NEWSLETTER Istanbul Meeting September 2010
CEMS – THE GLOBAL ALLIANCE IN MANAGEMENT EDUCATION
SB Meeting
A word from the SB President Dear CEMSies, I would like to welcome you to the third Student Board Newsletter of 2010 and the first of the academic year 2010-2011. For those of you that have just started your CEMS experience, we welcome you to the alliance and hope that you will have a fantastic year as a student, and an equally fantastic time as alumni. The Student Board continues to work for the improvement of the CEMS alliance through raising the student voice across the community. Through the commitment of its members combined with the support that the Student Board gets through your active involvement in your education, our word has power and we have over the last year achieved a great number of successes. This newsletter will introduce you to some of these, as well as introduce you to some of our ongoing projects. The Student Board recently met in Istanbul for the second Student Board meeting of 2010. It offered not only an important opportunity to discuss key projects and develop new ones, but also enabled us to visit two of our newest members, Koç University and Arçelik. Throughout our meeting fruitful discussions and work were carried out on numerous subjects such as: the improvement of Skill Seminars, Cross Cultural Management Course, Career Services, Global Values Statement, Social Partners, Merchandising and Branding of CEMS, Travel Reports, CEMS Club Conference and Alumni collaboration as well as many more. The board will continue to work on these projects to ensure that they are successfully implemented throughout the alliance and that our voice is heard, and should you be interested in knowing more about these projects, simply continue reading… The coming month will also bring with it a change in the leadership of the Student Board, as mine and my VicePresident Tom Zacharski‟s term will come to an end at the Annual Events. The last year has been a fantastic experience where we have been able to shape the direction in which CEMS is going. However it is with great pleasure that we can introduce to you the new Executive Team of the Student Board. Marco Proto and Fredrik Ahlberg will form the new Executive Team - I am certain that Marco and Fredrik are up to it and will do a fantastic job. Over the last many months I have got to know both on a personal and professional level and I am confident that Marco and Fredrik will help bring CEMS even further. I wish you all a great remaining 2010 and once again, welcome to the newsletter. Best Regards,
Thomas Rüdiger Smith Student Board President
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The Student Board gets to grips with the CEMS brand in Istanbul… Following the discussions that took place during the April meeting in Warsaw the Istanbul Student Board meeting once again provided the perfect forum for broaching the complex issue of the evolving CEMS brand. This time around they took on a workshop format, with groups invited to tackle realistic CEMS communications and branding issues via a series of role-play scenarios.
Sincere thanks are given to our
leaving SB members:
The workshop was held on the afternoon of Friday 1st October during the Nestlé-hosted day of the Student Board meeting. The role-plays encouraged students to consider from both an operational and strategic perspective the following:
Eduardo Caimbro – MIM Affairs Tanmayi Gummaraju – CSR Ludovic Manjot – Student Relations Nina Poxleitner – MIM Affairs Matt Zajac- CSR
& A warm Welcome to our new SB members and the recently elected Executive Team for 2011
Nourishing student-alumni relations and generally raising the visibility of the CEMS alumni community Devising a multi-country approach to CEMS press relations, in close collaboration with all member schools Assuming the role of an independent branding agency hired to study the current brand name and positioning of CEMS Carrying out a CEMS awareness campaign with a CEMS Corporate Partner
The aim of the workshop was to encourage students to consider the branding issue from the perspective of other CEMS stakeholders. Needless to say that this was no easy task but the quality of the output from each group confirmed the grasp the Student Board clearly has. The exercise came on the back of this summer‟s CEMS Communications & Branding survey, the results of which have since been scrutinised by a multi-stakeholder task force including student representation. Thanks should go once again to the many students who figured amongst the near-1,000 respondents. Kevin Titman CEMS Communications Manager kevin.titman@cems.org
David Hmaidi (Università Bocconi) presents the findings of the press relations role-play group.
