As an Explorer you will carry out research and analysis of the Master Company, the results of which you, as a Manager, will translate into improvement options based on theoretical knowledge and with respect for the company’s international business context. Subsequently, you will take on the role of Researcher, proposing and conducting research to address the problems encountered and interpret results, enabling you to reflect on the impact of intervention strategies and propose short-term and long-term recommendations.
Agribusiness is a broad field in which multiple disciplines work together in a coherent manner. In order to prepare you for this multidimensional area of expertise, the master’s programme Agribusiness Development has been divided in to five themes: Agribusiness & Food business, Strategy & Innovation, Business & Organisation, Research & Analysis and Personal Development. The combination of these themes will provide you with a broad and in-depth knowledge of important agribusiness related topics. Also, seeing that your personal development is equally important, the theme of Personal Development will focus on the development of your soft skills.
This theme leads to the integration the knowledge and insights offered in the programme. It will give you an overview of agribusiness development and discuss current issues in agribusiness development.
Here you will focus on the long-term strategy of a company and the ability to capture value from new products, processes, positioning and paradigms
To understand change and change management, it is vital that you understand business planning.
Conducting research and the effective presentation of results is a vital part of the decision-making process. This Research & Analysis theme will provide you with all the knowledge and skills you need to connect practice to theory on an applied level, based on a scientifically sound methodology. Topics you will study are: methodology, statistics, SPSS, academic writing and everything you will need in order to advise on a solution to a managerial problem.
Personal Development is all about: assessment of competencies, reflection on personal development and setting goals for personal development.
The programme centres around working on a challenging business assignment at a ‘Master Company’. During the admission procedure you will be required to contact potential Master Companies and arrange a position there, either as an employee or as an intern for the duration of the master’s programme. Some examples of Master Companies where students have worked are: Friesland Campina, Kverneland, Flora Holland, Eosta, Zuidberg, Veenhuis, De Heus, ForFarmers, Royal A-ware, Rabobank and HilverdaKooij.
Together with the other students in the programme, you will form a Community of Practice (CoP). You will all be working on a challenging project in the agribusiness and food business. The CoP enables you to support one another in several ways.
The members of a CoP group maintain contact with each other during the programme. At these contact moments, the process of making products and actual products are discussed. This will be organized by the students separately from the coaching sessions. In addition, each student will select a group member who will provide them with feedback on the development of the product and the process. This leads to each student receiving and providing peer-to-peer feedback. The students are personally responsible for organizing the peer-to-peer feedback in such a way that each student gives and receives feedback.
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