The Hindu : New Delhi News : A cross-cultural experience for students of FMS

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Monday, Jul 23, 2007
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A cross-cultural experience for students of FMS

Parul Sharma

NEW DELHI: They had gone to learn how to do business in Europe and it turned out to be an all-encompassing trip for six students of Delhi University’s Faculty of Management Studies who have come back endowed with a “much better understanding” of things, both academically and culturally.

Six final-year students recently visited IAE de Lyon Business School of the Universite Jean Moulin of France, which has inked a tie-up with FMS for a “Summer Business Graduate Programme” on “How to do Business in the European Union”.

“The summer programme that has been running successfully for the past 20 years was introduced to FMS with an intention to build and reinforce the connection between India and France and the respective business schools, apart from cross-cultural discussions and a comparative study of the various management perspectives and principles,” said Neha Bhujang, one of the students who visited France.

Subjects like “The Impact of Globalisation on Corporate Strategy and Competition”, “Comparative Human Resource Management”, “The French Tick - In the Process of Change: In or Out”, “Marketing in Europe” and “The European Business Environment” were taught under the programme.

The FMS students were joined by a group of MBA students from the Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota, and business working executives from France and Nigeria. Some of the students of the US B-School who participated in the programme were natives of Venezuela and Eastern Europe. They were divided in six groups comprising learners from different nationalities to give them a feel of cross-cultural learning and its impact on business.

“It was truly an international environment. The learning was remarkable. We got to know about cultural dynamics, how people have different perspectives on one issue and how they react to a business concept. It was the coming together of people from multi-cultural identities with a common background of management,” said Ira Singhal.

Her batch mate Priya Sood pointed out that they also learnt a lot from the experience of students from other countries.

“Most of the B-school students from the US in the programme were older to us. They were employed and had families and kids. They wanted a management degree for better job prospects and more challenges in life. It was interesting to know how they handled work pressure, classes, family and coped with such a fast-paced life.”

The students feel the mode of pedagogy also contributed to their learning.

“Though the entire schedule was very hectic, our classes were very interesting. It was never a monologue by a professor but all students were encouraged to give their inputs. The sessions were very discussion-oriented. It was a very constructive way of educating,” said Gurraj Malik.

Apart from classes and assignments, the students were invited to a dinner hosted by some French families that helped them discover the French way of life and local traditions.

As part of the practical component of the programme, the students visited Renault Trucks’ factory at Lyon and Medtronic company and World Trade Organisation in Geneva.

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