EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING
An annual summer school o ered to executive MBA (EMBA) students studying at multiple locations around the world allows participants to come together and transform their di erences into assets that drive personal growth. Director of EMBA programmes at the School of Management Sciences at the University of Quebec in Montreal (ESG-Uqam) Kamal Bouzinab o ers an in-depth guide to an intensive week of experiential learning, cross-continental dialogue and networking
waiting list that is prioritised by country in order to facilitate replacements and maintain its goal of o ering a richness and diversity of experience. Taking all these factors into account during the selection process underpins the summer school’s commitment to fostering a dynamic, inclusive community of business leaders. Live business case design Placing strategic intelligence and scenario planning at its core, the summer school’s curriculum is meticulously crafted to serve as a bridge between academic theory and the practical realities of global business, with an added focus on the real-world impact. Preparations for each edition begin four to ve months before the course starts in August. An initial list of potential corporate partners – large Canadian companies – is established and preliminary proposals are sent to prospects through our networks. Following several meetings and discussions with senior executives from the responding companies, a second round of discussions is arranged with those who wish to delve deeper into the experience. During this second round of meetings, the course professor and the EMBA director talk with the company’s top executives to identify and discuss strategic issues or challenges that they would like to tackle in the summer school, the nature of what would be required and the data necessary to develop a real business case. Once a business case mandate has been agreed on, the professor receives the necessary content and begins to prepare the case. Through numerous iterations and discussions with the company’s executives, the nal version is produced and then shared with our student participants, ensuring that the curriculum not only teaches but also actively engages students in the kind of impactful business and strategic decision-making that shapes industries. Industry collaborations are central to the EMBA programme’s educational ethos and we have partnered with large Canadian companies across di erent markets and industries since the summer school’s launch in 2016. These partnerships have included airline Air Canada, simulation and training giant CAE and the pharmaceutical rm Sandoz Canada. These collaborations are the cornerstone of the summer school, bringing complex business
I n 2016, ESG-Uqam launched its EMBA International Summer Global reach and selection With a 44-year history, ESG-Uqam’s EMBA is renowned for its commitment to shaping global leaders. In the early 1990s, the programme underwent signi cant international expansion designed to help the school cultivate a diverse range of executive School with the intention of forging a global platform to facilitate leadership exchange and practical engagement with the business world. Since then, the summer school has become a vessel for transformative educational experiences. talent. With a presence that now stretches across four continents – encompassing China, Vietnam, Poland, Romania, Mexico, Peru, the Dominican Republic, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Cameroon, Gabon and the Ivory Coast – the programme has prepared a global melting pot of leaders for the complexities of international commerce. The EMBA International Summer School enriches the programme with various cultural perspectives and ideas. It is an elective course that invites applications from students enrolled in any of the programme’s diverse global locations. The course is capped at 35 participants to maintain a conducive learning environment and seeks to provide an equitable distribution of participants from di erent countries, while ensuring diversity in gender, professional background and nationality. The elective is popular and, as such, there is a
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Business Impact ISSUE 4 2023
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