Bachelor's Degree in International Trade

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IB – International Trade (B.A.) - Your E-Commerce Bachelor's Degree in Germany

What is E-Commerce & International Trade and why should you study it?

Trade is becoming ever more international, more diverse – and more exciting. Thanks to free trade, fewer boundaries, digitalization, and fast logistics, today just about everyone can order a smartphone directly from China and have it in their hands two days later. Or dinner ingredients can be delivered fresh and right to a home – a logistical masterpiece. Trade is an industry that is constantly reinventing itself and where anything is possible. This is a challenge for large multichannel trading companies and e-commerce only providers, who, in order to stay on the right track, are looking for experts who have a holistic view of purchasing opportunities, sales channels, and consumer behaviour. If you study trade management with us, you will be among the most sought-after professionals, a master of traditional and digital commerce, moving billions for large corporations later on.

What do you learn in an International Trade & E-Commerce bachelor's course?

Studying trade management at CBS as part of the International Business programme where you will specialize in International Trade. Lectures are held in English. In semesters 3 to 6 you will acquire deep business knowledge, starting with the basic principles: theories of international trade and trade management as well as international commercial law and customs regulations. This enables you to already start working on a business project in the fourth semester, where you will solve a task in the field of international trade – either as a case study or with an actual corporate partner. Including a presentation. The practical orientation is so important to us because of its profound importance in getting your career underway.

International Trade at a glance

ECTS 180
Semester 6
Language English
Type of Study Full-time
Degree Bachelor of Arts
Campus Cologne
Internship Integrated
Semester Abroad Integrated

Start of Studies Summer Cologne
Study Fee* 5.370 €

*The displayed prices are semester fees. For non-EU students' fees please check the tuition fees information page. Status: March 2021.

Study Course Plan

Some information about the study plan for the study programme Bachelors in International Trade:

General business teaching units

Business Operations3 ECTS

Introduction: Basic business, economic, and market principles and key terms
External Business Environment
Global Markets
Competitive Environment
Internal Environment
Management, Leadership & Motivation
Business Function: HR, Operations, Marketing, Finance & Accounting
Entrepreneurship
Business Ethics and CSR
Emerging Business Trends

Business Law3 ECTS

Survey on different legal systems and the harmonizing effect of EU Law
Concluding a contract
Different types of contracts and their typical features
Performance and obligations
Solving problems (e.g. failure to perform, liabilities)
Safeguarding creditors’ rights
Forms of business organizations

Mathematics3 ECTS

Introduction to functions, graphs and interpretations
Understanding Derivatives
Applications of Derivatives
Understanding Differential Equations
Applications of Differential Equations
Understanding Logarithms
Applications of Logarithms

Statistics3 ECTS

Introducing data and statistics
Descriptive statistics and exploratory data analysis
Introduction to probability theory
Discrete and continuous probability distributions
Sampling and sampling distributions
Interval estimations
Hypothesis development and testing
Simple linear regressions

Financial Accounting3 ECTS

The purpose of accounting
Formal rules and assumptions, national law, IFRS, US-GAAP
The system of financial statements and accounts
Accounting for services and merchandising
Inventory valuation
Receivables
Plant, natural and intangible assets
Liabilities
Owner’s equity of corporations
Value-added tax

Applied Financial Accounting3 ECTS

The purpose of accounting
Formal rules and assumptions, national law, IFRS, US-GAAP
The system of financial statements and accounts
Accounting for services and merchandising
Inventory valuation
Receivables
Plant, natural and intangible assets
Liabilities
Owner’s equity of corporations
Value-added tax

Programme specific teaching units

Marketing3 ECTS

Marketing Definition and Process
Marketing in Context of Corporate Strategies
Internal Analysis and Marketing Environment (Micro)
Marketing Environment (Macro)
Consumer Buying Behaviour
Market Segmentation
Strategic Brand Management
Marketing Instruments (Product, Price Place, Promotion)
Marketing and Sustainability

Human Resource Management3 ECTS

Recruitment and Attraction
HR Planning, Controlling & Instruments
Training and Employee Development
Motivation and Leadership
Compensation and Benefits
Performance Appraisal and Management
Certificate of employment
HR Ethics
Trends in HRM

Interdisciplinary competencies

Foreign Language2 ECTS

Depending on the student‘s choice, language courses are offered, for example, in English, Spanish or French. If you choose the English-Only track, the lessons will focus on the intensive development of your English skills.

