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Over 170 students from 19 CEMS clubs. How was the biggest CEMS V4 Conference?

shamasha — Fri, 26 Apr 2024 13:04:09 +0000

Over 170 students from 19 CEMS clubs. How was the biggest CEMS V4 Conference? shamasha Fri, 04/26/2024 - 15:04 After four years, the CEMS V4 Conference returned to Prague. This year, CEMS Club Prague, who was the organizer of the event which rotates every year between the CEMS Clubs from Visegrád countries, managed to attract the largest number of participants ever to its three-day programme with the theme DATA UNIVERSE. A total of 171 participants came, and not only from the V4 countries. Students from a total of 19 CEMS clubs, 21 countries and 4 continents arrived. News

The CEMS V4 conference offered a unique combination of professional development and leisure activities. It started on Wednesday 10 April with a panel discussion and networking, followed by workshops and dinners on Thursday, interviews with companies and a closing gala on Friday 12 April, followed by parties. An emphasis on sustainability was also an integral part of the conference - vegan food was served and care was taken to reduce waste, especially discarded plastics.

How did it all work out? Take a look at the photos.

"We started preparations in November and it's been an incredible ride that has taken hundreds of hours of work. But then the conference itself exceeded all our expectations. It was an absolute euphoria and most importantly we attracted people from all over the world to Prague. Over 30 people came from Switzerland alone and some even crossed the ocean, for example from Canada, in order to join the conference,“ says Ondřej Svoboda, who led the organizing team together with Jan Budinský.

"But none of this would have been possible without our corporate partners and the work of the entire organizing team," adds Svoboda. This year's conference partners included Hilti, Loreal, Accenture, Google, Kearney, BCG, Asahi, Cola-Cola HBC, P&G.

Together with them, the organizers also prepared 8 Skill Seminars, which were of unprecedented interest among the conference participants. "We had over 140 registrants in just the first ten minutes of the opening of the registration for the seminars. We had to increase the capacity shortly after that," says Hanna Fridrik, who was in charge of the academic programme.

In addition to Skill seminars and activities designed for professional growth, there was plenty of room for fun and networking. "For example, over 120 students and 15 representatives of corporate partners attended the Rotation Dinner on Thursday, where over 200 pre-arranged meetings between students and corporate partners took place" says Jan Budinský. On Friday, over 50 more interviews with the conference's corporate partners took place at the VŠE.

"For the visitors who have never been to Prague before, which were many this time, we also prepared tours with Pragulic, a social enterprise that challenges the stereotypes associated with homelessness by enabling people to experience Prague from a homeless perspective and a historic tram ride through the city center to make the conference in the heart of Europe a truly unforgettable experience," concludes Jan Budinský

More photos from this year's CEMS V4 Conference can be found on the CEMSV4Conference instagram account.

Many thanks and congratulations to the organizing team for a successful event!

CEMS Faculty Groups publish second edition of Global Leadership Practices

shamasha — Tue, 23 Apr 2024 09:33:49 +0000

CEMS Faculty Groups publish second edition of Global Leadership Practices shamasha Tue, 04/23/2024 - 11:33 Global Leadership Practices: Competencies for Navigating in a Complex World, Second Edition, explores global leadership and the complexities inherent in its practice. The book represents a collaboration between scholars and professionals from diverse backgrounds and addresses the new reality students of international management face. News

Purchase the book here!

The first edition, published in 2014, was subtitled A Cross Cultural Management Perspective. This textbook became a valuable reference for students studying international management, helping them to navigate the intricacies of global leadership. Today, how to manage across cultures has largely become integrated into international management curricula.

Over the past decade the whole context of global business has undergone a profound trans- formation. The global challenges facing society have become more urgent, and technology has driven increased global interconnectivity. Political polarization, populism and stereotyped views of other cultures have increasingly become obstacles to global collaboration, making the achievement of diversity and inclusion indispensable. All these factors have significantly increased the level of complexity that global leaders face.

This second edition represents a collaboration between scholars and professionals from diverse backgrounds.

The subtitle of this new edition, Competencies for Navigating in a Complex World, addresses the new reality students of international management face. The completely rewritten text contains multiple theoretical approaches and tools designed to help the reader respond to this new reality. The book is made up of two parts. The first part covers the competencies needed to manage global leadership challenges; the second part offers deep insights into how global leadership is practised in specific countries and regions.

