With three more days until departure to Rochester, I am scrambling to help my children with their homework, complete office work and read introductory materials for the courses we will be visiting during our U.S. residency. There are mixed emotions in our household ranging from excitement, to sadness, to supportive words laced with a bit of panic. While one half of my brain continues to check all the boxes before flying, the other half is already looking forward to what the next four weeks will have in store for us.
Two EMBA classes together
This Saturday, 35 students will be departing for a four-week adventure to visit our partner university in New York state. It is a highlight of the Rochester-Bern EMBA program every year, but this year seems particularly special, as both class 26 and 27 will be traveling there together. After having to postpone last year’s trip due to the pandemic, the majority of students from last year’s class opted to join us physically in 2021 instead of completing coursework online. It will be the final stop on their EMBA journey before graduation in October.
New curriculum in Rochester
2021 marks the first year that Rochester-Bern is carrying out live EMBA courses in Pricing Policies, Information Systems for Management and Modern Marketing during the Rochester residency. As the first institution to offer a comprehensive pricing track in its MBA program, the Simon Business School provides in-house expertise for developing strategic management frameworks to evaluate pricing decisions. We look forward to benefitting from Rick Cardot’s vast experience in this area.
Furthermore, Roy Jones’ course in Information Technology Systems for Management focuses on the e-business, the strategic use of IT, search, social media and cloud computing, big data, data mining and data visualization, as well as the impact of IT on organizations. We will be working intensively in groups to analyze case studies of renowned American organizations while benefiting from our professor’s academic and practical background as a relational database consultant to Fortune 500 firms and start-ups.
Lastly, none other than the former Dean of the Simon Business School and Benjamin Forman Professor of Marketing, Andrew Ainslie, will be our Modern Marketing professor. In his course, we will focus on the three C’s: customers, the company and competitors before delving into constructing a marketing strategy around the four P’s: product, price, place and promotion. Here, we will also focus on case-based learning and will be graded on class participation, individual case assignments, group case assignments and a final exam.
Networking and bonding
Ten minutes away from campus is our “home away from home” in one and two-bedroom apartments at the Mariott Residence In Rochester Henrietta. We are looking forward to leisurely barbeques in the outdoor patio area and to our welcome dinner this Sunday with our American counterparts in the Simon School EMBA program. Both classes have begun discussing where to spend the long weekend, with locations such as Atlantic City, Chicago, Niagara Falls and the Finger Lakes region as potential short trips. The local program team is planning guest speakers and social activities, such as a visit to cheer on the Rochester Red Wings baseballs team.
Some aspects of our visit are already mapped out, whereas others will take shape as we get there. One thing is for certain: when we head back to Switzerland at the end of September, we will have created a lot of amazing memories together!
Let’s fasten our seatbelts. Rochester, here we come!
