Economics and Business Administration - Strategic Value Chain Management

Management extends beyond a single company. A company is dependent on money, supplies, services, and knowledge from a range of suppliers and customers, often spread out over the global business landscape. Unlike most other MSc specialisations, which focus on management within the individual company, the MSc in Strategic Value Chain Management (SVCM) deals with managing the global value chains that the company is part of. The SVCM programme enables graduates to manage the exchanges and relationships with these suppliers and customers, thereby gaining access to external resources required for realising corporate strategy. Companies often refer to this MSc programme as industrial or B2B procurement/purchasing and sales/marketing. But this management task is not just about buying and selling or marketing products, services, and knowledge on global markets. The SVCM manager becomes responsible for managing, developing, and coordinating a complex range of exchanges with customers and suppliers. The cornerstones of this MSc programme are learnings about the management of the economic and social exchange between the company and other companies in its value chain. Students also become familiar with understanding and managing the legal and technological exchanges, although the former is not a primary focus on the education. Moreover, the SVCM programme enables candidates to become boundary spanners. Boundary spanners manage these exchanges through relationships with customers and suppliers by building bridge across organisational boundaries, essentially linking their own company with complex chains and network of suppliers and customers across the world. The boundary spanner must establish and develop relationship with other boundary spanners representing various customers and suppliers, but at the same time also maintain a strategic perspective of how one buyer-supplier exchange is dependent on the surrounding network. Strategic decision-making is therefore an essential part of value chain management. SOCIAL AND ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES Aarhus BSS hosts a rich and varied programme of activities for you as a student, both study-related and social. Our many student associations host events ranging from lectures and company events to career days and sports days, Friday bars, and celebrations, so there is plenty of scope for meeting and networking with like-minded people, discovering new areas of academic interest, and socialising with fellow students. CAREERS Job opportunities for SVCM graduates are exceptional, given that almost all companies in the global business environment operate in extended value chains. As a starting point, the SVCM graduate is perfectly prepared for a job in both the sales/marketing and procurement functions, and some choose to alternate between the two in the course of their careers. These functions are heavily populated in many companies, and candidates have the opportunity to rise all the way from junior positions through middle management and into top management in their career. AARHUS BSS Aarhus BSS (School of Business and Social Sciences) is one of the five faculties at Aarhus University. Aarhus BSS ranks among the largest business schools in Europe, encompassing both traditional business and social science disciplines in its broad academic portfolio. Aarhus BSS holds the distinguished AACSB, AMBA and EQUIS accreditations and is thus a Triple Crown School. LEARNING IN AN INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT At Aarhus BSS, we conduct research and teaching at the highest academic level. We provide our students with the exact knowledge, skills and experience that are essential for engaging in professional business activities in a global marketplace. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION In general, admission to a master’s degree programme requires successful completion of a relevant and recognised university degree equivalent to a Danish bachelor’s degree in level and length (180 ECTS). In addition, you must meet the specific requirements for the individual programme, including language requirements. If you wish to study a master’s degree at Aarhus University, please check out our page ‘Am I qualified for admission’: https://masters.au.dk/am-i-qualified-for-admission If you are curious about how to submit a master’s degree application to Aarhus University, then make sure to check out our ‘Apply Now’ page. Here you can find information about relevant fees, guides, and video tutorials on how to use the application portal: https://masters.au.dk/apply-now There are the same English language requirements for all international students with a few exceptions. The general English language requirements for master’s degrees can be found here: https://masters.au.dk/am-i-qualified-for-admission/english-language-requirements Aarhus University offers a limited number of Danish state scholarships for highly qualified non-EU students applying for master’s degrees. You can read more about scholarships here: https://masters.au.dk/scholarships-and-grants Students from outside the EU are generally required to pay tuition and application fee. You can consult our page Tuition fees for master’s degree programmes: https://masters.au.dk/tuitionfees Would you like to chat with a fellow student from your country, or with someone who studies the programme you are interested in? You can get help with your questions from Aarhus University’s Student Ambassadors: https://international.au.dk/education/meetau/chat-with-our-students/