'Authentic and engaging, this book weaves a diverse set of cultures into the leadership context through cases while presenting a comprehensive framework for analysis. From self-development to sustainability, the book decodes the challenges we face in today’s world says Zhirong Duan, from Tsinghua University, China

The editors of this book are faculty members of the CEMS Alliance, grounded in the CEMS values of ethical conduct, professional responsibility and cultural diversity. Our aim in design- ing this book is to prepare global citizens who will contribute to a more open, sustainable, and inclusive world, as stated in the CEMS’ values.

The editors of this book include Bettina Gehrke , Marie-Therese Claes , Daniela Pauknerova , Ina Aust, and Roger-Matthew Bell Lambert.

'A powerful, reflective, comprehensive, and compelling book offering profound insights for readers from diverse cultures, backgrounds, and experiences interested in international management and understanding the dynamics influencing global leadership. It is a must-read for today’s scholars, practitioners, entrepreneurs, and future leaders from different walks of life who want to make an impact in an increasingly multicultural, innovation-driven, hypercompetitive, interconnected, and transformative global marketplace. writes Sherif Kamel from the American University In Cairo, Egypt

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Corporate Insights: Stephanie ten Berge weighs in on brand positioning and being a leader at H&M Group

shamasha — Mon, 22 Apr 2024 09:03:37 +0000

Corporate Insights: Stephanie ten Berge weighs in on brand positioning and being a leader at H&M Group shamasha Mon, 04/22/2024 - 11:03 Many CEMS alumni have chosen to build their careers with CEMS Corporate Partners. In this interview series, we explore the diverse career paths CEMS alumni have embarked on at these companies. Today we meet Stephanie ten Berge, Commercial Advisor Portfolio Brands with H&M Group, who tells us about understanding the local customer and cultures, brand positioning, and being a leader who understands the nuances of other people. Corporate Insights

Have you ever wandered past a COS store, or a branch of & Other Stories, and stopped to ask yourself: why is this particular store right here and not located elsewhere? Why is this store next door to another brand that I like? Why is it arranged in a way that feels familiar to me and creates certain expectations around the shopping experience that I can identify?

The location, context and staging of bricks and mortar retail stores might strike you as random. Perhaps you’ve never really given it much thought. But in reality, there is a huge amount of strategy, management, collaboration, creativity and of course financial resources that goes into the decision to open, maintain or refurbish any branch of COS and & Other Stories or H&M.

So says Stephanie ten Berge, Commercial Advisor Portfolio Brands with H&M Group. And she should know. It falls to ten Berge to analyse the business case behind each new or refurbished store for H&M Group’s portfolio brands around the world, and to pitch that case to H&M’s global management board—usually within 60 seconds or less.

“It’s my role to work with the local Lease Managers and the Portfolio Brand’s Expansion Managers and determine whether or not a store in a new location in Shanghai, New York, Beijing or London will work for the brand,” she says.

And that means understanding the local customer and cultures, predict the potential turnover and cost structure, assess if the deal is in line with market norm and evaluate the return on investment
Stephanie ten Berge

The role also entails analysing target customer shopping habits and expectations to determine how big or “visible” a store needs to be, and how the brand needs to be positioned in terms of its competition. Location is profoundly interlinked with brand positioning, says ten Berge. A COS store, for instance, should be positioned in proximity to higher-end competition than another H&M group brand. Mistakes can be costly, she adds, so a good deal of thought and collaboration with experts is necessary before making the pitch to senior management. Negotiation is a key capability here: ensuring that the teams are well poised to negotiate the best rental agreement with landlords, in terms of the leverage they have.

“I routinely work with real estate experts, property landlords, engineers, architects, brand expansion managers—a real spectrum of profiles—to get a realistic picture of how a store will work and what the return on investment will look like. And there’s a lot of fun and creativity involved in the work. It’s something I love, and I love the fact it’s also something I’d never envisioned for myself.”

A CEMS graduate of Rotterdam School of Management and the National University of Singapore, ten Berge met with H&M on campus nine years ago and instantly clicked with the team. In particular, she was drawn by the company culture and the chance to work internationally right of the bat. She joined the international trainee programme in 2015; an opportunity that took her to New York as a recent graduate.

“It was like something out of ‘The Devil Wears Prada’,” she laughs. “A completely amazing experience that exposed me to different roles. The hiring team had looked at my profile and selected different departments and countries for my training. So within a year, I switched to Switzerland and later my career led me to Sweden and Belgium and then back to Sweden.”