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Student Board Update on CSR Activities Schools for Africa With the Annual Events in Rotterdam nearing, the CEMS global initiative „Schools for Africa‟ (SFA) will come to a close. For almost 3 years the CEMS community has been actively involved in raising awareness and money to help build a school in Rwanda. CEMS schools have actively hosted events ranging from a SFA sports day to a dance for Africa. Schools even hosted a humanitarian week dedicated to SFA by mobilising their students and organising several fund and awareness- raising events. A lot of effort has come from various parties towards this initiative and now it is time to leverage upon the experience gained and put it towards the upcoming global events. Many CEMS schools have been inspired to take upon local social responsibility projects and we would like to commend these schools. With this being said, we hope the new global SR initiative will carry the momentum created the past few years and carry forward the C-SR team‟s aim to instil social responsibility in the CEMS community. Social Partners (Global Initiative) This year there has been a great push for social partners in addition to corporate partners of the CEMS Alliance. The two companies to be ratified are CARE International and Fairtrade Labelling Organisations Int‟l (FLO) (the mother company of Max Haavelar). The C-SR team is putting together a concrete proposal to be offered in order to foster a mutually beneficial partnership. Ideas encompass having social partners offer skill seminars, organisation presentations and internship opportunities. The current objectives for our next Global Initiative and humanitarian project are ones where students could utilise their managerial insights and put them
into practice, whilst contributing to the good causes of various NGOs. This is envisioned to be done at a global level via global partners but also locally with local social partners that are raised by the CEMS Clubs. Furthermore, in order to encourage ownership of ideas, actual implementation of ideas outsourcing from the Yunus conference will be supported by the CEMS community. Yunus Conference at Rotterdam Annual Events We are pleased to announce that Muhammad Yunus will be attending the Rotterdam Annual Events. Professor Yunus has expressed great interest in the CEMS Global Alliance and its partnering schools and has therefore agreed to attend our Annual Event. Although his agenda is very busy, including a meeting with the Deans from all CEMS schools, he has agreed to hold a two-hour symposium talk about Social Business and his concept of New Capitalism, where both CEMS students and Alumni will be invited to listen. Furthermore, there will be the occasion for motivated students to send us a letter of intent in order to be selected to partake in a half-day workshop. See more on page 7.
The CEMS Global Values Statement This year’s Annual Events in Rotterdam will see the introduction of the CEMS Global Values Statement (GVS). This is an opportunity for students graduating from the MIM Programme to make a formal commitment to the values and principles at the very core of CEMS. Graduands will be able to sign the GVS on stage after receiving their diplomas at the Graduation Ceremony. Although signing is not obligatory, the student-led initiative has already received enthusiastic support from all bodies in the CEMS community including Alumni, Corporate Partners, Professors and Directors and it is expected that the graduating class of 2010 will get behind the GVS by all signing the first edition of the statement this year.
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The principles outlined in the GVS are intended to compliment an individual’s own ideals and act as a reminder of the unifying principles of the CEMS community such as global citizenship, integrity, and responsible leadership. As ambassadors of CEMS and global citizens, signatories of the GVS are challenged to uphold these values as they enter the professional world. More information on the GVS can be found at www.CEMS.org/SocialResponsibility.
CEMS Club Warsaw
CEMS Club Support – Project report Group’s Mission. Provides support and guidance to CEMS Clubs in order to enhance the CEMS experience for students Group members: Nicola Romano (Team Leader), Maciej Sewerski, David Hmaidi, Carlota Cabral, Evgenia Popova, Sebastian Say, Natalia Velikodnaya
The projects completed: 1) CP package: The purpose of this guide is to introduce the core aspects of cooperation between CEMS Clubs, Club members, CEMS Coordinators and Corporate Partners (CPs) and therefore to enhance interaction and cooperation between CEMS Clubs and other community‟s stakeholders.
Current projects: 1) CEMS Club conference: the purpose of this project is to set up the agenda and decide the contents of the next CEMS Club conference that will take place in Rotterdam. 2) CEMS Club award: the purpose is to create a formula to elect objectively the best CEMS club in order to give an award based on the projects and results obtained by the club. VOTING NOW OPEN - the winner will be announced on Saturday, December 4th in Rotterdam. 3) Alumni package: the purpose is to create a package of quick information in which the Alumni can find all the information to approach the CEMS Clubs and also information about past and current project. On the other hand, the CEMS Clubs can find useful info to approach the Alumni. 4) CEMSshare platform: the purpose is to reorganise the CEMSshare website and create new content. Moreover, it is fundamental for raising the attention of the CEMS Club Presidents and VPs and push them to be active on the platform. 5) Start-up toolkit: a package with quick and practical info on how to start the CEMS Club, logically, in the school that still do not have one.
