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2018/2019  BA-BSOCV5001U  Internship Business Administration 7,5 ECTS

English Title
Internship Business Administration 7,5 ECTS

Course information

Language English
Course ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Elective
Level Bachelor
Duration One Semester
Start time of the course Autumn
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Study board
Study Board for BSc in Business Administration and Sociology
Course coordinator
  • Andreas Møller Mulvad - Department of Management, Politics and Philosophy (MPP)
Main academic disciplines
  • Innovation
  • Management
  • Organization
Teaching methods
  • Face-to-face teaching
Last updated on 10-12-2018

Relevant links

Learning objectives
In order to pass, the internship report must demonstrate:
  • A general ability to convert academic and theoretical knowledge into professional experience
  • Ability to analyze, discuss and provide a perspective on the tasks performed during the internship or on the field of practice of the company, institution or organization, in relation to relevant literature.
  • Be able to reflect on theories and methods of business administration and sociology in relation to the field of practice of the internship organization. The internship report along with documentation of completion must be submitted after completion of the internship.
Examination
Internship Business Administration:
Exam ECTS 7,5
Examination form Home assignment - written product
Individual or group exam Individual exam
Size of written product Max. 20 pages
Assignment type Report
Duration Written product to be submitted on specified date and time.
Grading scale Pass / Fail
Examiner(s) One internal examiner
Exam period Winter
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
Description of the exam procedure

The Internship Report

Internships provide students with a real life professional learning experience and offer students a unique opportunity to gain hands-on experience in a company, institution or organization that works professionally with issues relating to business administration and sociology. The main objective of internships is to convert academic and theoretical knowledge into professional experience. This must be mirrored in the report. 
 

Hence, the report contains two elements. Firstly, a description of the organization and the internship along with key learning experiences. Secondly, a reflective paper relating the host organization and/or the work completed during the internship to relevant theories, issues or problems from  the BSc Soc curriculum. The formal requirements for the internship and report are available from MyCbs. 
 

The report should be between 15 and 20 standard pages (both for 7,5 and 15 ECTS). The internship report for, 7,5 ECTS is graded pass/fail and 15 ECTS with 7-step scale by one internal examiner (the supervisor). The re-take takes place according to the same rules as the ordinary examination. 
 

The internship report must be submitted on Digital exam. The hand in dates will be announced at MyCBS. The student must also hand in documentation of completion of the internship.

The student is offered a feedback debriefing with the supervisor after having handed in the report and passed the internship. The debriefing will take place within two weeks after passing the internship. 

 

CBS academic supervisor

The student is responsible for finding a supervisor at CBS from the BSc Soc faculty. The role of the supervisor is to ensure the internship meets the overall requirements and is relevant for the study program. Furthermore, the supervisor can help in framing the topic and content of the internship report. If the student wants to collect data for future projects (e.g. the bachelor project) the supervisor may also be helpful in planning this. The student is entitled to 4 hours supervision (including preparation time for the supervisor). The student is responsible for scheduling meetings and meeting agendas.
 

Pre-approval and Internship Contract

At CBS: The internship must be pre-approved by the course coordinator. The application is to be submitted on the form provided on MyCBS. Along with this form, two other documents are to be submitted:

 

  1. The internship contract with the organization stating the time period and contract hours of the employment and the host organisation’s description of the extent and nature of the intern’s work and learning processes ,and
  2. A motivational essay (1-3 pages). This must address why the internship is relevant for a BSc in Business Administration and Sociology student and include a preliminary academic hypothesis suitable for examination through the activities the student is engaged in during the internship. The internship must be relevant for the BSc Soc qualification profile. This is judged by the nature of the host institution and by the nature of the work.

 

The internship can be transferred either as business administration electives or as free electives, depending on the content of the internship; if you would like it to be transferred as a business administration elective, you need to include in your motivational essay your arguments for this choice.  

 

Internships must be pre-approved by the course coordinator PRIOR to internship commencement. The pre-approval application must contain:

  • Your name, CPR number and contact details
  • The name of the host organisation
  • The host organisation’s description of the extent and nature of the intern’s work (on the form available on MyCBS)
  • An explanation of the relevance for the BSc Soc programme
  • An academic hypothesis, suitable for examination through the activities that the student is engaged in during the internship (The academic hypothesis can be revised later, but remember to get your academic supervisor’s approval)
  • The name of the suggested academic supervisor
  • The suggested supervisor’s agreement to supervise

 

Please read on MyCBS how to apply. 
 

Contract with the organization: The student also needs to sign a contract with the host organization prior to the internship. This can be done in collaboration with the supervisor and the mentor and should contain agreements on: tasks, working hours, expectations to the outcome, formal requirements and contact persons. Important issues in this regard are the definition of the work content and the workload. The tasks undertaken by an intern are often related to assisting the organization with their daily work. However, it is a good idea to combine this with a special assignment that can relate to the internship report. This could be an investigation into a specific area of the organization. It is important to state clearly that the content of the work needs to be relevant for the study BSc Soc program and have a business administrative content.

 

Course content and structure

Course content and structure

 

An internship is transferred as elective worth either 7,5 or 15 ECTS and must involve both job training and formalized learning processes. It must take place within an existing organization (company, governmental, non-governmental) in which the student is hired by a contract specifying time period and contract hours. The internship is not limited to organizations in Denmark, but can take place in all parts of the world. The duration of the internship depends on the contract, but the total period of employment must be at least 206 hours for a 7,5 ECTS internship and 412 hours for a 15 ECTS internship. 
 

It is important to emphasize that an internship must have an academic content. Projects will not be pre-approved and reports will not pass if it is apparent that the nature of the work has only been practical (coffee making, photo copying etc.). The internship report (see below) must apply relevant theories in analyzing the organization or parts of it. 
An internship is to be supervised by a mentor in the organization (primarily for the job training) and by an academic supervisor from CBS. CBS offers 4 hours of supervision (both for 7,5 and 15 ECTS). The students make individual arrangements for supervisors. The overall evaluation of the internship is a 15-20-page internship report (both for 7,5 and  15 ECTS). 
In the initial phase, the student can meet with the internship coordinator for up to 30 minutes to discuss ideas related to the ‘kick-off’ phase of the internship. 
It takes time to set up an agreement with an organization on an internship, especially if the internship is abroad. The student needs to engage with relevant organizations as early as possible in order to be able to gain the most of the internship. Some places have very well defined internship arrangements while others may not have had an intern before. Therefore the contract is very important. 
 

The list of fields of study within Business Administration is as follows:

 

  • Finance
  • Financial and management accounting
  • Economics, macro and managerial economics
  • Statistics
  • Marketing
  • Corporate and Business Strategy
  • Innovation and entrepreneurship
  • Management

 

Funding opportunities

Depending on the organization, there are different potential funding opportunities. Some organizations offer an intern a small salary while others do not. This salary is not much, but certainly worth going for. However, there may a certain rationale in finding the best match disregarding salary. 
If the internship is abroad, there are private funds which may support travel expenses etc. ‘Kraks legathåndbog’ is a good database for Danish funds. For this the student needs to start early as many of these funds have deadlines during the spring. The International Office may also be helpful in this regard.

Description of the teaching methods
Supervision from CBS and the organization
Feedback during the teaching period
Feedback will be given by the academic supervisor within the limits stipulated above.
Student workload
Internship 206 hours
Report writing and exam 206 hours
Last updated on 10-12-2018