Academic Business English2 ECTS

This course aims to solidify the students’ existing language competencies as independent users of English and to enable them to apply this to their studies, focusing on educational and business domains. Students will learn the skills and process of critical thinking and analysis and how to express and elaborate their thoughts, opinions, and arguments. Students will have gained an understanding of complex language and writing skills to organize and develop their ideas in a scholarly way.

Personal Skills2 ECTS

In courses such as Rhetoric and Presentation or Business and Society your social and leadership skills are trained. In addition to various compulsory courses, there are optional subjects where you can choose which of your competences should be particularly strengthened.

General business teaching units

Microeconomics3 ECTS

Introduction into microeconomic models
Consumer theory
The theory of the firm
Competitive markets
Market failure
Market power and monopoly
Oligopoly and monopolistic competition
Externalities
Asymmetric information
Introduction to game theory

Applied Microeconomics3 ECTS

Introduction into microeconomic models
Consumer theory
The theory of the firm
Competitive markets
Market failure:
Market power and monopoly
Oligopoly and monopolistic competition
Externalities
Asymmetric information
Introduction to game theory

Market Research3 ECTS

Introduction to Market Research
Defining the marketing research problem and developing an approach
Research design
Secondary Data
Qualitative research
Quantitative research
Scaling and sampling
Fieldwork and Data preparation
Basic data analysis (how to use it)
Report preparation and presentation

Cost Accounting3 ECTS

Rationales of cost accounting
Simplistic methods of overhead allocation
Job costing
Process costing
Activity-based costing
Overcapacity costing
Joint product costing
Overhead analysis sheet
Concepts of relevant cost and revenue
Budgeting

Programme specific teaching units

Supply Management3 ECTS

Industrial Buying Behaviour
New perception of supply management
The procurement marketing process
Situation Analysis: Defining critical supply problems, potentials, targets and strategies
Need Analysis: Defining the demand
Evaluating and Selecting Supply Markets
Supplier Evaluation: Find the ‘right supplier’
Supplier Relationship Management: Importance of supplier collaborations
Supplier Negotiation Process: Strategies and tools
Green procurement: Describing a sustainable procurement model
Creating a basis for sustainable procurement and integrating sustainable measures into procurement processes
Sustainable supplier management: Key theories and practices

Strategic Management3 ECTS

Introduction to Strategy and Strategic Management
External Analysis: understanding opportunities and threats the environment offers
Internal Analysis: uncovering strengths and weaknesses of the organization
Generic business-level strategies for competitive advantage
Basic Corporate-level strategic choices for long-term profitability
Diversification strategy
Internationalization
Mergers and acquisitions
Strategic entrepreneurship
Strategic leadership
Social Responsibility and Ethics of Strategic Management
Basics of Corporate Governance

Introduction to Finance6 ECTS

Finance: Goals, Functions and Environment
Financial analysis and Financial Forecasting
Managing Working Capital
Sources of Short-Term Financing
Capital Markets and Investment Banking
External financing resources: Debt capital
External financing resources: Equity capital
Capital Budgeting: The Time Value of Money
Capital structure and the Cost of Capital

Interdisciplinary competencies

Academic Business English2 ECTS

Foreign Language2 ECTS

Personal Skills2 ECTS

General business teaching units

Macroeconomics3 ECTS

Indicators: Gross Domestic Product and its major components, Inflation
Labour Markets and unemployment
The classical AS-AD model
Keynes’ IS-LM Model
The basic RBC model
Monetary Policy
Fiscal Policy