Hitting the jackpot

In the nine years that she has spent with the company, she has enjoyed a huge degree of flexibility and diversity. In her previous role she was appointed to Head of Expansion within the real estate division, managing a team of 16 in Brussels.

“I’ve been with H&M for almost a decade which is longer than any previous romantic relationship,” she laughs. “It’s like hitting the jackpot and such a good match for me.”

The company has empowered her, she says, from the get-go. She was appointed Store Development Manager with team responsibility just one year after graduating. And as a young Lease Manager, she was sent out to negotiate lease agreements with Swiss bankers, in some cases twice her age. The faith put in her paid off, as ten Berge went on to land deals for the inaugural stores for both Weekday and H&M Home in Switzerland.

H&M Group has “fantastic standards” in terms of work-life balance, she says. The company facilitates career progression while accommodating critical needs such as parental leave for both parents. As an organisation, H&M is intrinsically value-driven; this is a culture that celebrates the personal and family lives of its people as much as their professional acumen and that believes firmly in the equality of all of its employees. These are among the many reasons that ten Berge has “stayed put” over the years.

We think about our values all the time. And it plays a big role in things like recruitment too, because we are looking for people who share our values: open-minded team players; entrepreneurial thinkers
Stephanie ten Berge

“I’ve seen this working with different country organisations within my company all over the world. We’re all very different but we always click because we have the same values: we are one team, we believe in people, we are entrepreneurs, we make constant improvement, we are cost-conscious, we are straightforward and open minded. And we keep it simple.”

**Teamwork and Autonomy**

Working with H&M Group has been something of a dotted line with the CEMS experience in this sense, says ten Berge. CEMS prepared her to function in different geographies and cultural contexts and to collaborate with international colleagues. The experience of never being alone—of continuously working with diverse people on shared projects—is not dissimilar to her current job.

“CEMS is really a perfect preparation for my kind of work because you are working in groups preparing a holistic, well-thought-through business case to present,” she says. “And there’s a real overlap for me in the sense that I wanted to work for a company where I had true ownership of problems.”

Having—as well as giving—autonomy has been a mainstay throughout her career at H&M.

“H&M believed in me at a young age and gave me the chance to formally manage a team just a year after graduating from uni. As a young leader, I was initially quite naïve, and I had to learn to understand the nuances of other people’s needs.”

Leadership in her experience was a great deal more than simply providing structure, and more like learning how to become a “gardener:” understanding that people, like plants, grow and thrive in different ways.
Stephanie ten Berge

Some need to be nurtured, cultivated and coached. Others need to be left alone more. Above all, managing others is about providing a clear direction, a foundation of psychological safety and allowing people to find their way.

“I’ve learned that as a manager, it’s up to you to spot what people need and create the trust and safety for them to build on. It’s about working with strengths, rather than focusing on weaknesses.”

Focusing on strengths and identifying passion is advice that ten Berge would share with any aspiring leader looking to make their way in today’s world. Finding the thing you enjoy is critical to navigating any kind of career in any industry. That, and feeling you have real ownership of the problems and challenges you will face.

“You will spend a big chunk of your life at work, so my advice is to find something you enjoy. You may not love your job every day and there will be challenges ahead for sure, but if you are able to connect with some passion that you have, you will find the rewards. Mine is a challenging industry—it’s competitive and it’s really fast-paced. But I’ve always been up for a challenge!”

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CEMS Club Conference Vienna: Spring Semester 2024

shamasha — Tue, 09 Apr 2024 09:20:49 +0000

CEMS Club Conference Vienna: Spring Semester 2024 shamasha Tue, 04/09/2024 - 11:20 From February 29th to March 2nd, WU - Wirtschaftsuniversität kindly hosted the annual CEMS Club Conference for the spring semester and invited CEMS students to discuss their CEMS Clubs and share best practices.

News

24 CEMS Club Presidents and 4 organizing members from the Student Board were gathered in person at WU in Vienna, Austria. During the two-days conference, the Presidents had the opportunity to have an issue and solution-sharing session, network, discuss best practices and brainstorm on development and collaboration between their local CEMS Clubs.

The Presidents were welcomed on Friday by the Student Board Representatives and CEMS Corporate Relations Manager of WU, Jana Vadura, who started the conference off by introducing the school and the CEMS Master and experience at WU.

