MSc International Business Community | ZHAW Department of International Business AIB

The MSc International Business program at ZHAW School of Management and Law is more than just a master’s degree. It is a community represented by its students, faculty, alumni, and corporate partners.

Classroom

The program management team works proactively to create a class community with a strong sense of mutual engagement. Our goal is to strengthen our students’ sense of friendship, cohesion, joint responsibility, and belonging. Why? Because we believe that a strong sense of community increases engagement, persistence, and motivation to learn. And that ultimately contributes to our students’ learning success.

For this reason, our students are encouraged to form learning groups and work in project groups to learn with and from each other and achieve their shared learning goals through balanced individual and group assignments. To foster this sense of connectedness, we offer a variety of school and extracurricular events.

A tasty way to get to know each other better: at this event, our international student community cooked and ate together and learned a lot about the delicacies of their respective home countries.

Out of the (classroom-)box 1: Business Simulation Camp – fresh air, high up in the mountains, and a wonderful view that broadens the horizon.

Out of the (classroom-)box 2: Participating in extracurricular projects. Students presenting at the Swiss Genius CSR challenge.

Out of the (classroom) box 3: Vera Baltisser, an MSc International Business student, helped organize the Sustainability Day Event and moderated the Panel Discussion on Quality Education (SDG 4) for underprivileged regions. The panel discussion aimed to uncover current insights and inspire a collective ‘call to action’ to support accessibility to equitable and inclusive quality education for all. The panel consisted of Diepak Elmer (Head of Economy and Education, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) at the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs), Janine Händel (CEO, Roger Federer Foundation), Gustavo Loiola (Manager for Leadership Education, Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME), Foundation for Global Compact) and Francesco Bortoluzzi (Head of Sustainability Programs at ZHAW).

Faculty

Our faculty is characterized by three things: excellence, diversity, and passion.

Excellence in teaching and research: 2020 winner of the ZHAW School of Management and Law Learning and Teaching Award

Diversity in terms of professional background, representing both academic and business careers, as well as in terms of disciplines, from natural sciences to social sciences to humanities, as well as in terms of nationalities.

What unites this group of educators is their passion for teaching, their international experience and intercultural competence, as well as their commitment to supporting our students’ learning experience and building personal relationships that extend beyond their studies.

Alumni community

Our community commitment extends beyond the classroom. Our alumni network now spans more than 55 countries around the world. We not only stay in touch – we continue to work together! Our alumni serve as student advisors, they inform us of job opportunities at the companies where they work, they arrange corporate projects, and they occasionally teach as guest lecturers. Along with our current students, they are also our most valuable advisors when it comes to the quality of the degree program – what we can do better, what we should change, what we should keep, what is missing, and what has helped them in their careers.

Annual Alumni Party in Zurich, celebrating, connecting, enjoying our growing community.

Discussing the future of services in insurance in the context of a study by Cognizant & ZHAW School of Management & Law (far right: Mischa Seitz, MSc International Business Alumnus; 2nd from right: Carlo Pugnetti, MSc International Business Lecturer)

Maphrida Wehrli (right picture, in the middle), an MSc IB Alumna and Product Manager at Bühler, is coaching MSc IB students on their business project on skills and training for Bühler Group field service engineers.

Corporate partners

Embedded in a dynamic and thriving business environment, we not only work closely with companies. The corporate world is an integral part of the Master program in International Business. Representatives of our students’ future employers teach in our degree program. Companies also work with our students and faculty to conduct research and business projects in the areas of market analysis, business and product development, and marketing and sales. From idea to production to sales – our program is not only practice oriented, but also all about practice and business impact.

Learn more about our business projects in the MSc International Business program

Aurelie Wettstein (MSc International Business alumna) and Nadine Thommen shared their inspiring experiences as managing consultants and conducted an insightful workshop on financial steering at Horvath Switzerland's premises at the Circle.

During a business project, students were given an in-depth introduction to Human Centered Design by Raimund Erdmann, Michèle Viola Stöcklin, and Kristen Erdmann from Erdmann Solutions. The trio conducted a workshop on the lesser-known aspects of sustainability and resilience, focusing on the intersection between designing an idea and making it happen.

MSc IB students and their lecturer (Dr. Fabio Duma) visited IWC Schaffhausen to learn more about the brand, its rich history, fine watchmaking, and what it takes for a brand to evolve across time and generations.

MSc International Business
MSc International Business Faculty