EPGP students on International Immersion in ESCP Berlin listen to experts on the German Mittelstand, visit incubators and learn about tech entrepreneurship in sustainability among other things
28 AUGUST, 2023: Forty students out of 75, from the EPGP Class of 2024 at IIM Bangalore, along with Prof. Padmini Srinivasan, were headed to ESCP Berlin Campus on 21st August 2023. Started in 1819, ESCP was the first business school in the world, and now has six campuses across the world in Berlin, Paris, Madrid, Turin, Warsaw, and London.
The EPGP students were welcomed with an insightful lecture on macroeconomic factors in Germany and points of parity and differences with the Indian economy by Prof. Wolfgang Maennig. They learnt about German Mittlestands and worked on three case studies to understand what it takes to be a Mittlestand in Germany. What makes Mittlestands a great business model is its ability to integrate with corporations as well as start-ups when necessary. The session was conducted by Prof. Stefan Schmid. The session was followed by a lecture on ‘The New German Mittlestand: From Hidden Champions to Open Champions’ by Prof. Evgeni Kouris. Prof. Sebastian Fittko spoke on the key elements of the Entrepreneurship mindset such as persistence, relentless focus, overcoming failures, and so on. This resonated with the class that has exposure to entrepreneurship courses at IIM Bangalore.
Known for being one of the largest contributors in the manufacturing sector, Germany has a lot of factories. The class made an industrial visit to Alstom to learn about how VR technology is revolutionising the manufacturing industry. Florian Kittelmann, Project Manager at Alston, took them through the various challenges a Project Manager faces.
Not only is Germany one of the industry leaders in manufacturing, it also places immense focus on sustainability. Prof. Marcus Schmalbach’s lecture on ‘Tech Entrepreneurship in Sustainability’ was particularly riveting.
On the last day at ESCP, the batch visited ‘Motion Lab’, a start-up incubator with 500 member start-ups in Berlin, and got the opportunity to interact with a few founders of start-ups on Additive Manufacturing and simple solutions for gymnasium equipment. The students could witness the work in development from a lot of start-ups, working in various sectors including manufacturing, construction, and sustainable energy.