The CEMS International Business Project (IBP) is designed as a real-life learning experience for students. It provides students with a unique opportunity to gain insights into corporate practice of an international player. Student teams deal with a real-life management challenge as a one-term activity tutored by university faculty and the CEMS IBP partner.

CEMS IBP partner: Meister

Winning the war for talent in high-growth industries

For many companies the biggest challenge in terms of capturing growth opportunities and ensuring the firm’s long-term success is to build a strong talent pipeline. Companies across countries and industries recognize today that attracting and retaining skilled people – and keeping them engaged and motivated – is more than just a nice thing to do; it is a strategic priority.

Founded in 2006, Meister consists of an international team of tech enthusiasts, working from offices in Vienna, Munich, and Seattle to create beautiful, innovative and easy-to-use solutions for modern, global teams. The company develops smart and intuitive web apps that help teams of all sizes and industries to turn ideas into reality. The flagship products MindMeister and MeisterTask support a complete creative workflow - from collaborative brainstorming to agile task management. Meister has a user base of more than 10 million people worldwide. For more information about the company and its products visit https://www.meisterlabs.com/.

Currently, the company is comprised  of a multi-national group of 40 highly-qualified individuals, predominantly employed at the Vienna HQ. The aim is to grow further. However, due to the ongoing ‘war for talent’ in the IT sector, Meister faces difficulties in attracting top talent. The goal of this business project is to help Meister develop a targeted strategy to become an employer of choice in its industry and develop and sustain a strong talent pipeline.

Project focus areas

- Develop a powerful employer value proposition by collecting and analyzing insights from both current employees and potential recruits

- Evaluate how Meister can further improve its employer branding strategy to attract and retain promising talent and to match the expectations of employer and employees

For this CEMS IBP, suitable participants should

• have an interest in and knowledge about employer branding and human resource management
• be able to systematically carry out analyses using both qualitative and quantitative approaches
• be willing to acquire the knowledge and skills required for successfully completing this CEMS IBP. This also includes basic project-management skills and competencies.

The aims of the CEMS IBP are

• to investigate and structure a complex management challenge that an aspiring international player faces
• to provide an in-depth analysis of the status quo
• to provide strategic recommendations that are viable under the given organizational conditions

After completing this CEMS IBP students will have

• gained insights into what challenges an aspiring international firm faces in its management environment and how it deals with such issues
• learned how to analyze and structure real-life management situations in an international context
• combined and applied several conceptual approaches to the international management challenge
• received feedback from various stakeholders on the outcomes of their analyses and the viability of their recommendations

Students will have the ability to

• develop critical thinking and defend their arguments in front of corporate representatives
• organize teamwork and "sell" their solutions in a professional way, based on in-depth research and through solid presentation skills