Report on period of study abroad SKEMA Business School, Sophia Antipolis

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1 Report on period of study abroad SKEMA Business School, Sophia Antipolis GENERAL REPORT Host institution and exact dates of the semester abroad For my exchange abroad I have studied one semester at SKEMA Business School at Sophia Antipolis, the technology park close to Antibes in the French Reviera. My semester started on September 4 th of 2014, and ended on December 19 th Contact with home faculty, preparation and journey As everyone else, I had to contact my home faculty to send them my Learning Agreement before mobility and to send them the signed version of the Erasmus Grant Agreement. The contact with the exchange coordinators went smoothly and my questions were always answered in a short amount of time. To prepare for my semester abroad I contacted the two students who had been on exchange to SKEMA Business School in the previous year, and asked them about all the information I needed. They were extremely helpful and offered me information about places to rent a room, how to arrange telephone contracts, where to go out, etc. If you decide to apply for an exchange semester at SKEMA and you are accepted, you are always welcome to contact me about any questions you may have since I have experienced myself how comfortable it is to have someone that is able to answer your questions. Since the French Reviera is not that far away, I decided to go to my destination by car. Two weeks before the semester started, I went on a vacation in Cannes with my parents. I would really recommend you to do the same since it offers you two weeks to explore the area by car and get used to the French life, while still having some comfort. After the two weeks my parents brought me to my studio in downtown Juan-les-Pins. They left on August 30 th, and since my semester only started on the 4 th of September I still had some time to acclimatize on my own. Residence abroad Arrangements visa / residence permit As for all EU-citizens, Dutch students do not need to arrange a visa or a residence permit for their stay in France. Arrival and departure dates Like I mentioned before, I arrived in France two weeks before the semester started. I only arrived at my own studio on August the 30 th, so I had a couple of days before the introduction day took place. Some of the people I met arrived for various reasons after the introduction day, but I recommend to really participate on this day. You get some useful information about the university and other practical information, but moreover it offers you a great possibility to meet your fellow exchange students. On day one I met quite a lot of people already, which enabled me to get to know lots of people through connections during the whole semester. My departure was on December the 21 st, two days after the final end of the semester. You should not book a flight back home before the end of the semester, because if you have bad luck with your schedule there is a chance that you still have courses on the very last day of the semester. My courses nevertheless ended on the 18 th, so I had three days left to arrange my stuff and say goodbye to everyone. Note that most of the people leave one or two days after the final day of the semester, so do not book your flight back home a week after the final day of the semester since you will probably be the only one left and you don t want to be in that position. Accommodation My accommodation was a studio in the very center of Juan-les-Pins. The room itself was very small, but it included a small kitchen and bathroom just for myself, and the location was perfect. Rooms in

2 this area are way more expensive than in Groningen, the prices vary between 400 and 700 euro per month. For my studio I paid 500 euro a month, WiFi not included (A general remark is that you should really only rent a studio or apartment which already has a WiFi connection, this will save you a lot of time and money since the French national telecom provider offers the worst service I have ever experienced). It will save you money if you rent an apartment with someone else, but I experienced that sometimes it was good to be just by yourself because, especially during the first two months, you will be outside and surrounded by all the other exchange students 24/7. To compensate the high rent prices, you can also apply for housing allowance. However what I heard from other exchange students is that this is a very lengthy process and is hardly profitable and therefore I didn t do this. The best places to live in this area are Antibes and Juan-les-Pins. You should absolutely not look for a student room at the student residents near SKEMA, these residents are packed with Asians that do not really integrate with other exchange students and the bus connection with these residents stops after 10 p.m., which makes it impossible to go out unless you can sleep at someone s place. Juan-les-Pins is a little town in the commune of Antibes and the two towns are actually grown into each other. The centers of both towns are connected by the Boulevard Président Wilson, and to get from the one center to the other takes you less than a fifteen minute walk. By bus, it takes you even less than five minutes. The prices of rooms are on average cheaper in Antibes than in Juan-les-Pins, however the SKEMA parties always take