MANAGEMENT AND CONSULTANCY/ INTERNATIONAL SERVICES MANAGEMENT
ROTTERDAM UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES
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Table of contents
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1. Living and studying in Rotterdam
p.3
2. Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences
p.3
3. Exchange programme International Services Management
p.3
4. Programme
p.4
5. Entry requirements
p.5
6. Course Services Management 1 and 2
p.6
7. Course International Risk Management
p.8
8. International Law
p.9
9. Services Skills
p.10
10. Buddy Programme
p.11
1. Living and studying in Rotterdam Rotterdam is a bustling, dynamic city with a modern city centre situated in the west of The Netherlands. Its impressive skyline can be seen for miles around. It is the second largest city of the country with a population of approximately 600,000 and with a large student population. The port of Rotterdam is the largest in Europe. Discover how surprising Rotterdam is with new architecture, festivals and events, attractions and a variety of art and culture on the site of the Rotterdam tourism board (www.rotterdam.info) or on the English site of the Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences (www.hogeschool-rotterdam.nl). Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences is a university in the heart of Rotterdam. All university buildings are within easy reach by underground. Around 28,000 students are working on their professional future at our university. Currently the university hostst more than 75 degree programmes in almost every professional sector. One of these programmes is the exchange programme International Services Management.
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Exchange Programme
(30 ects)
International Services Management (15 ects) International Services Management is a 30 ects course for exchange students and Dutch students and is offered completely in English. In this course exchange students will not only study together with Dutch students but Dutch students will also act as hosts or buddies to exchange students. This means that, for instance, you will be welcomed by a Dutch student at Rotterdam central station on arrival and that you will be helped with other practical matters during your stay in Rotterdam. International Services Management is an international interdisciplinary course which has been developed for students from different sectors (ranging from facility management to industrial management and ICT). For a complete list of the sectors you are referred to the heading “Entry Requirements� below. One thing all these sectors have in common is that the management of services plays an important role in these sectors. You will not only learn how to work together with students from other disciplines but also with students with different nationalities. This will prepare you for a career with an internationally oriented company. Why International Services Management? Over two-thirds of all employment in developed countries is in the services sector. Services account for an ever-increasing part of wealth creation in economies all over the world. Managing services needs a different approach from managing the sales of goods. This is all too often not recognized as a distinct aspect of management requiring different skills and knowledge. Even high-tech manufacturers often keep their business strictly oriented on selling goods whereas selling services may improve their performance significantly. Management of services is an essential part of modern management which can enhance not just sales but also creativity, staff satisfaction and profit. In this exchange programme the focus is on customer orientation. This programme prepares students for a career as a manager or engineer who can create added value for customers and profit for his or her
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organisation by delivering services. Nowadays companies need to distinguish themselves from their competitors by the quality of the services they deliver. The battle for the customer is not to be won by means of the delivery of goods but rather by means of the customer’s satisfaction with service and treatment. This does not only go for sectors such as facility management, the leisure industry, the ICT sector but also for sectors which were traditionally more product oriented such as the manufacturing sector and the construction sector. For more information on the theme of services management you are referred to the course descripton of the course Management of Services 1 and 2 (p.5).
What will you learn? The minor International Services Management is meant for students who want to learn how to develop, deliver, manage, monitor and improve services in one of the sectors mentioned above. Services are becoming international to a greater extent. To successfully export a business model, you need entrepreneurship, and insight into cultural differences, legal and export matters and the international strategic environment. The course International Services Management will give you the opportunity to train these skills and acquire this knowledge.
Below you will find an overview of the different courses. For a more detailed description of the courses you are referred to the pages following this table: Services Management programme for Dutch and exchange students (total 15 ects) Quarter 1 Management of Services 1 International Risk Management Buddy programme
ects 4 2 1
Quarter 2 Management of Services 2 Services Skills International Law
ects 4 2 2
Management and Consultancy (15 ects) For Dutch and exchange students (total 15 ects)
Quarter 1 Strategy and consultancy
ects 8
Quarter 2 Change management
ects 7
Strategy and Consultancy: In every kind of organisation strategic choices need to be made. For instance, a company which wants to change from a product-oriented into a services-oriented or customer-oriented organisation will be faced with strategic choices in the transition phase. In this course students learn to analyse the strategic paradoxes a company has to deal with in the transition phase. Students will be trained to give well founded strategic advice to a company on the basis of thorough analysis.
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Change management: Business and industry are changing continuously. In this course you will acquire the knowledge and develop the skills necessary to analyse problems, to manage processes and implement changes in companies and organisations. Students will develop their competences as change agents in consultancy settings.
Note: each quarter consists of 10 weeks with lessons in weeks 1-8 and exams (if the course is concluded by an exam) in the last two weeks.
