Specialist In Euro-asia Business Relations (Se-abre Programme)

One of the principal missions of the Chamber of Commerce in Spain is the internationalisation and promotion of Spanish Business. With this objective in mind the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, through the Fundació Barcelona Promoció, has created a specialized course to train personnel who are capable of increasing the international presence of Spanish business.

Through the SE-ABRE programme we aim to equip enterprises with the right people with the right training for the task of improving the profile of Spanish business in the international arena, specifically in this case, in Asia.

The course is based in Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia, one of the most innovative and cosmopolitan cities in Europe. From the report formulated by the Barcelona Observatory 2005 (www.observatoriobarcelona.org) many interesting facts related to Barcelona and its position on the world stage can be found. It can be seen that Barcelona has a GDP per capita and a growth rate for Business Creation which is higher than the Spanish and European averages.

The city of Barcelona has ranked number one consecutively for eight years as the European city with the highest quality of living. Fortunately, when comparing living costs, it can be seen that Barcelona is still comparatively cheap when compared to other European cities, including London, Milan, Munich and Amsterdam. Looking at the comparison of the percentage of population with higher education it can be seen that Barcelona again is higher than the European average.

Due to these factors, the city of Barcelona occupies fifth place in the 2005 ranking for Best City for Doing Business and sixth position for Attracting Foreign Investment. For these reasons, among others, it can be seen that Barcelona is the ideal place for the SE-ABRE Programme and the completion or furthering of your professional training

2. OVERALL COURSE OBJECTIVE This is a course designed to meet the challenges of the 21st century in international trade negotiation. It reflects a perceived need to improve communication and mutual understanding at an international level between actual and potential European and Asian business partners. The course has been developed in order to train specialists to build economic and commercial bridges between European and Asian countries and represent Spanish business interests at an international level. These interlocutors will be on the frontline of international business negotiation representing Spanish business interests in negotiating and creating business partnerships in Asia, which are of mutual interest and economic benefit.

3. COURSE TIMING AND CONTENT DISTRIBUTION The course has three main areas, two of which are imparted through class-based learning and one area which is a practical work placement.  The course has a modular base which allows for some flexibility for students to start the course. There are two possible entry points for participants on the course.

Entry Point 1

The class-based learning starts in October 2008 and finishes in June 2009.  The practical period will then start in June and run through until January 2010.

Entry Point 2

The course structure allows for a second incorporation of students from the beginning of March 2009.  Students who join the course at this time will finish the class-based learning in February 2010.  The practical period will then start for these students in February 2010 and run through until September 2010.

The SE-ABRE Programme is an intensive course where all class-based learning activities are grouped in the same timeframe. Once this part of the course has been covered effectively by the participants then the work placement period will commence to finish the participants’ training.

The course covers the following areas:

4. EVALUATION SYSTEM

• Post Graduate certificate: “Curso de Postgrado en Negocios Euro-Asiáticos” validated by the University Pompeu Fabra through the Escuela Superior de Comercio Internacional (ESCI)

Área 2

• Diploma Superior Español de los Negocios (DSEN), validated by the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce and IESE Business School, University of Navarra.
• Business English Certificate Higher (BEC Higher), validated by Cambridge University Exam Board

Área 3

• Work placement certificate

The specialist language training will be coordinated and designed by the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce.

The Fundació Barcelona Promoció, whilst in the process of selecting suitable candidates for this year’s course, will take the following into consideration when short-listing candidates

• The students’ mother tongue must be an Asiatic language. For this second academic promotion the students’ mother tongue would preferably, but not exclusively, be Korean, Chinese, Japanese or Hindi.
• Candidates’ academic background and achievements

Places are limited to a maximum of fifteen students per course to ensure a high quality personalized tutor and coaching system.

