Diving Into a Changing World

 by Catherine Villarosa, Global MBA Ambassador 2020-2021 | Strategy & Digital Leadership Singapore Track 

As a class, the ESSEC GMBA Cohort of 2021 was faced with the difficult decision of pursuing our degrees during a time of great uncertainty. The entire world was put on pause until a cure was found for COVID-19, with the billions of people around the globe left uncertain even of what the next day would bring. Until then, we needed to make do with what we could. Yet, despite knowing the upcoming challenges, the seventeen of us still decided to go for it. Changes were happening left and right, and even though there were times we felt lost, we realised how much this reflected the world that was coming: a new, different, and constantly changing world that we were still preparing to dive into. 

To begin, the journey to Singapore was a long road; with over half of the class struggling to enter the country, the whole class adjusting to the new blended online-offline learning environment, and the entire community striving to make the most out of what was possible. And for the first time, the cohort’s team building and integration activity was held after the first term closed; when, normally, it is intended for the first week of classes to help us build a strong foundation for the upcoming twelve months. But after working together for three months, I have found that even though the physical and temporal differences made it difficult to build that foundation, it was the shared experience of going through the struggles and having the hopefulness in a better tomorrow that truly brought our class together--and our team building activity helped cement it.

On the 14th and 15th of December, we took part in a two-day programme that allowed us to experience teamwork through out-of-the box tasks, different perspectives through culinary delights, and a sense of community and appreciation of the MBA journey through alumni talks over dinner with a beautiful view of Singapore.

We began our activities on the first day with Focus Adventure with a light breakfast and brief introduction and expectation-setting session: with some key ones being to have fun, make great memories, and make sure everyone was safe. We had a quick, multi-round icebreaker which had us learn our friends’ favourite colour, food, and country to visit. This went on for one round, where we traded as many name tags as we could by passing on what we learnt onto the next person we met. The second round was us passing back the name tag to the owner by correctly naming all three favourites. The final round involved a heavy round of competition between two random teams, where a curtain was put up in the middle, and the first team to correctly identify all three favourites would win the set, and the winner would take the person from the other team onto their side. This went on until one team won.

Our next activity was to build a working raft that would keep us afloat to complete a series of tasks. However, we weren’t going to be spoon-fed for our materials; we had to earn our materials through a blind minesweeper game, where we had to collect a specific number coloured balls that would represent each item that we needed to build our raft. The catch was: our team could only lead us through the field by using only animal sounds!

After successfully collecting everything we needed, each team was challenged to come up with a workable design that would be able to hold two team members who would operate the craft on the water towards a defined point, and would take it back to shore after. We would need to do this three times, and in between, we had to complete three sub-tasks as well. The first was to complete seven rounds of team juggling, the second to do a coordinated jump rope effort for ten rounds, and finally, to disassemble the raft in the most efficient and organised way possible.

Following this, lunch was served, and we had another icebreaker to re-energise us for the next activity of the day, which was to build a bicycle. Teams were given parts, manuals, and guides to assemble, and needless to say, it was an effort that required communication, teamwork, as well as both precision and trial and error. Throughout the allotted time for assembly, all teams were forced to stop working, and would only be able to continue once we completed specific tasks.

Apart from this, teams were also challenged to creatively present their bicycles through a short five-minute presentation. It was here that we learnt that the bicycles were to be donated to children in need, and upon learning this, all teams began to put greater effort into ensuring that the assembly was correct. In parallel, the teams began to prepare the presentation content; which ranged from lighthearted, superhero stories to inspirational, but humorous stories about chasing after their dreams (and ending with a dance for successfully reaching them!).

The day ended with a wrap-up of going through our expectations, as well as a time for special recognition for and from our teammates. The day was certainly tiring, but very rewarding, as the entire class had learnt how important teamwork, communication, and respect for one another is in achieving a common goal. This was especially true for our cohort, which is a diverse group of individuals from different backgrounds and nationalities. While a small, close-knit group, we realised we had so much more to learn from one another, and that this was just really the beginning.

On the second day, we kick-started our whole-day culinary adventure with Hello! Singapore’s signature food tours. The trip began in the East Coast at Soon Soon Huat’s famous curry puff, which instantly became one of the group’s favourite delights. There, we tried and learnt about the differences among local kopi and teh drinks and how to order them according to our taste preferences. 

