In October 2013, students of the 21st edition of the EMBA Program participated in the session "Innovative leadership in a connected world", which took place in the United States, on the Campus of the College of Business, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and Chicago. The session included classes taught by professors of the College of Business as well as a visit to renowned American corporations located near Chicago.
The first part of the session was held at the headquarters of the College of Business in Chicago. Prof. Elisabeth Oltheten, an expert in the functioning of financial markets, delivered a lecture on the lesson that the world economy has learned from the economic crisis that started in Greece. Prof. Oltheten focused on the ways of recognizing similar threats and the analysis of global efforts to restore the equilibrium after the perturbations in the financial markets.
The students of the Program visited the headquarters of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), where they had the opportunity to not only learn about the CME Exchange daily activities but also see its brokers in action.
The visit was complemented by a lecture delivered by Jon Mrowiec, an advisor at Morgan Stanley, one of the world's largest investment banks.
Very interesting was the lecture given by Rich Frey on the activity of PepsiCo, one of the largest producers and sellers of non-alcoholic drinks and food products worldwide. Rich Frey, who is a graduate of the University of Illinois, used to hold a position of Sales Director for many years and is currently a head of EMBA Program at his home university. The combination of vast practical knowledge and a theoretical approach to management problems received great recognition among the students.
Two lecturers of the University of Illinois – prof. Eric Neuman and prof. Paul Lansing – provided the listeners with stimuli for deliberations on ethical values espoused by today's managers. Their lectures revolved around the unique balance between the law, ethics and cultural elements that impact the process of making business decision by managers.
The second part of the session was held in the College of Business at Urbana Champaign. The students had the opportunity to learn about the history of the University, visited the Campus in Urbana Champaign and met students of the MBA program at the University of Illinois.
At the end of their stay, the EMBA students also listened to a lecture that was delivered at the University of Illinois by prof. Alex Slepstov, who spoke about strategic management, focusing in particular on mergers and acquisitions.
A value added was provided by two visits to renowned American corporations located in the state of Illinois: Caterpillar and Lawrence Foods. Caterpillar is a leading manufacturer of machinery and heavy equipment that is well known around the world. Students were invited to the factory where they could see the production process and high production quality standards that Caterpillar is famous for. Lawrence Foods, a company that was founded in the 19th century, is a well-known supplier for food producers.
At the end of the session, the students watched a football game played by the college team of the University of Illinois.
The session provided students with an exceptional opportunity to broaden their experience and look closely at the best examples of practical application of excellent business management skills.