For one week, international MSc International Business students and work-study French students created a virtual company. The opportunity to mix cultures, thus respecting one of the essential values of the Pole Léonard de Vinci: transversality.
The 247 students formed teams of 5 students, mixing the specialisations of the 4th year work-study French students and international students of various nationalities: Nigerian, British, Vietnamese, Indian, Chinese…
Defining the strategy of their company together
The teams created a virtual company that makes and sells computers all over the world. So during the first 2 years of the life of the company, it was necessary to define the strategy, choose market segments, design and manufacture the products, build a factory, manage more than $ 10 million, monitor the financial situation and understand the financial statements, and readjust their strategy to competitors.
“It was very intense, very competitive. A whole week with 3 documents to write and render for evaluation: Business Plan, Final Report and PPT presentation at the end of the week.” – Jill Tynan – Head of MSc International Business
The four EMLV apprenticeships, which are usually specifically and separately trained, were mixed in this business game, within the same teams including MSc International business students.
Answers for future multicultural team projects
The first day was spent building the team. Each student presented to the others the results of their learning soft skills: behavioral preference, sources of motivation, its stressors, its strengths and its limits in teamwork.
The teams defined their collective profile: what assets, what risks? They set themselves the objectives of work organization, and relational functioning, for the week of business game: how to make sure that the teams would give the best of it?
The conclusion of a week of intense work
On the last day, the teams reviewed their operation to draw lessons for the future. They described the difficulties encountered and analyzed them: What went wrong? What could have been better? Why? What were the causes of these difficulties?
They also described the successes in the team: What went well? Why? What are the reasons for these successes? What lessons can they learn for tomorrow?
The students were able to question their way of approaching new projects in business. They also took stock of their individual goals to be the best performer in the future. A practical application of learning by doing pedagogy.
More about the MSc International Business at EMLV
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