3. HOW At the Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences theory is linked to practice. Students are expected to study theory and apply it in business assignments. Students will be trained to analyse company problems and to give advice to real and fictional companies. Your business assignments will be carried out in small project groups. You will receive regular feedback on you project progress by your school supervisor or company supervisor. This is called project oriented learning. Teaching methods: lectures, training sessions, workshops, business assignments, project work Assessment methods: reports, presentations, oral assessment, exams
4. Entry requirements The course International Services Management is an interdisciplinary course designed for students of the four-year undergraduate courses in Facilities Management, Industrial Management, Construction Engineering, Logistics, Leisure Management and ICT with an intermediate level of English and a specific interest in Services Management. Students from other undergraduate courses in Business Administration or Engineering may also be eligible and can apply for enrolment with the Course Director. Foreign students who want to enrol should have completed the first two years of a four-year undergraduate course in Business Administration or one of the courses mentioned above. For further information please contact: Drs. A. M. Peters (a.m.peters@hr.nl) 003110-7945379
Start and duration From Sep 2011 this programme will be offered in the fall term (Sep to beginning Feb) every year. Below you will find short descriptions of the courses to give you an impression of the objectives and contents of the courses. More detailed course descriptions will be made available to you at the start of the course.
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September 2011, programme subject to change
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5. Short description of courses Course: Management of Services 1 and 2 Study Load: 8 ects 1. Course objectives The objective of the first half of the semester is to describe a methodical approach for investigating the current situation in a service organisation. This is followed by a description of the preferred situation. Both descriptions are integrated into a model which can be used to develop a service concept. This model will be used for a real client in the second part of the semester. The final report, the new or renewed service concept, consists of a description of your research and an integrated approach to a service concept for your client. The lecturer will provide the assignment from the client. 2. Course contents Managing services needs a different approach from managing the sales of goods. This is all too often not recognized as a distinct aspect of management requiring different skills and knowledge. Even high-tech manufacturers often keep their business strictly oriented on selling goods whereas selling services may improve their performance significantly. Management of services is an essential part of modern management which can enhance not just sales but also creativity, staff satisfaction and profit. In this course, we will try to gain insight into what a service-dominant approach means for managing processes in a company or organisation. It is important to know how to cope with the involvement of the customer in the entire service process and to understand how each management function contributes to the performance of the service delivery process. Therefore, we will adopt an integrated approach towards the study of services management, looking at relevant insights from fields ranging from strategy and marketing to operations and human resource management. This should result in an innovative plan, the service concept for an organization, which offers the best combination of goods and services to the customer, provided for by competent staff and management, and contributing to the performance of the company. In this course the relevant theoretical models of the management of services are discussed and research is conducted into the way in which these models are used in actual practice. This research is carried out from at least the following perspectives: services processes, employees involved in services processes, their management, customers (either business-to-business and/or business to consumer), the mission, vision and strategy of the organisation and performance measurement. The description and analysis of the current situation should result in a new design or redesign of the service concept for the client and finally in a matching service strategy and a plan with an integrated approach. This plan should also show to what extent this plan creates profit for the client. 3. Course materials Van Looy, B., Gemmel, P., Dierdonck, Van, R., Services management: an integrated approach (Harlow 2003) ISBN 027367353X Articles, made available by lecturer 4. Course schedule There will be three- hour sessions (150 minutes) each week spread over two quarters of 10 weeks each. Visits to companies could be on any day and will be scheduled together with students. 5. Assessment Depending on the number of foreign and Dutch students, assignments will be done individually or in pairs. The assessment consists of the following elements:
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1. your individual performance in class (such as presentations and input in discussions) 2. your plans for the description of current and preferred situation of the services of a client’s organisation, executed in groups of 2 or 3 students, in a combination of Dutch students and students from abroad.
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Course: International Risks Management1) Study load: 2 ects Summary of content and objectives International Risks Management can be studied at different levels. The Macro-economic level shows us what money is about and how it emerged, how it should be handled by central banks, import/export balance, etc. Also at this level one could look at relations between commercial banks, central banks, hedge funds, government and many other financial institutions and organisations. The Micro-economic level is the level of the individual organisation. Many people seem to think that the basics of entrepreneurship should be defined as taking risks. That is true, but only to some extent: most companies rather aim at reducing risks to an acceptable level. All kinds of financial products and bank services are available in order to minimize financial risks like currency and interest risks, credit risks or liability risks and to guarantee the continuity of the company. It is like crossing a street: a person can choose just doing that without looking to the left and to the right. Most people find that frightening and the risk of not getting across alive increases dramatically. Companies do the same thing: if they do not look to the left and to the right all the time and act when financial obstacles have to be avoided, the occurrence of financial damage is likely. During this course, students will take a look at all kinds of financial products that can be used by (services) organisations. Most of it is ready-to-use knowledge. That means, that during this course we do not focus on strategy – the decision to start in an export country has already been made - but on preparing the operation before you start. Students will get to understand the meaning and purpose of these products and in which situations a company needs to apply them. Materials The following literature is used during the course: “International Financial Management”, Jeff Madura and Roland Fox, Thomson Learning 2007, ISBN-13: 978-1-84480-360-6; ISBN-10: 1-84480-360-0
Schedule week 1: introduction and preparation of excursion to Dutch National Bank and Euronext Stock Exchange week 2: guest speaker of treasury desk of ABNAMRO-bank on hedging currency risks week 3: guest speaker of treasury desk of ABNAMRO-bank on hedging interest risks week 4: excursion to Amsterdam (DNB and Euronext) week 5: guest speaker of ABNAMRO-bank on documentary collections, letter of credit, week 6: consultancy meeting week 7: feedback of lecturer on the student’s analyses week 8: handing in final version of risk analysis week 9: preparing retake (if applicable) week 10: handing in retake (if applicable) Assessment The student writes a financial risk analysis for the company in the case presented by the lecturer.