Our next stop was at Kim Choo Kueh Chang, which is a Peranakan heritage shop specialising in nyonya (rice) dumplings, nyonya kueh (traditional cakes), and other snacks. Apart from this, the shop also has several souvenirs available such as batik and other handicrafts, and even has a special archive on the second floor featuring Peranakan articles and artifacts celebrating its unique cultural heritage and value. The archive contains items like traditional ceramics, textiles, shoes, jewellery, clothing, art, and furnishings, and we were also treated to a brief tour from the family who has been running the business for two generations.

After this, we were off to try Katong Laksa at Roxy Centre, which I was unfortunately unable to try due to allergies, but according to the others, the taste was different from the other laksa they had tried in the past. Laksa is a traditional Peranakan spicy-sour soup dish with rice, wheat, or vermicelli noodles in a base of coconut milk, curry, or both in the soup.  As we were told, there are several versions of this “original laksa”, but that this one is the most famous one. 

Next, we headed over to the Bugis area and went to Albert Food Centre, which was filled with plenty of choices for lunch time. Our group was full by this time, but that didn’t stop us from trying out a variety of dishes and drinks, as well as some ice-based desserts that were perfect for the hot afternoon that day.

To walk off the morning’s calories, we explored a little more around the area in Bugis by briefly looking around in the open markets, as well as observing the temples from the outside. After this, we continued on with our tour and stopped by the Kampong Glam area, and explored a little of both the Malay Heritage Centre and Haji Lane’s colourful street before trying out some mubarak and prata for a quick break before our final stop in Little India, where we had our last dish of the day, which was dosa.

Even though it was just one day, I was very happy to have been able to explore some of Singapore’s rich cultural diversity, and it was great to have been able to do this through food. I believe there is so much to be learnt and appreciated through food, as there is so much depth behind what one can see on one’s plate. I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to understand the history, appreciate the culture, and experience everything through the various flavours, textures, and aromas on this day.

Finally, we were treated to a wonderful evening with a gorgeous view of Singapore for a special dinner with some of our alumni, who offered stories about their experiences after getting their degree, and advice to our questions about life after the programme. 

Despite only being here for three months, I can say that it has definitely been a valuable period of learning, not just for me, but also for the entire cohort. Our first term was not what we expected when we decided to embark on our MBA journey, but we are all moving forward nonetheless. Our paths are all different, but at the same time, we are going through similar challenges. What these past days have taught me is that while the journey may be difficult, what matters is knowing what motivates you, understanding what you can do to make things happen, and learning to work with others through extending your understanding of them with empathy and respect so that you can achieve your common goals.

2020 has certainly been a year unlike any other. Amidst all the challenges and significant changes brought about, we have seen how just one event can have such a profound impact on our lives. We have understood for ourselves how change must take place through both thoughts and actions. And we have experienced how valuable, and wonderful it is for people to come together and work tirelessly towards healing the world. With everything that has happened so far, I am grateful for the opportunity to be with this group, and I am personally very excited as to how our own stories, experiences, skills, dreams, and passions will shape our journey and transformation towards becoming our best selves.

#ESSECGMBAExperience

Enjoy the short video clip here: 

Jia Lynn, student of Luxury Brand Management track shares her experience on the collaboration for a study on Shanghai Luxury buyer market

1. What's your story? 

   

I am from Shanghai , I always lived in Shanghai before I moved to Paris. For most of the women in my country, turning 30 feels like the biggest milestone ever, and for me, starting my MBA in Luxury Brand Management at ESSEC Business School as the cherry on the top of this new decade. 

I have worked in the Luxury industry for almost 5 years. In my previous experience at Tod’s and  Stella McCartney, I know I learnt a lot and the experience was enriching but there was always something missing, and I knew I needed to find that something, and this MBA seemed to be my missing link and pushed me to quit my comfortable job, to take up this challenge.

