MBA Learning Trip
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Take part in a Learning Trip and gain a 360° vision of business globalisation and digitisation.
INTERNATIONAL IMMERSION
As an integral part of the teaching project and Audencia’s identity, globalisation is written in the school’s DNA.
Thanks to our academic partnerships and the international launch of our Executive MBA, our participants can enjoy the opportunity of discovering global and innovative ecosystems on 4 different continents.
Through one or two of these experiences per year, we guarantee immersion in the local culture, highlighting of entrepreneurship and a focus on digital transformation in the globalised era. In order to enhance their experience on site, Audencia proposes workshops and conferences focused on digital and pioneering issues.
Key information
Where? In countries with a major influence in digitisation and innovation.
For how long? For 5 days of total immersion without breaking your pace of work.
When? In November and March.
Taking part in a Learning Trip involves much more than discovering new economic horizons and socio-political stakes. First and foremost, it involves a veritable human experience for our participants who meet international professionals, visit multinational firms and come into contact with local customs that many discover for the very first time. This journey is the ideal moment for developing a genuine global MBA community that draws on the experience of each and everyone.
Laura Godet –Quality Manager and Learning Trips Manager
After its arrival on 15thOctober 2017 in Tel Aviv for an intense 5-day learning trip, our EMBA 2017 group was able to discover and travel through cities such as Haifa, Nazareth, Yokneam, GaneiTikva and Jerusalem.
The aim of this study trip was to introduce our 38 participants to the “Start-up nation” thanks to meetings with several businesses whose activities corresponded with the following themes
- Innovation and creativity in business.
- Business incubators and investment funds, to gain a grasp of selection criteria.
They were able to meet directors from many companies and visit their premises:
- Technion - Israel Institute of Technology
- BreezoMeter
- Alpha Omega
- Mediterranean Towers Ventures
- The Hive
- Tel Aviv City Hall
- Catalyst Fund
- Israel Innovation Authority
- Techcode business incubator
- E-nnovative Minds
- Israel Hedge Funds Association
- Liquant Asset management
- The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
- Mobileye
- JVP
Although professional contributions are our priority, the personal development aspect is also a vector promoted during this trip. As such, our participants benefit from an institutional seminar with a presentation of the country from different angles:
- Macro-economic
- Academic
- Scientific
- Innovation
- Business practices in Israel
In 2018, our 38 participants on the Executive MBA jetted off for 6 days in San Francisco!
In addition to many cultural visits, discovery of major monuments and total immersion in one of the finest counties in California, our EMBA group enjoyed the opportunity of visiting North American businesses with international outreach:
- DocuSign
- IBM
- JP Morgan Chase
- Intuitive Surgical
- Kackers& Founders
- Code & Modules
- Paybee
- Lincode Labs
- BootUp
- Slack
- MicroFocus
Meetings with the CEO of each company allowed our participants to understand the pioneering strategies focused on digitisation that have been implemented.
They were also able to attend conferences:
- Overview of Silicon Valley
- The Digital Labors
- Entrepreneurship Through Leaders
- Building a culture of innovation
Our 2018/2019 EMBA group arrived in Hong Kong on 16th March 2019 for a 7-day stay in China and was able to discover two cities on this Learning Trip: Hong Kong and Shenzhen.
During their trip, they were able to attend:
Conferences:
- How to increase market share thanks to technological innovations.
- The political and economic situation in Hong Kong.
- The successes of French companies established in Hong Kong
- Etc.
Seminars and forums:
- Setting up a business in China, “One belt, one road”, an opportunity or a challenge?
- Strategic development of a business on the international stage.
- Technological and managerial innovation in developing businesses.
- Sharing experience on setting up business and innovating in China.
Meetings with CEOs and visits to their companies:
- CCI France/Hong Kong
- Gold Peak Batteries
- BYD
- Qianhai VC Incubator
- Tencent
Cultural visits, dinners and cocktail parties.
Each year, we welcome our Executive MBA groups from Algiers and Shenzhen to our campus in Nantes.
On arrival, there are approximately forty participants per year group who are preparing to take advantage of a week of sharing experiences and cultural exchanges.
Our groups from Algeria come to visit Nantes in order to exchange with teachers, contributors and professionals on “the companies of today and tomorrow”.
In addition to a variety of cultural activities, meetings and the discovery of a genuine year group spirit, our participants visit renowned businesses in western France, such as:
- IMA Technologies
- OCEANET
- PING
- SOREGOR
- LIVLI
- ADN Booster
- ACCENTURE Technology Solution
- Imagination Machine
- La Cantine Numérique
- EP
- iAdvize
During the trips, they also take part in a one-day seminar on Design Thinking, and attend a conference on the world of finance.
Vincent Gueraiche
Business Line Director Aircract - Daher
"Immersion in China during our Learning Trip confirmed what I already sensed but without fully appreciating it. Chinese development occurs within the framework of an overall plan in which each province plays its role in a gigantic economic puzzle.
In Shenzhen, growth is linked to hi-tech activities and innovation thanks to the many business incubators created. In Hong Kong, growth is more linked to service activities and finance, which are at the heart of the city’s development. These learning trips are excellent life experiences that encourage exchanges between MBA groups”.
Laure Bernuau Diakov
General Administrator - Baker Tilly Strego
“When thinking about digital transformation, the USA is at the forefront; but now you can also speak in the same breath of eastern Asia, because China has a goal: to move from a production approach to one of creation and innovation.
In Shenzhen, co-working zones and business incubators have opened absolutely everywhere. You can also sense a desire for modernising, because in China, there is plenty of capital but not many ideas... This is also why the Audencia campus in Shenzhen has met with genuine success, because that is where the talents and creators of tomorrow are trained.
As for Hong Kong, it is confronted with an environmental challenge an intends to develop a “smart nation”, improving living conditions for all inhabitants, creating new economic opportunities and developing a more cohesive community, by drawing on the power of networks, data and digital technology.
When you return from China, Europe seems drowsy in comparison!”
Marion Bettinger
Key Account Sales Manager - Disa
“Think out of the box - this expression perfectly sums up the spirit of learning trips.
The Executive MBA enables in-depth thinking about your past and forthcoming career. There is nothing better for encouraging self-reassessment than meeting business leaders from the other side of the world.
If I had to pick two visits, I would choose the French Chamber in Hong Kong and Mindprint in Tel Aviv, which naturally demonstrated different outlooks and processes, but the same drive and energy that you cannot help to use as inspiration on returning home”.
Laure Bernuau Diakov
General Administrator - Baker Tilly Strego
"I was lucky to have had the opportunity to go on a learning trip during my Executive MBA. The second one took place in Israel. I had heard of the “start-up nation” concept and fortunately enough the theme of our learning trip was digital transformation.
Beyond discovering the country of 6,000 start-ups, it was the state of mind that stood out. The Israelis have developed a capacity for adaptation and skill in overcoming difficulties. This can take the form of chutzpah: boldness and taking risks. Failure is considered to be the proof of success, because making mistakes helps you to learn”.