Degree of Bachelor of Science in Business and Economics with a major in Business Administration.

Programme aims
Solving the grand social and ecological challenges facing societies today will require the full and active involvement of all kinds of enterprises, including for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. The challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, clean water, renewable energy, global migration, and poverty and inequality are creating conditions that threaten the stability of the global economy. All enterprises must transform their operations to achieve outcomes that address these challenges. At the same time, enterprises need to build collaborative networks and maintain their competitive strengths. Enterprises need to consider profit and not-for-profit logics. These challenges and constraints create conditions that reward innovation and entrepreneurial insight. The opportunities for change and innovation in enterprise development are immense – but only if you have the lens to see, the knowledge to apply, and the ambition to learn. Solving the global sustainability crisis means, for example, that enterprises connect their purpose to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. It also means that new opportunities for changing mindsets and corporate cultures are emerging, as evident in the initiatives like the Inner Development Goals.

Against this backdrop, the Sustainable Enterprise Development programme educate students interested in change, transformation, and innovation for organizational sustainability and renewal. The programme content is designed to foster an entrepreneurial mindset and a lifelong learning orientation so that graduates are able to launch and manage new initiatives, revamp existing practices, and strategically develop operations that aim for “safe and just” ways of doing business. The programme has a particular emphasis on sustainability and regeneration. Sustainable and regenerative enterprises seek positive impacts and focus on the wider system within which they operate. The rapidly changing nature of enterprise sustainability and regeneration also means that the programme content is updated with the latest developments in science and their implications for enterprise development. The programme offers a degree in Business Administration with a minor in economics, specifically emphasizing the renewal of enterprises. The programme is entirely taught in English and targets a highly international audience. The programme relies on problem-based learning and experiential learning to nurture the students’ personal development during the programme.

First level education shall essentially build on the knowledge students acquire in national or specially designed programmes at upper secondary school or corresponding knowledge.
First level education shall develop the students:

• Ability to make independent and critical assessments.
• Ability to independently perceive, formulate and solve tasks.
• Preparedness to deal with change in working life.

In the educational field concerned, in addition to knowledge and skills, students shall develop an ability to:

• Seek and evaluate knowledge at a scholarly level.
• Follow the development of knowledge, and exchange knowledge with other people, including people without specialist knowledge of the field.

Programme specific learning goals
Knowledge and Understanding
Graduates of the programme will have general knowledge and understanding of enterprises and economic principles, and specialised knowledge and understanding of the management of change and innovation – with a particular emphasis on sustainability. More specifically, they will:

• Demonstrate general knowledge and understanding of business administration and economics, including an awareness of the scientific foundations of the field and familiarity with methodologies commonly used in the field.
• Exhibit a broad understanding of key issues and processes in social and ecological sustainability, with a particular emphasis on the ways in which enterprise influences these areas and is affected by them.
• Demonstrate in-depth knowledge of some aspects of the fields of business administration and economics, including an awareness of issues that have particular relevance to research and practice in the area of change management and/or innovation management, as these relate to sustainability.
• Exhibit an awareness of issues and theoretical concepts related to culture and globalization that influence the management of change, innovation, and sustainability.

Skills and Abilities
Graduates of the programme will have acquired the skills and abilities required to understand social and ecological challenges, analyse systemic problems, and engage in effective change initiation and/or management, with a particular emphasis on managing the change and innovation necessary for enterprises to engage in operations that are financially, socially and ecologically sustainable. More specifically, they will:

• Demonstrate the ability to identify, search for, collect, evaluate, and critically interpret information that is necessary to discuss and propose effective solutions to formulated problems that relate to the development of sustainability in and through the enterprise.
• Demonstrate the ability to identify, formulate and solve problems both autonomously and in cooperation with others, within predetermined time frames.
• Demonstrate the ability to present and discuss relevant enterprise- and sustainability-related information, issues, problems, and solutions in both written and spoken form, in dialogue with different audiences, and in a professional manner.

Judgement and Approach
Graduates of the programme will display the ability to make informed assessments of sustainability-related challenges, and also the attitudinal and behavioural emphases necessary to engage in effective change management and life-long learning. More specifically, they will:

• Demonstrate an ability to make assessments of issues that relate to the development of sustainability in and through enterprise, in a manner that is informed by relevant disciplinary, sustainable, and ethical insight.
• Demonstrate insight into the role of knowledge in society and their own responsibility for the way in which knowledge is managed and used.
• Demonstrate an ability to identify their need for further knowledge and ongoing learning.

Mission driven goals
Graduates of the programme will be equipped to contribute to the advancement of enterprise practices 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:

• Conduct sustainability analyses of selected challenges and enterprise areas and present suggestions for change and/or innovation to facilitate organizational renewal, for increased sustainability.
• Demonstrate the ability to work in internationally diverse teams to solve a given assignment.
• Demonstrate an ability to launch a social or sustainable enterprise, addressing a social and/or ecological challenge.

