“One of the things that made emlyon stand out among top international business schools is that they really focus on entrepreneurship. They have their own incubation center in the school—you can actually go there and talk to people if you want to start [your] own business.” Class of 2017-2018

"I was working as a data analyst at a startup back in India, and I found that it’s really essential nowadays to actually equip yourself with all the business tools. That was my motivation because that is what is going to help fulfil my future aspirations - an MBA is essential to give you a broader picture. emlyon has helped me so much. I’m an Indian who studied in France who’s now working in Germany"

At fintech giant Wirecard, Veronica Melendez feels like she has found her dream job. It was something she’d set her mind on when enrolling in an MBA

In the midst of fintech’s growth, Wirecard is one of the biggest players. It’s one of the world’s biggest online payment transaction services, catering to over 280,000 companies around the world, with transactions totalling $125 billion in 2018 alone. As a Wirecard project manager, Veronica Melendez is working to maintain professional services for some of the world’s biggest fintech brands, including Revolut, Funding Circle, and WeChat Pay. It’s her dream job, in an industry she’d always aspired to work in. Deciding to do an MBA and change her career direction will be a transaction she won’t forget quickly. Discovering a passion for fintech El Salvador, where she grew up, seems like a world away for Veronica. She studied her bachelor’s there, and was working as a financial analyst, before winning a scholarship to study a master’s in finance in Valencia in Spain. After various roles in finance, Veronica ended up working the payments division at airline Avianca. She had found a niche—in fintech and payments—that she was eager to pursue further. “To pursue it, I knew my finance background would be helpful, but it wasn’t enough,” Veronica remembers. With her mind set on that industry, she went about expanding her knowledge of business and building her profile the best way she knew—through applying for an MBA. The MBA at emlyon business school stood out for a few reasons. She already knew French, she was keen to establish herself in Europe, and she liked the diversity of the program there. But it was the ‘early makers’ philosophy at the school which stood out to her. She wanted her business career to be innovation-led and transformative. Advancing her strategic skills Veronica had in mind several areas of her business profile that she wanted to develop. Firstly, strategy. While finance was her area of expertise, she knew that, to have an impact in business, she needed to be able to view a business from a wider, more strategical approach. Key to developing this was the specialization track in international strategy and multinational enterprises, which is one of nine tracks on offer to MBA students at emlyon. “It helped me open my mind and see that, through strategy, you can analyse a company from different perspectives, and you have a lot of different tools,” she remembers. The international emphasis, meanwhile, meant that she began to see how global businesses had to shape their strategy from a variety of world perspectives. Given the far reach of her current employer, this has been invaluable. The international strategy track even took her abroad on several occasions. One was a semester exchange to Lancaster University in the UK; another was a trip to a business school in Finland, where she saw how the country’s entrepreneurial ecosystem had innovated the economy after the near collapse of Nokia. “I was not only looking at how things worked in a specific country, but how we can see it from the perspective of the rest of the world,” she explains. Getting practical experience But broadening her skill set and knowledge base wasn’t enough—Veronica was keen to prove herself in the actual world of work. During the MBA, she got the opportunity to work on an eight-month consultancy project at BioMerieux, a pharmaceutical giant based in Lyon. It was an industry she knew little about, and it was her first job based in France, and so felt like an opportunity to get to grips with the local and European market. For Veronica, this really stood out for the way that it applied and transformed her new skills in real scenarios. Her project was based around performance assessment in the HR department at the company, and while by no means a pharmaceutical expert, she confidently applied her previous experience and what she had learned on the MBA. “It was certainly one of the most affirmative experiences we had.” A fresh challenge Wirecard is a new challenge for Veronica. At the time of speaking, she has only been at the company for a month. She’s still getting settled in Munich, Germany, where the company is based, and is beginning to learn the language. But more than that, she’s still on a high from having landed a dream job in her industry of choice. She has her MBA to thank for that, but even more for the impact it’s had on her overall. “The biggest impact is learning about yourself—how you react to different situations that you might not have been exposed to, and to unlearn things you’ve been told before,” she insists, “It helps you to grow not just as a professional, but also as a person.” Written by Simon Lovick for Business Because

After a spectacular rise last year (up 19 ranks), emlyon business school’s International MBA has continued to advance, reaching 79th place. In France, it maintains its ranking as the country’s third best program of its type. "emlyon is amongst schools that see biggest improvement over 3 years", says the Financial Times. The Financial Times takes account of several criteria to create its rankings, including the quality of the teaching staff, the percentage of women present on boards of directors and the number of course modules that deal with social, societal and environmental matters. The International MBA in figures: 31 nationalities 29, the average age 17 disciplines representing 14 sectors of the economy

The learning trip to Finland was a classic example of work hard and party harder. The cohort of IMBA 2020 not only fell in love with this small country, having its map in the form of a rabbit, but also with its people, culture and all the innovations it has to offer to the world.

