News / events
IMM Fall 2012 Newsletter
10/10/2012
Dear Members of the IMM Community,
If you haven’t already heard the news, it is my pleasure to be the first to share with you that the IMM Global Executive MBA program is welcoming three new partner universities. They are well-known and influential institutions located in some of the world’s most competitive regions: EMLYON Business School in France, Tianjin University in China and FGV School of Administration – EBAPE, in Brazil.
Partnering with these respected schools and thereby extending our presence into these regions are important for several reasons. This will further strengthen the reputation of the IMM program and the IMM degree. The on-the-ground learning experience yielded will be pacesetting for developing global business leaders. Collaboration among faculty will generate innovative approaches to the instruction and practice of international management. And, of course, these new partnerships will dramatically expand the professional network of the IMM community as a whole.
We will recognize this significant milestone at an event on October 29 at Central European University in Budapest with the deans from all seven partner schools attending. George Soros, founder of CEU and renowned philanthropist, will give the keynote remarks.
On behalf of the other deans and myself, we are extending a cordial invitation to attend this event, and we look forward to sharing with all of you over the coming months the exciting news resulting from this landmark development in the distinguished history of the IMM program.
If you wish to attend the event, please RSVP to angyalk@ceubusiness.org by October 19, 2012.
Sincerely, Mel Horwitch
Dean and University Professor
CEU Business School
This summer, IMM’s website got a new, fresh look. The redesigned site is streamlined and easier to navigate. If you haven’t seen it yet, take a tour.
What’s on the must-read list of a strategic management professor? Why did an IMM professor send his own employees through the program? Find out in our professor Q&As.
TiasNimbas Business School
Follow Filip on Twitter @FilipCaeldries
Q. You have received recognition from IMM students for your excellent teaching. What’s unique about your approach to teaching strategic management?
A. There are really three things that I try to do in my classes. The first is to have a reflective dialogue. I try to make the class a co-creation between my students and myself. If you think about it, there are hundreds of years of experience gathered in the room. It’s important for everyone to be learning from each other. The second is to provide actionable frameworks. I want my students to be able to apply what we discuss at work at 9 am on the Monday after we meet. The third is to bring my passion for the topic. There’s no substitute for passion. It creates enthusiasm among the class and draws attention and generates ideas.
Q. What must-read recent journal article, case, or book related to strategic management would you recommend to your former students?
A. Michael E. Porter and Mark R. Kramer’s “Creating Shared Value” from January 2011’s Harvard Business Review is an article that I think is a must-read. It argues that the competitiveness of a company and the health of the community in which it operates are dependent on each other. It formulates a contemporary version of the “doing well by doing good” mantra, and provides interesting, practical guidelines for managers to apply to their organizations.
A book along the same lines I recommend is Howard Schultz’s Onward, which could be viewed as an illustration of the shared value argument. It tells the story of how Starbucks lost its competitive edge by focusing more on creating economic value, and got its edge back by focusing on social value as well.
Q. Why is strategic management an essential part of an executive MBA program?
A. Two words come to mind: integration and alignment. Organizations exist because they can get something done that an individual can’t. But to get that thing done, everyone in the organization must be aligned to achieve the same objective. That’s where strategic management comes in. Successful companies need a leader who can integrate activities across functions, making sure everything is aligned.
This is why we place the strategic management course at the end of the program, after students have taken their functional courses. We try to create awareness that good leaders are able to align an organization’s functional activities and objectives.
Q. What enhancements to the IMM program are you most excited about?
A. Our new partnerships are certainly at the top of the list. I think that looking back, having EMLYON Business School in France, Tianjin University in China, and FGV EBAPE in Brazil join us will be a major milestone in the history of IMM. We’ll be using the momentum of these new relationships to make the IMM experience even more comprehensive, integrative and holistic.
Another aspect that we’re continuing to develop is helping our graduates be confident leaders in two key regards: confident in content, meaning that they know their stuff, and confident in their role, which relates to their personal self-confidence. Companies I meet with consistently say that confidence on both fronts is what they’re looking for especially as business environments become more turbulent and less certain.
Visiting Adjunct Professor, CEU Business School
Q. After you started teaching for the IMM program, you sponsored students in your company for the program. What value did you see as an employer to sending your employees through the IMM program?
