Students from all around the world worked in the past two months with Business Development projects for Danish enterprises. JP Group, Pure Power, NNON and Bisgaard Sko are some of the names who accepted the challenge from Dania.
Thought-provoking projects
As part of the exam, the teams had to come up with suggestions tailor-made for the companies' needs. The whole process involved working closely with the companies and collecting primary data directly from the markets they worked with. "All groups had to go on a study trip in order to find out all the necessary information for a specific market. Our group went to Poland, while our friends from another group went to the UK. We used our knowledge about the Polish market in order to achieve something great and help the company better understand it's Polish customers",says Krzysztof Woroniecki, international marketing student at Dania.
The preparation was long, but although the teams had challenges along the way, they managed to overcome them successfully. "We were a bit afraid at the beginning, especially since we all have different schedules and sometimes it was quite difficult to meet and study. Sometimes we would meet up at 10 AM and leave the school at 6 AM the next day. We even Skyped several times in order to reach our goals," smiles Nicole Raluca Baluta, marketing management student.
What's in it for the companies
One of the companies involved is JP Group a/s, a family-owned company based in Viborg. The company is one of the world's leading businesses on the aftermarket producing and selling spare parts, while being one of the preferred suppliers for classic cars from VAG, Porsche and Mercedes-Benz.
"The team that worked for us came up with many good ideas and as a result got the maximum grade for their exam. We could have done some of the things they suggested ourselves, but working with Dania's students also meant saving money for the company. Overall, I think international students brought many good things to the table and we will use some of their suggestions in our future activities," explains Nikolaj Vestergaard Sandt, export assistant at JP Group.
Furthermore, the students used their native language skills and international perspectives to bring sustainable solutions to the companies. "The fact that some of the students could speak the language of the country they worked with and they knew the culture helped a lot. It is too bad that many other companies do not get involved in projects like this. They probably don't know how many good things they can get out of it," says Nikolaj Vestergaard Sandt.
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What students say "It was challenging, but fun! We worked directly with the company and we saw what it is like in the real life, not just in e-mails", says Nicole Raluca Baluta from Romania "Bringing ideas from our own countries and culture was an exciting experience", explains Sabitri Thapa from Nepal "The school pushed us to get out of our comfort zone and the result was great", says Shellamyr Adviento Thuesen from Philippines "Hands down a fine experience from which we learned a lot, although it was difficult at times to split our time between school, work and project work," says Zsofia Vigh from Hungary. |