Following this insightful session, each CEMS Club President had the opportunity to introduce themselves, their CEMS Clubs and highlight the main issue they were facing through a one pager. This was followed by a brief introduction of the Global Responsibility Week initiative led by the CEMS Responsible Leadership Team, represented by Student Board Representative Anthony Verpoten (LSM). The session invited the presidents to brainstorm around the organization and implementation of innovative events and projects on the following topics : Gender Equality, Sustainability, Diversity & Inclusion, Ethical Management and Poverty alleviation.

The latter part of this morning included a short update from the CEMS Global Office, represented by Margaux Berras, and a deep dive into the Student Board’s projects and the Executive team’s strategy for the year presented by the SBR Vice-President of Finance, Joelle Soumi.

After having a fruitful afternoon discussions on current issues impacting their CEMS Clubs and brainstorming on potential solutions, the Presidents had the opportunity to present their “elevator pitches” on topics they found particularly relevant to discuss. Some clubs notably shared new exciting professional events for students such as the Budapest Case Cup competition or the Dublin Tech Tour.

The second day of the conference

got off to an exciting start with the announcement of the results of the CEMS Club Awards presented by SBR Qinzi Zhao (LSE). It's important to highlight that this year marks a record since all clubs were qualified by votes from their cohorts to send in their best practices, resulting in the submission of 117 best practices! The awards are divided into six categories, as well as a “Best CEMS Club” award.

The winners of this spring semester were:

Alumni: #1 Rotterdam, #2 Lisbon, #3 Calcutta
Corporate: #1 Barcelona, #2 Vienna, #3 Budapest
Marketing: #1 Calcutta, #2 Copenhagen, #3 St Gallen
Responsibility: #1 Prague, #2 St Gallen, #3 Calcutta
Socializing: #1 St Gallen, #2 Prague, #3 Rotterdam
Desired: #1 Calcutta, #2 St Gallen, #3 Milan
Best club: #1 St Gallen, #2 Prague, #3 Vienna

We would like to extend our congratulations to all winning CEMS Clubs and all other CEMS Clubs for their participation and work throughout the semester!

The announcement of the CEMS Club Award paved the way for an ideation session for presidents on how to reform and update the voting process and selection of best practices for these awards. Presidents brainstormed together and submitted creative solutions that will be implemented over the coming semesters to improve the voting process to make it notably fairer, more inclusive of all clubs, more objective in the best practices selection and more representative of each club's efforts.

After a well-deserved lunch and a tour of the WU campus to digest, the presidents were able to refine their sharing discussion outcomes from the previous day in small groups. Each presented their action plan to solve their main problem to the other presidents in their break-out rooms, and received direct feedback from the other as well as tools to help them improve this latter plan.

Finally, the conference concluded with two sessions presented by different SBR teams who joined the conference online. The first session, led by Emilie Plater from the Alumni Relations team, encouraged presidents to create projects and events around the Global Alumni Week event that took place in late March. The second session, led by Yoshihiro Kaneko (KEIO) from the Global Integration Task Force, aimed to assign each president to a Buddy groups of three to four clubs for the remainder of the semester to foster communication and support between them. Buddy clubs will thus be able to continue the work of the conference for the rest of the semester, drawing inspiration and advice from each other to improve the collaboration and global integration of all CEMS clubs and schools.

To celebrate the end of the conference all together, CEMS Club Presidents got invited to a social activity in the evening to network with the CEMS Club Vienna and for the ones staying an extra day, to a Walking Tour of Vienna’s city center led by SBR Julio Duarte (FGV).

The Student Board sincerely hopes that the Presidents found this 19th CCC edition eventful and insightful, and that they have returned to their local CEMS Clubs with new ideas and inspiration, as well as renewed motivation for the remainder of their tenure.

The CEMS Global Alliance would like to thank WU University, including Jana Salot, Jana Vadura, Philipp Nell and Desislava Dikova for hosting this event. In addition, the Alliance would like to thank the Student Board CEMS Club Support Team, including Juliette Navarre, Felicia Schneider, Witkoria Ruenbenbauer, Andrej Bederka, Qinzi Zhao, Korbinian Thiele, Andres Ordenes Torres, Francesca Girelli and Caitriona Lefevere for organising this initiative.

We are looking forward to the next edition in Fall 2024!

Global Recruitment Event 2024 - It's a wrap!

perrinna — Fri, 15 Mar 2024 08:40:45 +0000

Global Recruitment Event 2024 - It's a wrap! perrinna Fri, 03/15/2024 - 09:40 For the fourth year in a row, the CEMS Global Alliance organized the Global Recruitment Event. Designed to support students and young alumni to advance their career and discover new employers, this event was held from March 4 to 8 online. News

The CEMS Global Recruitment Event is a 5-day online recruitment event, which aims at connecting students with CEMS Corporate Partners through a job matching process. Participants are invited to apply for a career opportunity, prior to the event and may be offered a pre-scheduled interview or 1-1 chat with one of the representatives participating.

