ACADEMIC PROGRAM “EUROPEAN ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS” (42310)
Letter of Accreditation of LR Ministry of Education № 37 valid before 25 May 2019
Awarded degree:Professional Bachelor in Entrepreneurship
Qualification: Economist
Program duration: 4 academic years (8 semesters – full-time study) and 4,5 (9 semesters – part-time study)
Modes of study: day and night full-time; part-time (Saturdays only)
Medium of instruction: Multilingual: Russian-Latvian, English-Russian, English-Latvian
Place of instruction: Riga
Distinctiveness and Novelty of the program
The number of economists in Latvia is growing rapidly. According to this indicator, the Latvian business should be on the fast track of development. In fact, entrepreneurs do not feel active help from people with diplomas in economics, and continue to beguided by intuition, luckand common sense. As one businessman said: "When I started running a business, I trusted my instincts and acted according to the situation. The sales volume increased –very well, I wanted toexpand. If suddenly there was a recession, I tried to find out how things were going in similar businesses,looked for more information about the general situation in the market. But this did not always help to get my business up and running".
The point is that only "to look for information, to listen and read" is not enough. You should know how to work with the informationyou need.Sometimes people running businesses ask: “How much economic information is hidden in the depths of my company? How much of this information is "affecting" the decision-making? Does it ever happen that Ido nothave enough of the necessary information? Am I always satisfied with how well my business analysts work?”
And the answers are more often "no" than "yes". In physics, there is the concept of a quantum leap, when suddenly a particle passes from one orbit to another, which means that it accumulated enoughenergy to go over to a different quality of movement. We have also done “a quantum leap”: we refused from certain stereotypes and began educating economists of a qualitatively higher level: capable of independent analytical work. This was the purpose of creation of the program "European Economy and Business".
Our guidelines
Latvia is historically an integral part of Europe. Now, from being just neighbours we have moved tomuch closer cooperation. The first stage of integration in the European Union has been successfully accomplished, which was the assimilation of norms, laws, and rules of economic behavior. The goal of education at this stage was aretranslation, disclosing and making aware that such things exist. Almost all universities of this country have coped with the problem more or less successfully. However, the current state of affairs shows that it is time to make a further move: to improve our program and educate specialists in economics of the European level. For our program the benchmark of quality has become the special aspects of the European economy and its unique character. How do we see this uniqueness?
Most notably, the European economy is a part of the world economy, with deep roots in very different areas. Just a bare listing of these areas inspires a deep respect: fundamental philosophical knowledge, schools of economic theory, achievements in psychology, political traditions, discoveries in sociology, unprecedented integration processes, discoveries in the field of entrepreneurial culture, distinctive system of business education, and a host of other things. All that has created high standards in business and the high standard of living of the population.
It was quite clear that such guidelines should make our academic program effective, able to raise such qualities in young professional economists as dynamic thinking, consistency of thinking, good analytical capability and forecasting ability on a most advanced basis, which is the profile of a modern international economist. This is how European economy and business became our reference point.
What knowledge should future economists get?
The demands of the labor market are rapidly rising, and a modern economist must have in-depth knowledge of economic, financial, analytical, advisoryand organizational fields,so that correctly navigate the dynamics of economic processes in Latvia and in the European Union. It is the abilities to manage economic processes and resources of a company with a view of their effective use, to plan and forecast economic activity, to adapt to rapidly changing business environment,that will be the determining factors of competitiveness of a young specialist on the European labor market. And if we add to this the knowledge of foreign languages and modern computer technology together with the ability to work in a team - we will get the portrait of a modern economist of the European level, and itis exactly the education of such specialists that our program is focused on.
Where can our graduates work and in what capacity?
The graduates of our program obtain a range of competencies that enable them to create their own business, or work successfully in business organizations leading and managing departments and services in the areas of banking and finance, commerce and tourism, insurance and IT technologies. Our graduates can work in the offices of international companies operating in the territory of Latvia, and in business structures of the European Union. This is confirmed by our graduates successful careers both in Latvia and abroad (the United Kingdom, Scotland, Norway, Iceland, etc.), who have found employment in the banking, finance and insurance spheres, in tax administration offices, and other spheres of business activity, or createdand run their own companies.
Many specializations in the field of economy and business are exclusively economic (according to LR Classificator of occupations,people with diplomas in economicsmay work as labor economists,accounting economists, financial economists, commodity experts, stock managers, etc.); and there are other specialtizations also related to economicseven if indirectly (econometrician, accountant, auditor, marketing expert, human resource manager, financial analyst, quality manager, etc..), because 80% of the curricula in these fields are the same. In fact, graduates trained in our program, do not have any problems in finding employment in any area directly or indirectly connected with economics, and this compares them favorably with graduatesof not so diversified programs of other universities. Versatile training of our program allows our graduates to work in commercial, financial, insurance, information and other areas of the European business. Of course, people choose a certain direction and specialize in it, but as practice shows, if necessary, they can easily diversify their activities, because their education makes it possible. The differences defined by the nature of a specific job are easily overcome.
All economic related specialist fields fall into 2 main groups. The first one inclides qualifications that are based on working with figures, the second one includes qualifications that involve work with people. If you are diligent, analytically mind-set and you love working with figuresand numbers, then choose a specialization from the first group –the profession of an accountant, auditor, or analyst. If you are communicative, energetic, and in general prefer work with people, choose a specialization from the second group, andorient yourself to marketing, management, or human resources.
Where can you master our program?
The program "European Economy and Business" is available at the Baltic Psychology and Management University College affiliated with the Baltic International Academy.
There are all necessary conditions for a successful acquisition of the program:
A team of competent teachers, not only professors and doctors of sciences, but also qualified practitioners with experience in entrepreneurship and business consulting.
All necessary facilities and resources: our students have comfortable lecture halls, study rooms and computer labs, as well as a well-stocked library at their disposal.
The languages of instruction are Latvian, Russian and English, which increases opportunities of future professionals: they will easily adapt to any multilingual environment.
You will study and learn in a variety of ways, you will be engaged ininteractive and problem-oriented lectures, trainings, self-study, and solution of practical tasks for real life firms in the real life context. You will take part in student conferences, debates, round tables and seminars.
The life of our students is not restricted to study only. Our students try themselves in creative arts, take part in the activities of the Student parliament, (SP), spend their summers in the student summer camps, communicate with experts and students from other countries, and venture into scientific research.
We offer various forms of education: full-time, part-time, day, night and on one-day-a-week basis (only on Saturdays, which is especially convenient for students who combine study with work).
We haveextensive international contacts, which make it possible for students to participate in international exchange programs, such as ERASMUS, international student conferences and to intern in companies abroad.
Bachelor's degree entitles our graduates to continue their education in academic or professional master's degree program, and then launch in academic educational activity or work in the business sphere in management positions that require education at the level not lower than the master's degree.
Mission of our program
One interesting and useful rule that is applied in business is: do only those things that produce good results. We train business economists with brainwork ability that has the power to "squeeze" the benefit out of any information.
So, if you think it is important for you to get a quality education, to learn in a creative atmosphereand comfortable learning environment supported bymodern information technology, we invite you tojoin our student community.
Contacts:
Ph. +371 67100628, +371 67100230, +371 26812033
Reception time of the Director of the academic program „European economy and business”, Dr. c.eng., Assoc.prof. Z.Caurkubule (Room 204, Lomonosova,4, Riga, Latvia)
Tuesdays: 14:00-16:00
Thursdays: 16:00-18:00