place in Juan-les-Pins since all the clubs are located here. In Antibes there are nevertheless some nice bars too, where we gathered a lot with all the exchange students. Places to go to in Juan-les-Pins are the very nice beach and the clubs like Yes Club, Kiss Club and Le Village. Places to go to in Antibes are the Hop Store, the Absinthe Bar and the Australian Bar. Reception and introduction My introduction day was on September the 4 th. In the morning some relevant people spoke about general information and some necessary things to know. Also we received a welcome package which included some papers like the timetable for all the courses, but also a USB-stick which contained all personalized relevant information. After the talks all the exchange students received a voucher for a free meal in the cafeteria which allowed you to meet a lot of people really quickly. SKEMA also wants you to have a one-on-one meeting with one of the exchange coordinators in order to answer some of your questions and to check if you can follow all the courses you intend to take. In the welcome package a paper is included which tells you at what time you should be at which office. My appointment was only the next day and therefore I left after lunch. Keep in mind that the introduction day for Bachelor exchange students takes place on another day than the introduction day for Master exchange students. I would definitely recommend to only take Master courses (you will be automatically enrolled for the Master introduction day if you do so) but I will come back to this later. In the evening there was the introduction party for the whole school, so also for all the French Bachelor and Master students. The party was organized by the SKEMA party committee, only existing of French students that are in their first year of their Masters. The theme of the party will always be the theme color of the previous year s party committee, which in my case was pink but will be purple for the coming year. Every year the first party of the year is a beach party, held at one of the beach clubs in Juan-les-Pins or Golfe Juan. Before I went to the party I went to a little predrink with some people I met earlier that day. I really enjoyed the whole night, having a beach party on the 4 th of September is pretty nice and you should really go here. You can buy tickets for the introduction party at the Life center on the SKEMA campus, which will be shown during a little guided tour on the introduction day while you are walking towards the cafeteria. On September the 6 th we had the second part of the introduction. All exchange students had to meet at the central square in Antibes at 9 a.m., where we were randomly divided into small groups. A

3 scavenger hunt was organized to get to know the places in the town of Antibes and to get to know some aspects of the French culture. After the scavenger hunt we received a lunch and I agreed to meet at the beach with a group of other exchange students. I would say that the scavenger hunt itself is not really necessary since you can discover the town by yourself too, however again it is a good way of meeting new people. Something I would recommend to do is to take the course Cultural awareness: living & working in France, which was given by Ms. Jones during my semester. This course is a 3 ECTS-course, but only consists of one week of lectures, a group presentation and an individual assignment. However, during the lectures and the breaks between the lectures, you get a great opportunity to again meet new people or to get to know people you ve met earlier in a better way. People who did not take this course were free during the first week of their stay, which sounds tempting since the weather is still great during this time of the year, but these people did not have the opportunity to meet so many people in such a short time. Student life, culture and leisure To live as an exchange student in the French Riviera is just one of the best experiences you can ever have. During the first two months the temperatures are always above 20 degrees Celsius and so you can swim in the Mediterranean literally till the end of October / beginning of November, depending on how lucky you are with the weather. Till the second week of October it is till holiday season in Antibes and Juan-les-Pins and therefore the restaurants are always crowded with tourists and the terraces are opened till late, which gives you the impression of being on a holiday. As the teaching style on a business school differs massively from the Dutch educational system, you do not need to read any study book for most of the courses. Participation during the classes is really important at SKEMA, but during your leisure time (especially during the first two months) you do not need to think much about schoolwork. This gives you loads of time to spend at the beach and to hang out with your fellow exchange students, or to go on a trip to surrounding cities such as Nice, Cannes and Monaco or cities in Italy such as Ventimiglia and Milan. The French culture is in some ways similar to the Dutch culture, but in many ways it is different. Something you will notice right from the beginning is that people in France, and especially in the south of France, spend a lot of attention on their appearance. The biggest difference however is that the French, compared to the Dutch, have a really easy going attitude towards time and