Master in International Business: Curriculum
Our Master in International Business opens the door to a truly global career. At WHU, you benefit from a program that blends academic excellence with real-world experience, allowing you to work on practical cases and develop a deep understanding of international business challenges. With a broad portfolio of general management courses, you will build the knowledge and skills needed to thrive in dynamic, international environments.
The program is designed to help you grow personally and professionally, sharpening your leadership skills, broadening your perspective, and connecting you with an inspiring, supportive community. As part of the WHU network, you’ll join a strong, global network of peers, alumni, and corporate partners that will accompany you throughout your career.
Eight core modules provide you with essential knowledge across the key areas of general management. From early on, you can shape your own Master in International Business journey by selecting electives that match your interests, ambitions, and career goals.
Curriculum
Before September
The pre-master module provides foundational concepts and principles across key business topics, helping you build a solid foundation, refresh prior knowledge, or deepen your understanding of certain business topics. The pre-master module courses are delivered entirely online, providing a self-paced learning experience.
For MIB students without business background, some courses are mandatory to complete before the beginning of their studies at WHU.
The following courses are mandatory for Master in International Business students without a business background:
- Foundations of Management
- Financial Accounting
- Introduction to Economics
Additionally, the following courses can be taken if interested:
- Python Programming
- Quantitative Methods
September - Mid-October
Core Modules:
- International Accounting
- International Strategy
- The Analytics' Edge
Mid- October - December
Core Module:
- Managerial Economics
- Strategic Marketing
Electives (choose one courses):
- Actionable Customer Analytics
- Advanced Corporate Finance
- Advanced Methods of Market and Management Research
- Advanced Organizational Behavior
- Performance Management and Controlling
- Strategy Making in Professional Sports
- Transportation Management
- Venture Capital Finance
January - February
Core Modules
- Designing Sustainable Global Supply Chains
- Leadership in Practice
Electives (choose one course):
- Luxury Brand Management
- Managing Data Science
- Mergers & Acquisitions
- Negotiations
- Responsible Leadership
- Strategic Technology and Innovation Management
March - April
Core Modules
- Global Business Environment
Electives (choose one course):
- Building and Scaling Successful Companies - the WHU founder lecture
- Data Driven Entrepreneurship
- Financial Statement Analysis and Valuation
- Leadership in Professional Services
- Leading the High-Performance Sales Force
- Managing Resilient and Sustainable Supply
- Managing The Family Business
- Strategy Execution
- Text, Image, and Video Mining
- Visual Prototyping
September - April
Career Tracks allow you to specialize in selected business fields.
The Master in International Business program currently offers the following five Career Tracks, each with its associated courses:
- Consulting & Business Transformation
- Advanced Organizational Behavior (Quarter 2)
- Negotiations (Quarter 3)
- Strategy Execution (Quarter 4)
- Sustainability & Value Creation
- Performance Management and Controlling (Quarter 2)
- Responsible Leadership (Quarter 3)
- Managing Resilient and Sustainable Supply (Quarter 4)
- Finance & Investment
- Advanced Corporate Finance (Quarter 2)
- Mergers & Acquisitions (Quarter 3)
- Financial Statement Analysis and Valuation (Quarter 4)
- Innovation & Business Acceleration
- Heinz-Nixdorf-Lecture: Strategic Intellectual Property Management (Quarter 2)
- Strategic Technology and Innovation Management (Quarter 3)
- Building and Scaling Successful Companies – the WHU founder lecture (Quarter 4)
- Data-Driven Growth & Market Leadership
- Actionable Customer Analytics (Quarter 2)
- Luxury Brand Management (Quarter 3)
- Visual Prototyping (Quarter 4)
May - July
You will gain valuable work experience and the opportunity to apply theory learned in class through an internship in Germany or abroad. The Career Center supports you in finding an internship position via a broad range of activities such as individual career counseling, workshops, and company presentations.
September - December
The Master in International Business Program also includes a semester abroad at one of WHU's 200 partner universities worldwide. During the semester abroad, you will gain a global perspective and immerse yourself in another culture.
January - May
The Master thesis concludes your studies, providing you the opportunity to apply the skills and knowledge you have gained throughout the course of the Master Program. While writing your thesis, you will be supervised by a WHU faculty member. You may also write your thesis in collaboration with a company.
1. Relevance of strategic marketing
2. Understanding the market and discovering market opportunities
3. Developing marketing strategy
4. Implementing marketing strategy
A helpful guide to our courses
Download the Module Handbook or visit the Online Course Guide to obtain detailed information on all of the courses included in our Master in International Business.
Download Module Handboook (pdf, 860 KB)
Qualification goals
You can find an overview of the learning objectives and competencies that you will achieve with a Master in International Business here:
Qualification goals Master in International Business (PDF, 145 KB)
Find out more