The tour started at the north western city of Oulu, a city of 250,000 amazing people. The technological advancements happening in this tiny city are big and disruptive. Various small and big enterprises involved in innovations in various fields have sprung up all around the city. Few exemplary examples are PrintoCent in technology, Paras Biopharmaceuticals in biotechnology. Further the small size of the city has made it possible for the residents to form a closely knit community with organizations like #Business Oulu, Kielo Growth Incubator at Oulu Business School, encouraging and facilitating startups and SMEs to grow in the region. Along with growth in business and technology the third fundamental principle that Oulu follows is its emphasis on CSR as it is a host to Wind Controller, a company involved in renewable energy production using wind turbines. The focus on health, safety and environment is deeply embedded in the cultural and educational system of the city as evident by the unique but challenging waste management system offered by Kiertokaari. Since there is no facility to collect the garbage at the source, residents come to the waste collection site and sort out their waste. With all this useful knowledge about the entire ecosystem of Oulu, we were headed to or next destination, Helsinki. Upon our arrival in Helsinki, we were all taken aback by the dry landscape of the city. In the month of February when Helsinki should be dipped with snow, it showed no signs of snow. This was self-evident that climate change is for real with huge impacts. Hence, what better way than to start our learning journey with presentations from start-ups which are all working for sustainability and achievement of circular economy. There were presentations from Lovia, a fashion company determined to turn trash into treasure and Infinited Fiber, another company producing fibres sustainably. When in Helsinki we could not have missed visiting Nokia and Rovio- creators of Angry Birds. The visits to both these business sharks in networks solutions and gaming industry respectively are proof enough that Finland is one of the world leaders of pioneering technologies. The last day visit to Maria 01, the largest start-up hub in the Nordics, was a reminder that entire Finland is open to new ideas and welcomes the fresh perspective challenging the convention. Another reason why this trip holds a special place in all our hearts is the fact that amidst such a tight schedule we effortlessly managed to indulge in some fun experiences native to Finland - a visit to the Oulu Art Gallery, snow activities at the vast , snowy landscape of Koiteli, sumptuous dinners at Ravintola Nallikari & Löyly Restaurant, city tours in Oulu & Helsinki. Not to forget the relaxing traditional saunas (Fun Fact - there are two million saunas in Finland, for a population of 5.3 million). Finally everything was followed by a wrap up party in the famous Maxine club of Helsinki. All these events gave us a chance to break free from the monotony of our daily lives and reinvigorate our spirits while discovering new friendships and making stronger bonds with the existing ones. Finland tops the list of countries which are continually investing in and boosting clean tech, green technologies and sustainability causes and our trip to this beautiful country of 5.5 million people saw all the reasons behind its success. All this would not have been possible without the efforts of our professors Hans Schlierer, Rhoda Davidson and the organizers, who made this trip a smooth and exciting experience for all of us. Written by Sanya MITTAL

Dr. Lauren Keating, Assistant Professor at emlyon business school, arrived in Lyon from Sydney, Australia in 2018. Since completing her Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior and Management at UNSW Sydney, she has taught Organizational Behavior in the International MBA and MSc in Management programs, as well as Leadership Development for the European Triple Degree.

