Report Study Abroad
Annemijn Broek
S2305925
General report
1. Host institution and exact dates of semester abroad
On the 25th of august I travelled to Sweden to study for one semester at Mälardalens
University in Våsteräs. The semester started the 27th of august, and finished the 16th of
January.
2. Contact with home faculty, preparation and journey
The university of Groningen gave me a lot of information about studying abroad, grants and
insurances. Still I had to arrange a lot by myself. (Think about paperwork, getting
information). Luckily, the exchange office was often very fast in responding. The same was
for the exchange office in Sweden. Except for the summer holiday, because the responsible
person was on a holiday for more than 6 weeks. Therefore it is important to start arranging
everything as early as possible. The journey to Sweden was short, since it is only flying 2
hours from Amsterdam, and thereafter 1.5 hours from the airport to Våsteräs.
3. Residence abroad
In Sweden no visa or residence permit is obligated for Dutch citizens. On the 25th of August
we arrived in Sweden. From the central station of Våsteräs busses brought us to the
University, and thereafter to our accommodations. The international student housing
organization is called Bostad. Many international students apply for a house at Bostad, since
it is almost the only way to find a house. Therefore I can recommend to accept the first offer
they give you.
The 27th and 28th we had reception days at the university. A lot of information was given to
us about studying in Våsteräs. Also, the international committee had organized a lot of
activities the first weeks. There are a few clubs and bars. Also house parties are really
popular. There is also a student sport organization where you can play volleyball, football
and floorball. (Almost) everyone in Sweden is able to speak fluently in English. The language
in the university was also in English.
4. Grant – Amount
For the Erasmus period I received a grant of 250 euros a month. Also for the OV card I
received 110 euros more. Living with this amount is really doable, if you take a little bit care
of your expenses. Sweden is more expensive than the Netherlands, but still much cheaper
than the other Scandinavian countries. Especially alcohol and meat are really expensive. And
of course, with travelling you will maybe need some more money. I can advise you to save
some money before coming to Sweden, because when you are here you will spend more
money than you expected beforehand. (At least, that is my experience.)
5. Study (general)
The level of the university in Sweden is lower than we are used to in Groningen. The
examination periods are in the same weeks as in Groningen. (November and January) Exams
are much longer than we are used to. 4 or 5 hours exams are really normal. The advantage is
that you will never have stress because of time limits. All teachers were fluently in English,
so there were no difficulties understanding them. There is a large library where you can
study, and with your student card you can enter the library 24/7. I followed 3 courses,
Intermediate microeconomics (7.5ECTS), Swedish for foreign students (7.5ECTS) and
International Marketing (15ECTS).
6. Other relevant info you want to share with our future exchange students
My main advice is, save some money before coming here if you have the possibility. If you
plan well, there is a lot of free time next to following courses. There are not that many
contact hours. So, If you like travelling, there is a lot of time to see more of the country. I
also recommend to join the introduction days of the international committee. It gives you
the opportunity to get to know the other international students.
B Specific report
Swedish for foreign students (7.5 ECTS)
1. host institution and study period
The Swedish course covered the whole semester. Started in September, finished in
December.
2. Lectures and literature
Every week we had one class of 1.5 hours. We had to buy a copied book from the university
consisting of 60 pages.
3. Overview of lecture program
Every week you had to do some homework. This took approximately 30 minutes. The classes
took 1.5 hours. There were 12 weeks of lectures.
4. Contents
The course is specially developed for foreign students. We were divided over different levels.
I was in level 1. We learned the basics of Swedish. Telling other people, what your name is,
what you are doing today, what your country is like and counting the numbers. Also, a large
part was grammar.
5. Lecture-related activities
We had to prepare some questions in the copied book every week. There were no other
required activities. Only an examination at the end of the course.
6. Relevance to Groningen study program
In Groningen there is no comparable course. When doing an international study, I think that
it is really important that you are also able to speak different languages. This will make it
easier for you to communicate with different people from different cultures and countries.
Therefore I think the course is relevant to the program in Groningen.
7. Study load
1.5 hours a week for the lectures, 0.5 hours a week preparation and 10 hours extra studying
before the exam. The exam took 4 hours.
8. Assessment in Groningen
The head of the course was Gerrit Berends. The course was 7.5 ECTS.
Intermediate microeconomics (7.5 ECTS)
1. host institution and study period
The course was given in the first block. We started in September and finished in November with an
examination.
2. Lectures and literature
The first 2 weeks we had 2 lectures every week both 2 hours. After two weeks the lecture were 2
times a week 3 hours each time. The final hour was a practice hour to adapt the knowledge to
practice questions. In total we had 15 lectures. We had to read the book Intermediate micro
economics 9th edition from Hal R. Varian. Furthermore we had a lot of lecture notes and exercises to
practice with given by the teacher.
3. Overview of lecture program
These schedules show the lectures we had and topics we covered during the lectures. We did not
have to prepare and exercises before the lectures. You only made it easier for yourself by reading the
chapters of the books before coming to the lecture. This self-study took approximately 6 hours each
week.
