Bachelor of Science in Business Engineering
A business engineer combines a business economic training with a thorough understanding of technological products and processes. You become a mediator between production and other product-oriented functions.
What
The Business Engineering programme combines a business economic training with a thorough understanding of technology and business informatics. The focus is on positioning the production process of technological products, services and processes in a business economic context throughout the entire logistics chain and in an (international) network of companies.
Business engineers position themselves as mediators between business economists and technical engineers. Business engineers are trained in this respect to set up information systems, to analyse business data (statistically), to model processes and to manage various solution methods.
The understanding of analytical methods helps you in your role as manager to take general and more specific operational management, financial or marketing decisions in a (quantitatively) well-founded manner. A business engineer, in other words, is trained to analyse, solve, and implement solutions to business problems. They do so in real-life business processes, but always starting from an abstract model.
Remarks
For whom
Are you fascinated by economics and sciences? Do you cherish the ambition to find a job in the (inter)national business world? Do you like to rise to mathematical challenges? Does business process management and improvement appeal to you? Do you like business economic problem-solving based on analytical techniques?
If the answer to the questions above is a resounding ‘yes’, then the Business Engineering programme is the right choice for you!
Prior education with at least six hours of maths per week in the curriculum is recommended. Specific prior knowledge of economics course units is not required.
Structure
- Bachelor
The first year offers a curriculum that is common to all initial Bachelor’s programmes, i.e. Economics, Business Economics, and Business Engineering. This will allow you to make well-founded study choices in the following years.
The first year thoroughly covers the basics of general economics and business economics, and of a number of auxiliary and related disciplines.
From the second year onwards, the Business Economics curriculum contains a number of basic course units on the functional domains of applied economics (accounting, corporate finance and marketing), which go hand in hand with an in-depth technical-technological and quantitative training.
These course units are explored further in the course of the third year as well. You are trained in analysing and modelling business economic processes and problems by means of quantitative analysis techniques. The third year culminates in seminar work, which takes the form of an integration exercise.
- Master
The two-year English-taught Master’s programme offers a choice of three main subjects: Data Analytics, Finance and Operations Management.
Your choice of main subject allows you to tailor your curriculum to your personal interests, based on the domain and or analysis technique that suited you most in the second and third year. You will then explore the domain of your choice into full depth. In addition, the Master’s curriculum contains two elective course units, one of which you can replace by a corporate work placement.
The Master’s programme culminates in a Master's dissertation, in the course of which you research one specific problem in all its aspects under the guidance of a supervisor.
In addition to the (domain) Master’s programme described above, you can also choose a Master’s Programme in Teaching (in Dutch: Educatieve Master).
Labour Market
Quality Assurance
At Ghent University, we strive to educate people who dare to think about the challenges of tomorrow. For that purpose, we provide education that is embedded in six strategic objectives: Think Broadly, Keep Researching, Cultivate Talent, Contribute, Extend Horizons, Opt for Quality.
Ghent University continuously focuses on quality assurance and quality culture. The Ghent University's quality assurance system offers information on each study programme’s unique selling points, and on its strengths and weaknesses with regard to quality assurance.
More information:
Unique Selling Points
A business engineer specializes in planning, designing and managing the flow of goods, services and information within and between companies. Business engineers use their unique knowledge and skills to analyze, integrate and optimize these flows. In doing so, they bridge the gap between the business side of a company which focuses on effectiveness, efficiency and economic viability, and the technology, production, research and development-oriented business functions with a focus on quality, productivity and sustainable innovation.
- Multiperspectivism: our programme strongly reflects the interdisciplinary character of the field. Business engineers need a sound understanding of the value chain, including the possibilities and limitations of the technological products and processes that underpin it. They must also be able to read the business economic context in which the value chain problem is situated. To meet these requirements, our study programme offers a unique combination of (business) economic, academic-technological and domain-specific components, supplemented by a general education and ample focus on innovation and entrepreneurship. The English name Business Engineering is a good reflection of this: engineering the business.
- Talent development: with our study programme , we not only strive to impart knowledge to the students, but also to teach them how to apply that knowledge in other contexts. The Bachelor’s curriculum offers students to use scientific-academic techniques (e.g. mathematics, statistics, computer science) to solve problems in managing product and information flows within and between organizations. The Master’s curriculum offers opportunities to develop new techniques to solve these problems in an academically sound manner. Students either do so independently, or in a team.
- Knowledge creation: knowledge is the bedrock of creativity. We use the education concept ‘creative knowledge development’ as our starting point. The methodological learning pathway in our curriculum supports the construction of knowledge by teaching students how to analyze relevant research and business problems. Business engineers are critical of their own knowledge. They consider the unknown as a challenge rather than a threat. A business engineer’s technical-technological knowledge is only a beginning, from which point they must be able to delve into specific subdisciplines. A final aspect is communication: communication leads to knowledge development. With a sound business economics foundation, a broad knowledge of new technologies and a strong focus on production, services and logistics, business engineers build bridges between different disciplines in corporate life.
- Curriculum: the Business Engineering programme combines domain-specific training consisting of three essential core trajectories: 1) operational research and data science, 2) operational management, and 3) policy informatics with a broad general education in applied economics, a polyvalent technological-academic education in basic sciences and engineering disciplines, and a general social education in various support and related sciences (including communication skills, foreign language skills and team collaboration skills).
Strengths
- Preparation: our study programme introduces students of the first joint Bachelor’s degree in Economics, Business Economics and Business Engineering to the different core tracks of business engineering. This supports students in making a well-founded choice at the start of the second Bachelor’s year.
- Vision: our study programme clearly positions itself against other programmes of (applied) economics in the Flemish higher education landscape and meets the international standards of the business engineering domain. We have a detailed and strongly focused vision, which is known to students and clearly present throughout the entire curriculum.
- Room for international experience: our curriculum leaves room for mobility windows, making an international study experience possible. One in three of our students graduate with a study experience abroad.
- Room for practical experience and assessment in a real business context: in the later years of our study programme, the acquisition of intellectual competencies takes central stage. We achieve this by means of authentic assessment through simulations and games, cases, research projects, work placements and the Master’s dissertation. These different assessment methods bring students into contact with a specific issue from a professional or research context.
- Student and alumni satisfaction: in general student and alumni satisfaction with our study programme is very high. Alumni indicate that they find a job in a wide variety of sectors and positions.
Weaknesses
- Sustainability and social engagement: our study programme is committed to embedding these themes (even) more clearly and visibly in the study programme.
- Feedback: we aim to further improve the provision of (interim) feedback, feedup and feedforward.
- Internationalization@Home: we are committed to a formal and informal integration of intercultural and international elements into curricular activities for all students.
This study programme is accredited by the Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders (Dutch: NVAO). Accreditation was extended following the positive outcome of the institutional review in 2022. Programme quality was validated by a quality review, i.e. a screening of the Education Monitor by the Education Quality Board. The Quality Assurance Resolution (in Dutch) can be found here.
This program is accredited by AACSB International – The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. AACSB is a global nonprofit association whose accreditation processes are ISO 9001:2015 certified.
This information was last updated on 01/02/2023.
In case of questions or suggestions with regard to the publicly available information, please contact the study programme.