At the start of this year, a group of second-year students on the Dutch-language study programme in Business Management in Agriculture & Food at HAS University of Applied Sciences in Venlo went on an excursion to Poland. The study trip, which is part of the module ‘International Business’, takes place each year and gives students valuable additional insights. The module is all about export and every aspect of international business.
An extra dimension
On 20 November, a new group of students embarked on the module, this time participants came from both the Dutch and the English language versions of the study programme. “The added value of students from both programmes following this module together is that the teaching language is always English,” lecturer Esther Vennekens explains. “This gives an extra dimension to the whole module. The students also gain experience in intercultural communication, because the English study programme also has a lot of international students.”
Real plans for actual companies
In addition to study trips to Poland and Brussels, where students visited the European Parliament, participants in the module also work on drawing up an export plan. At the start of the module, 5 partner companies introduced themselves and presented their assignment to the students. There are no fictitious export plans, but only genuine plans for real companies. The companies involved are actively looking to internationalise their business or increase the international activities, and have expressed their need for an export plan.
Exploring new countries
Mushroom producer Scelta wants to know what their company’s prospects are in Africa; Lakei Roses & Lilacs is looking for a way to approach the Russian market; arborist Bart Faassen Tegelen sees a potential market in East Europe; Livar wants to sell pork to Guatemala; and Poultry Plan is a new company with ambitions to offer their chicken software on a global scale. The students must explore these new markets and come up with an export plan, which they’ll present to the companies at the end of the module.
