Copenhagen Business School Students ‘EngAGE’ With Emerging Markets Like India

Dec. 21, 2012 - PRLog -- As a part of its formidable exchange programme, Copenhagen Business School receives approximately 1,700 exchange students from nearly 250 partner universities across the globe. What’s more, CBS sends out a similar number of its own students on exchange as well. Because of its geopolitical and economic relevance, one of the most prominent exchange programmes of CBS is with India, regarded as amongst the three fastest growing economies in the world.

“The exchange with the Institute of Management Technology in India is a part of our ‘EngAGE’ programme,” informs the Co-Programme Director of the EngAGE Bachelor Programme, Dr. Robyn V. Remke, mentor to the CBS students who had chosen to be a part of the exchange programme in India. “Apart from being in Delhi, the capital city, IMT is a prominent B-school of India.The underlying aim of the EngAGE programme is to get students to ‘do’ what they learn by reading texts, and participate in course discussions and group projects. Concepts and theories come to life when you practice what you learn in the classroom.”

According to Dr. Sudhanshu Rai, Director - Indian Relations, and Associate Professor of Innovation in emerging economies at the Copenhagen Business School, The study trip was customised towards understanding the environment in which entrepreneurs in India operate on a daily basis.

“An entrepreneur is not necessarily a person who’s got to start-up a company; but one who has the capacity to be entrepreneurial in whatever context he is. India, because of its diverse challenging pressure points, puts people in situation where they need to draw from their reservoir or the tool-kit. The idea of an entrepreneur here is all about trying to do something different, be innovative within whatever structure you are in. The learning is hard - it is not evident, it is chaotic - but it is essentially learning; and that’s what we want CBS students to imbibe.”

The 2-week programme, held between 27th October and 10th November 2012, included daily interactions with Indian entrepreneurs both in the partner institute as well as out in the field. In fact, the students from CBS spent a lot of time with entrepreneurial set-ups called TARA Machines, I Dream, Anand Foundation and ROPIO. This helped students witness the concepts in action and learn from those who are experts in the field.  

“It has been very interesting here at TARA Machine, doing something practical rather than solving case studies,” observed Milen, one of the participants from CBS in the EngAGE programme. “We spent a lot of time innovating and improving a new tracking system. It made me wonder about what an entrepreneur really is. If you have started your business you are an entrepreneur, and if you have invented a new technology then you are an entrepreneur as well. The Indian faculty and entrepreneurs have been very inspiring and, through their experiences, shed light on various aspects of business in an emerging economy.”

For 20-year old Victoria, this exchange programme in India helped her find the seeds of entrepreneurship in herself.

“The environment in India inspired me to do things that I would not have otherwise done. I have been working on applications for the android platform but in India I began seeing the business opportunity in this. Entrepreneurship in India is very different from Denmark. For me, the most important learning was understanding how we could develop into entrepreneurs who think beyond profit or revenue..”

Eileen Gandy Dyer, Administrator of the EngAGE Bachelors Programme at Copenhagen Business School, feels that the variety of exchange programmes at CBS offers its students an opportunity to look within themselves and choose a career that they feel strongly about.

“EngAGE is different because it consists of a much higher level of practical experience in the field. Each one in this Bachelors’ group has attended very intense classes that integrate much greater practical, field experience into the classroom. This trip to India actually allowed CBS students to work together with Indian entrepreneurs in extremely challenging conditions. After this, each student will be assigned to one of our corporate partners and at the end of their Bachelors’ studies they will do a six-month, full-time internship at the company.”

The students on the trip certainly seemed to thrive on this approach to their studies. “I am not the kind of person who wants to sit in the classroom and figure things out. I like to get out of my comfort zone and try things… and learn by doing them,” says Maya Welsinlason, one of the participants in the EngAGE trip to India. “In a way, my trip to India confirmed how nice and loving people are in that beautiful country. They have a very strong sense of community and families are in focus; you take care of each other in completely different ways than in Denmark, and that’s why I feel the idea of entrepreneurship in India is so different from that in Denmark. Of course, Denmark is very small in comparison. You can walk to your office, speak your mind and be equals here irrespective of your position. But if you are doing business in India, you have to consider the ‘power distance’ in hierarchy there, and adjust to it when you talk to people.”

The EngAGE programme also weaves in the opportunities to understand the cultural aspect of the country. In the trip to India, for instance, there was a visit to the Tibet house, where students of CBS had the opportunity to interact with Lamas.

“It was the most unforgettable experience I have had in a long time,” said Nina Olesen one of those who was a part of the Indian study trip under EngAGE. “It was very, very, special and interesting to see how a religion like Buddhism can be so inclusive. You don’t need to be Buddhist to follow most of the thoughts and philosophies.”

Since most of the students at the Copenhagen Business School, Denmark come from Northern Europe and are used to its educational and workplace cultural traditions, India, with its diverse cultural blending of both Eastern and Western workplace practices and organisational values, challenges them to 'rethink' everything they know about entrepreneurship and organisational behavior. This focus on entrepreneurship at CBS provides the students with ample opportunity to learn about the different methods of entrepreneurship as well as the ways in which culture affects entrepreneurial development.

For more information please visit: http://www.cbs.dk