Context
This lens assesses the program type and content. Attention has been given in the ranking to not only how the programmes are being taught but what is being taught. Subsequently, within the International Trade Rankings there is a significant emphasis on international trade programme content and whether these courses are core or elective. Programme content has been categorised and evaluated using five pillars of International Cross Border Trade: Trade, Trade Policy, Trade Logistics and Supply Chain Management, Trade Finance and Accounting, and Leadership and Soft Skills. These five pillars are defined as follows:
| Pilars | Definition |
| Cross-Border Trade | Relating to the exchange of capital, goods and services across international borders or territories. |
| Cross-Border Trade Policy | Relating to the agreements, regulations and practices by governments and trade bodies that affect cross-border trade. |
| Cross-Border Logistics & Supply Chain Management | Relating to the management of digital and physical flow of goods and services, between economies, including the movement and storage of raw materials, data, work-in-process inventory, and finished goods as well as end-to-end fulfillment from point of origin to point of consumption. |
| Cross-Border Trade Finance / Accounting | Relating to the financial instruments and products used by companies to facilitate international trade and commerce, the management of assets, liabilities and protections- including foreign exchange. |
| Cross-Border Leadership / Soft Skills | Relating to the key elements that future leaders should acquire to effectively familiarize themselves with the psychological, physiological, geographical, geopolitical, anthropological and sociological effects. |
The five pillars are further distributed into the following 29 trade-related courses which were asked in the International Trade Survey:
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Cross-border Trade |
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1) Market Entry Strategies |
5) Cross-border Marketing |
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2) Trade Sustainability |
6) Cross-border Sales / E-commerce |
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3) Business Risk Mitigation |
7) Foreign Direct Investment |
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4) Cross-border Procurement / Negotiation |
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Cross-border Trade Policy |
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1) Trade Agreements |
3) Macro Economics of Trade |
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2) Geopolitics / Current Issues in Trade |
4) International Development & Trade |
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Cross-border Trade Logistics |
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1) International Supply Chain Management / Logistics |
3) Incoterms / Trade Documentation |
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2) Manufacturing Management in a Foreign Country |
4) Digital Trade / Digital Payments |
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Cross-border Trade Finance & Accounting |
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1) Import / Export Trade Finance |
4) Cross-border Financial Reporting & Governance |
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2) Foreign Exchange |
5) International Trade Law & Arbitration |
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3) International Accounting / Taxation / Insurance |
6) Customs & Tariffs |
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Cross-border Leadership & Soft Skills |
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1) Cross-cultural Leadership |
5) Cross-cultural Communications |
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2) Cross-border Consulting |
6) International Ethics |
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3) Global Talent Management |
7) Big Data & Analytics |
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4) Cross-border Strategies & Frameworks |
8) Blockchain |
We analyse each of the courses subject to its availability, whether it is mandatory (core) course, optional (elective) course or course not available. Core course is scored by 1 point, optional/ elective course by 0.5 point and course not available as 0 point. The score is totaled, normalized and scaled from 20-100.
Source of Data
Institutions were invited to submit data via the International Trade Survey. QS verified this data through desk-based research, with further validation by the Hinrich Foundation team. Where data was not provided via surveys, we have attempted to source this from the publicly available information on the program’s website. This is in-line with QS’s general policies on data collection and validation.