2. Tell us about the project you worked on and why was it so close to your heart? 

I worked on a project in collaboration with Spark Ideas LLC to find out what’s the impact of Covid-19 on the sentiment and behavioral change among luxury women shoppers in Shanghai. Our first mission was to identify the Shanghai women who are luxury shoppers and willing to participate in this study because this was different from a regular Q&A type of survey. The idea was to go deeper and engage with these women which was time consuming for them and hence we needed full commitment. 

And as I’m a native Shanghainese and a luxury insider, I was sure that no one else could’ve been a better fit to pursue this project. The project ran smoothly and very quickly we finished all the recruitment and went on the study part. I gained some fresh perspective as I moderated the case and was directly talking to the different women and I learnt a lot about the Shanghai luxury market, which is always going to serve as a great asset to me for the future. At the same time, it was also challenging to work in a global set up with the different time zones, since Malinda, the founder of Spark LLC was in New York, I was in Paris and our participants were far away in Shanghai, but that was the fun of it and we managed to complete the study in one month. It was truly an unforgettable experience.

3. How did you find this opportunity? And what are your key takeaways from this experience? 

Picture : Soft skill session before their networking soiree

All this goes back to the beginning of march, when Covid-19 hadn’t hit us yet and we had one of our “Get-Out-of-Cergy” networking soirees, organized by ESSEC,  where we get the opportunity to network not only network with fellow students, alumni but also Industry experts and that’s where I met Malinda, the Founder of Spark Ideas LLC. We had no discussion about the project then, but we had a swift and engaging conversation. One week later, thanks to our director, Patti Brown,  we learnt that she is looking for someone from Asia and with an understanding of the Asian market (specifically Shanghai)  for their opinion of their new mobile platform, and I readily accepted and caught up with her very quickly. We hit it off instantly and she asked me if I would be interested to join them for a case-study on Shanghai Luxury market and I am so happy that I  kept an open mind and was willing to take it up as this was a great experience overall.  

4. Tell us about your present experience during the MBA?

I still remember that one year ago, when I chose ESSEC as my final choice, I knew it was a great decision as we would have a lot of opportunities to connect with luxury brands, and it turned out to be a lot more than just that.

Thanks to our career services director Anthea Davis, for the  savoir-faire sessions every two weeks, visits such as the Hermes scarf factory in Lyon, the Atelier Lesage with Chanel, and VCA jewelry workshop among others. I wouldn’t have had them anywhere else as the heritage that ESSEC Business school brings along cannot be replicated.

Back in the class, I was still amazed by how diverse our cohort is, it’s always good to learn from others and their culture. And I’m glad that we could have some professors who not only had the knowledge of the luxury industry but also the rich experience from the real business world which helped us understand the practical business implications as well.

We never get bored as there was always something to do be it the capstone project, the different networking events. We met a lot of people, not just alumni but also the different industry experts from varied industries with different professional & ethical backgrounds and Patti, our director was always training us and finding the best people to train us to approach these experts in the most professional way. I learnt a lot and I am still learning and this MBA has been a life changing experience ! 

UNESCO Business and Climate Summit

Subhajit Biswas, Global MBA 2014-2015, India

Being an MBA student in a top university means being attuned to the changes happening around you. What could be a better experience than being able to listen and discuss with the top business and political leaders of the world how to take a more active role in the world de-carbonation process? Last week, I had the chance to be a participant at the UNESCO Business and Climate Summit held in Paris, where a variety of topics were being debated and discussed. The central theme- the effect of businesses on our climate cannot be ignored any longer. The keynote speech addressed the same, with the honorable president of France - Francois Hollande and the General Secretary of OECD, making a passionate call to action.

The summit as expected was attended by the business heads of many businesses from various sectors and industries. The keynote speech alone was attended by the CEO of Fibria and Carrefour, while the discussion was moderated by a broadcaster from BBC. There was a focus on a variety of issues and there was a recognized urgency to invite pledges and measures, in order to achieve a low carbon economy. During the speech, one thing was apparent to the observers, the days of viewing businesses as a separate entity to the rest of the world are over. Industries have to understand their role in society and act accordingly, the measures or policies whatever they maybe should reflect that.

Apart from the regular companies, the summit also hosted other non-profit organizations like the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBSCD) and the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC). These organizations provide support for individuals and organizations looking for information on implementing policies dedicated to various climate issues facing the planet. 