4. Contents
The course intermediate microeconomics was a following up course on the course microeconomics.
Since I am a business student, I never had this basic course. This made it sometimes more difficult to
understand. Luckily, I followed Mathematics B and economics in high school, which has helped me a
lot with this course. The aim of the course is to provide students with tools and methods for micro
economic analyses. By use of mathematical methods we learned how to solve constrained and
unconstrained optimization problems. We learned how to apply these methods to the utility
maximization of households, deriving household demand and to firms profit maximization and cost
minimization. Mathematics were really present in the course. I was happy to choose this course,
since I think that a course with some more numbers is a really good addiction to the study of
International Business.
5. Lecture-related activities
The course ended with an 5 hours exam. There were no cases papers or other assignments we had to
do. The course existed out of lectures, self-study and a final exam. The grade of the final exam
counted 100%.
6. Relevance to Groningen study program
In my study International Business in Groningen I sometimes missed the numbers. I really would have
liked to have some more economical/numerical courses. Therefore I decided to choose a hard
subject in the economic area. I think this is really relevant to the study program. The course is a bit
similar to the courses Economics for IB or Foreign direct Investment, Geography and Trade. Only, this
course had much more mathematics.
7. Study load
The first 2 weeks 4 hours of lectures, the last 8 weeks 6 hours of lectures each week. Preparation
time 6 hours a week. Study time before the exam: 15 hours. The exam itself: 5 hours.
8. Assessment in Groningen
Teacher Ask Hedberg, 7.5 ECTS.
International Marketing (15ECTS)
1. host institution and study period
International marketing was a course in the second block. The block started in november, and
finished in january with an examination.
2. Lectures and literature
Every week we had an 2 hours lecture, 1.5 hours seminar and 3 hours performance. For every
seminar we had to read and prepare two given articles for the discussion. For the performance we
had to prepare a presentation or role play. In total these were four weeks. Quite short. So in total 4
presentations/role plays and 8 articles.
3. Overview of lecture program
Topics covered in the course:
Week 1: The Issues of International Marketing
Baalbaki, I.B. and Malhotra, N.K.(1992), ”Marketing Management Bases for International market
segmentation:An Alter nate Look at the standardization/customization Debate”, International
Marketing Review, Vol. 10 No. 1, pp. 19-44.
Szymanski, D. M., Bharadwaj, S. G., and Varadarajan, P. R. (1993 ), Standardization versus adaptation
of international marketing strategy: an empirical investigation. The Journal of Marketing, pp. 1-17.
Week 2: Communication and relationships
Safari, A., Thilenius, P. and Hadjikhani, A. (2013), ”The Impact of Psychic Distance on Consumers'
Behavior in International Online Purchasing”, journal of International Consumer Marketing Vol. 25
No. 4, pp 234-249.
Yamin, M., and Sinkovics, R. R. (2006), ”Online internationalisation, psychic distance reduction and
the virtuality trap”, International Business Review, Vol. 15 No 4, pp. 339-360.
Week 3: The international marketing manager
Bartlett, C.A. and Ghoshal, S. (2003), ”What is a global manager?” Harvard Business Review, Vol. 70
No. 5, pp. 124-132.
Boyacigiller, N., (1990), ”The role of expatriates in the management of interdependence, complexity
and risk in multinational corporations”, Journal of International Business Studies, 357-381.
Week 4: International marketing strategy
Casson, M., and Da Silva Lopez, T., (2007), ”Entrepreneurship and the Development of Global
Brands”, Business History Review, Vol. 81 No. 4, pp. 651 - 680.
Zou, A., and Cavusgil, S. T. (2002), ”The GMS: A Broad Conceptualization of Global Marketing Strategy
and Its Effect on Firm Performance”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 66 No. 4, pp. 40-56.
4. Contents
The course International Marketing is about marketing and management in and international
perspective. The focus is on discussing differences in the environment in different countries with
different strategies and structures. Important in the course is applying the theories from the articles
and lectures into practice. As already mentioned, the four large sub-themes were Issues of
international marketing, communication and relationships, the international marketing manager and
International marketing strategy
5. Lecture-related activities
Every week we had a lecture. During the lectures information was given that we could use during the
performance and seminar. The lectures were also necessary for the final exam. The final exam is a
large assignment in which you have to show that you have understood the course. In the seminar
every week 2 articles were discussed. Also, we had to hand in one review for one of the articles. In
the performances we had to develop our own company with our own marketing strategy. During the
performance we had to present this.
6. Relevance to Groningen study program
International marketing (strategy) is a large part of International Business. We already covered it
partly in the course Marketing for IB.
7. Study load
The study load per week: 2 hours preparation seminar, 1.5 hours seminar, 2 hours preparation
performance, 3 hours performance, 2 hours lectures. Also, studying 16 hours for the final exam. The
final exam took approximately 5 hours.
8. Assessment in Groningen
The head lecturer was Cecilia Linth. The course was 15ECTS.