appointments. Being late is normal, also for bus drivers and teachers and Mañana Mañana could be easily applied to the French way of life. Also, arranging stuff such as telephone contracts will take up way more time than in the Netherlands. The French culture is really bureaucratic and to receive something you always have to have some official documents. When the weather is good there are many ways to spend your leisure time. As told earlier, during the first two months I spent a lot of time on the beach, as well as during the day as during the night: the beach is a great place to host predrinks since you can invite anyone you want, there is no space limit. Having the opportunity to go to the beach is not only really fun, but it also is really useful for making new contacts. Going to the beach with a group of people is a great way to get to know each other, since it is very easy and open. During our stay we made a Facebook page called Beach hangouts, which was initially made for letting others know where and when to meet at the beach. However, during the semester the Facebook page evolved into a page where people posted anything they planned to do in order to see if people wanted to join them, and the amount of members of the page grew from 6 to 102. Also, every Tuesday and Thursday SKEMA parties will be held in one of the clubs of Juan-les-Pins, or sometimes even in clubs in Monaco and Cannes. These parties are arranged by the SKEMA party

4 committee and are exclusive for SKEMA students. The entrance fee of every single party is 12,-, including two drinks. Compared to the Netherlands this is very expensive, but for the (in general a bit spoiled) SKEMA students this is very normal. Even though the entrance fees of these parties are high, I really enjoyed most of them. The French students party as if they have never partied before, this is because most of them have been attending Prépas before going to SKEMA. Prépas is the short name for Classes préparatoires aux grandes écoles. Prépas takes two years and is a sort of school which students go to between high school and university. In France, Grandes Ecoles (SKEMA is a Grande Ecole) are very prestigious and it is very hard to get in. These Prépas schools prepare students for the entrance tests of Grandes Ecoles and apparently these schools are really intense. Once a French student gets in in a Grande Ecole, he feels like his mission is already accomplished. After years of hard work at Prépas, students enjoy their freedom and this is really exposed in their drinking behaviors. Language When I returned in the Netherlands everyone asked me whether I improved my French language skills, and there is one clear answer which is no. At SKEMA the language of instruction is English, so you can speak English with anyone. The only place where it is useful to speak a bit of French is in the supermarket or at places such as the SFR, but (with a little bit of help of your fellow exchange students) you will always find a way to get what you want. Don t expect to get answered in English when asking a Frenchman something at the streets, most of the French are quite capable of speaking in English but they are just too proud to do so: they know your English will be better than theirs and therefore they think they will look stupid. When a Frenchman is willing to answer you in English, it is most likely that his sentence will start with: Excuse me for my bad English.. Grant First of all, for my minor abroad I received an Erasmus grant. The total amount of the grant for studying in France is 1080,-, which you will receive in two rounds. During the mobility I already received 70% of the total amount. The last 30% I will receive after sending the required documents such as the final learning agreement, the transcript with my grades and this report. Next to my Erasmus grant I also received an amount of 300,- from the Groningen University Fund (GUF). The GUF is subsidizing study-related travel abroad by advanced students, so if you have a GPA of 7.0 you can apply for a grant of 300,- maximum. Applying for this grant has to be done at least six weeks before departure by sending a letter with a detailed description of the planned activity, and a written statement of support by your study advisor to the GUF. The amount of the grant is quite adequate when you look at the amount of money you spend during your stay in France. Like mentioned before, you will probably spend about 400 to 700 Euro on renting a room or studio. The prices of food in France are quite comparable to the Dutch prices, some things are priced higher but for example wine and cheese is cheaper in France. Because the French government subsidizes French wines, you can buy a bottle of good wine for less than 3,- in the supermarkets. I ve also been going out for dinner quite a lot. Because Antibes and Juan-les-Pins are both tourist destinations, you can have dinner in every price range, but especially for budget travelers there are enough places to go out for dinner. In general you can have a proper dinner in a restaurant, including a glass of wine, for a price between 10,- and 15,-. The public transport in France is really cheap. For approximately 60,- you will have a bus pass which is valid for an unlimited amount of rides for the period of four months. A return train ticket from Antibes or Juan-les-Pins s train station to Cannes, Nice or Monaco will be about 5,-.