Applied Macroeconomics3 ECTS

Indicators: Gross Domestic Product and its major components, Inflation
Labour Markets and unemployment
The classical AS-AD model
Keynes’ IS-LM Model
The basic RBC model
Monetary Policy
Fiscal Policy

Programme specific teaching units

International Management3 ECTS

Determinants & dimensions of culture in business
Culture & styles of management
Culture & corporate structures
Culture & leadership
Culture & corporate strategy
Cultural change in organisations
Culture and international marketing management
Cultural diversity in organisations
Business communication across culture & barriers to intercultural communication
Working with international teams
Conflicts & cultural differences
Developing intercultural communicative competence

Digital Management3 ECTS

Global competition and the transnational corporation in the global economy
Emerging markets
Institutions governing competition
Formal and informal institutions
Organizational designs for multinational companies
Location-based aspects: Competitive advantages of countries
Organization, local adaptation and the need for standardization
New approaches in International Management (Born Global, QRC, …)
Networks and innovation
Managing people in multinational enterprises
Managing expatriates
Leadership and management behaviour in multinational companies

Integrative Case Study3 ECTS

Guide and Strategic Plan to Case study analysis
Writing a proper case study analysis report
In-depth Case Study Analysis with focus on Financial Management
Solving of interdisciplinary case studies with a focus on digital management

Elective area

International Trade Management3 ECTS

The organisation of import and export operations
Planning and preparations for export marketing strategy
International logistics and channels of distribution
Payment terms and procedures
Export sales contracts
Documentation, risk and insurance
Countertrade
Trade finance (L/C)
Import / Export regulations
Product selection and suppliers
The entry modes in international trade

International Trade Theory & Policy3 ECTS

Comparative advantage
Resource-based Heckscher-Olin model
Modern trade theories
Mobility of the factors of production
Trade policy and protectionism
International monetary and financial systems
Multinational corporation and “product cycle”
Global and regional trade regimes and organizations
Economic integration and the European Union
WTO
National efforts to boost innovation and competitiveness
International trade and globalization

International Trade Law3 ECTS

Based on the rules and regulations under the WTO, UN, EU and certain national laws the following contents will be covered:

Restrictions on trade in goods
Restrictions on trade in services
Minimum quality requirements
Intellectual property rights

Interdisciplinary competencies

Foreign Language4 ECTS

Personal Skills2 ECTS

General business teaching units

Management Information Systems3 ECTS

IT and MIS as enablers of strategic decision making
E-business, networks, and mobile technology
Infrastructure, hardware and software
Databases and data warehouses
Business Intelligence
Networks and communications
Operations management and supply chain management
Enterprise resource planning
Limitations and risks of IT systems and applications
MIS market trends, major providers and IT solutions.
The role of social media in business
Industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things

Programme specific teaching units

Corporate Tax3 ECTS

The overall aim of this module is to introduce students to the basic concepts of corporate taxation, especially the different types of taxes, transparent and intransparent entities and the value added tax.

Elective area

Business Elective 13 ECTS

These courses aim to enable the students to develop and/or strengthen relevant skills that are of particular interest to them. Electives allow students to expand their knowledge. The following are examples of the types of courses on offer. Typically you have the choice between two or three different electives.

International Marketing
International Human Resource Management
Organisational Behaviour
Global Supply Chain Management
Entrepreneurship
Diversity in Business
Corporate Social Responsibility
International Accounting
Advanced Statistics
Design Thinking
Quantitative Social Media Research
SAP as Enterprise Resource Planning Software
Snack Content
Harvesting and analyzing social media data for business purposes
Industry 4.0

Business Elective 23 ECTS

International Marketing
International Human Resource Management
Organisational Behaviour
Global Supply Chain Management
Entrepreneurship
Diversity in Business
Corporate Social Responsibility
International Accounting
Advanced Statistics
Design Thinking
Quantitative Social Media Research
SAP as Enterprise Resource Planning Software
Snack Content
Harvesting and analyzing social media data for business purposes
Industry 4.0

