Select MBA students spent much of May in Vienna, Austria, and surrounding areas, earning course credit at Wu Wien (Vienna University of Economics and Business).
Earlier today, Paulina Hidalgo sent this reflection on her time there:
The Vienna Spring Program was a very fulfilling experience. During the two week program, the group had the opportunity to learn from local professors about valuable topics including: current situation of the European Union, local business practices, marketing strategies, management knowledge transfer, among others. Personally, I enjoyed hearing the perspective of the European professors and discussing current business practices in other countries, which I consider invaluable information given the global nature of business nowadays. The discussions were enriched by the participation of a high caliber group of students from a few different Schools across the US, Canada and Argentina, and from eight different nationalities (American, Canadian, Argentinean, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Taiwanese, Chinese, and Ecuadorian).
As part of the program, we made company visits to a couple banks (Raiffeisen Bank and UniCredit Group in Budapest), leaders in the industry across the European Union, and to a very successful construction company (Strabag). We heard from company leaders and learned about their perspective towards business, in their respective industries, and how they are overcoming the global economic crisis that has undoubtedly affected their practices and made them rethink their strategies.
The academic experience was enhanced by several city tours, not only in Vienna, but also in Bratislava, Slovakia and Budapest, Hungary, and a few social programs. During our visit to Budapest, we had lectures at Corvinus University, where we learned about local entrepreneurs and their business practices with their successful ventures.
In the end, I can say that while the work was intense and some days were exhausting, this was a very rewarding opportunity that I highly recommend to any student interested in international business, willing to sacrifice a few nights of sleep for a lifetime experience!