 

From the keynote, we moved to a thematic session on modern cities. The topics under review were mobility, infrastructure and technology. For this session, we had the opportunity to listen to the CEO’s from Michelin, Vinci and SNCF. The general discussion was based on how to meet the climate challenge and develop innovative solutions with a goal to keep temperature increase to below 2 degrees. The session explored the emerging opportunities for cities to lead the way to low carbon prosperity. The speakers mostly spoke about the measures initiated by their companies in various cities like Mexico City, Toulouse, Hyderabad and Chengdu which has resulted in significant carbon emission savings and created awareness about the issue.

Being a part of the summit, one cannot help but understand the fast changing nature of the business climate. However, being a business school student one cannot help wondering, while there is a focus on saving the environment, are we being viewed only as consumers? Currently we are only creating standards and conforming to them, however there are no actions on ensuring that our future generations are also being included in the entire idea generation process as well. The present communication appears rather top-down than being an exchange of ideas on how to preserve the environment.

The Beginning of the End

By Ingrid Cazalis, Global MBA 2013-2014, France

Already almost a year later! It flew by so quickly. In T1, we felt overloaded as we struggled to get back into the student rhythm, but it only got more intense in T2, and T3 was crazy. The opportunity to choose elective classes during the last term was great, but it meant we had to manage more than 10 group work projects and 3 key final projects.

There were a lot of emotions the last week of class: the last birthday cake, the last exams to pass, the last poker night, the last class, the last speaker, the last goodbye party.

I think it is still too early to analyze all the takeaways and benefits of the Global MBA, since we were in a hurry for so many months. These next two months during our International Immersion Projects will help us to get a bit of distance to reflect back on our personal experiences.

Of course, all these endings are just the beginning of new challenges to find a new job and make a new life in our home country or abroad. Big projects don’t seem as daunting when you take it one step at a time, which is what we’re doing now.

Some of the students have already lined up jobs for after graduation, while others are waiting to finish their International Immersion Projects abroad to begin their active search.

Good luck to all the MBA students for their summer race!

I'll Make a Man Out of You, My Daughter: Women in the Workplace

By Ingrid Cazalis, Global MBA 2013-2014, France

Yesterday I attended “Les Mardis de l’ESSEC” (ESSEC Tuesdays, ESSEC’s weekly lecture and debate series) on the topic of women in society with the provocative title, “I’ll Make a Man out of You, My Daughter.” We weren’t there to spout clichés about the sexes, but to discuss the evolution of the role of women in society. The two amazing speakers were Clara Gaymard, the VP of General Electric and mother of 9 children, and Aude de Thuin, a strong entrepreneur and creator of the Women’s Forum. They offered lots of great advice and an interesting and complementary discussion.

In France, we waited till 1944 for women to get the right to vote and till 1991 for the first female Prime Minister, Edith Cresson. Today, the figures show that women are still under-represented in management jobs; 98% of the CAC 40 CEOs are men and only 20% of the COMEX members are women. Some people will criticize the new Copé Zimmerman quota law, which requires equal representation of men and women on corporate boards, for lowering the quality of the board members, but it is a way to get more women involved in decision-making. Women’s salaries are still 18% lower than men’s, with no growth in the past 5 years.

We might wonder if the “glass ceiling” of the 1970s is still in place today. For generations, women have faced doubts and fears that are not easy to overcome. Some of the examples cited during the discussion were men’s greater willingness to negotiate their salary, relocation, or to take advantage of perks, while women are more likely to wonder about the limits of the job and their capabilities. Future managers (like ourselves) should take these differences into consideration. The new generation is changing, but these things take time. As Madeline Albright said, “It took me quite a long time to develop a voice, and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent.”

What about working and having a family? Today, having both is a strength because it demonstrates patience, organization and self-control.

Clara Gaymard’s advice was to take a job related to a company’s core business if you want to climb the company ladder. Aude de Thuin recommended finding a highly-placed mentor who can help you deal with your doubts and take the key steps in your career.

And what did they say about sexist remarks from male managers? As long as your interactions are normally positive and respectful, try to respond with a bit of humor.