31 CEMS Corporate Partners joined this year’s edition, inviting over 265 representatives from across the world and from all continents, and offered over 350 career opportunities including internships, full time positions, graduate programmes and more. From February 12th to 19th, over 720 participants from all CEMS schools sent more than 5,900 requests to the companies!

Following this, more than 930 appointments were scheduled and held from March 4th to 8th. Throughout this event, participants had the opportunity to learn more about positions in finance, management, consulting, brand marketing, strategy, retail, business and so much more.

The CEMS Global Recruitment Event provided a unique occasion for companies to develop their portfolio of talented profiles, and for students and young alumni to prepare for their next career step.

A huge thank you to all participants who joined this event!

Corporate Insights: Fadi Farra speaks about entrepreneurship and leading with compassion.

perrinna — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 09:32:56 +0000

Corporate Insights: Fadi Farra speaks about entrepreneurship and leading with compassion. perrinna Mon, 03/11/2024 - 10:32 Many CEMS alumni have chosen to build their careers with CEMS Corporate Partners. In this interview series, we explore the diverse career paths CEMS alumni have embarked on at these companies. Today we meet Fadi Farra, Founder and Managing Partner at Whiteshield, who tells us about his path to entrepreneurship, yielding to the instinct for compassion and his purpose to build his company. Corporate Insights

There are two things that motivate us in life. One is fear. The other is compassion. So says Fadi Farra, Founder and Managing Partner of public policy and strategy advisory firm, Whiteshield. And it is compassion that has fueled the major step changes in Farra’s life and career.

An economist by training, Farra was Head of Unit at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris until 2020, when he came to a critical realisation. His work advising governments and organisations on economic and public policy issues involved challenge and rigour, yet remained detached from “reality on the ground,” he says. The disconnect between intention and tangible impact frustrated him. Specifically, a meeting with a client looking to make redundancies in their manufacturing plants yielded a “moment of truth.”

“I realised I didn’t want to do it. I didn’t want to channel my expertise and time into firing people,” says Farra. Sitting in that board meeting, I realised that what actually mattered more to me were people; that I cared more about doing the right thing by others. And that compassion was a far greater motivation than fear.”

Doing the right thing, yielding to the instinct for compassion, became a guiding principle; one that has seen Whiteshield take root as an idea and grow over the last decade into a multinational advisory, with offices in four continents and a slew of industry awards for excellence in consultancy and innovation. But it hasn’t been easy. Founding the business, recruiting the right talent, building a viable client roster, and maintaining the most rigorous standards in consultancy in changing times—navigating all the stresses and exigencies of entrepreneurship—have required tenacity and resilience.

Sticking to the path has meant “chasing the vision.” And chasing it resolutely.

“Entrepreneurship in any field means pushing the frontiers. And being an entrepreneur means simultaneously taking risks and dealing with the risk of losing it all,” says Farra. “To weather these challenges, you have to have a purpose that’s worth it. You need to know what’s driving you and stick to it. Purpose is what illuminates the path.”

Purpose remains the cornerstone of everything that Whiteshield does in support of governments from Europe to Eurasia, from the Middle East and Africa to the Americas. The firm’s more than 100 consultants and staff are grounded by a commitment to improve lives through continuous policy innovation. Helping the citizen is the driver, says Farra. So too is the willingness to go the extra mile, as and when necessary. If a minister is asking for support, he says, it behoves him and the entire team to give whatever it takes to provide that support. As such, Whiteshield is a working environment that welcomes and rewards people with a sense of purpose, he adds; those who care about people and share a commitment to do better by them. In return, staff can expect their needs and objectives to be understood, and prioritised.

“To me, leadership is about connecting with other human beings, and asking the right questions to understand what they are feeling and sensing,” says Farra.

“As a leader, you can either look at people as resources to optimise, or as individuals to develop. I believe the key to effective leadership is to truly see the person in front of you and think about how they can be happy and fulfilled at work. That’s how I see a true leader.”

Leading with humanity—helping others be the best that they can be—and leading with purpose: both are tenets that Farra believes align closely with the values of today’s workforce. They are also long-held principles that found early expression in his time as a CEMS student.