A. The company I used to work for at the time is a regional banking group. As CFO of the group at the time I initiated the selection of talented young managers from the finance area of our most important foreign subsidiary banks, so that they not only benefit from the professional content of the program, but they also could share the entire experience together. It is the heavy international aspect of the program that I found extremely valuable, regarding the composition of the student body and the professors as well as the locations of the residency programs along with the contents of the courses.
Q. How do you integrate global perspectives into your courses?
A. I always begin my course on cross-border investment analysis with an overview of the global economic framework, focusing on global imbalances and their impact on the investment environment and vulnerabilities of different potential cross-border investment target countries. In team assignments students are expected to compare and evaluate attractiveness and risks of different potential target countries.
Q. Economic turbulence has dominated the front pages of the world’s newspapers for a few years now. Do you tackle these issues in your courses?
A. Yes, during global economic turbulences it is inevitable that the discussion on the global macroeconomic environment covers the hot issues of any given period.
Q. What enhancements to the IMM program are you most excited about?
A. I found the involvement of local professors in teaching about different aspects of the Chinese economy particularly exciting, since they are able to share with the students not only scholarly lessons but their particular experiences as well.
In May 2012, Robert became President and CEO for Sino Gas & Energy Holdings, an ASX listed company, in Beijing, China. Previously he worked in Geneva, Switzerland, as Corporate Operations Director for Addax.
In August 2012, Sven joined Novartis AG, one of the top pharmaceutical companies in the world, as Head of Global TechOps Sourcing. In this capacity he will be responsible for all the sourcing requirements for the 20+ plants of the Pharma division, leading a team of 40 sourcing professionals.
Do you have a colleague or friend who might be interested in joining the IMM program? Please have them contact us. As a sign of our appreciation, we’ll give you a small gift if they enroll in the program.
If you haven’t already heard the news, it is my pleasure to be the first to share with you that the IMM Global Executive MBA program is welcoming three new partner universities. They are well-known and influential institutions located in some of the world’s most competitive regions: EMLYON Business School in France, Tianjin University in China and FGV School of Administration – EBAPE, in Brazil.
Partnering with these respected schools and thereby extending our presence into these regions are important for several reasons. This will further strengthen the reputation of the IMM program and the IMM degree. The on-the-ground learning experience yielded will be pacesetting for developing global business leaders. Collaboration among faculty will generate innovative approaches to the instruction and practice of international management. And, of course, these new partnerships will dramatically expand the professional network of the IMM community as a whole.
We will recognize this significant milestone at an event on October 29 at Central European University in Budapest with the deans from all seven partner schools attending. George Soros, founder of CEU and renowned philanthropist, will give the keynote remarks.
On behalf of the other deans and myself, we are extending a cordial invitation to attend this event, and we look forward to sharing with all of you over the coming months the exciting news resulting from this landmark development in the distinguished history of the IMM program.
If you wish to attend the event, please RSVP to angyalk@ceubusiness.org by October 19, 2012.
Sincerely, Mel Horwitch
Dean and University Professor
CEU Business School
Have You Seen Our New Look?
IMM Launches New Website
This summer, IMM’s website got a new, fresh look. The redesigned site is streamlined and easier to navigate. If you haven’t seen it yet, take a tour.IMM Launches New Website
Q&A
What’s on the must-read list of a strategic management professor? Why did an IMM professor send his own employees through the program? Find out in our professor Q&As.Filip Caeldries
Professor of Strategic ManagementTiasNimbas Business School
Follow Filip on Twitter @FilipCaeldries
Q. You have received recognition from IMM students for your excellent teaching. What’s unique about your approach to teaching strategic management?
A. There are really three things that I try to do in my classes. The first is to have a reflective dialogue. I try to make the class a co-creation between my students and myself. If you think about it, there are hundreds of years of experience gathered in the room. It’s important for everyone to be learning from each other. The second is to provide actionable frameworks. I want my students to be able to apply what we discuss at work at 9 am on the Monday after we meet. The third is to bring my passion for the topic. There’s no substitute for passion. It creates enthusiasm among the class and draws attention and generates ideas.
Q. What must-read recent journal article, case, or book related to strategic management would you recommend to your former students?
A. Michael E. Porter and Mark R. Kramer’s “Creating Shared Value” from January 2011’s Harvard Business Review is an article that I think is a must-read. It argues that the competitiveness of a company and the health of the community in which it operates are dependent on each other. It formulates a contemporary version of the “doing well by doing good” mantra, and provides interesting, practical guidelines for managers to apply to their organizations.
