Master of Business Administration

During the first semester of the MBA, you will broaden and deepen your knowledge and skills to run an organisation successfully, as a manager or entrepreneur. What are the most important ingredients for success? The second semester focuses on your development as a leader. You will explore your personal qualities, examine your motivations and hone your ability to provide direction: to yourself, to others and to the organisation. You will learn how to make a difference as a manager or entrepreneur with vision, decisiveness and confidence.

• Financial management
• Graduation skills
• Graduation project
• Marketing management
• Operations management
• Organisational behaviour
• Personal leadership
• Plan of approach
• Specialisation
• Strategic management
• Study trip

In the specialisation programme, you can choose one of the following specialisations:

Commercial Management

The Commercial Management specialisation challenges you to approach commercial issues from a strategic perspective. You will develop insight into how marketing, sales and entrepreneurship come together to achieve growth and strengthen competitive advantage. You will learn how to analyse market developments and customer behaviour, and how to translate those insights into innovative strategies, value propositions and data-driven decision-making. This specialisation will sharpen your commercial thinking and leadership skills, with the aim of sustainably increasing impact and results.

Data Strategy & Business Intelligence

Business intelligence and data strategy encompass all processes involved in converting information within an organisation into relevant knowledge and insights in order to improve processes and results. The main pillars of business intelligence are: data collection, analysis, visualisation and, finally, decision-making. You will use these insights to critically examine business and revenue models and optimise them where possible. From both a technological and business perspective, you will look for room for improvement, learn to work with dashboards and develop skills that you will use every day in your career.

Entrepreneurship

The Entrepreneurship specialisation teaches you how to take the next steps in entrepreneurship. You will delve into profitable, future-proof and sustainable business operations, learn about closing deals and acquisitions, and further develop your leadership skills. By working on concrete assignments, you will prepare yourself for the challenges of entrepreneurship, from improving business models to professionalising your network. This specialisation will enable you to make business decisions with sharp financial insight and will provide you with practical tools for optimising business processes and increasing your market position.

Global Leadership & Intercultural Management

In this specialisation, you will learn how to operate successfully in an international and diverse environment. You will delve into leading global teams, dealing with cultural differences and developing strategies for international expansion. In addition, you will gain insight into how to position companies in markets that differ greatly from one another, with a focus on local and global trends. You will also learn how to stimulate innovation within diverse cultural contexts. You will develop the skills to navigate complex international relationships effectively and deal with the dynamics of global markets.

Hospitality Management

The Hospitality Management specialisation focuses on strategic leadership within the hospitality industry. You will delve into the complex dynamics between hostmanship, business operations and innovation, and learn how to optimally align these elements. There is a strong focus on strategic facility management, technological developments and sustainable entrepreneurship. We prepare you for a role in which you not only excel operationally, but also provide policy guidance to hospitality organisations. You will develop a sharp vision of the future of the industry and learn how to make organisations agile and future-proof, with a lasting impact on customer experience and business results.

Real Estate Management

The Real Estate Management specialisation prepares you for a management role in the real estate sector, providing you with insight into both the economic and organisational aspects of project development. You will learn to coordinate complex real estate projects from concept to implementation, while developing a keen eye for assessing risks and opportunities. At the same time, you will develop a broad understanding of the real estate market in relation to economic, social and political forces, enabling you to make strategic decisions. This specialisation challenges you to look at opportunities and risks with a critical perspective and provides you with a solid foundation for making future-proof choices as a real estate professional.

MBA Internship

During your internship, you continue to develop on a strategic, analytical and professional level. You gain experience in an international and dynamic working environment and learn how organisations deal with growth, change and innovation. You work on assignments that match your ambitions and interests, ensuring a strong connection between your MBA and real-world practice. The placement also offers the opportunity to expand your network and increase your visibility within the professional field. 

Your work will be assessed in the same way you will encounter during your career. You will complete modules with a paper, step-by-step plan, advisory report or presentation. You will graduate with a professional product in which you develop a strategic and practical solution to a complex issue.

Earning an MBA is a rewarding and demanding challenge. You’re never on your own: as a Tio student, you’ll receive the professional and personal support you need to make your studies a success.

Your own MBA coach

Your MBA coach will be there for you throughout the study programme. You can discuss your goals and ambitions and how you want to shape your journey with them. Appropriate guidance is customised. Moving on as a bachelor’s student or returning to education after working for a while can be an adjustment. If you enjoy sparring about your development and study progress, you can plan more frequent one-to-one contacts with your coach. We expect you to be proactive, so you will schedule your appointments with your coach yourself.

Graduation coach

You and your graduation coach will discuss how you plan to carry out the assignment. This specialist lecturer is your primary point of contact throughout your research project and will provide feedback on the progress of your research report. Your graduation coach has extensive industry experience within your area of specialisation and is highly familiar with the research methods and approaches you will use during your project.

In the final phase of your MBA, you will further deepen your knowledge and expand your expertise, supported by your MBA coach and lecturers. Your graduation project is an opportunity to demonstrate to the professional world where your interests and ambitions lie, how you envision your future career, and the impact you aim to make within your industry.

From assignment to Professional Deliverable

Instead of a traditional thesis, you develop a Professional Deliverable: a concrete and professional business product that can be directly applied within an existing organisation. You analyse the challenge from different perspectives, involve relevant stakeholders and translate your insights into a solution that adds real value in practice.
With your Professional Deliverable, you demonstrate that you are able to independently analyse and solve complex business and management issues. At the same time, you show how, as a future leader, you help organisations look ahead and drive change.

Well prepared

From the first semester onwards, you build a strong foundation in the module Graduation Skills. In this preparatory phase, you develop the skills you need to approach a complex business challenge in a professional way. Workshops, masterclasses and practice-based assignments help you give direction to your graduation trajectory and further develop your research capabilities.

In the second semester, your graduation project begins. You graduate within an organisation where you work on a current Business Challenge: a complex issue with real impact on the organisation and its environment. Here, you demonstrate how you combine strategic insight with practice-oriented solutions at management level.

Your process in focus

In addition to the Professional Deliverable, you work on a reflection report in which you provide insight into your approach, choices and professional development. You describe how you applied theory, sources and practical information, and how you arrived at well-founded advice and solutions. This demonstrates your research skills and professional competence.

Personal guidance

During your graduation trajectory, you are supported by a personal graduation coach. Together, you work on the development of your Professional Deliverable and the further deepening of your expertise. Because the preparation already starts in semester 1, you begin your graduation phase well prepared.

Closing with a board meeting

You complete your MBA with a (simulated) board meeting in which you present your findings, recommendations and Professional Deliverable to a panel of experts. This board meeting simulates a real-life management environment in which you demonstrate that you can advise professionally, persuade stakeholders and operate at a strategic level. In this way, you conclude your MBA with a practice-based final presentation that is closely aligned with the professional field.