The Department of Business Administration
Department Head: Prof. Sibylle Heilbrunn
This study program awards its graduates a B.A. degree in Business Administration which is recognized by the Council for Higher Education.
Characteristics of the Study Program
This program is designed to respond to the needs of Israeli society and its economy. The program provides its students with academic knowledge of business administration based on a practical approach, with specialization options that take the world of Israeli business into account while also opening a gateway to the global arena and to development of moral-social sensitivity. The Department strives to make a meaningful contribution in molding the future generation of managers and to be Israel's leader in business administration academic teaching quality.
The Business Administration study program prepares students to enter the employment market quickly and equips them with the most updated tools so that they may progress to senior positions within their firms. The program emphasizes initiative, innovation, ethics and leadership and furthers the areas of social responsibility and community involvement.
Ruppin Academic Center offers a graduate study program in Business Administration (M.B.A.) which focuses on the needs of a changing competitive economy, offering specializations in subjects that are functional on the one hand and training for managers with an overall view to organizational management on the other hand.
Department Objectives
To allow its graduates
To acquire systematic, broad, updated and practical knowledge in the realm of business administration
To develop knowledge based administrative-professional abilities, to function effectively within management teams and to serve as leaders
To enter into administrative-professional positions and to develop senior level business and leadership careers in business systems in Israel and throughout the world
To develop the ability to analyze organizational processes and to take part in the furthering thereof
To cultivate motivation for initiative and innovation
To raise the prominence of community involvement
To develop the foundation and educational abilities needed for graduate studies
Specializations
The Department offers a number of specializations: Marketing Management, Human Resources Management and Organizational Development, Information Systems and a track for International Trade and Marine Resource Management. The professional focus of these specializations emphasizes areas of professional content that are relevant to the current employment market.
Upon concluding their studies, students receive professional guidance to conduct practical final projects within organizations. The project allows students to implement the theoretical knowledge they have acquired with regard to organizational problem solving and to propose models and tools from their realms of specialization.
Assignment of students into specializations/tracks is conditional upon the number of available spots and acceptance terms of each specialization/track.
Specialization in Marketing Management
This study program includes all aspects of the competitive, modern and global market and emphasizes innovation in marketing, market research and development, marketing and advertising strategies. The study program emphasizes the most contemporary subjects in the realm of management and marketing and instills the abilities and knowledge needed in order to contend with the challenges of the 21st century.
Among the Study Subjects
Marketing Management - product and brand management, consumer behavior, marketing communication, market research
Global Marketing - global marketing strategy, business marketing and management in China, export management
E-Commerce - marketing and advertising via e-commerce
Studies combine theoretical and practical aspects through various study methods, including lectures, simulations, seminars, team projects, workshops and guest lectures by senior marketing managers.
Entering the Employment Market
Graduates may enter organizations in positions such as marketing managers, brand managers, sales managers, export managers, etc.
Specialization in Human Resources Management and Organizational Development
In the 21st century, human assets are the main resource upon which successful companies rely. The evaluation of human resources management begins with professional and skilled recruitment of high quality employees and continues with maximal cultivation of people within the organization while realizing their latent potential and utilizing management and consultancy tools wisely. This type of effective management allows companies to grow, succeed and realize their business goals. The study program in the Human Resources Management and Organizational Development track emphasizes professional employee management, development and building of talented professional teams in order to attain the business' objectives.
Specialization objective
to establish a perception, provide knowledge and instill practical management abilities with regard to people, teams and change. The study program combines theoretical knowledge and practical experience. This unique program includes contemporary subjects in the realm of Human Capital Management as manifested in organizations in the modern world.
Among the Study Subjects
Introduction to Psychology and Personality Theories, Designing Training and Coaching Systems, Performance Evaluation, Organizational Development, Managing Change, Psychological Testing, Workshop in Diagnostic Methods and Employee Selection Tools for Organization Positions, Dismissal and Resignation, Motivation and Compensation Methods, and more.
Entering the Employment Market
This specialization trains students for a variety of roles required in today's business organizations. Based on surveys, the percentage of track graduates who have successfully entered the field of human resource management is one of the highest found.
The professions in which track graduates are employed: human resource managers, organizational development training coordinator in guidance and training companies, recruitment and selection coordinator, vocation analysts in placement agencies and psychological institutes, and more.
Specialization in Information Systems
The significance of information systems for the management of organizational systems in the public realm and within economic systems has made them the central and largest field in Israel. The study program in the information systems area emphasizes knowledge of the technological, administrative and practical aspects of computerization while connecting them to the world of trade and the internet. The program combines theoretical knowledge with practical experience regarding the central topics in the field. These experiences enable graduates to become successfully employed in any of the areas related to information systems.
The study program is recognized by The Israeli Chamber of Information System Analysts, and upon completion graduates may register with the Chamber, thus gaining an advantage when seeking employment.
Within the framework of students' practical experience, the Department, in collaboration with Microsoft Israel, awards the annual "Microsoft Award" to the outstanding final information systems project.
Among the Study Subjects
Required Courses: Basics of Programming and Algorithmics, Visual Programming in a NET Environment, Information Systems Characterization and Analysis, Databases, Developing Decentralized Information Systems Associated with the Customer and with the Server in an ASP.NET Environment, Computer Communications Networks, and more.
Elective Courses: Information System Projects Management, Multimedia for the Internet, Internet Marketing, Advanced Subjects in Information Systems, and more.
Final Project: Project objective - to establish an information system in an actual customer environment. The project is conducted over two semesters. During the first semester students analyze and characterize the project and during the second semester they establish and assimilate the project for the client.
Entering the Employment Market
Graduates enter a variety of required professions in the realm of information systems: Systems Analysis - planning information systems and the ways in which they may be integrated into the organization's operations, Information System Programming, Software Quality Assurance, and service provision in the areas of support, training and communication with users.
International Trade and Marine Resource Management Track
In light of increasing demand in the employment market for professionals in the marine field, a unique track in the field of International Trade and Marine Resource Management was opened.
Globalization, free trade agreements, unification of blocs and new super powers, geopolitical changes in the world in general and Israel in particular, have increased the need for the intelligent use of marine brokerage. The study track directs students toward the development of international trade areas.
The track's objective is to provide knowledge, management tools, capabilities and skills in international trade management from marine, air and land perspectives. The unique studies combine theoretical knowledge and practical experience.
Among the Study Subjects
Within the framework of the track, students take courses in the fields of International Trade, Logistics and Supply Chain Management, Introduction to the Marine Environment, Marine Insurance and Law.
* Courses will be opened subject to system constraints.
Final Project: During their last year of study, students conduct a supervised project that allows them to implement the theoretical knowledge they acquired while studying in the track.
Entering the Employment Market
The program prepares its graduates to enter into management positions in the international trade industry, import and export departments in the industrial sector, international air-sea-land trade service companies, maritime companies, sea ports, government offices, foreign trade department in banking organizations and more.
Business Administration with No Specialization
This is an individual study program comprised of subjects from all of the specializations. Students may choose the courses that are of interest to them, in addition to the required business administration courses. The program offers management training based on a broad view of the profession.
Business Game
The "Business Game Fair" is the pinnacle of a special course given in students' last semester of study called "Computerized Business Game". The course and the fair at its conclusion constitute a practical and competitive summation of their program studies. Within the framework of the game, students fulfill managerial roles in firms they have created and they are required to make production, marketing, financing and business strategy decisions. The game is run by the Department's senior lecturers and it simulates the competitiveness that exists in the market related to the chosen subject. The participating groups' business results are judged by both the academic faculty and by program graduates and guest managers from the business sector who are invited to participate.