2) Stakeholder Package: the purpose is to provide CEMS Clubs with ideas and materials that they can use for successful communication and involvement of CEMS Corporate Partners. Practically, it offers templates that can be easily and quickly used to approach and involve the CPs. The templates are: Introduction to CEMS introduction to CEMS Club CEMS Clubs Corporate Partner (CP) Events Overview Partnership proposal Invitation to Rotation Dinner These 2 packages will be distributed in hard copy to the CEMS Club Presidents and VPs at the CEMS Club meeting in Rotterdam. 3) Regional events: We identified some regions that include 3 CEMS schools each. The Regional Event will rotate between the clubs every three years. The CEMS SB will be handing out € 830 per school this year. The aim of the Regional Event is: promote regional CEMS Club cooperation following the success of the Nordic Forum & Louropa (you can find info on www.cemsshare.net). increase the number of Pan-European events encourage regional & local involvement of Corporate Partners (CPs). promote the CEMS brand through coordinated regular events. We promoted 2 new regions and the following two new regional events will be: 1. CEMS V4 – The Central European CEMS Conference: 25 – 27 February 2011, organised by Warsaw CEMS Club. 2. Marenostrum: 10 – 13 March 2011, organised by Lisbon CEMS Club.
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MIM Affairs Projects After having finalised a great meeting in Istanbul, the MIM Affairs team can proudly announce the entrance of two new members, Markus Thomas (SSE) and Youssef Iraqui (HEC). Unfortunately we have also seen the departure of two devoted members, Eduardo Caimbro (FGV) and Nina Poxleitner (WU). Since the last meeting in Warsaw the group has been working on three main projects, namely Internships, Skills Seminars and the Cross-Cultural Management Course. We presented the data results for all three projects in Istanbul and opened up the discussion on how to proceed with these projects. The feedback and discussion obtained in Istanbul will form part of a number of proposals that the Student Board will submit to the Academic Committee for discussion and possibly approval. We believe that these three projects will eventually add significant value and improvement to the current status. We hope that these guidelines will help improving and harmonising the CEMS experience across all partner schools. Additionally two new projects were set up: CEMS Course analysis and the Peer Review. The CEMS Course analysis tackles the issue on how schools decide which courses become CEMS-accredited courses, as we know that this varies greatly from school to school. Furthermore, we saw an opportunity to assist the Head Office in their Peer Review project, where we will help them in collecting feedback from the students. The Peer Review project builds on creating a short survey aimed towards the students and developing a report that the review team can use in their evaluation. Even though some of our projects are coming to an end, we believe that the most crucial step is the followup. We need to assure ourselves that our recommendations are taken seriously and that steps are taken to improve the CEMS MIM programme quality and learning experience. To finalise, we encourage you to take the time to complete any survey you might receive – your opinions make a difference!
Language Task Force- MBC Tests The CEMS Student Board (via Task Force representative Marco Proto) is in close cooperation with the Language Task Force to improve that notorious part of the CEMS MIM curriculum that is the Management and Business Communication Exams. While financial aspects are mainly left to other members of the Task Force to discuss, students‟ opinions – channelled through the Student Board – on issues like the required level of business communication in the working life, the native English speaker challenge, and not least how CEMS
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can help students reach language proficiency, are highly valued in the work to increase the quality of the language exams. The Student Board discussed these issues during their meeting in Istanbul, and contact is being kept with the other members of the Task Force so that the tests‟ various stakeholders can move together towards improved solutions. Contact your Student Board Representative if you wish to share your views – they matter!
Student Relations Team The Student Relations team aims to improve communication, raise awareness and enhance relations among students, alumni and corporate partners by managing projects affecting stakeholders on a global level. Some projects are rolled out globally and have been around for many years whereas others involve totally new ideas that need all our creativity and attention to grow to maturity. A good example of a well-established – and wellperceived – project is the CEMS Online Store. Students can buy CEMS branded goods, clothes and personalised business cards. Student Relations takes care of the challenging task of the promotion, shipment, distribution of the goods and tracks the whole process.
In mid-October 1000 Student Books were posted to each CEMS school, to all students that have just started their CEMS year. This edition of the Student Book is very different from previous years: the directory is just a part of it and it also contains many useful information about CEMS, and the MIM year, answers for FAQ, etc. Enjoy!
In the past year, a lot of work has been done on the Travel Reports. We try to provide students with information and first hand experiences regarding exchange locations to help the students in their search and preferences for their term abroad. Ensuring that everything goes well and all stakeholders are aligned requires motivation and dedication but with the project reaching an advanced state, it seems that our commitment will pay off. Check out the Travel Reports on the new cems.org soon!
During the Istanbul meeting, the Student Relations team has said goodbye to some leaving members and we are very grateful for the time they invested to bring the team to such a professional level. Also, new and equally motivated people have joined the team. The combination of experienced and new members gives Student Relations a unique edge to take on the challenges of the coming year.