An MSc graduate of LSE and HEC, Farra discovered in CEMS a “unique community,” built across like-minded people with a “strong sense of shared humanity.”

“CEMS was and still is really unique. The CEMS experience posits a different logic—one that embraces community as international—and challenges you to build the skills, the languages and a position on the importance of humanity that will underpin your career.”

So strong is Farra’s enduring commitment to CEMS, in fact, that he has served on the CEMS Strategic Board and was President of the CEMS Alumni Association. He regularly contributes interviews and insights to the CEMS community.

Whiteshield is also a CEMS Corporate Partner and actively recruits graduates from CEMS schools. Around 20% of Whiteshield staff are CEMSies: purpose-driven professionals who share its founder’s vision and mission. Farra is keen to welcome more CEMS talent into the ranks—with an important caveat.

“Working with us will give you the helicopter view. You’ll get to work with management across the public sector of different regions and it’s a chance to have real impact—impact on the GDP of an entire country,” he says. “Of course, this is a very different concept to working for profit. But a key advantage is to have private sector knowledge and expertise—understanding of companies and industries—that can be harnessed for public good.”

As such, Farra recommends that CEMSies and other graduates build experience before getting in touch; that they consolidate knowledge in both private and public sector areas, whether in paid roles or internships. And for anyone at the start of a career and considering options in today’s uncertain and fast-changing world, he has words of encouragement and advice.

“Don’t specialise too much too soon. Take risks and don’t look back if you fail at something. Whether you want to be an entrepreneur or work within a private or public organisation, connect with other people, build broad networks, connect the dots,” he says.

“Above all, don’t be afraid; even if what you want to do might mean risking it all. Stick to your vision. I wake up every morning wondering what I will do to give something back each day. If you have a vision, if you have the commitment—if you have compassion—the challenges will come, but so too will the satisfaction.”

Find more information on Whiteshield and to explore their latest career option …

The CEMS Corporate Insights is a series of interviews that aims to highlight the diverse career paths CEMS senior alumni have embarked on at the CEMS Corporate Partners. Interviews focus on various aspects of life, including their work journey but also reflection on leadership, globalisation, finding the right path and their takeaways from their CEMS experience.

You can find previous interviews on cems.org or on the CEMS Career Center.

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Exciting news for the whole CEMS community in the field of Executive Education!

shamasha — Wed, 06 Mar 2024 12:53:34 +0000

Exciting news for the whole CEMS community in the field of Executive Education! shamasha Wed, 03/06/2024 - 13:53 Four CEMS universities Ivey Business School, Stockholm School of Economics, University of Cologne and HEC Paris have joined forces to offer a first-class CEMS Digital Transformation Executive programme.
News

The programme provides current insights on essential key trends of digitalization allowing leaders and executives to become drivers of the transformation process within their respective

companies.

The next two rollouts will start in person in Vienna and New York, featuring the first two modules on Digital Leadership and Digital Mindset, along with a Welcome Dinner.

22 March 2024 in Vienna with a welcome dinner on 21 March
4 April 2024 in New York with a welcome dinner on 3 April

The programme consists of further five online modules within a timeframe of about ten weeks. They cover the topics Omni Channel, Internet of Things, Data Dividend, AI & Data-Driven transformation and Business Model Patterns.

Leaders and executives of all industries are very welcome to join this programme and become part of an international community of like-minded managers who want to positively impact their businesses. As CEMS Alumni or Corporate Partner, you benefit from an exclusive programme fees discount.

If you are interested and would like to register for the programme, please contact the University of Cologne Business School (ucbs-exec-edu@uni-koeln.de).

Global Triumphs and Transformations: A Remarkable Year as a CEMS Exchange Student at Cornell

shamasha — Fri, 16 Feb 2024 13:21:17 +0000

Global Triumphs and Transformations: A Remarkable Year as a CEMS Exchange Student at Cornell shamasha Fri, 02/16/2024 - 14:21 Keményfi arrived in Ithaca at the start of the fall semester along with 15 other exchange students in the CEMS program, a global alliance of top business schools. For one semester, CEMS graduate students from a network of 33 business schools on six continents take classes in international management at a partner institution in the program. News

Gergely Keményfi experienced a series of milestones in the past year. In August, he set foot in the United States for the first time as an exchange student at Cornell University. Just three months later, he and three peers from Hungary achieved a historic feat, becoming the inaugural European team to secure victory in the Cornell Emerging Markets Institute Corning Case Competition.

