STRATEGY
While each individual club’s structure is generally the same, we don’t treat the clubs as ‘one size fits all’. Each club, for example, has nuanced objectives and points of focus that are adapted to the expectations and needs of its members, allowing alumni to benefit in many different ways. In the Startup Club, for example, members look for partners with which to found companies, startup financing or co-working spaces. In the Technology & IT Club, meanwhile, there was a recent opportunity to discuss SAP’s industrial strategy with its President of Industries and Customer Advisory as well as to talk about open positions in their team, which were shared exclusively with club members. The results: A success story within two years and real added value for its members It became clear relatively quickly that the newly created MBS Network Clubs had met the needs of our students and alumni very precisely. After a little over two years, this is even clearer: In total, there are more than 4,000 members across the six clubs, and around 1,200 students and alumni are involved in at least one club. All clubs have more than 500 members and the average number of participants per event is higher than 50. The activity level is high. In the past six months, more than 80% of all members have participated in at least one network event. There are almost weekly events, meetings, get-togethers, not to mention direct exchange between club members via social media. Therefore, we can claim that the clubs are an extremely active platform that offers our network members real added value. The changes made due to the Covid-19 situation since March 2020 have actually improved both the reach and the cohesion in our clubs. While moving all events online has been a challenge and meant losing the personal elements an on-campus event provides, the flexibility of online formats has enabled more Mannheimers, whether they live in
in the Consulting Club was held by a Mannheim Business School alumnus, who was a Partner and Managing Director at BCG at that time, on the topic of AI in banking. This is one of numerous examples where a club’s topic crosses over into other clubs, in this case between the Technology & IT and Financials Clubs. Whenever this happens, we invite members of more than one club to an event. Only through offering high-quality and high- class events can we ensure that network members actively participate and that the number of members increases over time. Of course, it is not only important to win new network members as club members, but also to re-engage alumni who have graduated several years ago. Membership in the MBS Network and the individual clubs is free of charge for all students and alumni, for life. A small fee is only charged for catered attendance-based events to cover the costs incurred and to keep the no-show rate low. These fees are used to fund a partial MBS Network Scholarship for the full-time MBA at MBS, the awarding of which is decided autonomously by the network.
The flexibility of online formats has enabled more Mannheimers, whether they live in Singapore or Seattle, to take part in club events
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AMBITION | Be in Brilliant Company
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