THE "BUSINESS IN CEE" PROJECT WITH HENKEL
Structure and objectives
The goal of the project is to have students apply analytical skills and theoretical knowledge to a business case which has current and practical relevance. Working in four ‘country’ groups students will be expected to address a problem defined together by the company "Henkel" and the faculty. In alignment with the course content the project will revolve around a real-life business issue. Students will be required to use a scenario-planning approach in all of their decisions and recommendations which deal with future events. The output will be in the form of a written report which will be presented to the faculty and a representative from the company during the final session of the course.
A
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Country analysts
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Task: gathering and analysing data and information on a macro level. Required to accentuate the data most relevant for Henkel CEE.
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B
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Industry and competition analysts
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Task: analysing company's industry and direct competitors (local and global) in the focal business segment. A structured framework approach is recommended.
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C
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Marketing analysts and planning
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Task: a micro-macro level analysis of the market potential in the relevant country. Segment development based on the company’s current market share and industry specifics is requested. Scenario based planning of a marketing strategy in the mid-term (5 years)
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D
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Strategy analysts and planning
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Task: examining Henkel's business unit strategy in the selected market in relation to its competitors. Outlining alternative strategies based on scenarios towards ultimate future growth strategy proposal.
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Input from Henkel
Since the goal is to have students work on a project with practical relevance one of the key inputs from Henkel's side will be defining the project question (problem), setting its scope and stating the expectations in terms of output. The problem will deal with a business-unit issue such as country-specific strategic planning for a specific product. A corporate level analysis and planning is not requested. The group (team) analysis will be limited to a single CEE country, in which the project could be applied. The core of the business project is strategy: our Henkel partners are looking for inspirational and insightful reports delivering strategic options and scenarios that can lead to an improved market share and a sustainable competitive advantage in the CEE region. In addition to the project topic development there will be some practical inputs from Henkel such as
· Company visit (if possible according to pandemic regulations), information on possible career opportunities
· Definition of the project topic (problem, question), scope and expectations
· Facilitation of relevant data
· Providing a company contact (HENKEL experts responsible for the relevant CEE country) for questions and feedback (up to two e-mails from each of the four groups during the course of the project)
· Presence at the final presentation of the project and evaluation input
Outcome and outputs
We expect the project to yield one elaborate, well-structured and coherent report answering the questions set by the company and faculty. That report will be presented in the designated session of the course. As mentioned previously the report will follow a scenario approach dealing with analysis of current status quo, future outlook, plans and estimates.
The projects have a common structure and logic behind it. A simple sum of pieces prepared by individual functional group members will not be accepted. The final version of the report should reach a high level of integration.
The students registering for the course will be asked to provide their CV's to the faculty and to Henkel as a part of the course registration. In addition the students will be asked to sign a statement of confidentiality stating that all materials provided by Henkel will be returned at the end of the course, and no materials used for this course will be used for any other purpose. Naturally, Henkel will have all the data used in the project and final reports at its disposal.