5 Study General advice As I mentioned before, I would definitely recommend to only take Master courses during an exchange semester at SKEMA. The level of education at SKEMA, at least for the courses I took, is lower than the level of education at the RuG, and therefore Bachelor courses won t be challenging at all or actually just boring. Also, for the courses I took at SKEMA I did not need to read any book, so the Master courses are still a lot easier than the Bachelor courses in Groningen. Besides, I experienced that the Bachelor SKEMA students are less mature than Dutch students at that age and therefore I would also recommend you to only take Master courses since you will probably meet more people you connect with in these classes. However, this is of course something everyone will experience in a different way. Dates of beginning and end of lecture series and examination period The Fall semester 2014 at SKEMA started on the 4 th of September. The Add and drop -period in which students could still change courses in their course list started on September 8 and ended on September 24. All courses started on September 8 as well. During the semester there was one Mid-semester break, which was from the 27 th till the 31 st of October. Midterm exams were all conducted during the last week before the Mid-semester break, and all final exams were conducted during the last two weeks of the semester, so during the first two weeks of December. All courses were finished by the 19 th of December. The exact dates of the final exams will only be announced a couple of weeks in advance, so at the beginning of the semester you do not have this information. Remarks on the organization of the study program On the introduction day of the semester (or the day after) every exchange student will have an individual meeting with one of the exchange coordinators of SKEMA. During this ten-minute meeting you will have to tell which courses you intended to take and to see whether you will have clashes in your schedule. In the welcome package you will find a timetable for every course and an empty calendar on which you have to fill in all the lectures of the courses you intend to take. Being used to the automatic generated schedules at the RuG it seemed a bit weird to do this myself just by using pen and paper, but together with the exchange coordinator you will sort out a schedule which will fit you the best. I chose to fill in an amount of courses on the Learning agreement before mobility which was worth more than 40 ECTS-credits. By doing this I could make a schedule that fit me the best, since I could just choose the courses which fitted in easiest. If I would not have done this and I had to choose another course because there were too many clashes in my schedule, the RuG would need to check and accept that new course first which could take too much time. Finally I ended up with a schedule including ten courses worth 31 ECTS-credits in total. Level of education The way of teaching at a business school differs massively from the way of teaching at a university. Therefore, the level of education at SKEMA can t really be compared with the level of education at the RuG. At the RuG, the education is much more based on theories, models and scientific papers. At SKEMA, the education is focused on the practical applications and real time business. Because of this, study books are rarely used in the courses at SKEMA (only courses from the Financial master require a little amount of study books). For the courses I took it was most important to participate during the classes and lectures, and the notes I made were actually the only study material (together with some cases and articles) which I had to use for preparing presentations and tests. As I said before, it is wise to only take Master courses at SKEMA because these courses are still much easier to take than Bachelor courses back home.

