Study programme - Master Sustainable Business and Innovation

Programme specific courses (30 ECTS)

• Business Theories & Sustainability (YSS37006):

Which theories are underlying the decisions that managers make on a daily basis? How useful are these theories if businesses also aim to contribute to the SDGs? What alternative theories are emerging? This course will teach you how to use theories analysing and evaluating sustainable business models to their commercial and societal potential and pitfalls.

• Strategic Marketing for Market Transformation (MCB33806):

How do companies change the rules of the game in market and business ecosystems? What instruments do they use for advertising, product development, channel development and pricing. How do they engage with vital stakeholders, greenwashing, competition and unwilling consumers? In this course, you will study businesses cases on companies at the forefront of sustainable change and learn by playing a market game against other students.

• Leading and Organizing for Sustainability (BMO36306):

How to change organizational structures, processes, competencies, policies and incentives to foster sustainability? How do leaders change norms and build corporate cultures that foster change for sustainability? What are the organisational hindrances and flows? By studying living business cases and receive direct feedback from MNC managers, your knowledge will be expanded.

• Conceptual Innovation Lab (YSS38606):

Different types of innovations can be accelerators for sustainability transition of global food systems towards the achievement of the SDG-goals. Innovative concepts and development frameworks that can create understanding and guide actions into the transition process are abound. This course will teach you a scientific, robust and step-wise approach on how to develop innovative conceptual frameworks. Concepts of creative conceptual thinking, scientific reflection, active and lively discussions to develop academic skills will pass by in this course.

• Analytical Methods (YSS38806):

This course provides students with the analytical methods to support businesses, policymakers and researchers when making decisions on sustainability and innovation. Students will learn how to develop a research design and decide which research methods are best to use.

For more information on the course offered at WUR, check out the Study Handbook MMEA.

• Course on Critical reflections on business:

Identify and develop your own competencies for sustainable leadership and lifelong learning competencies.

Academic Master Cluster (12 ECTS)

Academic Consultancy Training (9 ECTS) and Modular Skills Training (3 ECTS): In Academic Consultancy Training, you will work with students from different master’s programmes on an assignment for an external client. In this way, you can apply the knowledge you gained during your studies and experience what it’s like to work as a consultant. Your group will be supported by an academic expert focusing on the contents of the project and a coach focusing on the group process and personal development of the team members.

In Modular Skills Training, you select modules to work on specific skills that you would like to develop, like scientific writing, management skills or career orientation.

Electives (18 ECTS)

Within this master programme students can follow two elective courses in the fields of digitalisation, creative data science, consumer behaviour, digital marketing, governance, economics and econometrics and also in supply chain analytics and management. Students can follow any relevant master course that adds to their master program, given it is of relevant difficulty and adds to the programme being studied.

Thesis (36 ECTS)

In the Sustainable Business & Innovation master's programme at WUR, your thesis is basically your chance to dive deep into a topic that gets you excited about how people interact with products, food, or services. Instead of just learning theories in class, you get to pick a real-world question you're curious about, like why people go crazy for certain food trends or what makes them choose one brand over another.

You start by picking a topic that sparks your interest. Then, you dig into what's already out there – what researchers have said, what studies have found – and figure out where there's still room for more insight. Next, you design your own study. It could be surveys, interviews, or whatever method suits your topic. You collect your data, analyse it and then report everything in an official paper. It's not just about getting it right, but about showing you've really thought deeply about something you're passionate about. It's like your academic rite of passage into the world of Sustainable Business & Innovation.

Internship (24 ECTS)

Doing an internship while finalizing your master's in Sustainable Business & Innovation is like taking a real-world joyride through the fascinating landscape of business. It's not just about hitting the books, it's about diving deep into the practical side of things. You get to swap the classroom for a hands-on experience, where the theories you've been absorbing start making sense in the wild.

You might find yourself working with industry pros, getting the lowdown on how businesses understand and cater to management needs. You're not just observing, you're part of the action, trying to figure out why people do what they do, whether it’s working in digital marketing, jumping on financial numbers, or managing a new brand launch. Combined with this internship, you will also write a research report. It's the kind of real-world insight you can't get from textbooks alone, and it sets you up for a one-of-a-kind learning experience as you cruise through your master's journey.