1) This course is subject to continuous change. Therefore, students cannot derive any rights from the description offered on this page.
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Course: International Law Study load: 2 ects 1. Course objectives To describe this course in one line, it is about: “ legal aspects of Services Management for non-legal managers” Like every other business, businesses in the Services sector face their specific legal aspects. By understanding these legal aspects and the impact they have on the Services business, a Services manager can contribute to achieving the business objectives of the Services company he/she works for. If you work for a Service Provider and you have plans to extend the business over the national boundaries into other countries, you should also have basic knowledge about international contracting, choice of law, choice of forum and applicable international legal rules like the EC treaty and other bi-lateral or multilateral treaties. 2. Course contents This course will provide you with an introduction to the basic concepts of law and especially contracting law, both in a national and an international business environment. In addition, you will learn to apply this basic legal knowledge when analysing a Service Level Agreement ("SLA"). You will also practise amending and negotiating a SLA. Part of the content of this course will be presented to you in the form of lectures, for the other part you will study the course materials individually. You will use Dutch law as the basis for the lectures on concepts of law and contracting law. 3. Course materials The course is partly based on articles and documents made available to you by the lecturer, and partly on chapters 8 and 20 of the book: Services management: an integrated approachVan Looy, B., Gemmel, P., Dierdonck, Van, R., (Harlow 2003) ISBN 027367353X You will also use (corrected ) presentations from the assignments of your co-students. 4. Course schedule: planning The lectures and assessment of this course will be spread over one quarter (10 weeks). In the first 3 lectures, the topic is :Introduction to law, “international law” and treaties. The next block of 3 lectures will be about contract law, (international) contract clauses and the (international) Service Level Agreement. We end with 2 lectures on legal aspects of expanding Services Management over national boundaries and legal aspects of Services Management and SLA in an international environment. For weeks 4 and 6 you will deliver an individual assignment. In week 7 we will also have a group assignment negotiation about a SLA. In week 9 you will do the overall written exam. 5. Assessment Element
% of final result
Mininum result
Assignment 1 and 2 Assignment 3 Overall exam
15% each, in total 30% 20% 50%
6 (out of 10) each 6 (out of 10) 6 (out of 10)
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Course: Services Skills Study load: 2 ects
1. Course Objectives: In this course you will learn how to communicate effectively in a services environment. The course will focus on the skills needed for the management of services and the attitude and knowledge related to these skills. The course focuses on the role and skills of the services manager but the skills trained are relevant for other managers as well. 2. Course Contents: The following roles are important in the services process: 1. services manager (e.g. negotiating with customers and staff) 2. front office services employee (e.g. handling complaints) 3. back office (e.g. providing information) 4. services performers (e.g. direct contact with customers during service delivery) The following skills are related to these roles: 1. Providing information about the services process 2. Dealing with complaints 3. negotiating skills (including managing expectations) These skills will be trained intensively in this course. 3. Course materials: The course is based partly on documents made available to you by the trainer and partly on part three of Services Management, an Integrated Approach, Van Looy. 4. Schedule There will be 8 weekly training sessions followed by an oral assessment session in week 9. 5. Assessment Students will receive a mark for the following 2 skills: -
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providing information in an e-mail (25%) negotiation skills (75%)
Course: Buddy Programme Study load: 1 ects 1.Course objectives and contents In this course Dutch students will act as a host or buddy to exchange students and help them with practical matters (e.g. welcome exchange students at Rotterdam central station, guided tour of Rotterdam University and the city of Rotterdam). In addition Dutch and and exchange students will present aspects of their own country and culture to one another. The topics of the presentations are: history, modern society, politics, religion, economic developments and do's and taboos. In this way students will develop an understanding of other cultures and develop skills they will need for an international career (in which they may also have to receive and entertain business partners from abroad) Course Materials The Holland Handbook, Edition 2010-2011, published by Expat Media. Course Schedule There will be guided tours around Rotterdam University and the city of Rotterdam in the first two weeks. In addition, there will be workshops with presentations once every two weeks. This course also includes at least two personal meetings with the course coordinator to discuss the development of your competencies related to services management. Assessment Your final mark is based on: 1. the quality of your presentation(s) 2. the quality of participation in discussions in class 3. participation in buddy programme activities
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