A Snapshot of Renewable Energy in India

By Reita Hutagalung, Global MBA student 2012-2013, Indonesia

My final IIP project in India is related to renewable energy, so I’d like to share some facts about the current state of Indian renewable energy. As India’s economy experiences rapid growth, its energy consumption is likewise increasing rapidly: it increased 64% from 2001/2002 to 2011/2012 and, according to the Indian Planning Commission, it is projected to grow an additional 72% by 2021/2022. India’s current energy supply, primarily made up of fossil fuels (majorly dependent on coal) can’t keep up with the fast growing demand, as both the local reserve is thinning while importing coal is becoming more expensive due to the increase in coal prices. The energy deficit is growing as evidenced by regular power cuts (as much as approx. 15% daily). Also, the so-called “Great Indian Outage” happened on July 30th and 31st, 2012. It stretched from New Delhi to Kolkata and occurred due to the failure of the northern power grid. It was said to be the world’s largest blackout, since it caused nearly 700 million people to be without electricity.

As the price of fossil fuels increases, non-polluting, renewable sources of energy are becoming good options, economically and environmentally, to meet future demand for electricity. Renewable energy is also advantageous in that it allows decentralized distribution. In the case of India this is beneficial to meet rural energy needs, as most of the population is still living in rural areas and don’t have access to electricity.

One of the biggest hurdles India is facing is its lack of an overarching energy strategy — states regulate their policies separately. These policies result in varied expansion capabilities for the renewable energy industry. Some renewable energy developers also complain that the policies are not consistent; with a change in authority, regulations could also change following political forces. These hurdles disrupt the possibility of the industry to mature quickly in India. This is unfortunate, as India has a large potential for its renewable energy resources. Solar is the main source of inexhaustible energy available consistently throughout the year. Due to its location, India is blessed with bright sunlight year long, constituting about 5,000 TWh of solar insolation every year. Utilization of a tenth of this potential could end India’s power problems! India’s wind energy industry is also quite developed, more than its solar industry, and has strong potential for harnessing the strong onshore costal area and offshore wind.

Even with the above obstacles, Indian renewable energy industry is growing rapidly. India is among the world's leaders in wind power and it has a "national solar mission" that aims to turn India's development-stage solar industry into a full commercial stage, thus able to create thousands of jobs. Let’s hope the renewable energy industry grows even faster to be the sustainable answer for India, environmentally, economically and socially. Keep the spirit!

Training future economic crisis managers: a relevant challenge for MBAs

By Matthias de Larminat, Global MBA student 2012-2013, France

Crises, be they economic, financial, health, or security related often require that we find innovative, concrete and quick solutions. The emergency acts as a booster to change. In extreme situations, such as facing hurricane Katrina in Florida or systemic financial failure, given the stakes, transformation becomes a vital necessity. Facing the ultimate crisis, there are obviously no more written rules; it is easy to go out of the box given that as standard answers become totally irrelevant, all assumptions and rules run out of scope.

Because of this, one could question the relevance of an MBA, which provides standard training. In other words, should we change the business leaders given the natural bias of reproduction and risk avoidance?

Indeed, one must acknowledge that the current economic and financial crisis look like a storm and tsunami combined, defeating icons of a certain world such as Lehman Brothers. During this time, no Churchill has emerged to save the old world from collapse. Europe seems unglued in recession without a clear roadmap. Military history illustrates that very often, war times start with the replacement of peace time military hierarchy by a real war lord. Why should it be different for business? Can we really train at the same time and in the same way leaders for growth times and for crisis periods?

Crisis times, characterized by high uncertainty, high-risk and a fast-moving environment, necessitate atypical profiles, with a vision fueled by strong character and values. Of course academic knowledge is still a requisite, but it is just the first level of the pyramid. Some voices advocate for a strong update of current MBA foundations in order to avoid reproducing the Western way of doing business. ESSEC’s recently launched Global MBA has taken this road by focusing on unusual courses such as sustainability and incorporating immersion in emerging areas, which enables students to integrate best practices and lessons learned from alternate and successful models.

However, going deeper in the analysis, economic growth is highly cyclical, never linear.  As a result, wherever future international managers will work, they will face crisis and slowdown. They should be trained to face it. In this way it is striking to see that traditional MBA literature is mainly focused on growth and expansion strategy, and that few books, few courses and little  training is designed to address strategies for times of crisis.

