Students in International Business Administration

Annabelle – Climate Reporting. Making a difference in the economy

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In her Bachelor's thesis, the alumna analysed how ecologically sustainable the German capital market is and was able to publish the results in the peer-reviewed journal ‘Sustainable Development’. She is now studying for a Master's degree in Climate Change at the University of Copenhagen.

Choosing a degree programme was easy for Annabelle Braasch. She already chose the sustainability profile at school, was interested in biology and completed two internships in business: ‘That's where the leverage should be applied. All stakeholders need to tackle the challenges facing society, but we don't have time to wait for stricter political measures. Companies must act proactively.’ With Leuphana, she found the right place to study: ‘In Lüneburg, I had the opportunity to combine the International Business Administration & Entrepreneurship programme with Sustainability Sciences.’ Annabelle Braasch opted for the Ecological Restoration specialisation in order to better understand the scientific perspective. In business in particular, the connection to nature has been lost: ‘This is why climate issues are often ignored by board members. Short-term financial performance takes centre stage and sustainable change fails to materialise,’ explains Annabelle Braasch.

With this statement, she looks back on the results of her bachelor's thesis and first academic publication: ‘Climate Reporting Quality Following the Recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures: A Focus on the German Capital Market’. The student focussed on the quality of climate reporting on the German capital market. She analysed 25 DAX-30 listed companies in the period 2018-2020. The evaluation model was based on the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), which has become increasingly important as a framework for climate reporting in recent years and is even binding in some countries.

The student invested a lot of time in the survey: ‘I manually extracted the climate-relevant data from the reports and differentiated between the four areas of the TCFD recommendations, i.e. governance, strategy, risk management, key figures and targets,’ she explains. The quality of the information was then assessed on the basis of its specificity and the presence of quantitative indicators. The results of the empirical analyses were so conclusive that Annabelle Braasch worked on a scientific publication in an international sustainability journal with a double-blind peer review process on this topic together with her Bachelor thesis supervisor Prof. Dr Patrick Velte, Professor of Accounting, Auditing & Corporate Governance: ‘Our results suggest that some listed companies could be greenwashing. Although many companies have set themselves the goal of climate neutrality, the targets and measures of some companies are still very opaque. It is not clear whether and how companies are really aiming for net zero emissions,’ says the alumna.

Furthermore, almost no company has taken climate scenarios into account when assessing their risks and opportunities, reports Annabelle Braasch: ‘This shows that most companies are not yet incorporating climate change into their strategic direction, or if they do, they are probably not reporting on it because their current strategy is not sustainable in the long term. It is not enough for companies to set targets and produce reports. They need to adapt their strategy and act with the future in mind.’
During her studies, Annabelle Braasch completed an internship at a Big Four auditing company in the sustainability sector: ‘I was immediately fascinated by the topic of climate reporting. I am glad that I was able to write my final thesis on the subject and was supervised so well that I was even allowed to publish my findings.’

Annabelle Braasch is now in her second year of the Master's programme ‘Climate Change - Impacts, Mitigation and Adaptation’ at the University of Copenhagen: ‘It's a very interdisciplinary and international programme. My fellow students come from all over the world and have different backgrounds such as management, politics, psychology, geology, geography, biology and physics. Overall, my studies at Leuphana have prepared me well for my Master's degree and my work, for which I am very grateful.’

Preziosa – Online in slippers

©Leuphana/Gregor Japp
The student with Canadian-Italian roots is completing the English-language Bachelor's programme ‘International Business Administration and Entrepreneurship’ (IBAE). She has not been to her home country for months.

The last time Preziosa saw her family was at Christmas. She has not yet been able to travel to Italy due to the coronavirus crisis. ‘But my parents and siblings are fine. They live in Calabria. The virus is not yet very widespread in southern Italy,’ says the 20-year-old. Preziosa has always been keen to travel the world. She was born in Canada into an Italian-Canadian family, grew up in Italy and came to Germany two years ago to study. ‘But I had already been to Eutin twice as a student. I took part in the meetings of the European Youth Parliament there,’ Preziosa recalls. The political organisation brings together young people from different countries to simulate the EU Parliament and improve their debating skills. The student liked North Germany straight away. She found out about Leuphana via the website of the German Academic Exchange Service. ‘The study model appealed to me. There are also majors and minors in the USA. Studying at Leuphana gives you a broad international base.’

Preziosa is studying IBAE in her fourth semester. When she came to Lüneburg two years ago, the International Office was a very important point of contact for her: ‘The staff give us a lot of support, answer questions and name contact points,’ reports the student. Preziosa has a passion for other languages and cultures. The student now also speaks German very well: ‘There isn't a strong dialect in Lower Saxony. That's why it was easier to learn German here than in other regions.’

This semester, she studied online: ‘Leuphana did a very good job. It went smoothly.’ In Italy, it was also only possible to study from home: ‘The coronavirus outbreak was very severe there, so there were delays,’ reports the student. Nevertheless, a friend of Preziosa was able to defend her bachelor's thesis - ‘online and in slippers’. After completing her own degree in probably a year's time, the student would like to either complete a Master's degree, do an internship in marketing or human resources or set up a consultancy firm. She wants to identify and solve problems in companies. ‘My minor subject is Psychology and Society. This gives me a broad technical basis for this professional field.’

