PROGRAMME SYLLABUS
Digital Business (Two Years), 120 credits
Digital Business (Two Years), 120 högskolepoäng
Programme Code: JADB9
Confirmed by: Dean 2020-03-26
Revised by: Council for Undergraduate and Masters Education 2020-05-07
Version: 3,1
Programmestart: Autumn 2021
Education Cycle: Second-cycle level

Title of qualification

Degree of Master of Science (120 credits) with a major in Business Administration

Programme overview

Programme aims
This programme has been developed as a response to the transformational pressures that digitalization exerts on existing and new businesses. The programme aims to provide students with knowledge, skills, and approaches, relevant for analyzing, identifying and managing digital opportunities for strategic business creation and development and organizational change. To that end, the programme stimulates creative thinking around digitalization, business innovation and renewal. To foster understanding and ability for integration of theory with practice, the curriculum is built to enable student interaction with a selection of relevant business partners, for example through guest lectures, course projects, case-based learning, and internships. To secure the range of competencies necessary to understand and manage digital business, the programme presents students with new and future-oriented perspectives utilizing a cross-disciplinary approach, combining Business administration (major), with Informatics and Business law.

Objectives

General aims
Second cycle education shall essentially build on the knowledge students acquire in first cycle education or corresponding knowledge. Second cycle education shall involve a deepening of knowledge, skills and abilities relative to first cycle education and, in addition to what applies to first cycle education, shall;
Program specific aims
Knowledge and understanding

Graduates of the programme will have a general knowledge and understanding of business administration and a specialised and considerably deep knowledge in the field of digital business certain areas of the field.

Corresponding Objectives:
Graduates of the programme will be able toSkills and abilities
Graduates of the programme will have acquired the skills to integrate knowledge critically and to analyse complex issues encountered for a career that includes management in digital settings, and be effective communicators of activities associated with those skills.

Corresponding Objectives:
Graduates of the programme will be able toJudgement and approach
Graduates of the programme will understand the scientific, social, ethical, and personal responsibility aspects of practical work and research in business administration, including the role, use, and development of knowledge and the ethical aspects and possibilities of scientific endeavor.
Corresponding Objectives:
Graduates of the programme will be able toMission driven
Graduates of the programme will be equipped to contribute to the advancement of business practice in a global environment, with particular emphasis on aspects of Ownership, and/or Entrepreneurship and/or Renewal.
Corresponding Objectives:
Graduates of the programme will be able to:The above is in accord with the intended learning outcomes set for a two-years Master's degree by the Swedish National Agency for Higher Education.

Contents

First semester
The programme starts with the course Understanding Digital Business, which is designed to provide students with a foundation regarding the influence of digitalization on business opportunities, doing business, and organizing for business. The course clarifies the wide array of digital businesses available while introducing theory to explain the development and management of technological change in business. In parallel, the course Digital Innovation is run, which introduces students to innovation research, more specifically set in a digital context. The course rests on the notion and use of open innovation and thereby clarifies how information technology and innovation management are inherently entwined in contemporary business development. These introduction courses are followed by a course on Digital Entrepreneurship and Advanced Research Methods in Entrepreneurship. The former secures a progression of knowledge within business administration, specifically focused on entrepreneurship processes, while crafting the students’ “entrepreneurial selves” through practical assignments; including working on a digital business idea. The method course ensures that all students understand research philosophy and gains the knowledge and skills to perform and/or order both advanced qualitative and quantitative research. The course prepares students for writing a master thesis in Business Administration with a particular attention to entrepreneurial and tranformational aspects, but is also a key to developing critical thinking capabilities and managing skilled report writing based on research in general.

Second semester
The second semester focuses on competences and skills in specific areas of business administration. Data Analysis for Decision-making is a course that develops the students’ ability to order and/or take part in data (analytics) driven decision-making. This includes how to source, keep, and deal with big data, as well as how to analyse relevant metrics for business development. In parallel, a course on Digital Business Modeling follows logically from the innovation and entrepreneurship courses in the autumn semester, and develops the innovative thinking about new and emerging business models in a digital world, and how this creates opportunities for new business development.

In the second half of the spring semester the students take the course Digital Marketing, introducing students to the opportunities and challenges of data-driven and automated marketing. In parallel the students take a course on Entrepreneurial Finance. For the latter course the students are introduced to concepts like venture capital and crowdfunding.

Third semester
During the third semester students take a 15 credit Internship course, which provides them with the opportunity to get hands-on experience in a specific area of digital business by working within their own or an existing organization. The course requires students to make continuous reflection on their competence and learning, and to write a report that promotes the ability to review theory in the light of practice. The internship secures an international outlook for students, as the internship should relate to digital business and be done in an international context. As a general rule, students find their internship places themselves. Parallel to the internship course, students take two courses that are primarily conducted online. Business Law in a Digital Context is a course designed to accommodate students’ need of competence in legal matters when developing digital business that reaches across borders. The course Leading Organizing Innovation Work is a course designed to prepare students for leading organizations in a digital setting.

