IIM Calcutta’s International Immersion Programme creates opportunity for the students of PGPEX to gather knowledge on global business environment
Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, the first triple crowned management school of the country organized the International Immersion Programme for the current batch of Post Graduate Programme for Executives (PGPEX) 2017-18 with three international B School –Mannheim Business School, Mannheim, Germany, Strathclyde Business School, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK and Michael G. Foster School of Business at the University of Washington. Thestudents were part of the international immersion programme, conducted for two consecutive weeks at each of these institutes. The immersion programme provided a wonderful opportunity to the students to learn about international business.
Based on the theme “Doing Business in Germany” the students at theMannheim Business School, Germanyhad the opportunity to understand the economic, cultural, and geopolitical drivers behind Germany’s growth, through classroom sessions by eminent faculty and experimental practical learning sessions at the sites of different orgaziations. The students had the chance to visit the European Central Bank and also to the hidden champions of German SME industry like Hager, Kleemann and Karcher which helped them gather insight on the German business practices, organizational work culture, level of technological adoption and innovative approaches these organizations employ to resolve complex challenges. Moreover, the students benefitted from interactions with German business leaders and the social networking events helped them to understand the German organizational management and culture.
The students at the Strathclyde Business School, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK had the opportunity to gain insights on UK through classroom discussion sessions. The topics revolved around the plausible impact of Brexit on the economy and trade of UK & EU as well as on the rest of the world including India. There was another discussion on ‘Globalization of Business Services’ and how decisions of offshoring, nearshoring, onshoring and reshoring are affecting the outsourcing industry globally. During the industrial visits the students had the opportunity to understand the workflow and the nuances of managing and delivering large complex projects at Babcock International at Rosyth Business Park in UK and at the Scottish Power’s Cruachan Power Station the students acquired knowledge on the possibility of expansion keeping in mind the power plant’s focus on delivering a sustainable, greener energy future.
At the Michael G. Foster School of Business at the University of Washington, the students learnt about “US Business Strategy and Entrepreneurship” as part of classroom and industrial visits sessions. The sessions were focused on building upon skills in Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Analytics and Strategy. They also visited reputed organisations – Paccar, Boeing and Starbucks to understand the strategies of these companies to generate competitive advantages by developing customer centric approaches, adopting leaner and agile manufacturing practices and introducing technological innovations.
The Chairperson of PGPEX, IIM Calcutta expressed satisfaction with the visits to the three business schools. The international immersion programme is an important part of PGPEX. It has been specifically designed to develop a global outlook among students and provide them an opportunity to better understand work environment in diverse economic and social settings. With the objective of grooming successful industry leaders in the global environment, the Chairperson, PGPEX reported that several changes are being contemplated to make the programme even better