Beginning the fall semester in Ithaca, Keményfi joined 15 other exchange students as part of the CEMS MIM program. Beyond gaining insights into innovative business practices at Cornell, Keményfi's journey also connected him with a vibrant and diverse community of students hailing from 16 different countries.

“The program helped me in more ways than I could imagine,” he said. “I thought I would only learn about the courses, but then I got to know these CEMS students from other cultures. It opened up the world in a way.” - Gergely Keményfi

Keményfi, who is also earning a master’s in management and leadership at Corvinus University in Budapest, took seven courses at the Dyson School last fall in everything from Corporate Finance to Power and Politics in Organizations.

Prevailing in the EMI Case Competition

Shortly after the commencement of the fall semester, Keményfi was informed about the Cornell Emerging Markets Institute Corning Case Competition, which delves into the effects of globalization on businesses in emerging markets. Without delay, he reached out to some of his fellow CEMS peers at his home university, and together, they decided to participate in the competition.

The challenge was to develop a financial strategy for a Brazilian semiconductor company that was on the verge of collapsing and about to be sold to a Chinese investor. Another question the teams tackled was whether Brazil should incentivize the development of its own chips industry and form international alliances to make the industry viable.

In September, 127 MBA and graduate student teams worldwide dedicated seven days to dissecting the case. Keményfi's team from Corvinus, comprised of four members, emerged as one of the five finalists. Then, on November 3, they triumphed over their competitors in the ultimate round at the 2023 Emerging Markets Institute conference held at the Cornell Tech campus in New York City, securing the coveted $6,000 first prize.

Learn more about the competition here!

Humans of CEMS: Triumph over Challenges! From NUS to Graduation in 2023, Leonardo Lotto Inspires CEMSies with his Unyielding Spirit in the Face of Adversity

shamasha — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 08:36:40 +0000

Humans of CEMS: Triumph over Challenges! From NUS to Graduation in 2023, Leonardo Lotto Inspires CEMSies with his Unyielding Spirit in the Face of Adversity shamasha Wed, 01/31/2024 - 09:36 In 2022, Leonardo Lotto started his CEMS journey as a student at NUS. An Italian, music, sports and travel lover, Leo enjoyed his CEMS studies until he had a life changing accident. However, in spite of his injuries, Leonardo graduated from CEMS in London in December 2023. In his recovery period the CEMS family came together and sent postcards from all over the globe, messages, phone calls. CEMS has become for Leo more than a degree programme, it became his world. We talked to Leo recently. News

What did you feel you experienced most from the CEMS Community after the accident?

The CEMS community has been wonderful and I would like to say how much I appreciate how much empathy there is in CEMS. After the accident, I felt all the love and how close they were even if they were far away all around the world.

CEMS is by far the best thing that has happened in my life so far. It really changed the way I see the world. After CEMS I became more optimistic about the future.

At the London Annual Events the CEO of Sanofi (Paul Hudson) said that the world needs us more than we can think. I feel it is true, having leaders that are attentive to other people will change the way the corporate world sees things. Now I am very curious to see where my peers and I will go in the future and the impact there will be.

How do you maintain a positive and resilient mindset in the face of so many challenges?

A year ago my life changed completely in one second. Everything was normal and then I had to face up to so many challenges. What I thought at the time - there is no way to go back in time. So what is the best I can do in this situation? And I discovered that there are lots of things I cannot do anymore and some things I can do and do even better than before.

My voice now has a different impact than before and I will try to use this to leave a mark on people's life in general. It is not easy to be positive at all times but having contact with people and exchanging ideas and experiences, it's the thing that has most helped me to stay in contact with the real world.

Being positive is the only way that I have to not only survive but live again. I don't know how I actually do it, I just know it's the best way for me to go on at the moment. The CEMS community helps you so much - the sincere love that we have for each other it's real and it's because we experience so much together, we have so many common values and we see the world in a very similar way. The links we have in the CEMS community are so strong, we know we can change the world together.

Thinking about your personal and professional life, are there areas of personal growth or specific accomplishments you'd like to happen in the future?

I’m having a reflection moment now. A lot of things have changed and I need to better understand where and how I could bring value and leave a mark.

I am still very passionate about politics. We live in very complex and hard times and I’m not sure the future will be easier. As always in difficulties you also have the opportunities. It is now the moment to demonstrate who we are and that we stick to the values we say we believe in.

I would like to use the impact that my voice has now to inspire and leave a mark. I’m thinking what is the best way to do it.

