The Institute of Export & International Trade (IOE&IT) has endorsed Leeds Beckett University’s (LBU) International Business undergraduate degree as an exceptional trade qualification. After reviewing the expertise of the faculty, the quality of teaching and student feedback, the Institute formally accredited the course for the 2023-24 academic year.
Course director Dr Sukky Jassi says she is proud of the degree programme and her students’ achievements, and that LBU’s BA (Hons) International Business has something extra to offer students interested in a career in business and trade.
Course design
After developing an understanding of the key business functions in their first year – “giving students a framework for how a business operates” – Dr Jassi describes how the course ramps up in year two, honing students’ analytical skills and diving deeper into trade policy and practice, as well as covering trade law and finance. As she explains:
“We have a theme of finance that runs through our programme, because our employer networks have informed us that students don't have sufficient finance skills.”
She adds that the course isn’t static, with Leeds Business School at the forefront of curriculum development informed by research.
“A new module called Innovation and Technology was developed this academic year, grounded in research and real data. We’re always weaving in new improvements to our curriculum based on industry developments.”
Industry connections
But it’s not all about what goes on in the lecture hall. The course offers significant opportunities for students to engage with industry, which Dr Jassi believes sets it apart.
She says as part of the flagship Business Consultancy Project module, the module team has built up a database of over 70 businesses. This provides the students with an opportunity to collaborate with clients and work on live project briefs in their final year.
Students regularly complete industry work placements as part of their degree, with many going on to receive job offers on graduation.
This real-world experience is rooted in the curriculum at Leeds Business School, and supplemented with our staff who bring experience from a range of different sectors.
“We’re very hands on. Our staff pool is from a diverse background, we’re not all career academics teaching from only a textbook.
“Many staff have industry experience, which is shared in seminars and lectures. This gives us an extra edge over other Higher Education institutions.”
Final year projects
In the final year students have the option to do a traditional Dissertation or the Business Consultancy Project. A dissertation is preferable for students aspiring to a research or analytical career and even those hoping to continue with postgraduate study. But Dr Jassi says most students are keen to get involved in the hands-on consultancy project, giving students a unique chance to contribute to a business through projects relating to trade, exports, marketing, growth profitability, sustainability and innovation.
“Students get a chance to work directly with a business,” she says, “they work with the client to agree objectives and research questions, complete a programme of research and analysis before making a suite of recommendations which they present to the client as part of the assessment.”
She cites the following example of a former project:
“’We’re doing really well in the UK but have had inquiries from potential customers in the US. We want to export to America and grow our business, but don’t really understand how to trade outside of the UK. Can we trade in the US?’ The students would do some research and prepare a reasoned response.”
Dr Jassi describes one especially successful group project that saw students support a start-up in Yorkshire explore the American market for its vinegar products.
“They did a fantastic job, putting together a market analysis of all the global opportunities. One looked at routes for exporting to America, another considered the regulations they would need to be mindful of and another looked at the costs involved in terms of packaging and logistics.
“Our projects are with large multinational companies and smaller businesses. It doesn’t have to be a big business because our students learn so much working with smaller firms and how to internationalise them.”
The encouragement of hands-on, industry experience comes at a time when employers are crying out for graduates with practical and soft skills, making them work-ready. Recent research by the Charted Management Institute (CMI) found that most employers believe graduates lack the basic “core skills” required to successfully navigate the workplace, such as team working (58%) and communication skills (52%).
Bright prospects
Dr Jassi is proud to share the excellent opportunities graduates from the BA (Hons) International Business have been able to seize, applying their knowledge of business directly to their first role.
Destinations include multinational companies, including supermarket chain Aldi, manufacturing giant Siemens, and even one graduate who got to choose between a graduate role at cosmetics firm L’Oreal and her “dream marketing job” at iconic London department store Harrods.
Amid growing concerns about the value of higher education, with recent research suggesting that graduates’ real pay has fallen below both 2020 levels and below that of comparable cohorts two decades ago, Dr Jassi highlights that LBU’s graduates are building fulfilling careers aligned with their education, while also ensuring security.
But she doesn’t take all the credit, expressing her admiration for the students who have paired drive and ambition with lessons from the course to get out of the gates ahead of graduation.
“Some of them go off and set up their own businesses in something totally different, one of my students is currently a fitness guru on Instagram.”
“They've all got their own ideas already. Some of them are already running successful businesses, just hustling away on the side, and planning to go bigger and better when they’ve finished.”