6 Study facilities/ International Office Abroad At SKEMA, there are two computer rooms which are available for all students. Also, the printing machines are available for everyone and in the welcome package you will receive a pass that allows you to print a sufficient amount of pages for free. Also the rooms at SKEMA are all highly equipped. In the front of the large lecture halls microphones are mounted on a desk, so when you have to do your presentation with your team the lecturers allow you to sit behind the desk and speak in the microphones while presenting. The International Office at SKEMA is always open for exchange students to visit, and the exchange coordinators are always friendly and helpful when you have questions or problems. Summary of subjects taken In total I took ten courses from three different Master programs, which had a total value of 31 ECTScredits. The Masters from which I chose the courses were: MSc International Marketing and Business Development, MSc Entrepreneurship and Innovation for a Sustainable World and MSc Luxury and Fashion Management. The ten courses I took were: - New Venture and Business Plan - Strategic Brand Management - Retail Marketing - Perfect Pitch - Essential Negotiation Skills - Fashion and Brand Management - Design and Innovation - State of the Art in Fashion and Luxury - Regulatory Issues in the Luxury Industry - Cultural Awareness: Living and Working in France At the end of the semester I only had to take one written exam, which was for the course Strategic Brand Management. In the MSc Luxury and Fashion Management none of the courses have a final exam, grading is primarily based on presentations. For the other Masters some courses may have and some don t, by chance none of the courses I took from these Masters had a final exam. Other relevant information - Summary impression and advice/suggestions/tips Studying abroad, at SKEMA but also in general, is something one should definitely experience when getting the chance to do so. A semester abroad gives you the opportunity to meet many people from all over the world, to experience a new culture and to be more independent. In short you could say going on exchange lets you learn more about yourself and about the world. The place where you re going on exchange doesn t really matter, most important is the people you will meet. However, I can t think of any better place to go on exchange to than the French Riviera. Especially during the first two months I felt like I had one great holiday with lots of sun, parties and sometimes some lectures. Also, having the opportunity to go to the beach is not only very fun to have, but it is also very useful since you can invite anyone you would like due to the unlimited amount of space. I think this has contributed a lot to the forming of one big group with all the exchange students and I am very happy that I ve had this. To conclude I could say that going on exchange to SKEMA Business School was the best experience I had in my life so far, and that it has definitely contributed to my personal development.

7 SPECIFIC REPORT Cultural awareness: Living and working in France 8 to 12 September 2014 (Seminar Week) This course was given during the seminar week, which took place during the very first week of the semester. From Monday till Friday we had seminars during the morning and afternoon, except for Wednesday afternoon when we were allowed to work on the presentations within our groups. Because this course was given in the seminar week, it was an intense course but only over a short time lap. This course had no compulsory reading list. Knowledge is primarily gained by listening to presentations, by doing research on the internet and by reading some articles. During the seminar week, every single seminar had its own theme and so several topics were profoundly discussed. This interactive seminar is specifically designed for exchange students to help their integration in France. It introduces you to cultural, business and institutional factors that are affecting France today and makes you better understand and analyze France and the French. The course moves beyond stereotypical views and perspectives to enable you to gain deeper cultural awareness. For this course you had to give one group presentation about a topic of choice which is related to the French culture. Also, an individual comparative essay had to be written about the differences in culture between your home country and France. This course does not relate to any course from the Groningen study program, it is especially created for exchange students to gain knowledge about the culture they are going to live in for four months. Apart from being present at the seminars I have spent about three hours on the research and preparation for the presentation and another six hours on the writing of the comparative essay. The lecturer who conducted the assessment for this course was Tracy Jones. I obtained 3 ECTScredits Design and Innovation The first lecture of this course took place on September 26 and the lectures ended on December 18. For this course there were 27 hours of lectures in total, divided into nine sessions of three hours. There was no compulsory reading list. Knowledge was primarily gained by listening to the professor s lectures, students presentations, by doing research on the internet and by reading some articles. In the first lecture the professor, who is the founder of a global design agency based in Paris, showed all of his collaborations with companies such as Peugeot, Evian and Christian Louboutin for which his company created package designs and advertisements. During this session he explained how the design of the products influences the buyer s behavior and he clarified how the designs were created. During the following lectures the knowledge was transferred the same way, for each topic a specific example was used out of the professor s own portfolio, which gave the lectures a really practical touch. Topics covered: o Introduction to Design

