AIESECers in IE

Apply for IE - April 2008 intake

noreply@blogger.com (Sergej Vohrin) — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 14:20:00 +0000

Last week I was meeting with Leila from IE and she told me that they would really like to have members of AIESEC in Master in International Management April 2009 intake, because they believe that AIESECers bring good benefit to the groups with their ideas, experience and thinking differently.

For making it happen, IE is ready to provide some scholarships. If you are interested in studying in Instituto de Empresa already this April, the webpage http://www.ie.edu/home/DegreePrograms/subhome_masters4_eng.php

For scholarships check this page: http://www.ie.edu/financial-aid/wf_becas.aspx

When you are applying to the school and a scholarship, mention that you are from AIESEC and it will give you additional advantage - here selection committee knows AIESEC and wish to have more of them in the school.

If you have any questions or suggestions about scholarships you can write email to financialaid(at)ie.edu. Mention that email is for Joël McConnell (he is alumni of AIESEC Canada) and he will give you all required information.

Learning by action

gisela.peralta@gmail.com (Gigi Peralta) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 07:01:00 +0000

I´m an alumni of Pacifico University from Lima,Perú, and since last November, I´m an International MBA candidate of IE Business School. My background is in marketing and before October 2008, I was a product manager in Samsung's Lima Office. The experience of working in an international company gave me similar feelings when I used to work in AIESEC: learning about diversity, enjoying our differences, being proactive, breaking paradigm, being an agent of change, and so on. If you noticed, all of them involved ACTION-INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE AND PREPARATION. Aiesecers don´t want to be like the rest of the people, we want to be different. That is why I decided to do a masters outside my country, in order to live a new international academic experience.

There are several reasons why I chose IE. First, IE has a very good reputation in Europe in academics, efficiency, networking and diversity. Also, they offer financial support (scholarships) to many emerging countries. Moreover, two of the three main areas that I am interested are: social responsibility and entrepreneurship. IE has an active role in Spain's development. However, besides the reasons above, I decided on IE because of the case method and their process of learning.

Why is the Case Method successful?

I believe that it represents one of the most demanding, engaging, and provocative ways to learn because you have to find solutions to real or unreal situations faced by organizations in different areas and industries. You will put in action theory concepts through three main steps: individual analysis, group discussion, and class sharing.

What are the key elements for the case method?

First: personal effort! You first need to study the lesson before go to class or your group meeting. Otherwise your participation won't increase the team's knowledge. Also, if you are not prepared, you will not participate in class and IE evaluates your participation at around 20% to 50% of your grade.

Second: people! I think that you will learn more from the people around you and their background than any theoretical book. The discussion allows you to the scope of the case and your knowledge will be rewarded by different perspectives based on people's differences experiences.

In summary, put in action the case method because it is the best way to learn!

Theory in practice

noreply@blogger.com (Sergej Vohrin) — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 12:10:00 +0000

Looking back to my university in Latvia, I did not know too much about case method and did not have experience in studying with the case method. I thought IE is great school just because its teachers and program structure. When we started to study and straight away we started to study based on case method. For me it was great to see how much I can learn out of it.

Many people complain that in the school they study poor theory and no any practical usage of the theory. The case method is perfect solution for it. You receive a case from real world where you need to apply theory learned in the class, logic, past experience and group work to find the best solution for the situation. And later during class discussions you see how did you do it and what possible mistakes did your group make. Many similar cases can happen with you when you will go to business environment and this is great way how to know how to deal with them.

Learning in Action - The Case Method

noreply@blogger.com (Gustavo Pimentel) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 15:24:00 +0000

One of the things that brought me to IE was the Case Method. Created by Harvard, this teaching method features real or fictitious situations faced by organizations in a wide array of areas and markets. Therefore, students are invited to learn business concepts by solving the case.

This is how it works in practice here at IE. For example, you know your next Marketing class will discuss the launch of a new product by a large pharmaceutical company. You have the case, which is 10-15 pages usually, and additional theoretical material that will help you solve it. In the pharma case, it was reading a specific chapter of the book and use the tools described to solve the case. In addition, the professor posted some guiding questions. I read the case 2 days before the class and made my notes. Next day, I met my work group (6 people) to discuss the case and work on a group solution. My colleague was responsible to summarize our solution in a 3-page document, which was posted on a Wiki, so everybody could edit. The next day, we delivered our written solution to the professor before the class. During class, the professor facilitates the case discussion with the other groups, totalling 50 people. He uses the frameworks provided by the book and clarifies our doubts. Parts of the case have no right or wrong solution, so the discussion between groups is stimulated. At the end of the class, the professor may say what was the real solution implemented by the company and its results. Some days later he sends our grade on the case write-up. At the end of the term, our participation in class is also graded.

It is incredible how much more you learn with this method. First, you have to prepare, do your homework, and exercise the concepts read in the books. Second, you learn from discussing with your group. Most of the times, at least 1 person in the group has some experience in the topic discussed. Practicing team work and time management skills is also a daily duty. Last, you wrap-up your learning during class, by listening to the professors and the solutions from other groups. This is what IE calls ACTION LEARNING.

