Course Program

Highlights

Earn 6 US or 12 ECTS credit hours in an attractive short term program
Enjoy discovering a dynamic economic region with an exceptional quality of life
Meet and exchange with key professionals during our corporate visits
Acquire survival skills in French on an optional basis at no extra cost and earn 1 US or 2 ECTS credit hours
Learn about local culture and socialize with students from all around the world

Course description:

Course title	Duration	Credits
European Heritage	12 hrs	1
Key Issues in Europe	9 hrs	1
Managing Business Operations in EU	12 hrs	1
Intercultural Communication	12 hrs	1
Sustainable Development and Corporate Responsibility	18 hrs	2
French instruction	12 hrs	1

The Schedule

1. European Heritage

This course will clarify why and how the EU came into existence, and stress its political, social, cultural and economic importance in today's world.

2. Key Issues in European Union

This course presents the European Union and its differences.
The objectives are:

to understand the differences between European behaviours & cultures
to get an overview of the main European issues
to improve your ability to do business with Europeans by understanding European better!

The key European issues will be discussed in the following 3 courses:

1. What is Europe?
2. Governance in the EU
3. Agriculture and the EU

3. Managing Business Operations in Europe

General description
The European Union, after 50 years of developement, is now the largest market in the world. Despite these 5 decades of unification, differences among European nations persist. Therefore, Europe can sometimes be considered a unique market from a business perspective, and at other times, the sum of its national markets.
This module gives non-European and European students the keys to initiate business in the European Union, and presents the challenges and solutions of managing operations there.

Learning objectives
- Understand the diverging and common points among European countries
- Learn about issues and solutions related to trading with Europe from other continents, and doing business within EFTA
- Know how to run a business in Europe

Course details
- Trade within the European Union and EFTA: intra-community business
- Competition within European nations. Tax issues.
- Export & Import with the EU. EU Customs.
- European organizations. European logistics. European management.

4. Intercultural Communication

Developing intercultural awareness and the ability to engage in positive and constructive interactions across cultures is essential for thriving in an international context. The objectives for this participation-based course are to gain familiarity with cultural dimensions, understand the way they affect communication, and acquire strategies for applying this knowledge in personal and professional relationships.

5. Sustainable Development, Corporate Social Responsability and Business Ethics in Europe

The courses examines the concept of Sustainable Development and analyses present day issues under three headings: Environmental (such as climate change, resource depletion and water scarcity), Social (such as poverty and inequality between developed and developing nations) and Economic.

The course then considers Corporate Social Responsability and its different forms and interpretations, from simple compliance with regulations to industrial ecology and social enterprises. We analyse the response of European companies to the environmental and social challenges of today in their Corporate Social Responsibility programmes.

Finally we consider Business Ethics, from day to day ethical issues to high profile cases, examinig the role of company culture and the behaviour of senior management in determining the ethical behaviour of staff. Case studies are taken from European examples.

6. French instruction

This course will enable you to start or improve your language skills in French. It is specifically designed to help you acquire basic language abilities and essential communicative skills according to your level. You will be taking a test on the first day of the course to assess your level. In class, emphasis is placed on oral practice and interactive learning activities in a real life approach to the language including simple routine tasks, common polite phrases and exchanges of information in order to help you develop your communication skills in daily life situations.

We will work in pairs and use role playing activities as well as authentic documents to help you survive and experience relationships in the new culture.

Imprimer Haut de page