8 o Roots and history o Aims, goals and different jobs in design o Creative methodologies o Initiation to Design Management o Brands strategies Definitions o Defining, creating and elaborating a Brand Book o Defining a creative concept For this course there were three assignments. For the first one you had to give a presentation answering the four questions: Who am I?, Where do I come from?, Where am I going?, and How can I achieve my goal.. For the next assignment, you had to create a brand image that would represent your own character and being and therefore would be a clear symbol for the answers on the questions of assignment one. The final assignment was a group presentation for which you had to create a new creative strategy for either Pierre Marcolini, Evian or Marie Dalgar, which all three are clients of the professor s agency. There is actually no clear relation between this courses and the study programme in Groningen. This course is mainly focused about the design of products and its effect on the marketing. The course to which it can be compared with the most is the first year course Marketing, however there is no literature used for this SKEMA course and again it is more focused about the design and aesthetics. Apart from being present at the lectures I have spent about half an hour on the first assignment, three hours on the second one and about ten hours on the research and preparation for the presentation of the group assignment. The lecturer who conducted the assessment for this course was Christophe Pradere. I obtained 4 ECTS-credits Elective: Essential negotiation skills This course was given during the second part of the second elective week of the semester, which was from the 15 th of October till the 17 th of October. The course existed of three days of five hour during seminars, which makes a total of 15 hours of seminars. There was no compulsory reading list since this course is more about practical applications and real-time practicing than doing research. All three days of this elective course were filled with sessions in which the lecturer presented and discussed negotiation techniques and examples, followed by sessions in which we had to take this gained knowledge into practice. This course was the most practical course of all the courses I took, but definitely one of the courses in which I gained the most knowledge. The course is broadly structured around a sequence of exercises in which you will learn to manage different types of negotiation situations: transactional/distributive, integrative, out-of-the-box etc. Topics covered: o Essential negotiation skills o Understanding different types of negotiation o Preparing for negotiation o Conceptual models for negotiation o Convincing vs. persuading o People skills o Cognitive traps

9 o Thinking out of the box o Conflict management Grading was based on a reflective essay about a book of choice about negotiation techniques and a reflective essay on your personal negotiation performances during the seminars. There is no clear relation between this courses and the study programme in Groningen. The course is very practical and no type of literature is used. For the book reflection I read a book of about 80 pages of Oxford University Press and spent three hours on this reflection, and spent another two hours on the reflection on my own performances. The lecturer who conducted the assessment for this course was Peter Spier. I obtained 2 ECTS-credits Elective: Perfect pitch This course was given during the third elective week of the semester, which was from the 26 th of November till the 28 th of November. The course existed of three days of five hour during seminars, which makes a total of 15 hours of seminars. There was no compulsory reading list since this course is more about practical applications and real-time practicing than doing research. All three days of this elective course were filled with sessions in which the lecturer presented and discussed negotiation techniques and examples, followed by sessions in which we had to take this gained knowledge into practice. This course was a very practical course. It is good to mention that the term pitch does not refer to a business pitch as I thought it would do. The course Perfect pitch is focused on pitches as being short but clear speeches, and it mainly focuses on how you can transmit your message to an audience in a convincing way. The course covers: o Preparation of a pitch o Clarity of thought; clarity of expression o Catching the audience's attention o Engaging with the audience o Use of logic; use of emotion o Use of the voice: rhythm, volume, silence, etc. After the seminar week you had to find a pitch of which you thought would be either very good or very bad, and based on the knowledge and terms you had gained during the week you had explain your view. There is no clear relation between this courses and the study programme in Groningen. The course is very practical and no type of literature is used. I spent about two hours on writing the reflection on the pitch I had found on YouTube of Melinda Gates. The lecturer who conducted the assessment for this course was David Ward Perkins. I obtained 2 ECTS-credits