With this method, you are forced to study EVERYDAY and skipping classes becomes a huge risk to your learning and grades. In the other hand, when you reach the exams week, you do not need to bother much. Very likely you already learned much of the subject and secured your grade by class participation and assignments.

Why university was not like this? I will keep wondering...

Why IE? Why Marketing?

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Bengston) — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 15:39:00 +0000

I am an alumni of Saint Louis University and I became aware of IE Business School while studying my semester abroad at my university's Madrid campus. IE is very well known in Madrid and Europe and people always spoke very highly of the school, so I always had an interest in seeing if a master's degree at IE made sense for me.

When I decided to get a business degree to add to my undergraduate and first master's in physical therapy, IE was one of the top schools I considered. Ultimately IE's reputation and the opportunity to study at a top international business school helped me decide on returning to Madrid. Doing a Master in Marketing Management is helping me better understand the the tools needed to take on a leadership role in a healthcare-related organization. While it was a little scary to move to a new country where the first language is not English, I was happy to know that many people at IE were in the same position as me, and that most people in my program were from outside of Spain.

It is hard work, but the people and diversity make the experience totally worth it. I hope that the people I meet at IE will help me contribute to AIESEC growth in the United States or whereever I end up, after my program. My ideal contribution to AIESEC after the program would be to be able to offer internships to fellow AIESECers, at the company where I get hired after graduation. I would also very much like to attend an AIESEC International event, as a representative for a sponsoring company. I know it is tough to find great internships and jobs and I hope to help my fellow AIESECers in this area after I graduate from IE.

AieSEC or aIEsec?

noreply@blogger.com (Gustavo Pimentel) — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 14:47:00 +0000

Undoubtedly, one of my main take-away from my AIESEC experience* is the art, science and practice of personal planning. I’ve done so many “individual learning plans”, “career plans” and “heading for the future plans” that I had no excuse not knowing what I wanted to do in the next 10 years. When I left AIESEC in 2005, it was crystal clear I wanted to pursue an International MBA in a world-class institution.

My search for an MBA program started in early 2006, therefore 2,5 years before actually starting the course. I definitely recommend such a long preparation process. But how to choose a school when you have so many good options in the market? I wondered if there was any Insight XP –like systems to help me with the match!

I pretty much wanted an environment that resembled the best I found in AIESEC and in my short corporate/NGO career afterwards: entrepreneurial spirit, multi-cultural environment, action-oriented learning and an earnest desire to contribute towards sustainable development: IE was just the perfect answer.

I realized that observing small details. IE representatives and alumni had sparks in their eyes when talking about the school, just the same we had when asked about our AIESEC XP. Then the application forms looked like carbon copies of my MC application. It was so easy to respond that I thought something was wrong. I could not be more certain about the match when I heard the news that IE had partnered with AIESEC interested in the alumni profile for its programs. Bingo!!!

I have been in Madrid for 2 months and cannot regret my decision. My colleagues in the International MBA (IMBA) are distributed in 7 classes of 50 people. We account for 59 nationalities from all continents. My class (50 people) has 27 nationalities and my workgroup of 6 people has 1 Brazilian (me), 1 Korean, 1 British-Sri Lankan, 1 French, 1 Chilean and 1 Dominican. I feel like attending an IC, with the difference that it lasts 13 months, not 13 days. Just hope I can party as much hard as I am studying. I tell you more in the next post.

AIESECly / IEly,
Gustavo Pimentel (a.k.a. Guga)

*
LCEB Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2000-2001
LCP Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2002
MCVP External Relations, Brazil, 2003-2004
AIESEC – ABN AMRO Global Partnership Coordinator, The Netherlands, 2004-2005

The Right Place for Me?

noreply@blogger.com (Tamer Zikry) — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 09:07:00 +0000

To start off, I am Tamer Zikry, an AIESECer since 2001 and actively involved till this last summer when I ended my term as Director of AIESEC International for the Middle East and North Africa.

Currently, as it might be obvious I am studying at the Instituto de Empresa (IE). I am currently on the second month of the Masters of Management of Telecom and Digital Business programme.

After getting admitted into IE, I had so many different questions racing through my mind. Will I be able to manage living in Spain without speaking Spanish? Will I feel challenged enough by the programme? Will I be able to find the things that I enjoyed most about my last 7 years in AIESEC? Diversity? Access to knowledge about world issues? Opportunities for interesting and thought-provoking discussions? Will I be able to use what I have been learning in the last 7 years in enhancing my learning experience in the 13 months to come? Will the experience be as practical and enjoyable?

It has been six weeks since I started classes at IE but more than eight weeks since I arrived in Spain...Not all of my questions have been fully answered yet nor were my initial thoughts aligned to what I expected, most of the time in a positive sense...

Through this blog, I will take the opportunity to share with the many AIESECers out there my own experience of IE to help you make your own decision on whether IE is the right place for you...

