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This track introduces students to the strategic financial management issues that multinational corporations encounter and relate to the operating domain of financial managers and advisors. Students will gain insights into financing strategies, as well as the complexity of accounting practices and tax implications in global business contexts. The track is ideal for students seeking a career in accounting and/or finance in an international business environment.

This track will include the courses below. More information per course will be provided at a later time.

BT3T3101 International Capital Strategies (5)

This course introduces the principles and practices of corporate financing strategies within an international context. It examines how firms’ financing needs evolve across different stages of their lifecycle - from early-stage funding through growth, maturity, and beyond - and explores the constraints and terms that shape financing decisions. Students will analyze the range of financing strategies available through international capital markets, including debt, equity, and hybrid structures. The course also highlights the critical role of global financial institutions in shaping access to capital.

In addition, students will develop an understanding of exit strategies available to firms, including initial public offerings (IPOs) and mergers and acquisitions, and how these options differ across jurisdictions and market environments. By the end of the course, students will be familiar with a broad perspective on how firms navigate financing choices and access international capital to support strategic objectives.

Learning goals:

1. Understand different financing needs for small (entrepreneurial) firms and large corporations
2. Understand the role of international capital markets in providing different financing sources for companies
3. Apply different approaches to valuing a company in capital markets
4. Understand how venture capitals work and the exit strategies of VCs
5. Understand and assess fundamental aspects of M&A and private equity (PE), such as their rationale, process, means of payment, financing choices, and agency frictions
6. Describe and evaluate the various types of debt instruments used to finance firms

BT3T3102 Accounting for Multinationals (5)

This course introduces accounting challenges faced by firms operating in a multinational environment. It examines how internationalization of a business shapes both external reporting and internal decision-making, focusing on the complexities that arise when business activities span multiple countries. 

Topics include international differences and harmonization of financial reporting standards, foreign currency translation and foreign exchange risk, hedging strategies, transfer pricing and taxation in cross-border settings, performance measurement and management control systems in complex international organizations. By integrating theory, practice, and case-based applications, the course prepares students to understand and address accounting issues central to multinational business.

Learning Goals

1. Understand international differences in reporting standards and challenges they create.
2. Apply accounting for foreign currency transactions and hedging to manage foreign exchange risks.
3. Understand key issues involved in translating foreign currency financial statements.
4. Understand the role of transfer pricing in decentralized organizations and conflicts in determining international transfer prices.
5. Evaluate management control and performance evaluation challenges in multinational corporations.
6. Explain how cultural diversity affects accounting and decision-making in global organizations.

BT3T3103 BSc Project Accounting & Finance for Int. Business (7)

The core of the project is research, and what type of research will vary by track. The Bachelor Project follows all steps of a research cycle: A managerial problem, a knowledge question, review of evidence, research design, data collection, data analysis, answer to the question, recommendation to management. “Management” should be read as “stakeholder from practice”. The outcome can be a design, hypothesis test, conceptual framework, and in all cases is translated into an answer to a managerial problem. The data can be quantitative or qualitative, primary or secondary, empirical or simulated.

To successfully complete the Bachelor Project, we assume that students participate in the course Advanced Research Skills (ARS, previously ARM, B3101) in parallel or have already completed this course. Moreover, we assume that students have active knowledge of the concepts covered in Research Project (BT2103) or Onderzoeksproject (BK2103). Lastly, the course builds on a lot of knowledge that you should have acquired in previous methods-related courses (e.g., statistics, mathematics). It is your responsibility to dust off this knowledge. Look at material from these courses when things are not top of mind. Do not expect your supervisor to act like a tutor on such topics.

Learning goals

1. Collect and critically assess academic and professional literature on a specific topic
2. Write a critical synthesis of the academic and professional literature
   
3. Identify a relevant managerial problem and translate the managerial question into a research question
   
4. Design a research project that can be executed in the available timeframe
   
5. Collect and analyse data that is needed to answer the research question
   
6. Present research results and defend the choices made
7. Critically evaluate and discuss research results