• · Introduction to the analysis of financial statements · Financial statements
• · Ratios
• · Profitability
• · Foundation of Budget Systems · Liquid Assets
• · Costs
• · Analysis and Selection of Investments

2. Introduction to Business Management in Spain (15 hours)

• · Company Organisation
• · The legal constitution of companies
• · Concepts related to the areas of quality, the environment and safety · Concepts related to production and logistics

3. The International Context (42.5 hours)

• · The situation and prospects of the global economy
  • o Current economic tendencies
  • o Global economic scenarios
  • o The globalisation and internationalisation of the economy · Economic Blocks
  • o Their evolution and characteristics with a special emphasis on the European Union
  • o Analysis of the Spanish exterior sector and Exporters · Emerging economies
  • o Asia, the impact of their entry into the WTO and foreign investment in Asian states (China, South Korea, Japan, India, etc)

• · Institutions and Support programmes for internationalisation

• · International Public Law and its area of jurisprudence
• · Foundations of International Public Law
• · Conflict solution under International Public Law

5. International Negotiation (30 hours)

• · Different negotiation styles
• · Cultural differences and their impact on negotiation · Differentiating cultural differences
• · Culture, Values, Ethics and Trust in International Negotiation
• · Different strategies in International Negotiation · Control and the Evaluation of Negotiation Results

• International Commercial Strategies
  • Types of Commercial Strategies
  • Analysis of International Commerce and Strategy Definition o The Commercial Plan for Internationalisation
  • Implantation, Development and the Evaluation of Commercial Plans · Incoterms 2000
  • Characteristics
  • Performance and Operation o Case Studies
• Import and Export
  • Procedures, Administrating Traffic and Documentation
  • The Creation of and Import-Export Department · Customs Management
  • Customs Operations
  • The current situation of intra-communitarian customs o Documentation
  • Tariffs
  • Customs Regime
  • International Transport and Logistics
  • Packaging and Logistics: Characteristics and Risks
  • International Transport: maritime, land, air, rail and multimodal transport
  • Insurance and Transportation · International Taxation
  • Interchange of Merchandise
  • VAT
  • Intrastate

7. ICT applied to Internationalisation (15 hours)

• Marketing through the Internet
• Information search on the internet
• Sales Promotion on the Web. The Web for exporting
• Strategies for Brand Internationalisation on the Web

• · International Payment Methods
  • Simple Operations
  • Instruments of Remittance o Credit Instruments
  • Bilateral Guarantees
  • Other forms of International Payments · Exportation Risk
  • Country Risk o Commercial Risk o Exchange Rate Risk o Interest Rate Risk
  • Operations subject to Risk Insurance
• · Financing International Commerce Operations
  • General Aspects of International Commerce Finance
  • The Operation of Currency Markets
  • Currency Financing
• Other Forms of Financing: Swaps, Factoring, Forfeiting

• · International Trading
  • Concepts, Types and Problems o Legislation
  • International Trade Agreements
  • Breach of Contract and Solutions: Negotiation, Jurisdiction, Arbitration… · International Mercantile Collaboration
  • Sporadic Exportation: Export and Mediation Consortiums o Well-established Exportation: Representatives, Commercial Agents, Distributors and Partners
  • International Distribution Agreements
  • International Agency Agreements
• · Other Forms of International Agreements
  • Public Tenders
  • Technology Transfer o Franchises
  • Joint Ventures
  • Other forms: Branches, Subcontracting, Subsidiaries

10. Interpersonal Skills Development (15 hours)

• Spoken Communication and Public Presentations
• Written Communication
• Work Organisation and Time Management
• Interpersonal Communication

The overall objective of this segment of the course is to achieve a high level of competency in communication and the understanding of English and Spanish in a specific Business Environment (International Negotiation) plus understanding and competent use of both languages in a specific business sector ( textiles, tourism etc.).

Students will also receive two internationally recognized language qualifications on completion of this section of the course that complements the overall qualification. This is the Cambridge University BEC higher (Cambridge Business English Certificate) and the Diploma Superior Español de los Negocios (IESE Business School, University of Navarra)

At the end of the course students will be able to communicate as efficiently in English as they are capable of in Spanish and their mother-tongue in specific business situations. They will be competent users and communicators in English and Spanish for International Negotiation as well as understand and competently use the English and Spanish language of a specific business sector. There will also have the capability and skills to further their language learning independently.

9. COURSE FEES

• Curriculum Vital in both English and Spanish
• A letter of presentation in both English and Spanish briefly outlining why they consider themselves to be suitable for this course. Their reasons for wanting to participate in this course in Barcelona and willingness to work for a Spanish company with interests in Asia. Finally, a firm commitment to complete the course and subsequent training should be shown in the application.