A little hint...now, I am sure it is the right place for me...

Hasta Luego!

Studies Started!

noreply@blogger.com (Sergej Vohrin) — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 22:08:00 +0000

As I´ve already mentioned in another posting, the first week of studies was more an introduction to the concepts of learning, increasing the general understanding of how to accept and deal with cultural differences, talking about ethics and participating in team building activities.
There was one class that I thought was very beneficial from the perspective of team building: a professional basketball coach lead us for 1.5 hours with the goal of creating team spirit in our working groups. This workshop made us better understand how to coordinate team activities, how to communicate in real time, and how to ultimately delivery results.

First IE Impressions

noreply@blogger.com (Sergej Vohrin) — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 21:30:00 +0000

The opening day of my program was the 9th October! Everyone was very excited to start this new stage of their personal and professional development. To start, we took pictures for our student cards and during the process we had the chance to get to know our colleagues. The first people I met where from Peru and Brazil which made me realize how diverse and international IE is. This year I think I heard we have more than 75 different nationalities on campus.
During the official opening, we listened to different people and ideas. One of the speakers was especially captivating. Although is the speakers core message was not new, it was very well reiterated: “live your life in balance - it is possible”. I hope I can live this motto while at IE Business School and once I graduate.

The first week of classes was mostly introductory, explaining the new leaning process I am undertaking. The study methodology sounded very stimulating. Just imagine: you work most of the time in your team that has 7 to 8 people, from 6 to 7 countries, to resolve real problems from real companies.
My current group is formed by people from Turkey, Egypt, the United States, Latvia, Spain, Portugal and the Dominican Republic. When we got to know each other, besides the nationalities, I could feel the huge potential of everyone in my team and their unique experiences, which adds great value to the group discussions! An interesting point is that coincidentally in my class there are a total of 5 students from AIESEC  One from India, another from Spain, USA, myself and Egypt (Tamer from Egypt was working in AIESEC International (AI) last year) and I found already more AIESECers in another IE programs and we are planning to gather together soon.

My intake has about 50 people from 28 different countries and from five of the continents: Asia, Europe, Africa, North America and South America. After a short introduction of each student, I realized there was a real melting pot of backgrounds: physiotherapist, advertisers, engineers, lawyers, etc… And all of them high potential people with special individual strengths, which provides a great opportunity for everyone to learn from different values, visions and experiences.

The learning concept of the school is based on the case method. Most of the classes are based on a specific functional area of business, we have a technical note about each topic and then a practical case from a diverse series of organizations related to the topic we are studying. For the group discussions, we have to read (a lot!), analyze and think about the problems and solutions of the case given. We learn from the ideas of the others in the group and the class. This approach makes your studying progression more effective, easy and interesting.
Professors are very well-selected, coming from everywhere: USA, Argentina, UK, Germany and Spain among others. Most speak at least two languages, if not more.
Having participated in approximately 35 AIESEC conferences, I always analyze facilitators and how they are delivering information. So far, at IE, I think they are some of the best facilitators I’ve seen, from the aspects of content, presentation and communication skills. In addition to learning about theory, we also benefit a lot from our professor’s professional experience, as well as the experience my classmates have had so far.

But nothing is perfect and the program is quite intensive, so for now I am still working on living the balance motto. Studying at a top business school means loads of work, prepreparation and reading. I could say that it’s similar to AIESEC workload as you invest your time and energy knowing that you´ll gain valuable knowledge and benefit from unique experiences. This is fine however as for me, if you don´t work hard you cannot achieve great things.

How did I end-up in Madrid?

noreply@blogger.com (Sergej Vohrin) — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 20:51:00 +0000

It was the middle of August in Brazil, and I was thinking about what I should do next; where in the world should I go? After some personal reflection and investigation, my thoughts became the decision: it was time to go back to school. A short while after I had applied to a two of the top schools I was interested in, I received an email that provided me with some very good news: I was admitted to IE Business School, one of the highest ranked business schools worldwide! So, once finished the International Congress in Sao Paulo, I went back to Mexico to finish up the AIESEC work I was doing there, and then headed home to Latvia to prepare all the necessary details for me return to studies. After a short two weeks in my country I was off again, but this time to place a little closer to home: Spain.

Upon my arrival to Madrid, I went straight to my new school. I have to confess I was a bit anxious to see the location, gather information and visit the student services office. It was a relief when I found them to be very friendly and helpful, giving me several documents such as a campus map, a city map or a cell phone card with some credits. I also should say that the school itself is very nice and modern, located in the Salamanca neighborhood - one of the most exclusive areas of the city - and the campus was very easy to reach by bus or metro.

The next day, once I was settled in my new city, I went for a walk in Madrid and I then began to understand why it is the second tourist destination after Paris. Madrid is a really beautiful city that always feels alive.

That evening I went to a conference organized by the IE Entrepreneurs Club where a special guest from Mexico shared his experience in starting Volaris, a new discount airline in that country. It was very interesting and audience members got to interact with the speaker.