sara's cems experience@iimc

Indian Institute of Management CalcuttaAdding a global perspective to a degree in International Business.

Table of Content

1. Academics

2. What I appreciated the most

3. What I appreciated the least

4. Don’t miss

5. Contact details

Travel Report Fall 2014Sara Kukka-Salam 21995Masters in International Business, SSE

New perspectives.

New brands, new markets, new business challenges.

Until my exchange semester I felt that “international” in my degree in “International Business” at SSE was missing. Most business cases that we study at SSE are about European companies expanding to other European countries or at most to the US. This changed from the first day at IIMC.

Studying at IIMC gave me the possibility to study business cases with different problem statements, taking place in new markets, challenging my previous knowledge. The cases were about emerging market multinationals expanding to Europe, emerging market multinationals expanding to other emerging markets and managerial challenges that multinationals originating from industrialized countries face when operating in markets such as India. I learnt about companies, brands and products that I had never heard of before – even though they in many cases were global market leaders in their industries.

Furthermore, I was surprised to learn the limited applicability of the traditional management theories and models taught at SSE on the Indian business context. For someone who wants to pursue a global career, studying business in an emerging market is a truly enriching experience.

Academics Appreciated the most Appreciated the least Don’t miss Contact details

Global Strategic Management (CEMS mandatory course)This was among my two favourite courses during the semester. The course was given by professor Sougata Ray who mastered the subject very well. The teaching was case based with complementary theoretical articles to read for every seminar. What I liked most with this course was the focus on emerging markets: both emerging market multinationals going global as well as developed market multinationals entering emerging markets. The workload is heavy, with much to read and a big group project –so make sure to find good team mates.

International EconomicsThis was among my two favourite courses during the semester. The course was taught by Partha Pratim Pal who mastered the subject very well. I took the course even though I had studied a similar course at SSE – and I am very glad for that! While my professor in international Economics at SSE embraced many of the classical trade theories, my Indian professor challenged them from an emerging market perspective. After studying the two courses, I feel that I have a more non-biased understanding of the complexity of international trade. The workload of the course is manageable.

Managing RetailingThe course was given by a very charismatic teacher, K. Dasaratharaman, with long experience from the industry. The course gave an understanding of basics of retailing and teaching was case-based. For me the most interesting learning was to understand of the difference between traditional and modern retail, a division that exists in the Indian retail sector. The course was not challenging and the workload is low.

Consumption, culture and markets. This course was a disappointment. The professor, Manish Thakur, masters the subject well but is unfortunately now able to design the course in an interesting way. The articles given in the course were very interesting. However, the lectures were a waste of time since they were spent on summarizing the readings rather than critically analysing them. The course mainly focused on “consumption” and leaved out the “culture” part until the very end of the course, which to me was a disappointment.

Service MarketingThis course, thought by Prashant Mishra, was a disappointment. In the description of the course it was said to deal with the topic of marketing on an advanced level. Neither was this course on an advanced level nor were the cases in the course about marketing issues. Instead the course was a poor version of the course in Global Strategic Management, dealing with traditional management issues. The teacher did not succeed to make the case discussions interesting and the students did not pay much attention.

Business Process ManagementThe course was tough by two professors, Anup K Sen and Priya Seetharaman, who both mastered the subject well. The course was designed well with many different elements, including a small live group work, four individual 2-page case submission and two quizzes. The workload did not feel heavy at all. The subject was interesting and the teachers awere very structured. Even though there were no participation grades given in this course, students came well-prepared and participated in class discussions.

Classes.


Living on campus.

Living on a campus was very different to living separate as I do in Stockholm. All CEMS exchange students were given an own hostel room with a bed, desk and a wardrobe at the Lake View Hostel. The hostel accommodates a few hundred students. All students are served breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner in the hostel’s canteen (No need for cooking or doing dishes for three months!) and there is a laundry service provided in the hostel (1,5 SEK per item). The hostel cafeteria is open from 7 am in the morning to 4 am at night.

The best part of living in a hostel is that you have all your friends in one place while at the same time having your own private space. Living together makes socialization with locals natural and easy. After only a few weeks, most local students recognize your face and greet you when walking by. My wing-mates (students in my corridor) took very good care of me (we shared iron, water buckets, make-up, calculators…) and invited me to social events (movie nights, dinners, clubbing).