Be as free as you can and fight for freedom whatever it takes!
Leonardo Lotto

How can others be supportive? Are there any specific things you appreciate when it comes to interacting with people?

An accident reminds you how fortunate and lucky you were before and how there are so many little things that are so important. After the accident, I was focusing on the fact that I couldn’t ski or travel anymore but after a while, you realise that the little things are the one that you miss the most.

What I find very hard at the moment is that I can’t do simple things like get out of bed and to have breakfast by myself. This loss of independence is very frustrating. Freedom and independence are the most precious things a person can have. I am very aware of that now.

For others to do for me? Is to be there - all the time, friends and family. A little message, a call, visit me. It could happen that I don’t feel good and I won’t answer but I know that they are there. That helps a lot. I received postcards and messages from all over the world and every day when I wake up I see them.

Not everyone was able to treat me as before. Luckily, the CEMS community also had the emotional intelligence to understand that I am the same person as before, just with some physical difficulties, and how important it is for me to maintain the same attitude.

The psychologist in the hospital couldn’t understand how I had so many people message me, visit me, ask for me. But the reason is simple: if you are not part of CEMS, you cannot understand.

Are there any messages that you would like to convey to the CEMS community?

A big thank you to everyone in the CEMS community. The main message which relates to the current world situation is to be as free as you can and fight for freedom whatever it takes!

Since the CEMS community will have so much impact, if they keep freedom in mind then everything will be ok.

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CEMS Global Alliance Renews CEMS Values Statement, Shared Principles and Future Vision in Management Education

shamasha — Thu, 18 Jan 2024 14:58:10 +0000

CEMS Global Alliance Renews CEMS Values Statement, Shared Principles and Future Vision in Management Education shamasha Thu, 01/18/2024 - 15:58 In a world marked by the pandemic, climate instability, and social unrest, vulnerabilities are laid bare. Group affiliations amplify polarization, while ideologies hinder open dialogue and human connection. The CEMS Global Alliance in Management Education perceives this moment as a call to define shared principles and a collective vision for the future, emphasizing the importance of fostering dialogue, trust, and collaboration amid challenging times. News

December 2023

A few short years ago there seemed to be a general understanding that an open world, with boundless possibilities for collaboration, innovation, and shared economic expansion, could be pursued for the good of all. That consensus no longer exists.

The pandemic, accelerating climate instability, and social and geopolitical unrest have combined to expose vulnerabilities. Strong group affiliations are intensifying polarization. Ideologies are driving collective thinking away from dialogue, trust, and human connection. The willingness to hear and work with multiple perspectives toward shared interests is becoming less common.

We at the CEMS Global Alliance in Management Education see this moment as a call to articulate certain shared principles and a common vision for the future.

CEMS has always valued the strength in difference. We cultivate leaders who are curious and capable of discernment, who have the mental and emotional strength to confront challenges with humility and integrity, who resolve to learn and understand deeply the complexities of our time. Our learners revel in the diversity of cultures and backgrounds that make up the richness of the CEMS MIM experience. Their shared interactions through exchanges enable them to discover the opportunities and lessons inherent in open engagement with different ideas.

The CEMS community is committed to the idea that the leaders who will be best prepared for the future will be free and unafraid in an uncertain world, will be humane citizens who can engage fully and think independently, and will contribute to a more open, sustainable, and inclusive world.

Education is a lifelong journey that expands human potential. It opens doors and shows people how to use information to influence their choices in life. The objective of each CEMS member school is to cultivate and support broad-minded leaders who are free to ask questions and to interpret information using evidence, logic, and critical reasoning. CEMS thinkers are empowered to make decisions, master new technologies, and lead in a pluralistic world.

This approach makes the most responsible business sense. With this, we hereby reaffirm our commitment to the pursuit of sustainable business solutions that benefit humanity and the planet we all share. These specific efforts will be foremost in our committed, measurable actions going forward.

Hear from CEMS chair Lars Strannegård and President of SSE

Hear from Dean and Professor Leisa Sargent of USYD

Hear from Dean, Jiří Hnilica of VSE

Hear from Rector Lajos Szabo of CUB

Hear from Dean and CEMS Deputy Chair Sherif Kamel of AUC

Hear from Director Şuhnaz Yılmaz Özbağcı of Koç University

Hear from Vice Rector Jacek Prokop of SGH

Hear from Dean Sang Yong Kim of KUBS

Hear from Rector Francesco Billari Bocconi University