First semester
The programme begins with the course The Sustainable Enterprise - Social and Ecological Perspectives. It introduces the science behind sustainability, including concepts and frameworks of the fields of social and ecological sustainability and sustainable development. Particular attention is paid to the voluntary sustainability frameworks that the enterprise can apply at local, regional, and international levels and includes a visit to an enterprise working with sustainability challenges. In parallel, the course Foundations of Marketing introduces the student to the core components of marketing and the components of marketing strategy. This includes the marketing management process, marketing as a cross-functional process, the need for and use of information in marketing, and marketing in theory and practice in the light of ethics and renewal.

The course Basic Financial Accounting helps students attain a broad understanding of the accounting cycle and concepts that comply with the International Accounting Standard Board. Students also gain first-hand experience in basic bookkeeping and rudimentary financial analysis. In parallel, the course Microeconomic Principles focuses on core principles in microeconomics; including microeconomic issues of decision and choice, production and trade of goods and services, market equilibrium, economic welfare, and efficiency. The course also develops students’ abilities with regard to the math skills needed for many of the economics and statistics courses associated with an undergraduate degree in business administration.

Second semester
In the second semester, the course Organizational Theory for Profit and Purpose presents a spectrum of theories, concepts, and models in the field of organizational theory that broaden students’ understanding of purpose and profit. The course looks at purpose from beyond a profit-driven view and includes social, ecological, and economical perspectives on what drives human and enterprise organizing activity and includes an experiential learning activity with an enterprise. In parallel students take the course Macroeconomic Principles. The former course helps students understand economic theory at an aggregate level and discusses the interaction between macroeconomic variables such as growth, inflation, and unemployment as well as the instruments used by institutions to influence these.

Students take one course that develops their knowledge of how enterprises engage strategically with issues related to leading change. The course, Leading Change Through Sustainable Projects provides students with skills in change leadership and project management for sustainability. The course introduces frameworks for initiating and managing sustainability transitions and transformation in both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. The course also pays close attention to change leadership and project management challenges. The course Sustainability Challenges and Systems introduces theories, perspectives, and concepts of grand sustainability challenges and systems. In the course, students gain knowledge about wicked problems, systems thinking, complex systems, and systems dynamics. Students explore underlying interactions, interdependencies, and mechanisms of grand challenges with a systems perspective through cases. In parallel, the course Systems Thinking Competence presents tools and methods of system dynamics to build abilities to examine systems and sustainability challenges. Through project work, the students learn to model and analyse conditions, causalities, and consequences of systems as well as design interventions for sustainable enterprise development with a systems perspective.

Third semester
In their third semester, students take Business Statistics 1. This course gives students a basic understanding of the subject and abilities to perform and interpret basic quantitative research. The students are trained to use a variety of statistical measures and models for generating, analysing, and interpreting material from studies of enterprises that operate in national as well as international contexts. The course, Leading Innovation for Safe and Just Societies, presents the fields of sustainable innovation and sustainable leadership anchored in the doughnut economy. With the increasing responses from enterprises worldwide to create a decarbonized economy, the course educates students to accelerate social and green transitions by leading innovation. Students participate in problem-solving activities for enterprises.

The course, Economics for a Sustainable Society explores the interplay between economics and sustainability, examining its benefits and limitations for society's sustainable development. It covers economic tools for evaluating sustainable development issues, introduces alternative economic perspectives, and emphasizes identifying and solving social and ecological challenges. The new course, Sustainable Accounting, Reporting, and Law deals with basic management accounting and examines approaches to reporting and key regulations with a specific focus on accountability. The course develops an experiential learning activity in collaboration with enterprises to build know-how of sustainable accounting and reporting based on ethical practices.

Fourth semester
The fourth semester consists of elective courses, giving students the opportunity to build a custom-made profile with respect of a JIBS course package or a semester study abroad. Students choosing to stay at JIBS have the opportunity to enroll in elective courses during this period. The courses are subject to availability regarding the types and level of courses they may study. A package of default courses is suggested considering subjects that strengthen the students’ profile. Students are particularly encouraged to enroll in the course, Internship in Business Administration in order to obtain a job experience. Students choosing to study the elective semester abroad select a partner university that offers courses that they are particularly interested in and that enhance their degree. Students who study abroad choose courses at partner universities in coordination with faculty at JIBS and the accreditation of these courses is performed by JIBS staff. During the elective semester, students are recommended to studying courses within the fields of business administration, economics, statistics, or language, specially topics clearly related to sustainability. Students are also encouraged to study at least one course on data science, technology development, environmental science, psychology, economic geography, commercial law on topics clearly relevant to sustainability.

