Published : Friday, 05 February, 2016 12:50 PM
XIME Winter Program at the Audencia School of Management
Internship of a lifetime
Bonjour!!!
Excited students of XIME huddled around the airport wishing each other well on the New Year eve.It was the start of a new journey with a long flight to Paris, France. The 30 member team was going to participate in the Winter Program held at Audencia, Nantes from 02 Jan to 21 Jan 2016.
The Winter Program at the Audencia School of Management is a student exchange program between Xavier Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship, Bangalore and the Audencia – Nantes School of Management. Under this program, students are required to undergo a 20-day training programme that includes classroom learning, case studies, activities, field trips and institutional visits.
We were given the unique opportunity to immerse ourselves in a new environment, understand various education systems, network and share ideas with students from different nationalities, travel and experience the rich cultural heritage of Europe and gain an international outlook as we discussed various perceptions and paradigms.
This programme provided a holistic view on “Doing business in EU”. Key learnings included current business scenario in Europe, impact and interdependence with the rest of the world, a brief introduction about the European Institutions, their working and relationship amongst each other etc. It also included a five-day classroom/lab workshop on various topics of interests chosen by the students. These topics included Leadership, Mergers and Acquisitions, Foreign Currency, International Business, Team Work and Ethics.
The program kick-started with a one-day orientation program at the Audencia School of Management – Paris campus, where we interacted with the co-ordinators and other participants from U.S.A. , Germany, Argentina and China. In Nantes, at the Audencia School of Management, we had an interactive and fun-filled 2-week classroom session based on the course we had opted for. An industrial visit to Cointreau was organised, it provided us an understanding on the working of the plant, their marketing strategy and an idea about the business environment in Europe.
Our 3rd week was in Brussels, where we were taken to the different EU Institutions that included the European Parliament, European Council, European Commission and the Parliamentarium. Every step in the legislation process was clearly explained and we got a sneak-peek to the anxiety the delegates experience as they make important decisions that shaped the European Union. The trip concluded with an industrial visit to SAP.
The Summit is an Endeavour to fill up the gap of demand and supply dynamics of cases in management in the Indian context. This year IIM Raipur received overwhelming response from case authors from Indian and abroad. The cases are received from academicians, research scholars and industry practitioners in all functional areas of management including; marketing, finance, human resource management, information and communication technology, operation management, strategy and general management and other related areas of management.
It was an extremely enriching and rewarding experience for students. It is more than just an academic venture, because it encompassed so many lessons about life. Safety was a concern for all our families in the light of the recent terror attacks in Paris.But the swift and dedicated armed forces present at regular intervals reassured us throughout our stay.
We found France and Belgium rich with culture and the people were very helpful and jolly. This experience left us enriched with memories and broadened our perspective about different cultures and lifestyles.
Lakshmi Teja Nittala &Sharmil Nanjappa
First Year PGDM, XIME
XIME students at Audencia, Nantes, France
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