DOHA: The Strategic Business Unit Management (SBUM) Class of 2017 Cohort 1 at HEC Paris in Qatar considered their recent educational trip to world-renowned institutions in France and Germany a valuable experience.
Seven students joined the 10-day trip — Abdulaziz Abdulla, Abdulmohsin Alyafei, Khalid Bader Alyafei, Michael Javier, Mohammad Al Shaghdari, Nasser Salem, and Moustafa Alseyrafi.
They initiated the trip, supported by HEC Paris in Doha and sponsored by Salam International.
The trip started in Paris where they visited HEC Paris main campus and offices in Central Paris Executive Education Facilities. The team toured the 340-acre campus, visited the historic building, Le Château, and met HEC alumni, summer school, HEC executive community, professors and EMBA students.
“Visiting our main campus in Paris provides any group of our Qatar participants with an international experience and an opportunity to further network with peers and gain information about HEC Paris,” said Laoucine Kerbache, Dean and CEO, HEC Paris in Qatar.
In the second part of the trip, the students went to Germany, especially in Stuttgart, Ingolstadt and Munich, to visit world-class automobile plants like Mercedes, Porsche, Audi, and BMW.
“By attending such trips, participants are able to gain first-hand experience of the business world and speak with those in the profession about their experiences,” said Nora Kerbache, Director, Institutional and Alumni Relations, Middle East.
Alyafei, Senior Planning Engineer, Qatar Petroleum, said, “The visit was an opportunity for us and will not be repeated — visiting the main campus, getting the chance to sit with some of the students, meeting some professors and having discussions with them and getting the opportunity to visit some famous European companies and enterprises.”
Javier, Operations Manager, Atelier 101, said the trip was important for him, especially the HEC Paris main campus visit, since the majority of his colleagues are French nationals.
Javier said learning is more imposed through collaboration and personal experience by meeting intellectual people from different walks of life.
Khalid Bader Al Yafei, Operation Manager, Qatar National Library, said: “I think this educational trip opened many doors for us as master students. It helped us gain and share knowledge and get exposure to the French culture and businesses.”
Al Shaghdari, IT Analyst, Occidental Petroleum of Qatar, said: “It was an exciting opportunity for me to participate in the trip with my classmates since it was a chance for me to get to know them better. We are living a busy life and we barely have time to communicate.
“It is a great opportunity to visit some of the prestigious companies in Europe and the world and know about their strategies and success stories.”
The SBUM programme compromises 14 modules in areas, including leadership, marketing, strategy and other core subject matters. The class is made up of 50 future leaders of whom majority are Qataris.
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