Experiential Learning

Experience

Ghana is home to a burgeoning innovation scene, complete with research institutions, hubs and initiatives to support women. Digital transformation and innovation are propelling Ghana’s population to the middle class and towards the UN sustainable development goals. Yet, poor infrastructure, access to capital, and bureaucracy remain hurdles for entrepreneurs. Students explored these factors first-hand from a range of local guest speakers, experts, businesses and organisations.

Experience led by: Luisa Alemany

Experience

This Global Experience will enable students to examine resilience at many levels and areas of society, government and business. Particular focus will be placed on examining firms that have excelled despite local conditions as well as Athens’ burgeoning start-up ecosystem, which has become one of Europe’s most active.

Experience led by: Elias Papaioannou & Yiorgos Mylonadis.

Experience

The objective of this course was to give students first-hand exposure to the asset management and banking industries. Asset management and banking have always shared extremely close ties and have always been highly interconnected, the more so in recent times, with the growth of shadow banking. A particular interest was placed on analysing the new challenges facing these industries in light of the recent economic developments and regulatory changes.

Experience led by: Richard Portes & Stephen Schaefer.

Experience

After a long period of relative stability and growth, driven by technology change, deregulation and globalisation, developed economies now face a possibly extended period of volatility. Organisations, and those leading them, need to learn how to thrive in less certain conditions, grasping unexpected opportunities and averting unforeseen dangers. Here there are important lessons to be found in emerging economies where crisis and volatility have been features of everyday business life.

Experience led by: Dominic Houlder & Andrew Likierman.

Experience

Dubai and Abu Dhabi strive, as both partners and rivals, to position themselves as world leaders and future hubs for knowledge-based, sustainable, and innovation-focused business environments. In this Global Experience, we wanted to share their enthusiasm and celebrate their optimism, while critically evaluating the problems they may face as well as their opportunities. We highlighted, we explored, and we examined some of the ideas, initiatives, and indeed actors shaping the future development of these two emirates, and we gauged their relevance for other cities and nations. 

Experience led by: David Myatt & Christopher Hennessey.

Experience

This Global Experience focused on a uniquely important but often overlooked aspect of the entrepreneurial ecosystem: micro-entrepreneurs. In virtually all emerging markets, micro-businesses, comprise the vast majority of entrepreneurial businesses, partly due to the relative lack of formal sector jobs available for the working poor. This course gave students a first-hand experience with the business lives of micro-entrepreneurs in the important emerging market of South Africa. Students learnt the unique and exciting - but also often frustrating - aspects of business in an emerging market.

Experience led by: Rajesh Chandy & Elias Papaioannou.

Experience

Nepal is one of the world’s least developed countries and has a recent history of political instability and civil war. An earthquake in 2015 killed thousands, devastated homes and caused huge economic losses. The country struggles with low levels of literacy, poor equality for women, poor infrastructure, limited access to capital, and the brain drain issue of young educated people going abroad to seek opportunities. Despite these constraints, or perhaps because of them, there is a high level of entrepreneurship among the Nepali people, linked to driving social change in the country optimism for Nepal’s future and the potential for change is tangible. The course sought to explore how local Nepalese start-ups & small enterprises achieve their aims, grow their businesses and operate in their unique environment

Experience led by: Rupert Merson.

Experience

Once a city characterised by the drug trade and extreme violence – Medellin has undergone an amazing transformation in recent years that has helped it develop a new reputation as a city of resilience and renewal. Amongst other things, this transformation has been driven by a commitment to investing in transportation, creating safe and vibrant community spaces, and attempting to address inequality. The renewal of Medellín has unfolded amidst transformation on a national level, with the decades-long conflict between the Colombian government and the rebel group FARC coming to an end. As Colombia was coming to terms with its past and attempting to address deeply rooted issues such as corruption and inequality, our course sought to see how these social issues are being addressed through innovation and the business community.

Experience led by: Aharon Cohen Mohliver & Ben Hardy

Experience

The luxury sector is at the leading edge in five areas critical to business success: creativity, experience design, new routes to market, online communications, and sustainability. Moreover, as the sixth theme of a strategic response to the macro environment, luxury is also in the eye of the storm regarding Brexit, Covid-19, and global taxation issues. This Global Experience was thus of relevance not only to those interested in the luxury or leisure sector – as employees, consultants or investors – but also to those students interested in other B2C and B2B product or service sectors. 

Experience led by: Dafna Goor.

Experience

Economic imbalance, climate change, and socio-ecological challenges have compelled many Brazilian entrepreneurs to reconsider their ambitions, become purpose-driven and, contribute to the greater good. Thus, rather than focusing exclusively on the bottom line i.e., financial return, many have begun pursuing a triple bottom line, which considers the impact that businesses can have on Profit, People, and the Planet.

Experience led by: John Mullins & Rupert Merson.

Experience

In Stockholm, we learnt from the innovators who have contributed to the city becoming a hub for sustainable innovation. From housing VC Funds investing in innovative startups who will change the way we live, consultancies advising decision-makers for the policies of tomorrow, to global giants that are rethinking the way they operate with environmental and social impacts in mind, and to asset managers that seek to redefine the role of finance on the path towards a sustainable future, Stockholm is at the center of sustainability leadership and innovation.

Experience led by: Ioannis Ioannou.

Experience

The term “hidden champions” describes small and medium-sized enterprises that dominate the relatively small markets they compete in. Because their markets are small, these firms are also relatively unknown and below the radar of most researchers and analysts. Their anonymity is enhanced by their secretive nature and by the fact that many of them are family or privately owned. 

But nobody can doubt their competitiveness. In many cases, these hidden champions have 50%-70% global market share in their niches. This course aims to understand the secrets of the success of a number of these companies based in Zurich, to understand how they dominate their markets and what they are doing right.

Experience led by: Yiorgos Mylonadis & Costas Markides.