Winter Business Week in Paris: it is not only about the numbers

IUT of Saint-Denis, at Sorbonne Paris Nord University, organized an international Winter Business Week in November 2023. The Winter Business Week (funded by Erasmus+ exchange program) gathered students and faculty from higher education institutions from Finland, Germany, Netherlands, and France together to attend an International Business Simulation-game, emphasizing collaboration within international teams while managing a multinational corporation and implementing management skills related to the macroeconomic environment.

Besides the International Business Simulation-game students and faculty were able enjoy the international atmosphere of Paris by visiting the most famous attractions such as the Eiffel Tower, Basilique du Sacre-Coeur, Louvre, Arch of Triumph, and many more. IUT of Saint-Denis had organized a guided boat trip along the Seine to experience the city from another perspective.

[Alt text: three students having a presentation, the text welcome to france at saint-denis-university.] — Image 1. Welcome to Paris. (Image: Mia Ekman)

International Business Simulation game

The activities began with team building tasks. Teams were to choose the CEO of the company, and decide on the company logo, mission and vision. The game itself consisted of setting up and running a multicultural company focusing in creating specific products and marketing them worldwide. Long-term strategies, such as investment decisions and factory locations on different continents, were made in the global market. Teams were tasked with prioritizing marketing efforts in an intense competition from other teams, all striving towards identical objectives: launching new products and expanding into new markets annually. Each market segment presented unique cultural nuances and specific constraints, necessitating tailored approaches for success.

In addition to financial results of each team, emphasis was placed on the importance of corporate communication to the various stakeholders of the companies. The companies were to create press releases, CEO’s biographies, and at the end of the game each company made a presentation of the work performed during the week. Best teams by financial success, corporate communication, and presentation were rewarded.

[Alt text: four students holding certificates in their hands.] — Image 2. Best presentation. Iaroslav Garaba (Université Sorbonne Paris Nord), Abdur Razzak (LAB University of Applied Sciences), Eda Nur Tamer (Kaiserslautern University of Applied Sciences) and Annabelle Noëlie Kowalski (Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts). (Image: Mia Ekman)

The importance of communications

Reflecting the importance of communication to studies in the field of business and administration, i.e., when studying financial accounting, focus has been in creating the numbers on the financial statements. In today’s world with increasing competition, digitalization, automatization, and easiness of access to information, communication has gained more importance (Tilisanomat 2021). More focus should be placed on the communication skills of the students in the future since the operating environments of the companies are constantly developing.

Author

Mia Ekman works as a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Business in LAB University of Applied Sciences. Currently works also as a project manager in the Developing Sustainable and Entrepreneurial Villages through Educational Living Labs in Namibia and Zambia (SmartVille) project.