures and teamwork
During this Master’s you will dive into diverse business fields, ranging from entrepreneurship and innovation to marketing, strategy and organisational design. Expect inspiring guest lecturers from thought leaders representing the high-arts, like the Van Gogh museum, the Concertgebouw orchestra and the Dutch National Opera and Ballet. As well as start-ups, crowdfunding platforms and creative organisations such as RTL/Videoland, Armada Music, Amsterdam Dance Event and Endemol. You will team up with fellow students to work on interesting business cases and present them in class.
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 an Management in the Creative Industries 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 & Management in the Creative Industries
Obtain an overview of differences and similarities between the creative industries and other sectors by studying different areas in business administration, ranging from strategic management to marketing and from organisation theory to innovation management. Themes include: extremely long versus extremely short product life cycles, extreme market uncertainty with high flops to hits ratios and the role of endorsement and word of mouth.
Strategic Management and Marketing Theory in the Creative Industries
In this course, you will explore the building blocks of strategic management and marketing theory (competition, market, organisation, innovation and strategy), discuss the meaning of these fundamental concepts for the creative industries and make clear how different viewpoints can have significant implications on theoretical understanding and management.
Cultural Entrepreneurship and Innovation
You will be exposed to a wide range of highly relevant issues ranging from how creative entrepreneurs convince others to help finance their ventures, to innovation and leadership in creative organisations. Emphasis is on gaining a fine-grained understanding of the effects of market signals on performance differentials, big data and the art industry, and the impact of art policy and subsidies on cultural entrepreneurship, to name a few.
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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.

Simply analysing vast amounts of data does not ensure competitive success. For instance, both Amazon and Netflix use big data to capture customer preferences. However, only a few of their products become hits. Learn what differentiates successful competitive strategies from the rest by applying contemporary theories used in fields like marketing, management and digital innovation. Bonus: discover why Netflix’s approach to using big data to understand customer preferences led to the hit series House of Cards, while Amazon’s series called Alpha House was a flop.

The track offers a strong academic base enriched with real-life business cases.Charlotte Kammerer - track Entrepreneurship and Management in the Creative Industries Read about Charlotte's experiences with this Master's
Contemporary issues
Examples of current newspaper headlines and relevant issues that could be discussed:
- Fashion designers and piracy
- Blockchain and empowering artists
- Crowd-funding and democratising creative projects
- Competitive landscape of video on demand (VOD)
- Art galleries and the creations of superstar artists
- Future sustainability in fashion
- Blockbuster bets and long-tail investments
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.