International Industrial Visits

Germany / Austria / Switzerland

MBA- E&FB has an international visit every year as a part of the curriculum. This helps the students get international exposure to global best practices. This year the international visit was planned covering Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

The business objectives of the trip were:

• Understanding business environment/business etiquette/ culture and country dynamics.
• How internationally, family-run businesses have gone through transformation and have successfully led the journey professionally.
• Practical understanding of huge business operations and the importance of processes.
• Emerging sectors and areas of growth and Asia Pacific initiatives.
• Countries trade policies and their “Perfection in whatever they manufacture” methodology.
• Business operations- right from small-scale family-run businesses like Alu Plast/Lapp Kabel to giants like BMW/ Bosch/Schindler.
• Understanding scaling methodology adopted globally.

Keeping these broad objectives in mind, visits to 14 Companies like Bosch/BMW/Mercedes-Benz/BASF/Siemens/Schindler/Lapp Kabel/Alu Plast/Swarovski/Dettling Cherry Brandy/ Victorinox /Reidel glass/ Aeschbach Chocolatier/ METZ were organized over a span of 12 days. The visit to each company covered a factory/plant visit and a 45-minute talk followed by questions and answers by senior strategy team members/ Board of Directors. During this trip, our students were addressed by the MD- Bosch, Schindler, Wurth, Siemens and Metz. Quality Heads and GM – Plant of BMW/Mercedes Benz handled students’ queries and accompanied them while they were doing their plant visit. Our students also visited 2 Business Schools with Entrepreneurial courses to interact and understand their education methodology.

The highlight of the programme was the meeting with the Economic and Trade Affairs Minister and 2 Mayors in Germany. Due to this students were able to initiate discussions at the economic and trade ministry office related to their own businesses and expansion plans.

The visits were also followed by formal meetings over dinner with Indian entrepreneurs who have settled in Germany and are doing business there. This gave students practical understanding and they were also exposed to practical challenges ahead in case they wish to operate in a country like Germany.