Fourth semester
The fourth and final semester focuses on further developing the students’ analytical skills and ability to perform independent and critical research in the area of digital business. Students spend the semester writing a 30 credit Master Thesis in Business Administration on a topic related to digital business.

All courses are taught in English. Thanks to the internationally diverse student and faculty population at Jönköping International Business School (JIBS), each course provides an opportunity for interaction across cultural and national boundaries. The international atmosphere is reinforced with international subject matter in this programme and particularly its consideration of the truly global character of developing companies in a digital context.

The education aims to prepare students for working with digital business in an international environment, specifically with focus on entrepreneurship, business renewal, and/or marketing. The education also prepares students for research in these areas, possibly within doctoral studies.

Courses

Mandatory courses

Course Name Credits Main field of study Specialised in Course Code
Advanced Research Methods in Entrepreneurship 7.5 Business Administration A1N JARR26
Business Law in a Digital Context 7.5 Commercial Law A1F JBLR27
Data Analysis for Decision-Making 7.5 Informatics A1F JDAS27
Digital Business Modeling 7.5 Business Administration A1N JDBR27
Digital Entrepreneurship 7.5 Business Administration A1N JDER29
Digital Innovation 7.5 Informatics A1N JDIR28
Digital Marketing 7.5 Business Administration A1F JDMS27
Entrepreneurial Finance 7.5 Business Administration A1N ENNR23
International Internship on Digital Business 15 Business Administration A1N JIIR28
Leading and Organizing Innovation Work 7.5 Business Administration A1N JLOR27
Master Thesis in Business Administration (Two Years) 30 Business Administration A2E JMBV27
Understanding Digital Business 7.5 Business Administration A1N JUDR26

Programme overview

Year 1
Semester 1 Semester 2
Period 1 Period 2 Period 3 Period 4
Digital Innovation, 7.5 credits Advanced Research Methods in Entrepreneurship, 7.5 credits Data Analysis for Decision-Making, 7.5 credits Digital Marketing, 7.5 credits
Understanding Digital Business, 7.5 credits Digital Entrepreneurship, 7.5 credits Digital Business Modeling, 7.5 credits Entrepreneurial Finance, 7.5 credits

Year 2
Semester 3 Semester 4
Period 1 Period 2 Period 3 Period 4
Leading and Organizing Innovation Work, 7.5 credits Business Law in a Digital Context, 7.5 credits Master Thesis in Business Administration (Two Years), 30 credits
International Internship on Digital Business, 15 credits  


Teaching and examination

To pass a course, the student needs to fulfill all the course requirements. Examination will be executed by written exam, oral exam or term papers. Different methods of examination can be used within a single course. The student will be offered examination opportunities in accordance with document: Regulations and Guidelines for first, second and third cycle education at Jönköping University. Mandatory workshops and assignments can figure within the frame of the course.
All courses offered by JIBS will be graded according to the following six levels: A-E constitutes a pass and FX or F is equal to a fail. The grades Pass or Fail can also be used for selected examinations.

Prerequisites

The applicant must hold the minimum of a Bachelor’s degree (i.e the equivalent of 180 ECTS credits at an accredited university) with at least 90 ECTS credits in one (or a combination) of the following areas: business administration, economics, industrial engineering and management, or equivalent. At least 60 ECTS credits must be in business administration. Proof of English proficiency is required.

Continuation Requirements

The following requirements need to be met for students to proceed to the second academic year within the program: Within the program the student must not fall behind more than 30 credits.

Qualification Requirements

To obtain the Master of Science (120 credits) with a major in Business Administration, the student must complete the course requirements of at least 120 credits at the higher education level that were not used for the bachelor degree, with at least 90 credits overall in second-cycle courses and at least 60 of those second-cycle credits in business administration including 30 credit Master Thesis in Business Administration (Two Years) must be completed.
To obtain the Master of Science (120 credits) with a major in Business Administration, with a focus on Digital Business, the student must complete: (1) the requirements for the Master of Science (120 credits) with a major in Business Administration, (2) all mandatory programme courses as listed in the above Contents section, or their equivalent, and (3) a Master thesis in business administration (30 credits) that covers a topic within digital business.

Quality Development

Our cooperation with JSA, the student organization, is crucial. This work is conducted on two levels, programmes and courses.

Programme level
On the programme level student representatives for the programme are elected. The student representatives and the programme managers meet regularly to discuss courses and the progress of the programme. The representatives stay in contact with course coordinators to share the overall impression and student experiences from courses; in addition, the programme manager meets regularly with faculty to discuss the quality and development of the programme.

Course level
On the course level, programme developers and course coordinators meet shortly after the course has started. The purpose is to ensure that the course is working well and if necessary make minor changes. After each course is finished all students perform course evaluations in PingPong, and programme developers evaluate the course on the aggregate level and communicate with programme manager and course responsible.

Other Information

Preparatory/foundation courses cannot be included/counted for the JIBS degree.

Additional information, regarding the programme, will be presented on JIBS homepage before each application period.