10 Fashion & Brand Management The first lecture of this course took place on November 14 and the lectures ended on December 13. For this course there were 27 hours of lectures in total, divided into nine sessions of three hours. There was no compulsory reading list. Knowledge was primarily gained by listening to the professor s lectures, students presentations, by doing research on the internet and by reading some articles. Lecture 1: Introduction to brand management and history Lecture 2: Brand identity and its importance in the luxury markets, Kapferer Identity Prism Lecture 3: Managing brands and innovation Lecture 4: Luxury industry and its specificities Lecture 5: Anti-laws of marketing Lecture 6: Luxury market, actors and sectors Lecture 7: Luxury product range, brand stretching and extensions and business model Lecture 8: Brand value and brand protection Lecture 9: Group presentations by each group of five students The objective of this course is to make students aware that the managing of luxury or fashion brands is not the same as the managing of normal consumer goods. Also, a clear view on the subjects of brands is provided: from brand equity and strategic brand management process to brand identity. The lectures focus on all the specificities of the fashion and luxury worlds, from the products characteristics to consumer behaviour, issues faced in each sector and all the macroeconomic trends. For this course I had to make one personal assignment and one group presentation. For the assignment we had to create an Identity Prism for a luxury brand, based on the model of Kapferer. For the group presentation we had to create a brand strategy for an existing luxury brand, by first making an in depth analysis of the company. There is actually no clear relation between this courses and the study programme in Groningen. This course is mainly focused about the design of products and its effect on the marketing. The course to which it can be compared with the most is the first year course Marketing, however there is no literature used for this SKEMA course, and this course is mainly focused on the luxury industry. Making the Identity Prism for a brand took me half an hour, the preparing and research for the presentation took more than 12 hours in total. The lecturer who conducted the assessment for this course was Fabien Boyaval. I obtained 4 ECTScredits New venture and business plan The first lecture of this course took place at the 4 th of November and the course was finished on the 18 th of December. For this course there were 27 hours of lectures in total, divided into nine sessions of three hours. There was no compulsory reading list. Knowledge was primarily gained by listening to the professor s lectures, students presentations, by doing research on the internet and by reading some articles. Session 1. What is an innovative venture? Session 2. Business model framework Session 3. The value proposition

11 Session 4. Pitching for value proposition action learning Session 5. Business plan design Session 6. Focus on the go-to-market strategy coaching session Session 7. Financial objectives Session 8. Financial objectives coaching session Session 9. Business plan pitches This course takes the student from innovative idea creation to early start-up activities and acquisition of the first clients for a new business. Central to this process is the iterative creation and fine tuning of a business plan, development of understanding the uses of the business plan for management of key activities and for attracting outside investors. For this course we had to write individually a business model for a business idea that you had to come up with yourself, to present an individual pitch about your idea and to present a final group pitch for a jury of real experts. This course is quite similar to the third year course Integrative Research Project, however no literature is used and the business model s principles are based on the rules of real business situations instead of academic models. This course is the course on which I spent the most time. The writing of a business plan involves lots of meetings with your group, research on the internet and calls to real businesses and potential clients. In total I have spent probably more than 30 hours on creating the group business plan and preparing the final pitch. The lecturer who conducted the assessment for this course was Philippe Chereau. I obtained 4 ECTScredits Option: Retail Marketing The first lecture of this course took place on September 23 and the course was finished on December 16. For this course there were 27 hours of lectures in total, divided into nine sessions of three hours. There was no compulsory reading list. Knowledge was primarily gained by listening to the professor s lectures, students presentations, by doing research on the internet and by reading some articles. The lectures primarily consist of explanations of formulas to calculate retail successes and successes of advertisements in supermarkets. Also, a lot of case studies are explained to clarify how strategic choices can influence the buyer s behaviors and how maximum profits can be made by companies such as Unilever and Liga. This course provides what you need to better understand the retail universe: acquisition of theoretical and practical knowledge in the retailing area: strategies, retailing decisions, international retailing and store management. Each week some exercises need to be done about retailing calculations and to analyze data, for example to calculate the sales evolution of specific products of a brand and to comment on the performance of a brand based on data you receive. Since this course was really specified on consumer goods which are sold in supermarkets this course does not really relate to any of the courses of the programme in Groningen.