Fifth semester
The new course, Sustainable Finance and Risk Assessment, presents frameworks, processes, and methods for performing evaluating assets, enterprises, and markets that will enable the transition to a decarbonized and sustainable economy. The course extends these methods and frameworks to assess social, ecological, and financial risks to inform strategic decision making across multiple scales. A particular characteristic of the SED programme is the courses, Regenerative Sustainable Venture Development and Acting Competence.

The course Regenerative Sustainable Venture Development is designed to develop students’ insights on entrepreneurship as a way to address social and ecological challenges across borders. The course relies on regenerative and sustainable entrepreneurship as frameworks and methods to introduce social change and help reconnect with nature and/or society. In the parallel course, Acting Competence, students build their abilities to actively involve in responsible actions for stimulating social change and/or restoring or regenerating nature by launching a sustainable venture. Students are encouraged to learn from their entrepreneurial initiatives and build an entrepreneurial mindset.

The second half of the semester is spent on the course Research Methods for the Sustainable Enterprise Development. The course enhances the student’s ability to design and perform empirical work and prepares them for their thesis work in the final semester. In parallel, the course, Multi-stakeholder Diplomacy and Engagement, discusses theories, perspectives, and concepts key to advancing the implementation of the United Nations 2030 Agenda. The course presents multi-stakeholder diplomacy and engagement as perspectives and methods to influence and build relationships with stakeholders and create collaboration opportunities across sectors. The complexities of diplomacy and cross-sector partnerships at local, national and international levels are also discussed through cases and project work.


Sixth semester
During the last semester of the programme students are required to write a 15 credit thesis in business administration, under the supervision of an academic who is knowledgeable in the area that their thesis focuses on. The thesis provides students with the opportunity to engage in a more detailed study of a phenomenon related to change management, innovation, and sustainability. Parallel to the thesis course, students take Digital Transformation in the Anthropocene, a course that offers an essential understanding of the change processes and practices of enterprises and societies enabled by digitalization. A key consideration of the digital transformation is the context of the Anthropocene and how enterprises tackle the challenges imposed by this, including the natural resources gap, the skills gap, the technological gap, and the ethics of Artificial Intelligence. Finally, the course Governance for Sustainability and Responsible Ownership is offered; introducing students to the impact of different types of ownership and governance structures on organizational development, as well as the role of responsible ownership and governance in embedding sustainability.

Course Name	Credits	Main field of study	Specialised in	Course Code
Acting Competence	2.5	Business Administration	G2F	JACN16
Bachelor Thesis in Business Administration	15	Business Administration	G2E	JBTP17
Basic Financial Accounting	7.5	Business Administration	G1N	ACBG13
Business Statistics 1	7.5	Statistics	G1N	FSFG13
Digital Transformation in the Anthropocene	7.5	Business Administration	G1F	JDTK17
Economics for a Sustainable Society	7.5	Economics	G2F	JESN10
Foundations of Marketing	7.5	Business Administration	G1N	JFGG11
Governance for Sustainability and Responsible Ownership	7.5	Business Administration	G2F	JGSN18
Leading Change through Sustainable Projects	7.5	Business Administration	G1F	JLCK15
Leading Innovation in Safe and Just Societies	7.5	Business Administration	G1F	JLIK15
Macroeconomic Principles	7.5	Economics	G1N	JMPG14
Microeconomic Principles	7.5	Economics	G1N	JMIG12
Multi-stakeholder Diplomacy and Engagement	7.5	Business Administration	G2F	JMSN16
Organizational Theory for Profit and Purpose	7.5	Business Administration	G1F	JOTK15
Regenerative Sustainable Venture Development	5	Business Administration	G2F	JRVN16
Research Methods for Sustainable Enterprise Development	7.5	Business Administration	G1F	JRSK16
Sustainability Accounting, Reporting, and Law	7.5	Business Administration, Commercial Law	G2F	JSAN15
Sustainability Challenges and Systems	5	Business Administration	G1F	JSCK15
Sustainable Finance and Risk Assessment	7.5	Business Administration, Economics	G2F	JSFN16
Systems Thinking Competence	2.5	Business Administration	G1F	JSTK15
The Sustainable Enterprise - Social and Ecological Perspectives	7.5	Business Administration	G1N	JSEG14

Course Name	Credits	Main field of study	Specialised in	Course Code
Development Economics 1	7.5	Economics	G1F	JDEK17
Internship in Business Administration 1	7.5		G2F	JIAN18
Leading and Owning a Family Enterprise 1	7.5	Business Administration	G2F	JLFN10
Supply Chain Management 1	7.5	Business Administration	G1F	MLCK13

1) Internships. Although student participation in internships is strongly encouraged, JIBS does not usually take responsibility for arranging internships and it is therefore up to the student to make any necessary arrangements.