Global Classroom: German and Korean flavor to the Executive Management Program
July 2009

Four German participants from ESB Business School, Reutlingen University and a participant fromKoreawere at the SPJIMR campus in July to attend Contact 5 (batch 17) of Executive Management Programme (EMP). They were here to participate in the nine-day module of the EMP under a participant exchange program initiated by Prof. Dennis De and Ms. Heike Trost from ESB Business School, Reutlingen University and Prof. PremChandrani at SPJIMR. During their 15 day visit, the exchange participants attended class-room sessions along with the EMP participants and visited companies such as Tata Consultancy Services and Mahindra & Mahindra. Mr. Alexander Herfort said these visits gave them a good understanding of how India operates in the KPO/BPO space and in the manufacturing sector. The visits were organized by Prof. Oscar D'souza and EMP participantMr. DonLewis.

A dance programme was organized at the SPJIMR auditorium to give the overseas participants a glimpse of Indian culture. They were taken on a short guided tour of Mumbai. They also took courses in International Business, Strategic Management, Negotiations, Managerial Effectiveness, Strategic Brand Management and ManagingNewBusiness Initiatives.

In his feedback to Prof. Palekar, Chairman of the EMP programme, and Prof. Chandrani who was instrumental in forging this alliance, at a dinner specially hosted for these participants, Mr. Kamal Charafeddine remarked that "Indian participants are highly motivated and interactive". Prof. Chandrani stated that "this trickle of international participants will soon become a stream and then possibly a river".