12 The weekly assignments only take less than half an hour a week. The final assignment on which the course grade is based is conducted during the last lecture, so you did not need to spend any time on this outside the class. The lecturer who conducted the assessment for this course was David Nahon. I obtained 4 ECTScredits Regulatory Issues in the Luxury Industry This course took place during the first part of the second elective week of the semester, which was from October 13 till October 15. The course existed of three days of five hour during seminars, which makes a total of 15 hours of seminars. There was no compulsory reading list since this course is more about practical applications than doing research. During the seminars the lecturer, who is the actual owner of the global fashion brand Pierre Cardin, gave examples about how premiums and promotional products are used in the world of marketing and sells and what is the reasoning behind it. o The use of premiums and promotions by major mail order companies o Licensing used by all major brands around the world For this course you had to come up with a strategy and make a presentation about a new premium campaign that could be used by a luxury brand. The presentations were done in groups of four students. There is no clear relation between this courses and the study programme in Groningen. The course is very practical and no type of literature is used. The creation of the presentation about the premium campaign took about three hours and was done during the breaks between the seminar sessions. The lecturer who conducted the assessment for this course was Yves Lucky. I obtained 2 ECTS-credits State of the Art in Fashion and Luxury This course was given during the first elective week of the semester, which was from September 18 till September 19. The course existed of three days of five hour during seminars, which makes a total of 15 hours of seminars. There was no compulsory reading list since this course is more about practical applications and real-time practicing than doing research. During the lectures the lecturer actually told about every single luxury product existing in the world and its history and background. These products varied from gold to koi carps, which for me seems to be really irrelevant for students of a business school. This specialization seeks to give students showing financial or marketing backgrounds the opportunity to enhance their knowledge in the luxury world, maybe one the fastest moving ones.

13 The main aim is to acquire the skills enabling students to evolve in the innovation-driven and polycultural environment of global luxury companies and holdings. For this course we had to make a presentation about a luxury product of choice and make an in depth analysis on it. None. This lectures of this course were actually only an enumeration of the luxury products in the world and didn t have any academic aspect added to it. I spent about two hours on my part of the presentation. Eventually the PowerPoint-presentation only need to be handed in by mail and no real presentation needed to be done. The lecturer who conducted the assessment for this course was Ivan Coste. I obtained 2 ECTS-credits Strategic brand management The first lecture of this course took place at September 15 and the course was finished on December 8. For this course there were 27 hours of lectures in total, divided into nine sessions of three hours. There was a compulsory reading list existing of several articles which were gathered on the intranet of SKEMA. During each lecture the lecturer covered one of the topics which you can see underneath Contents. Information was provided with specific examples such as video ads or magazine ads. The course covers: o Understanding and managing brands and brand equity o Brands and their universes - product, channels, usage o Consumer insight o Understanding and managing brand relationships o The role of emotion o Brand personality o Brand endorsement o Branding services and experiences o Brands in context - the embeddedness of meaning o Rooting brands in culture o Brand placement o Brand content o Brand communities The grading of this course was based on a final written exam at the end of the semester and the writing of a weblog. In groups of five students you had to create a blog about a specific brand market and post at least two articles on it each week. The articles all had to be written by the students themselves and had to be based on (academic) articles and other websites and blogs. Also, terminology used in the lectures had to be used in the blogs and the blog had to be interesting to read for anyone. Branding definitely has something to do with marketing and therefore it has a link with the first year s course Marketing, however branding is much more focused on the image of a brand and the psychology behind this instead of a marketing strategy.

14 I posted three blogs on the weblog, on which I spent about 20 hours in total. For the final written exam we had to study the cased provided on the intranet of SKEMA, which took about two hours. The lecturer who conducted the assessment for this course was Peter Spier. I obtained 4 ECTS-credits