Finally we have a long break, after 9 exciting months of this intensive MBA program; time to reflect about what I learned until now and what I want to do once the program ends.
During the last term, the focus was on deepening the basic knowledge that we acquired during the first two terms. But we also broadened our perspective, by looking beyond the mere functional skills within the organization towards non-market aspects of doing business. For example, we analyzed how Pepsi-Coke is facing the issue of obesities and bad publicity in its home market and what sustainable solutions the company should come up with. Since the food industry in general is organized in a way that less healthy foods are more affordable to people living in poverty, the issue touches the whole public society and the government.
I’ve decided to spend my last two terms, from September until the end of the year, on the IE exchange program with the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad. India has attracted me for some time, as it is a country with immense opportunities and people with big hearts. As I’m currently traveling throughout the country, I see this potential to do business. It is a place of controversies, that is overcrowded, dirty and lacks decent infrastructure but at the same time is very tolerant. The government is protecting its industries and only very recently allowing more foreign direct investment in the country, which makes perfectly sense according to a great book I’m reading at the moment: Bad Samaritans, by Ha-Joon Chang. But entrepreneurship runs in the blood vessels of the inhabitants, and no time goes by before they try to sell you anything you can dream of.
It will surely take some time to get adjusted to this different climate and culture but no doubt that this experience will be unforgettable and maybe even the start of a new life!!??
Namaste!
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