The content of the IBAE degree programme ranges from core competencies in management and entrepreneurship to sustainability and ethics: ‘This makes me feel well prepared to implement my plans. The complementary study programme is also helpful in placing the subject matter in a broader context,’ says the student. If possible, she would like to help strengthen the economy in her home country: ‘The situation is fragile because Italy is heavily dependent on tourism. I want to help my beautiful country.’ Preziosa herself hopes to be able to visit her family again at the end of July: ‘If the situation remains stable until then.’

Marius – Not either or

©Anna Stojan / Leuphana
Born in Pforzheim, he was looking for a university that would provide him with a good academic foundation but also give him the freedom to make his own mark. He moved to northern Germany because of Leuphana's special study model.

Marius was already Chairman of the Board in the Oberstufe. At his high school, he had the opportunity to set up a student company. His company produced oil lamps from defective light bulbs. He and his classmates not only took over production, marketing and sales, they were also honoured by the state of Baden-Württemberg for their successful work.

Economics was one of his two advanced courses in the Oberstufe. ‘I was just as interested in my second subject, English,’ says the 22-year-old. During his studies, he didn't want to choose between the two subjects. ‘I then looked for a university where I could combine the two.’ He came across Leuphana on the internet. ‘The study model immediately sounded exciting to me,’ he recalls. Students first choose a major, i.e. their main subject. Marius opted for ‘International Business Administration and Entrepreneurship’. The degree programme is taught entirely in English. There is also a minor. ‘In the Oberstufe, I also chose psychology. I am very interested in human behaviour and like solving problems.’ That's why he chose business psychology, an interface between the fields of business and psychology. The combination of subjects was decisive in his decision to come to Lüneburg.

Immediately after graduating from high school, Marius completed an internship in the HR department of a large medium-sized company. He experienced how personnel decisions are made, attended job interviews and took care of administrative matters. ‘I can very well imagine a career in this area,’ says Marius. He is already working in the student advisory service at Leuphana and as an ambassador for the Bachelor's degree programmes. Not only can he pass on the advantages of the degree programme model to prospective students at events, but he can also tell high school students about his own experiences as a university student.

During his studies, he also discovered an interest in marketing. He uses the minor as well as the complementary degree programme to further deepen his knowledge in this field and in psychology: ‘I'm currently completing the advertising psychology module.’

To gain even more practical experience, he will be moving to Munich for six months in April to complete an internship in the area of ‘Digital Transformation & Enablement’. ‘If everything works out, I can also imagine writing a company-related Bachelor's thesis there,’ he adds. He would then like to go on to study for a Master's degree.

Liara – Study, what I want

©Leuphana College
Liara from Brazil started studying the International Business Administration and Entrepreneurship major at the college in the 2016/17 winter semester. In this interview, she talks about her experiences so far and why she decided to study for a Bachelor's degree at Leuphana College.

What are you studying at Leuphana College and why did you choose this major and this minor?
I am studying International Business Administration and Entrepreneurship and Business Psychology as a minor. I chose the International Business major because I am very interested in cultures and languages. That's why I thought it would be ideal for me. I am also interested in economics. I attended a business school in Brazil. In the future, I would like to work in a human resources department or in marketing. But I don't know exactly yet, which is why business psychology is a very good minor for me.

Why did you decide to study in Germany?
Here in Germany, I have more freedom to study what I really want. In Brazil, for example, there is also business administration, but the degree programme is much more general. I really wanted to study International Business Administration so that I could study with people from all over the world and so that I could learn how to deal with people from other cultures. I didn't have that opportunity in Brazil.

Why did you choose Leuphana College?
The decision was easy for me: the other study programmes in Germany were too general and too similar. At the College, I have the opportunity to choose a minor subject. That was decisive for me. So were the complementary studies and the Leuphana semester, because it allows me to study different things that I wouldn't otherwise have been able to combine in one degree programme.

You have just completed the Leuphana Semester. What did you do in your first semester at college?
I took a seminar on psychology. It was about the social psychology of climate change. That was very interesting because it made me realise that I'm very interested in psychology. I only had very little International Business Administration in the first semester, so this module was the most exciting for me. I also had a seminar on Shakespeare. I would never have had that elsewhere, but I also found it very interesting. So I finally read Shakespeare.

What content / topics have you dealt with in the major so far?
I did statistics and maths in the first semester. I didn't find that so exciting, even though it's very important. From January, I had the introduction to International Business Administration: we learnt about marketing, human resources, management and the different departments in a company. It was also about how to deal with people from different cultures. This is very important, especially because of globalisation. We have to work with people from all over the world and that's why it's very important that we learn all this.

What has been your experience of studying at the college so far?
I've had very little theory so far and more group work and practice instead. I found that very good, because I don't like theory that much. There are also lots of seminars, not just lectures. The seminars are small and I have more contact with the professors and other students.

Have you already taken modules in the complementary studies programme?
No, not yet. That's only from the second semester onwards.

For whom is studying at the College recommended?
For everyone, but especially for people who prefer practice and group work and this close contact, and not just pure theory.

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