Doubtless, this gap will be rapidly filled, integrating takeaways from current and past bankruptcies or failures. It is not pessimistic to anticipate strategies for bad weather; it is simply the principle of reality! Driving in bad, windy and rainy weather is always more challenging. Our world has an urgent need for drivers to weather the storm!

Getting out of Our Comfort Zones

By Matthias de Larminat, Global MBA student 2012-2013, France

Entering a business school I never thought that I would get so close to poverty; I was more prepared to meet Bill Gates or other rich and successful leaders. But our team, driven by great interest for a  sustainability course, went to Indonesia to visit the Bottom of the Pyramid: a powerful life lesson!

From books to terrain

While planning our Hult Prize competition, which aims to addres food issues in slums, two other students (Matthew and Reita) and myself took advantage of our six weeks in Singapore to leave the luxury shopping malls of Orchard Road for the poor slums of Jakarta. Very concerned about having a clear picture of what is happening on the ground, our goal was to identify needs and the opportunities. The realities faced required us to test our ideas, born in a comfortable office in Paris. The goal of feeling what daily life is like in a slum was more than fulfilled, and we came back fired with motivation to address the issue of food.

Not your typical tourist junket

Did you know that Indonesia, and Jakarta especially, are famous for having initiated tourism into slums? Making money from exposing people struggling in life was not an appealing concept, so we opted for a totally different approach as we wanted to experience this life fnot as tourists. We went for a real immersion, benefiting from the fact that Reita, our teammate, is originally from Jakarta. Her two brothers took us, offering real insight. Given security issues, we were also escorted by a friend of the family, very familiar with slum dwellers, who acted as a bodyguard.

This immersion turned out to be an amazing experience. As soon as we entered the slum we were surrounded by a crowd of kids. Unlike many touristic locations where they are used to seeing foreigners and harass them for some coins, here there was no begging, just curiosity and joy at seeing “different people” coming to see them. It was a totally disinterested attitude. We felt strong emotions seeing their smiling and very warm attitude in spite of their extreme poverty, which differs so much from the often blasé attitude of kids in developed countries. There were no complaints. They take life as it is, and this a  valuable lesson for us. At the same time, this image of extreme poverty was very meaningful and impactful for us.

While walking through piles of trash and waste, we suddenly met a dancer from East Java. He happened to have won many international dancing competitions. Excited by our arrival, and proud to share his skill and culture, he gave us a  private and passionate performance. Looking at such a hard worker, full of the desire to perform well, we realized how poverty is not a matter of people but a matter of circumstances.

Finally our trip ended in the traditional market. There, drawn by colorful fruits, we started to taste the so-called "snake fruit" which revealed an unexpectedly tasty flavor, but our attention was rapidly diverted by a great gathering. Getting close to the place, we found an internet café in the midst of the destroyed houses, full of young kids connected to Facebook or playing online games with other kids all over the world: a surprising but accurate picture of globalization!

This trip will remain a major landmark of our GMBA, the will, joy and courage of these slum dwellers reminding us of the burden of responsibility to be borne by future managers.

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Reflections on an MBA

At their September graduation ceremony, the first batch of ESSEC Global MBA alumni was interviewed about the year behind them: friendships made, challenges overcome, adventures undertaken, and lessons learned. Check out these interviews to get their take on what they're taking away from their MBA.

Graduates' Perspectives: Looking back on the ESSEC Global MBA

A life changing experience

By Khalid Al-Jalahma, Global MBA student 2012-2013, Qatar

From the moment I crawled through the 30 inch tall, pitch dark tunnel in the military camp Saint-Cyr, finding our way out for an hour and a half, I realized the message ESSEC wanted to send: it will be a challenging and exciting program, but it will be tough, it might be dark sometimes, but there will surely be an exit at the end of the tunnel. So far what can I say…exactly as expected! I was criticized when I decided to halt my career, and at some points I was hesitant, but now, five months after joining the program, it had definitely met my expectations and more. The tools that I am being equipped with, the leadership skills that I am learning, the knowledge I am gaining will definitely boost my career and all those overcome the investment of time, financials, and opportunities.

