The spring semester at the BA School of Business and Finance is an active time when students and staff participate in short-term mobility within blended intensive programs (BIP) international business week event. It is an opportunity to gain international experience, knowledge, and contacts, as well as to learn about other countries’ cultures, travel to various European regions, and acquire new experiences and impressions.
From May 13th to 17th, undergraduate students from the BA School of Business and Finance’s bachelor study program “Finance”, including Enija Duļbinska (1st year), Luīze Indriksone (1st year), Mareks Batarags (3rd year), Laura Frīdmane (3rd year), Renāte Kārkliņa (3rd year), Adriāns Naumčiks (3rd year), and Kaspars Sārs (3rd year), participated in the blended intensive program (BIP) “International Marketing Week Vienna 2024” organized by the University of Applied Sciences BFI Vienna. The program included 20 students from Latvia, Germany, Belgium, and the United Kingdom.
Photo: Students and staff of the International marketing week and International HR week in Vienna Innerstadt
Roland J. Schuster, researcher and deputy director of a study program at the University of Applied Sciences BFI Vienna, on the approach to International Marketing Week:
The complex group dynamics setup we used is a combination of group dynamics and hierarchy (Heintel, Krainz, Projektmanagement 2015). This combination makes it possible to balance the advantages of groups – the natural enemies of hierarchy – with the advantages of hierarchy. The necessary condition is to create a fertile environment by allowing all parties involved (teachers, administrators, and students) to ‘warm up’. This must be balanced by a more ‘cold’ but clearly defined structure. The main proponents of this setting were Robert Monsberger, who took the hierarchical lead, Helene Lunzer, who provided the defined structure, and Roland J. Schuster, who worked on issues such as embodiment, connection and belonging. The concept was embedded in decades of practical experience embodied by Robert Monsberger and Helene Lunzer, and decades of research in intervention science by Roland J. Schuster.
The students, working in five groups, were tasked with creating a marketing strategy to attract sponsors for the women’s football team “FSK Frauen.” On the second day of the week, students had the opportunity to meet online via the MS Teams platform with the women’s football team’s coach and club manager, Mr. Walter Planner, to ask any questions that would help them understand the team, its values, and expectations for the marketing strategy. The students took full advantage of this opportunity, showing great enthusiasm and actively interviewing the team’s coach.
Photo: feedback and work sessions
“We have a clear strategic focus in international and intercultural cooperation and international short term mobilities are an important aspect of our study program. Creating open minds is, especially in these difficult times not only in Europe, a basis for peace, stability and growth. Welcoming an international group from Latvia, Germany, France, Belgium and the UK to Austria was a great pleasure. We had a lot of fun. And the best topic of all the programs with an outstanding price!”, reveals Robert Monsberger, director of the “Technical Sales and Marketing” study program at the University of Applied Sciences BFI Vienna.
At the end of the week, the teams presented their developed marketing strategies to a jury consisting of Florence de Broqueville (Belgium), Agnese Vinceviča and Dārta Smaine (Latvia), Robert Monsberger (Austria), and a special jury member, the football team’s coach Mr. Walter Planner. The jury evaluated the group performances in three categories: content, design, and presentation. During deliberations, the jury unanimously selected the winning team – FC Phoenix Vienna, which included BA School of Business and Finance “Finance” program students Enija Duļbinska (1st year), Laura Frīdmane (3rd year), Kaspars Sārs (3rd year), and Valentin Schönwälder from Germany. Congratulations to the students on their outstanding achievements! As a prize, the team received a two-night visit to the “Therme Loipersdorf” SPA.
In the photo from the left: Mr.Robert Monsberger, Enija Duļbinska, Laura Frīdmane, Kaspars Sārs, Valentin Schönwälder, Mr. Walter Planner.
In terms of the actual events, we had the honor of working with a very young and receptive group of students (aged 20-25) and with experienced visiting staff and lecturers. The visiting staff and lecturers provided the containment, the holding environment. This provided a safe place for the students to experiment. The students participated responsibly and with critical respect, which contributed to decision making and helped the lecturers to steer the process. This allowed for a co-creative process. In my opinion, the only valid perspective for the future is that the next generation will have to decide what to keep and what to leave behind. The current generation (teachers and administrators) must provide the fertile ground for this decision, his memories and reflections shares Roland J.Schuster.
Photo: Team from BA School of Business and Finance
International Marketing Week began with three online sessions where students worked on preparatory tasks and familiarized themselves with the necessary study materials to start the in-person program in May as successfully as possible. Additionally, to better immerse themselves in the roles of football players, students bonded with their instructors on the football field in intercultural teams.
