HOW TO LEARN IN A GLOBAL CLASSROOM

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 795.

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YOU AND YOUR WORK

Today's Tuesday, this must be Hong Kong. No, not the con­fused words of a jet-lagged traveller, but the words of an international executive on a busi­ness management course.

Our German manager from Lufthansa will have flown in to the former British colony on whistle stop tours of LG, the Korean con­glomerate, and Standard Chartered Bank, whose main oper­ations are in the Middle East and Asia-Pacific, as part of his interna­tional training programme. After that, the next stop could be Brazil to see how ABB, the international engineering group, adapts its working practices to local conditions.

The globe-trotting executive is already a well-established figure in the international picture. But he or she is now being joined by the global executive on a manage­ment training course. Why hold dry in-house study programmes, repeating old ideas, when the envi­ronment that today's top-flight executives operate in is global? Business schools have responded by offering courses in which the international element is the cen­tral point. At London Business School's Global Business Consortium, for example, a senior manager from each of ABB, British Telecom, LG, Lufthansa, SKF from Sweden, and Standard Chartered Bank come together each year to learn about how different global businesses operate.

Each of the regions of Europe, Asia and South America are represented in the operations of these six blue chip multinationals. The emphasis is on participants learn­ing from each other. Insights into cultural pitfalls and practical guidance are also part of the pack­age.

But the only way of getting a feel for the special considerations of operating on the ground in another country is to visit the region itself and meet local lead­ers, academics and senior man­agers. Here course participants will aim to gain a better understanding of the relationship between global strategy and regional characteristics. Each of the participating companies acts as host to the other five as part of the module-based learning pro­gramme. On site they will work in a multinational team analysing various aspects of the host compa­ny's strategy.

“The English learning atmosphere is different from that in Germany,” said Dr Peter Weicht, director of personnel and organisational development at Merck, the international chemical and pharmaceutical group. “It is good for team-building, which will be very important between different cultures. In England there is a more relaxed relationship between lecturer and student.”

Dr Martin Moehrle, head of management development for Deutsche Bank, also favours glob­al training. “In Germany we are too domestically oriented; to become more international it is a must to be exposed to the English lan­guage and to other industries.”

He was impressed, too, by the “modern approach” of the Ashridge MBA compared with its more technical, accounting-led German equivalent, which is less concerned with leadership issues.

Another plus for organisations favouring the international ele­ment in training is that it will help them to attract those ambitious men and women who want to continue their studies. These training options enable high-fliers to carry on with education without leaving the company.

However, there are drawbacks. Deutsche Bank, in particular, has had the experience of talented employees leaving their job to attend the Ashridge course, only to join another company later.

From The Independent on Sunday