The program is well structured. In term one, we were looking at corporate strategy, nations’ economics, businesses’ financial performance and evaluations, etc… basically a holistic view of the business environment. Whereas, in term two we are confronted with the core of the business, and the means to reach a business sustainability level. Next, we will soon pull our knowledge together to apply what we learned in theory to real life projects, as we will be traveling to Singapore, South Africa and an emerging country to explore business cases.

Moreover, being surrounded by a variety of more than 10 nationalities from different continents for more than 8 hours every day is an experience in and of itself. Though in my home country of Qatar I have had the chance to interact people from different countries, it feels completely different than having them as peers and students. Here, I get to see the other side of the culture.

So when ESSEC names the program ‘Global’, they mean it! Global students, global professors, global cases, and global projects.

Additionally, living in Paris is quite fascinating. For those who can manage their time, almost every weekend there is something interesting and unusual to be done. Taking a break to refresh after the pressure of academics can always be done here!

A Global Village

By Leonardo Banegas, Global MBA student 2012-2013, Honduras

Beyond the academic courses, one of the most exciting elements of my MBA experience is the diversity of the class in all senses: nationalities, skills, ages, backgrounds and personalities.

The class is a real global village. We have 14 nationalities represented with classmates coming from Qatar, Russia, France, China, U.S., Indonesia, Mexico, India, Germany, Japan, Canada, Taiwan and Honduras.

Our backgrounds and skills are quite different too. We are coming from different sectors and different academics experiences, some students already have a PhD and others are coming from very prestigious universities. The range of experiences extends from entrepreneurs to the petroleum industry in the Middle East and also a French mountain troop (a military officer who has led operations in Afghanistan, Kosovo and Africa).

Such diversity in the class is giving us the most important lessons in our MBA, because everyone has different personalities and experiences, therefore each team member has different leadership styles and approach to resolve complex issues.

It is not just about diversity inside the classroom. Outside the classroom, as well, we have good dinners, a real immersion in the local cuisine of different countries….

When we are invited for a dinner or party by our ESSEC classmates, we are always sure to spend an exotic moment.

We were first invited by our French classmate. It was a “Soirée Vin et Fromage” (wine and cheese party) and we needed nothing else to be convinced about the French cuisine. We particularly appreciated the concept of the dinner; on a table, we had different groups of cheese, wine, and bread that were to be tasted together. Following the French tradition taught by our host, we had to begin with the mildest cheese and to finish with the strongest (including the legendary Roquefort).

The second exotic dinner was organized by one of our Chinese classmates. Each of the Chinese and French dishes represented one person of the group. That day I discovered that my friend was a real artist and cook! ;)

Finally, we were hosted by our Russian classmate. We learned how to cook the delightful Borscht soup (to be enjoyed with some Vodka made in Russia!), and I learned how to prepare the Russian Caviar!

Now I realize that I should be the next one, and welcome my friends for some baleadas from Honduras and other Latin American food!

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Voice, Presence, Posture: What's Singing got to do with an MBA?

By Christian Leos Acosta, Global MBA double-degree student (Mexico)

When I first heard that in my MBA programme we would be having singing lessons, I just thought, "How can this be useful for me?" At the beginning, I thought it wouldn’t be, but as time has gone by I am understanding how useful really is and how to get the most out of it.

With a really bad voice, singing in front of other people is something that makes my shy, but facing this issue has made me gain self-confidence, a skill that I believe is going to be really useful while talking in front many people, in conferences, expositions, business meetings,  where sometimes I can become nervous.

While learning how to sing, posture is really important, making it easier to initiate phonation, as proper alignment prevents unnecessary tension in the body.

While engaging international business with different cultures, I have realized that body language plays an important role that can be interpreted in many ways. For example, in Chinese culture, stature is generally really low, and in Latin cultures it is kind of high. Learning to be aware of and control our posture is a key part of our body language, and this can help me to avoid sending the wrong signals.

Also when singing is necessary to know how to breathe correctly until it becomes just a reflex. Having this skill, while having meetings, talking with other people, negotiating, will be useful in order to have a more natural “conversation” with our counterparts.

I have realized that all those qualities are skills that managers have, and we have been learning them in a fun way, through singing!

Read more about the goals and objectives of the Singing MBA Project here.

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