With regards to the increasing globalisation of business, classical degrees such as Business Administration are no longer sufficient to prepare graduates for future global occupations. As a city experienced in foreign trade, Bremen therefore introduced the international degree ‘Angewandte Wirtschaftssprachen (AWS)’ (Applied Business Languages) in 1988, which developed into ‘Angewandte Wirtschaftssprachen und Internationale Unternehmensführung (AWS)’ (Applied Business Languages and International Management) by February 1997. This degree combines business and national economic subjects with a non-European language (Arabic, Japanese or Chinese) and Business English. It is based on a solid foundation of essential skills in business and social structures of the relevant language regions, which is reinforced by a one-year period within the country of the chosen language.

The degree prepares students for an occupation in an international environment. Due to sound field and language qualifications, combined with inter-cultural competency, graduates are able to take on management and administration duties within a global context. They therefore find themselves in foreign economic departments of large companies, in smaller and medium trade companies, in international projects as well as establishments and joint ventures in German companies overseas. Occupational prospects also span the fields of tourism, management consultancy and intercultural training. Today, the AWS degree boasts ca. 1.000 graduates. Looking at the average of the three regions, around 80% of the graduates have gained appropriate employment, with around 30% of these abroad. Among the employers are well-known names as well as small companies both national and international and in some cases names of the graduates themselves.