Living


Always something to do.

There is always something happening on campus! Every evening there are sport practices, club activities or social events. These are open for exchange students and the Indians are very welcoming. If one is looking for a more “chill” kind of socialising, there was always someone to hang out with outside the hostel cafeteria.

There were many parties organized ion campus. Some of them were “official” ones, organized by the student union (such as the welcome party and the farewell party), and others were spontaneous parties in the common rooms of the hostel.


Experiencing a new culture.

The fall semester is the festival season in India, with many colourful celebrations to take part of, both within and outside campus. The three main ones were DurgaPuja, Diwali and Eid. For Diwali the whole campus was lit up and exchange students were welcomed to participate in the celebration which included dinner and fireworks.

Durga Puja is the most extravagant celebration in the city of Kolkata. Visiting the city centre during the last two days of the Durga Puja week (when the idols are thrown into the water) was simply amazing!


My CEMS group.

Living together in a hostel far from home, created a strong group spirit amongst us CEMS:ies. We arranged many social activities together, including movie nights, dinners, parties and sightseeing activities.

Many of my fellow CEMSies shared my interest in CSR and development affairs and had thus chosen to spend their exchange semester in India. In a contrast to the cliché group of business-students, many in our group were looking for placements within the development sector. It was very valuable to me to meet other CEMS-students who wanted to use their business knowledge to make a difference in the world.


Weekend adventures.

Every weekend is a new adventure. Kolkata is a large city with many interesting things to see and places to visit (temples, markets, monuments).

During the two longer breaks (1 week in end of September and 1 week in November) most exchange students travelled around in India. I visited Delhi, Agra and Jaipur the first week and travelled around in the state of Odissa during the second break.


The CEMS Club Calcutta.

The Indian CEMS-students are all away on exchange studies in other countries during the fall semester, making interaction with Indian CEMS-students very limited. The CEMS-club members present during the fall are year 1 students who have applied to CEMS for the coming year. This system makes the CEMS-club less visible compared to the CEMS-club at my home school. However, since CEMS is new at IIMC it made it easy for us exchange students to influence and develop the local CEMS-club.


Relative grading.

The fall semester (Sep-Dec) is the second last semester for the Indian students and consists of only elective courses. The GPA of the local students is not affected by their grades from this semester and many of them have already received job offers. This sometimes resulted in an incentive gap between the exchange students and the Indian students. However, since grading in India is relative, in contrast to SSE where it is absolute, this can play to the advantage of exchange students if one is willing to work hard.


Sunderban charity initiative.

Every year members of the staff at IIMC collect relief material which is distributed to people in a poor village in Sunderban. Me and Lukas, also a CEMS-student, were invited to come along to distribute the necessities. We first travelled four hours by bus, then one hour by a small boat and then finally 30 minutes by motorbike to arrive at the village’s school. There people had gathered to receive the things. Visiting the village was an impactful experience in many ways. If you want to join, make sure to contact Mr. Shyamalendu Das (does not speak English). He is the one organising the charity and is a very passionate person who really wants to make a difference! Say hello from me!


Diamond Harbour sunrise.

A one hour drive from campus lies the Diamond harbour. Watching the sunrise in the abandoned part of the harbour is very peaceful. During the drive back to campus, I enjoyed observing early morning life in the outskirt of Kolkata as the small Kiranashops along the road had just opened for the day.


Durga Puja.

On the two last days of the ten day festival named Durga Puja, the idols are throwninto the river. Visit the place Babu Ghat in Kolkata in the evening and experiencethe great atmosphere!


Food. Dance. Taxi race back to campus.

The Park Street is the party-hub of Kolkata, where one can find many restaurants and night clubs. We spent many Saturday nights at the clubs Roxy and Tantralocated inside the Park Hotel.


The best exchange ever.

Any questions? I will be happy to help!

E-mail: [email protected]

FB: Sara Kukka-Salam

Also check out the Facebook-groups:

CEMS Club Calcutta - CCC

CEMS – India

Humans of Joka

mailto:[email protected]

sara's cems experience@iimc

Documents

international business

emerging markets

emerging market multinationals

business cases

emerging market perspective

new markets

similar course

retailingthe course