1. What was the subject of your Ph.D.? My Ph.D. focused on mindsets – that is, people’s assumptions about whether they believe their abilities are fixed or malleable. Mindsets are simple beliefs about the plasticity of our abilities and yet they can have profound effects on the way we think, feel, act, and interact with others, particularly when we’re facing adversity. For instance, we’re more likely to embrace challenges and be in the spirit of learning to the extent that we believe our abilities are changeable. On the other hand, we see individuals, managers, and other leaders become defensive, frustrated, and avoidant of challenges when they assume their abilities are set in stone and thus nothing can be done to really change them. Mindsets are a type of implicit assumption, meaning that we’re often not aware that we even hold these beliefs and how they affect us. Part of my research, including what I did for my Ph.D., thus involves conducting experiments with people to draw attention to their mindset and how it might be serving or undermining them. During my Ph.D., I explored the effects of mindsets in the context of employee engagement, job search and unemployment, as well as designing mindset interventions that could prompt managers to better leverage the talent of an older workforce. As an Assistant Professor, I continue to research mindsets and other related cognitions, personality, leadership, and motivation. I also work on research projects related to stress, expertise, and career development. 2. How do you think your research and experience could be useful to MBA students? A core element of my research is about unearthing the types of implicit beliefs and biases people hold that affect them in their daily (working) life. Even when you’re not aware of them, as we seldom are, these implicit beliefs can affect whether you push yourself or shy away from challenges, how quickly you judge others, or even the kind of leader you are, just to name a few implications. I think my research could be useful to MBA students wanting to learn more about their own belief systems and biases, how such beliefs have shaped the employee/manager they currently are, as well as how they can re-shape these beliefs in ways that help them to become more of the leader they aspire to be. Delving into this kind of research is also a great way for MBA students to better connect with and empower others in their personal and professional life. Beyond research, I have several years’ work experience in various industries, including in education, construction, and medicine; working in an array of small and larger organizations. I have first-hand experience of how organizational behaviour dynamics can shift depending on the industry and size of a company, which enables me to connect with the experiences of an MBA cohort with diverse professional backgrounds. 3. How do you find teaching MBA students as opposed to Master students? Teaching Master students is great, but there is such a wealth of professional and cultural diversity in the MBA that makes teaching MBA students an incredibly insightful and enjoyable experience. The MBAs have a great deal of work and, oftentimes, international experience that enables them to make thought-provoking contributions to class discussions and debates. It’s often the case that MBA students provide a perspective I haven’t heard before or that gets class members questioning their own assumptions. This is really important for inspiring genuine growth and development as a leader, particularly amongst a cohort who have come back to study precisely for this reason. 4. What do you think the strong points of the MBA students are? As mentioned, I think the professional and cultural diversity of the MBA cohort is a real asset to students wishing to benefit from the insights of not just their professors, but also their peers. It’s also important to note that the team behind recruiting, managing, and welcoming the MBAs is strongly committed to students finding their feet in Lyon, as well as connecting them with others in their cohort through various workshops and events. When I walk into a room, ready to teach a class, I can feel the connection that has been built between the MBAs. It fosters an inclusive and safe learning environment, where students feel comfortable to openly share their insights and perspectives. Not only do MBA students learn a great deal in this environment, they’re cultivating life-long networks and friendships. 5. Do you find teaching such a diverse class challenging? No, I thoroughly enjoy it! 6. Do you have any advice for candidates wishing to join the program? Take advantage of all the knowledge that’s around you – from your professors, your class work, and your peers. How will you actually apply the knowledge you’re accumulating to develop yourself as a leader? I think it’s important for students to routinely reflect on this question, so that they can keep track of their progress toward their goals and shift gears when necessary. I think it’s important for students to also be open to the fact that many of an organization’s problems don’t have definitive solutions. Particularly when we’re talking about organizational behaviour—and thus the complexities of people—the issues we face as managers will depend on the context, the employee in question, or both. An MBA isn’t about matching a solution to a problem, but students being equipped with the tools to become more effective and skilled decision-makers against the backdrop of rapidly changing business dynamics. Dr. Lauren Keating, Assistant Professor at emlyon business school Organizational Behavior & Leadership Group Cognitions, Behaviours, & Transformations Research Centre Ph.D. in Organizational Behaviour and Management, UNSW Sydney

I never imagine myself surrounded by people of 31 different countries sharing experiences, knowledge, beliefs, feelings and of course, the willingness to learn from others and become the true meaning of international. Well, that is so far my experience as an International MBA student at emlyon business school.

I am a Mexican – born and raised in Mexico City – with 9 years of experience as an international tax consultant in a Big4. While researching and deciding which was the best option to study my MBA, I had in mind to join an institution that was appropriate to take me out of my comfort zone and dare me to work together with people from either different cultures or professional backgrounds. As a person who mainly worked with accountants, lawyers and finance people, I knew that dealing with this diversity would be a challenge, and actually, it was. At emlyon business school, I found the opportunity to develop abilities I was not aware of, as a starting point being conscious that the environment in which we develop ourselves (either familiar/workspace or region/country) influences so much on how we express our ideas and feelings and how we get things done, and that these behaviors can be so similar or different to mine. During the first months in the MBA, this awareness became crucial to develop quality and successful teamwork, and not because people were refusing to change their minds, but to help opening mine. On the other side, the multidisciplinary core courses provide us the ability to develop a big picture of all the different aspects that influence the decision-making in companies. This creation of a general perspective is the result of an open-minded attitude and the opportunity to share and learn from the past experiences among classmates, said experiences span from either conventional business matters as marketing, sales, finance or human resources to totally different subjects as engineering, research and development and entrepreneurship. Last but not least, I cannot feel prouder of being part of different events, meals and traditional festivities from all over the world, from wearing scary customs for Halloween to getting all my face and clothes covered in colors for Holi festival; from eating for the first time in a traditional Lyonnais bouchon or a Korean barbecue place to try homemade dumplings to celebrate Chinese new year; from admiring the beauty of lights as part of the Fête des Lumières to admiring them while celebrating Diwali – the Indian festival of lights –, all those experiences are truly invaluable and definitely you would not find them as part of the emlyon business school brochure, but that is exactly what makes this MBA all about diversity. Vicente SILLER MAGANA International MBA Candidate 2019-2020

