* Students demonstrate academic knowledge about international contracting and relationships
* Students demonstrate the ability to apply academic knowledge to real life cases and problems
* Use theory and empirical evidence to support decision making in international supply chains
* Students navigate between different frameworks and theories to guide their analysis
* Work in teams to solve complex and uncertain problems in an international business environment
* Analyze societal implications of cross-border trade + Able to reflect on sustainability in cross-border trade and develop their own position towards issues in this context
* Understand diverse functional and cultural perspectives in decision-making processes
* Use persuasive and professional communication styles in negotiations, relationships, and teams
* Students write convincingly in a short case and open-ended exam questions
* Use persuasive and professional communication styles in negotiations, relationships, and teams
* Demonstrate project management skills in practice, by performing several mini-projects and completing cases
* Work in teams of diverse backgrounds

If you start to think about all the different organizations involved with the production and delivery of manufactured goods and services, the amount of relationships and interconnections between these organizations becomes overwhelming. Many of these relationships are governed by contractual agreements and purchase orders that describe the terms and conditions of economic transactions. Supply chains are constellations of firms that together form the link between raw materials and the end consumer, including physical product flows but also services, information, and finances. In this course, we study such contractual arrangements using practical cases that focus on intra- and inter-organisational governance. For example, we investigate global trade wars and how they affect decisions in the supply network, we study how supplier contracts can be used to enforce sustainability deep into the supply network, we analyse how conflict and contract breaches affect customers downstream, and we learn about EU tender law and practices of public procurement. Contracts also affect end consumers directly, for example in cases of warranties and quality defects. In addition, we focus on how such contracts are managed in practice, even after contracts are designed and transactions completed.

Cases, academic and practitioner articles.

This course is in transition for the master Business Research.
See the Master Education and Examination Regulations for more information.

The following rule applies to master Business Research students who started the programme prior to academic year 2024-2025.
TRANSITIONAL REGULATION (EBC4268):
The master Business Research has been discontinued.
Courses of the Business Research master’s programme will continue to be offered until and including academic year 2025-2026 with exam opportunities running until and including 2026-2027.