A book along the same lines I recommend is Howard Schultz’s Onward, which could be viewed as an illustration of the shared value argument. It tells the story of how Starbucks lost its competitive edge by focusing more on creating economic value, and got its edge back by focusing on social value as well.
Q. Why is strategic management an essential part of an executive MBA program?
A. Two words come to mind: integration and alignment. Organizations exist because they can get something done that an individual can’t. But to get that thing done, everyone in the organization must be aligned to achieve the same objective. That’s where strategic management comes in. Successful companies need a leader who can integrate activities across functions, making sure everything is aligned.
This is why we place the strategic management course at the end of the program, after students have taken their functional courses. We try to create awareness that good leaders are able to align an organization’s functional activities and objectives.
Q. What enhancements to the IMM program are you most excited about?
A. Our new partnerships are certainly at the top of the list. I think that looking back, having EMLYON Business School in France, Tianjin University in China, and FGV EBAPE in Brazil join us will be a major milestone in the history of IMM. We’ll be using the momentum of these new relationships to make the IMM experience even more comprehensive, integrative and holistic.
Another aspect that we’re continuing to develop is helping our graduates be confident leaders in two key regards: confident in content, meaning that they know their stuff, and confident in their role, which relates to their personal self-confidence. Companies I meet with consistently say that confidence on both fronts is what they’re looking for especially as business environments become more turbulent and less certain.
Laszlo Urban
Professor of EconomicsVisiting Adjunct Professor, CEU Business School
Q. After you started teaching for the IMM program, you sponsored students in your company for the program. What value did you see as an employer to sending your employees through the IMM program?
A. The company I used to work for at the time is a regional banking group. As CFO of the group at the time I initiated the selection of talented young managers from the finance area of our most important foreign subsidiary banks, so that they not only benefit from the professional content of the program, but they also could share the entire experience together. It is the heavy international aspect of the program that I found extremely valuable, regarding the composition of the student body and the professors as well as the locations of the residency programs along with the contents of the courses.
Q. How do you integrate global perspectives into your courses?
A. I always begin my course on cross-border investment analysis with an overview of the global economic framework, focusing on global imbalances and their impact on the investment environment and vulnerabilities of different potential cross-border investment target countries. In team assignments students are expected to compare and evaluate attractiveness and risks of different potential target countries.
Q. Economic turbulence has dominated the front pages of the world’s newspapers for a few years now. Do you tackle these issues in your courses?
A. Yes, during global economic turbulences it is inevitable that the discussion on the global macroeconomic environment covers the hot issues of any given period.
Q. What enhancements to the IMM program are you most excited about?
A. I found the involvement of local professors in teaching about different aspects of the Chinese economy particularly exciting, since they are able to share with the students not only scholarly lessons but their particular experiences as well.
Alumni Congratulations
Recent Promotions
Recent Promotions
Robert Bearden
IMM 2003In May 2012, Robert became President and CEO for Sino Gas & Energy Holdings, an ASX listed company, in Beijing, China. Previously he worked in Geneva, Switzerland, as Corporate Operations Director for Addax.
Sven Jacobs
IMM 2005In August 2012, Sven joined Novartis AG, one of the top pharmaceutical companies in the world, as Head of Global TechOps Sourcing. In this capacity he will be responsible for all the sourcing requirements for the 20+ plants of the Pharma division, leading a team of 40 sourcing professionals.
Spread the Word
Do you have a colleague or friend who might be interested in joining the IMM program? Please have them contact us. As a sign of our appreciation, we’ll give you a small gift if they enroll in the program.Event Calendar
October
| Oct 7 – Oct 20 | IMM 2012 Residency #5 in Beijing and Shanghai, China |
|---|---|
| Oct 10 | TiasNimbas Live Webcast "Leadership in Public Service Organizations" |
| Oct 15 | Purdue Current and Future Alumni Reception (Paris, France; IMM alums invited) |
| Oct 28 – Nov 10 | IMM 2013 Residency #2 at CEU Business School in Budapest, Hungary |
| Oct 29 | Signing of Memorandum of Understanding for Expansion of IMM in Budapest, Hungary |
November
| Nov 9 | Prudue 1st Annual “Back to School” Alumni Day – classes and social events (West Lafayette, IN, USA) |
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December
| Dec 15 – Dec 16 | IMM 2012 Graduation Weekend (West Lafayette, IN, USA) |
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