Business Project6 ECTS

The overall objective of this course is to provide students with possibility of applying their business knowledge on concrete business situation (real or scenario-based), related to the field of their specialization. By the end of the module students should be able to:

Define project goals for the “client”.
Work under the set timeframe and agreed project scope.
Cooperate in the international project teams.
Plan and conduct secondary and primary research to gather necessary information: understand which information is needed and where to look for it.
Conduct analysis of the “client business”: be able to understand the researched information in a wider context.
Evaluate markets/ industries/ competitive landscapes.
Develop possible strategic directions for the “client” business.
Formulate recommendations

Global Supply Chain Management3 ECTS

Fundamentals of international logistics
Inventory management
Warehouse management
Packaging and transportation
Procurement logistics
Production logistics
Distribution logistics
Disposal logistics
Basics of Supply Chain Management
Supply Chain Strategy & Design
Supply Chain Planning & Synchronization
Trends in supply chain management

Strategies of Multinational Enterprises3 ECTS

The strategic imperatives
Expanding abroad: motivations, means, and mentalities
Understanding the international context: responding to conflicting environmental forces
Understanding the impact of globalization and technological change on company’s ability to achieve and sustain above-average returns
Developing transnational strategies: building layers of competitive advantage
The organizational challenge
Developing a transnational organization: managing integration, responsiveness, and flexibility
Creating worldwide innovation and learning: exploiting cross border knowledge management
Engaging in cross border collaboration: managing across corporate boundaries
The managerial implications, including assessment of corporate strategic options such as internationalization, domestic and international merges and acquisitions, as well as strategic alliances under various environmental conditions in diverse international markets
Implementing the strategy: building multidimensional capabilities
The future of the transnational management model and its evolving global role

Interdisciplinary competencies

Foreign Language4 ECTS

Personal Skills2 ECTS

Semester Abroad

Semester Abroad25 ECTS

You will spend the fifth semester at one of our numerous partner universities abroad. Our International Office supports you in the selection & application process and coordinates the courses to be taken abroad with you in advance.

Programme specific teaching units

Bachelor Thesis12 ECTS

During your 6th semester you are working on your Bachelor thesis. You have 12 weeks to complete your thesis and the subject is freely selectible. A supervisor from CBS will support you and you can write the thesis in collaboration with a company as well.

Bachelor Thesis Tutorial1 ECTS

During the Bachelor Thesis Tutorial you will learn the fundamentals for your Bachelor thesis: Defining the topic as well as structuring the thesis and you will learn the theoretical knowledge for scientific working.

Business Simulation Game4 ECTS

In a business simulation game participants have to manage their own virtual company which operates in the same market as other participant-operated competitors. This involves making typical management decisions in realistic environments. Beside the deepening and active examination of subject-specific knowledge the simulation games also include the team environment, where interaction, communication and prioritization are of paramount importance. Participants learn how to manage risk and uncertainty while time is limited and information constrained. Group-reflections help to take over different perspectives and to discuss pros and cons of content- as well as behaviour-related actions.

Elective area

Omnichannel Commerce3 ECTS

Defining e-business and e-commerce
E-business opportunities and risks
E-Business models (e.g. online marketplaces, auctions, e-shops)
Analysing the e-environment
Defining and implementing e-business strategies: How can they create business value?
Analysing and implementing e-procurement (drivers, risks, costs)
Analysing and implementing e-marketing (e-marketing planning process)
Implementing relationship management (including retention management)

International Trade & Finance3 ECTS

Principles of financial transactions
Risk identification
Structure of clean payments and documentary credits
Cross border leasing
International factoring
Project finance

Interdisciplinary competencies

Personal Skills2 ECTS

An internship (10 ECTS) in Germany or abroad is integral part of your degree. Our Career Service is happy to support you in finding the perfect company.

