“Management in Emerging Markets: Trends and Strategies” 2015
The head of the summer school, professor of general and strategic management Irina Volkova, clearly defined the goal of the event - to present students with the opportunity to gain the sort of fundamental experience in company management that plays a key role in the Russian market, and, of course, to experience a cross-cultural exchange. The composition of multinational, diverse participants allowed for interchange among people, theorists, practitioners, ideologues and contractors from various backgrounds.
As tradition dictates, the working language was English, which helped international guests to more easily settle into the working environment, This year school participants were again able to speak with representatives of the business environment, see decision-making processes firsthand, and see the building of company business models and to discuss competitive advantages.
IBM not only presented participants with a practical case study but accompanied them during its resolution. Such interest fully stimulated young innovators wishing to find answers to the problems presented! Students of the school became acquainted with the activities of such businesses as HSE Business Incubator, Mitzya Bar, LocalWay, Soykombank, and others, in order to form an idea as to the mechanisms of the Russian market.
What does participation in the international summer school provide? First and foremost, it provides an opportunity to gain broader knowledge, based not only on theoretical knowledge, but on the use of their development and life experience to attract foreign colleagues and researchers to work on their business problems. School participants, while working on case studies, viewed their tasks from various points of view, learning to listen to the opinions of others and were open to constructive dialog. An optimum number of students allowed for easy and productive discussion, which will continue between them after finishing the School. An obvious cultural plus for participants from different countries was acquaintance with the “enigmatic Russian soul”: summer walks around Moscow’s significant landmarks, trying national cuisines, learning and putting to use the traditions and habits of the Russian people.
Organizers of the third Summer School made sure that every participant received invaluable knowledge about the development of real and prospective Russian businesses and experienced an impressive summer. Adapted to modern lecture conditions, relevant discussions, visits to current Russian companies, business-games and practical cases, informal exchanges, the third Summer School transformed into a multifaceted event for all participants from Belgium, Ukraine, Moldavia and Russia.
Summer school participants have shared their experiences.
K. Aksyonov:
As an invited lecturer to the Higher School of Economics summer school session, I very much liked both how the event was organized and the interaction of students, colleagues and teachers to presented problems. I was glad to see that students exhibited not only a strong theoretical readiness but good business “flair,” without which it would be impossible to solve complex, ambiguous cases. IBM already works with the Higher School of Economics, but this was our first project in this format.
E. Busheva:
I am very glad that I had an opportunity to take part in Summer School 2015. The first week we had lectures at the University, but sometimes we had to go somewhere else to have our classes. For example, once we had a lecture in a bar where its owner told us how to start a business from scratch and what are the peculiarities of the Russian market. The second week we lived in Voronovo, which is out of town and spent much time to solve a case for IBM. It was an interesting experience because they gave us a real case, and we had to discover a brand new market for the company and ourselves too. Despite all the lectures, we had much time to have fun and make new connections. Also, it was a good practice of my English.