Every year the International MBA cohort participate in a Hackathon which is designed to teach the participants to collaborate to create and deliver a quality product in a short amount of time. They work intensively on a particular problem over 2 days – this year the topic was to find an innovative service fitting the needs of poor elderly people in France, including a viable business model. The course pushes their creative and problem solving skills to the limit and help the participants learn how to provide innovative solutions, taking into account all stakeholders. With the current confinement restrictions put in place in France to decrease the spread of COVID-19, this project was conducted 100% online, a new challenge for the participants! It allowed them to experience working on a project remotely, something which will be more common in the future. Two current participants wrote about their experience during the Hackathon: This 2 days Hackathon project has a special significance during the confinement period of the COVID-19. It aims at helping elderly to improve the quality of life by gaining independence while benefiting by engaging in social-economic infrastructure. This in-class Hackathon experience has demonstrated tools, frameworks and overview of businesses operation and evaluation. Team members have strengthened bonds by open communication, transparency and inclusion. Specifically, our team of 4 participants have started the project by implementing Design Thinking and interviewing elderly people around the world. This permitted us to reveal valuable customer insights on how we should scope our project. The online Hackathon sharing space facilitates cross team collaboration of the whole cohort. We developed a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), a digital wall for elderly to stay connected to their family by sharing photos, videos and articles through any digital devises. It allows all of us to stay close to our loved ones even during the period of confinement. Wen Marquez - China The terms "design thinking", "service design", "user experience" are used more and more. Schools and business institutions are increasingly using designers, facilitators or collective intelligence experts and projects are designed in cooperation. Customers or users are placed at the center of these new approaches and new tools are created, sometimes with creative names: ideation workshops, hackathons, prototypes, personas, etc. These new practices generally correspond to a strong need to innovate, in response to the various mutations which have taken place over the years, in particular with the irruption of digital technology in our lives. They draw a lot from the professional practices of designers, but they will also draw on other sources: creative problem solving techniques (such as brainstorming). This is how my International MBA team co-created a solution to better support our grandparents. Through the Mural platform, my team and I went through several steps of co-design, empathy, ideation and interviews. We ended up with a solution to perpetuate our recipes "recette de grand-mère". This solution allows the elderly, to have a complement income but above all allow them to do what they like most: give a smile. The recipes will be distributed through several digital channels and books. Yvonne Dalle Nyame – Cameroon For more information on the program download the brochure or contact the Recruitment Manager Lisa Homer-Rulliere at homer-rulliere@em-lyon.com

I am proud to be in the world's most diversified MBA class with more than 30 nationalities in our 63-member cohort. Ranked the top 50 business schools worldwide by Financial Times. Extremely hard work but very rewarding! Here are some of the highlights from the year so far – and we still have 3 months to go!