Also, Student Relations is designing the context for a potential CEMS Case Competition involving students, corporate partners, professors and partner schools. The idea has been well received and now it is up to us to make this work. The CEMS Magazine, a bi-annual edition, features unique articles about the current state of the alliance. Also, after every Student Board meeting, Student Relations provides a Newsletter which discusses the content of the meeting, its main outcome and achievements. This proves to be a great tool to update stakeholders about the work of the Student Board. Since you are reading it now, we hope you enjoy the work we‟ve put into it. Another essential element of the Student Relations team relates to Knowledge Management. As such, the team supervises and maintains the Student Board forum, a place where all members debate about the current state of projects, new initiatives, best practices and board meetings.
If you would like to contact the Student Relations team, please do so through: Kornelia Bodnar (kornelia.bodnar@cemsmail.org) or Marco van de Beek (marinus.vandebeek@cemsmail.org)
Eyjafjalla Volcano The SBies and CC president surely did not expect the Icelandic volcano to close down all European airports! Deadlines, reports and exams pushed all of us to travel through Europe “road trip style”, alternating between train, car and plane when we could find some. Special congratulations to Vera who handled a 3kg statue during her whole trip and to Miguel Freirasmus who finally found his way back to Lisbon.
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Annual Events 2010 The highlight event of the CEMS year will be hosted by Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University from Thursday 2nd December to Saturday 4th December, 2010. For all programme details as well as travel and accommodation tips please visit the official website at http://www.cemsevent.com/. REMINDER: Registration Deadline is 15th November – please register via www.cems.org with your personal login and password.
Muhammad Yunus wants to meet YOU! Nobel Peace Prize Winner Muhammad Yunus will be honourably attending this year‟s Annual Events in Rotterdam and would love to meet you! Come along to hear about his views on New Capitalism and Social Business during a number of interactive sessions organised on Friday 3rd December. You could even get to be part of a select number of students and alumni that will have the opportunity to come up with your own social business ideas and present them in person to Mr. Yunus! More information: http://www.cemsevent.com/yunus-symposium.html.
Register directly on www.cems.org during your registration for the Annual Events. Do not hesitate to contact us at challengeyunus@cemsmail.org.
In 2009, the Career Forum became a highly successful stand-alone two-day event with 1100+ participants. -
This year‟s forum will be no exception in terms of popularity and importance. 44 CEMS Corporate Partners are participating -
34 CEMS Corporate Partners are offering pre-scheduled interviews to students -
14 CEMS Corporate Partners are offering pre-scheduled interviews to young alumni (0-4 years after graduation) -
18 CEMS MIM-accredited halfday skill seminars are being offered to 400 students -
800 CEMS Students applied for pre-scheduled interviews -
700+ CEMS Students registered for accredited skill seminars
Who’s your rep’?
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Student Board President:
AALTO Natalia Velikodnaya
NHH
Marco Proto
2010: Thomas Smith
CBS
Fredrik Ahlberg
NUS
Say Gui Deng
2011: Marco Proto
CUB
Kornelia Bodnar
RSM
Janhavi Paranjape
Vice President:
EAESP Eduardo Caimbro
SGH
Maciej Sewerski
2010: Tom Zacharski
EGADE Jose Cruz
SSE
Markus Thomas
2011: Fredrik Ahlberg
ESADE Nienke Vonsee
UB
David Hmaidi
GSOM Evgenia Popova
UCD
Marco van de Beek
HEC
Youssef Iraqui
UoC
Miriam Scharmach
HSG
Andri Hinnen
USYD
Wei-Chieh Chuang
Ivey
Hannes Klaeger
VSE
Robert Gnauck
LSE
Cleo Biron
WU
Tobias Rauscher
LSM
Nicola Romano
KOC
Melis Zipkinkurt
NOVA Carlota Cabral Any comment or suggestion concerning the newsletter? Please do not hesitate to contact miriam.scharmach@cemsmail.org
AALTO Natalia Velikodnaya
NOVA Carlota Cabral
CBS
Fredrik Ahlberg
NUS
Jia Jun Zhang
CUB
Kornelia Bodnar
RSM
Tanmayi Gummaraju
EAESP Eduardo Caimbro
SGH
Maciej Sewerski
EGADE Jose Cruz
SSE
Filip Goldmann
ESADE Ludovic Manjot
UB
Marina Marchese
GSOM Evgenia Popova
UCD
Gwilym Williams
HEC
Youssef Iraqui
UoC
Miriam Olivia Scharmach
HSG
Andri Hinnen
USYD
Wei-Chieh Chuang
Ivey
Matthew Zajac
VSE
Robert Hnauck
LSE
Cleo Biron
WU
Nina Poxleitner
LSM
Nicola Romano