E-Commerce Degree: Master supply chain management globally

Goods and information flow freely between companies. All around the globe. Complex networks have emerged. Mastering them requires knowledge, skills and understanding. A Trade Management study will enable you to manage the complex supply chains of future employers and ensure that the right goods are in the right place at the right time.

Become familiar with multinational strategies with an E-Commerce degree

Globally active trading companies have many different ways of coordinating the flow of goods. Suppliers of goods and services regularly ask themselves important questions that have a significant impact on the success of your company:

In which countries are most of the goods purchased?
Can additional markets be opened up?
What options are available for the interim financing of goods?
How are logistics organized?
How important is e-commerce in the company?

With retail management and e-commerce degree, you learn to take a holistic approach to such questions and develop solutions. Using current business cases, you will discuss possible options in the field of retail and develop your own strategies.

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Internationality is key and the basis of this degree

Studying International Trade Management & e-commerce with us in English is a logical conclusion. After all, English is the language you will need later on in your career. No matter which country you plan to work in. Additionally, we encourage you to take up another foreign language with us. But you can also choose to continue perfecting your English. You will also get to know the international trade itself while spending a semester abroad at one of our partner universities or during an internship abroad. This way you will learn about cultural differences up close and personal – a big plus when heading up negotiations later on in your career. Our Career Service supports you in finding an exciting internship in Germany or abroad with a renowned company!

What can you do with an international trade & e-commerce degree?

You can work for a major trade conglomerate in Germany, go to work abroad for a German company or begin your career directly at an international corporation. Think of the large multichannel trade organisations, specialized medium-sized enterprises, the well-known e-commerce powerhouses or start-ups all over the world. With your decision to study International Trade Management in English at CBS International Business School, you are sending a strong message with your CV – and above all, you will acquire excellent, practice-oriented expertise that will help you to stand out.

Intercultural and Soft Skills prepare you for an international job market

In addition, our soft skills courses teach you how to lead teams and communicate with business partners from all over the world. Whether in a job interview or at an important final presentation - a confident appearance is the sum of your experience and targeted training in which you can improve your skills. with convincing charisma and rhetoric, you will always be successful in your working life.

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This is What Our Students Say

Philip Kollmann

Project Manager
Wayne´s Coffee

"Especially the soft skill courses have been of great help for my performance in job interviews. Through my work in the Finance and Business Club I have built up a broad network and acquired project management skills that have enabled me to score points with companies."

Katrin Rieger

Bereichsdirektorin Reisevertrieb Deutschland / Vice President Sales
HanseMerkur Krankenversicherung

"The practical learning in small groups prepared me optimally for today's project and team work. The CBS provided me with the decisive soft skills and current knowledge from the world of business."

Christopher Rosenbaum

Manager
Ernst & Young GmbH
Wirschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft

"The Management Studies programme prepares you thoroughly for the tasks of a consultant. In particular, the development of presentation techniques as well as analytical thinking is of enormous importance in the everyday life of a consultant."

Brita Jansen

HR Business Partner
HRS Group

"The CBS is an internationally oriented and very practically orientated university which prepared me very well for the professional world through the compulsory internship, the courses offered and the required project/group work."

Oliver Kiderle

EMEA Regional Product Expert
Google Inc.

"The focus on internationality and practical skills have had a very positive influence on my development at Google. Especially the structured and very versatile project work, which is often found at a private school, was extremely helpful."

Kalle Kenkel

Commercial Excellence Manager
GE Healthcare

"My studies at CBS prepared me for a career in today's dynamic, global work environment. As one's origin and physical location become less and less decisive, it has become increasingly important to have a multinational network and adapt quickly to various cultures and environments."

Neil Jordaan

Global Digital Content Manager
Elanco

"Many professors shared their professional business experience with us in class and were able to illustrate dry theory with practical examples. I also enjoyed the international atmosphere on campus."

Patrick Stein

Head of Human Resources
Boston Consulting Group

"The strongly practice-oriented studies and the international orientation of the CBS, as well as the lectures held in English, were an absolutely necessary basis for starting a career with a renowned, international company."