The journey starts from an integration day: we are the winners! The integration day was an official start to the International MBA program. One full day of sports, team-building exercises, and experience of local culture for graduate students from around the globe. We were allocated with diverse tasks including physical and intellectual challenges. It was a great opportunity for getting to know each other and establish initial contact. The Business Strategy Game was the International MBA students' first teamwork exercise (we had the chance to constantly changing teams, working with people with diversified professional and cultural backgrounds). Business Strategy Game: champions! The Business Strategy Game was our first teamwork exercise (we had the chance to constantly changing teams, working with people with diversified professional and cultural backgrounds). In our team, we were six from five different continents. We had to run a virtual business, managing company's finance, production, sales, marketing, and so on. This simulation demonstrate a holistic approach of running businesses, and we started harvesting friends! New Venture: idea to reality, made a profit, very challenging and very fun! The New Venture class gives us a hands-on experience of entrepreneurship. Starting from an idea, conducting market research, identifying competitors, establishing business models, finding clients, and launching products or services… all in less than three months! Œnotourisme was our theme, and we had fully enjoyed the profit! Disrupted future with GRDF. Consulting with Accor During the MBA program, there were many opportunities to work with industry leaders in France. We were challenged with a series of questions by GRDF regarding the company’s current operation. Through scenario planning, we successfully delivered inspiring suggestions to the management team. Another consulting project was conducted regarding regional marketing, finance and HR strategy for Accor. We were one of four teams selected to present team recommendations. Finland Trip – Dialogue with Nokia The Finland Trip was the highlight of the International MBA. 5 days, 16 companies, we learned about "Doing business in Nordic Countries". Finland is an international leader in education, technology, and pharmaceutical industries. The country's culture and institutional set-up have contributed to an open-valued ecosystem, promoting information sharing and environmentally friendly business solutions to all over the world. Our team was the organizer of conversation with Nokia Bell Labs. We had discovered Luxturrim 5G, a product developed by Nokia Bell Labs to build key enablers for a digital smart city. We exchanged with HR and project managers, gained valuable insights on the change that Nokia had gone through during difficult times and its current focuses. Overall, the Finland trip was an excellent opportunity to learn about businesses from a broader perspective. Hackathon: COVID 19 – CSR in action! This 2 days Hackathon project has a special significance during the confinement period of the COVID-19. It aims at helping elderly to improve the quality of life by gaining independence while benefiting by engaging in social-economic infrastructure. This in-class Hackathon experience has demonstrated tools, frameworks and overview of businesses operation and evaluation. Team members have strengthened bonds by open communication, transparency and inclusion. We developed a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), a digital wall for elderly to stay connected to their family by sharing photos, videos and articles through any digital devises. It allows all of us to stay close to our loved ones even during the period of confinement. ELP Renault Trucks: Customer Centricity The Entrepreneurial Leadership Project (ELP) is a six months long project focusing on team-building and problem-solving skills. We are in teams of 4 or 5, and had to solve a real business challenge in companies or NGOs. Our client is represented by the vice-president of strategy and executive support in Renault Trucks. The project entitled "How to place our customers at the heart of Renault Trucks culture, organization, and processes?" This project is still ongoing. Combining business theories from marketing, finance and operations with the summary of our findings from interviews of managers throughout the whole value chain in the internal process, we propose solutions and recommendations for facilitating future implementation to establish strategic milestones. "Knowledge is of no value unless put into practice." This exciting journey will end soon… but the amazing experience and our friendships will last for a lifetime, vivre emlyon, 2019-20 International MBA!

Indian alumnus Sahil Chutani graduated from the International MBA at emlyon business school in 2018 and now is based in Barcelona Spain. Find out more about his story!

What is your educational/professional background before joining the International MBA? I did mechanical engineering and then worked as a Business Development Manager in consumer goods for 4 years in an entrepreneurial role before joining International MBA. Why did you decide to join the program? My first preference was France as a country for an MBA due to recent promotion of Indo-French ties, which made France more visible in India. I was also in awe of the French culture since high school. The admission process for emlyon business school was clear and simple to understand. And it gave flexibility to my career goals. What were the strong points of the program in your opinion? The strength of the program is in its diversity of candidates in terms of nationality and industry. Apart from the academic focus, it had many activities which helped in learning more about the business ecosystem in Europe with educational tours to the World Economic Forum in Geneva and Finland for example. What company did you work with for the Entrepreneurial Leadership Consultancy Project (ELP) and how did you find this practical part of the program? I worked as a strategy consultant for international hotel group Golden Tulip during my ELP with a diverse team. We were a team of 4 people from Brazil, China, and India. So, we had a lot of different ideas and discussions on how to give the best outcome for the client. The goal of the project was to identify the gaps between the new corporate strategy for the hotel group and the existing operations in the hotels. We conducted secondary research and primary interviews and attended an international event in Turkey with the regional managers around the globe. How did you decide what you wanted to do after the program finished? What role did the career services play? The role of consultant in my ELP helped me decide my future course to be a consultant. Now, I am working as a strategy and M&A consultant for Alira Health. It is a global integrated advisory firm for healthcare firms. The job of the career services was to minimize the deviation along the path of finding the job. It helped to follow a structural approach to find jobs in terms of improvement in CV, building network, and optimizing the use of vast resources at our disposal. What was your first job after graduation and how long did it take you to get hired? I did an internship in my current company, which started within 2 months of finishing my course and I was hired during my internship. It took me less than 3 months to find an opportunity to get hired. Do you have any advice for candidates applying to the program? I have two things to say- First, candidates who don't speak a major European language, engage yourself to learn a European language from day one if you want to stay here. Second, don't give up even for a day. “If it is to be, it is up to me”. Just get up every day in the morning and take small steps to accomplish your goals. And I am sure you will succeed. Any other points you wish to make? If anyone wants to reach out to me, I would be happy to share my experience and help out if I can. www.linkedin.com/chutanisahil