# 4 The University of Cologne (UoC)

University of Cologne - Cologne, Germany

The University itself is very different from Nova, much more academic oriented and a lot of courses don't have exams but rather academic papers with a lot of academic research to do. Officially the fall semester starts in October and lasts until March but you will have the Block Seminar in September and this year we could take another course in September as well. The first block of courses begins in October and ends in December and the second block starts in December and ends in January/February. In the Fall term of 2012/2013, the following courses were offered:

Courses offered Fall Semester 2012:

Exclusive and Core Course

·         Business Strategy in Global Supply Chain (Core Course)

·         Design‐to‐Launch Process and Management in Consumer Goods (exclusive CEMS course)

Accounting and Taxation

·         Operative Controlling

·         International Accounting

·         Fundamentals in International Taxation

·         International Tax Planning II (Block 2)

Corporate Development

·         Advanced Seminar: Corporate Development and Business Ethics

·         Strategic Management (Block 2)

Finance

·         Fixed Income Management

·         Value‐based Management of Insurance Companies

·         Corporate Valuation Theory (Block 2)

Marketing

·         Practical Application in Retailing

·         International Marketing

·         Customer Relationship Management (Block 2)

Supply Chain Management

·         Global Competition in the Aviation Industry

·         Supply Chain Management and Management Science I: Strategy

·         Supply Chain Management and Management Science II: Planning (Block 2)

Economics

·         Money and Banking

·         Advanced Industrial Organization

Cologne Specific Offer

·         Elective in Business and Economics in German Language

·         The Political System of the EU: Strategic and Conceptual Approaches

·         Research Paper Options

·         Project courses

  

     Every course is worth 6 ECTS except the Core Course which is worth 7,5 ECTS. Most exams will last 60 minutes and are longer than we are used to (given the time). This semester the Core Course was a block course (2 half-days of classes and a field trip to L'Oreal). The assessment was the following: 30% written exam, 50% academic paper and 20% presentation on the paper. The Design‐to‐Launch Process and Management in Consumer Goods course was a course offered in September, it lasted for a full week and there is no exam nor paper. This is a case-based course and you are part of a team (you assume the role of either Head of Marketing, Head of Controlling, Head of Sales, Head of R&D or Head of Supply-Chain). Your team is responsible for launching a new product on the market and present a plan to the "board of company" (aka the professor that pretends to be the CEO of the company). The teacher is amazing and basically you spend your days in the classroom with the rest of the students trying to figure out the best way to launch this product (obviously the teacher is there and he will help you out). In my opinion if you are going to Cologne, this course is a must, it is one of the best courses I've ever had! The University of Cologne is known for being the best university in Germany in Supply Chain, therefore Supply Chain Management and Management Science I: Strategy is a course to try out. In this course you will have two projects and an exam, the projects are fun and the instructor is good, nevertheless I don't feel like I learned much. Finally, Operative Controlling, the instructor is a little boring, the course is basically doing exercises over and over again and the exam was way too big for the time given (the exam is 100% of the grade in this course). These are the courses I did in Cologne, none of them had academic papers because I don't like them so I didn't choose them but bear in mind that in around 40% - 50% of the courses offered will have you writing an academic paper. You are also offered the possibility of doing a pre-semester intensive German language course for free but it overlaps with the Block Seminar and The Design-to-Launch course. You can also do a semester German language course for free but it will last until middle/end of January.

      Block Seminar

The Block Seminar is spent in another town called Oberwesel. We spent a week there from Sunday to Friday. The topic of the Block Seminar was Sustainability In Management: Applications to Logistics and Tourism. It is a block seminar with a low workload (basically a 15 min presentation in the last day that you prepare in the night before), professors from several universities (this year from Cologne, Bocconi, ESADE, HEC) and some company presentations (I would mention the presentation/drinks with A.T. Kearney and the day spent at Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt).

 

If you want to come to Cologne for your CEMS term abroad, you should start looking for a place to stay 6 months in advance. It is really hard to get a room in the city (a lot of students are looking for a place to stay), it took me around 100 e-mails and 30 phone calls to get a room! As usual there are two possibilities: a room with the university and finding a room by yourself. Getting a room through University sometimes can be very cheap (around 200€) but most of the time is a little far from University and the area where you go out at night (30 min by tram) and it is hard to get one (to get a room with the University you should apply for one online, wait a week or two and then call them and say you are an exchange student (it is easier that way)). For "personal search" I would advise www.wg-gesucht.de and www.housinganywhere.com (the best area would be "Lindenthal" which is very close to the university and bars, clubs, etc...) but be aware that most of the times they won't answer and when they do, they usually want to meet you first!

To study here you'll have to pay a semester contribution of 218.31€ that includes public transportation within the North Rhine-Westphalia  area (tram, bus, slow trains). In addition in the City of Cologne and around it from 7pm until 3 am every day, during the entire weekend and on public holidays you can take someone else with you (but not in the entire North Rhine-Westphalia area).

There are two different places (two different Mensas) to go if you want to have lunch/dinner at the university and it costs 2.20€ (it is really cheap!). There are also a lot of sports offered  for free at the University and they also have a gym that will cost you around 90€ the entire semester. As in all German universities there is a lot of bureaucracy but you'll manage it and the CEMS office is really fast to react to e-mails (next day maximum) and really helpful. Nevertheless, part of the websites are in German which is quite annoying. Moreover, there are weekly company presentations but are always in German as well! I would say that the University does not have the "mentality" of an international business school but it is a typical German University. Two last things regarding the university, they are really strict when it comes to dates and deadlines. Furthermore, you should react quickly to the e-mails sent before the semester starts as you may miss the chance of enrolling in some courses/skill seminars because of not reacting to e-mails. The CEMS class was of around  35 people (half foreigners half Germans) which is very good as the group becomes really close.

Regarding the lifestyle in Cologne, the university is practically in the center of the city and close to the bars. You can buy a bicycle in the beginning of the semester (on the bicycle market) for about 60€ and travel around the city with it. It is a city with some parks and a lot of green everywhere. The biggest "attractions" would be the Carnival, the Cathedral (Dom) and the typical German Christmas markets. Prices of food, going out, etc are more or less the same as in Lisbon and you have a movie theater where you can watch movies in the original versions (prices vary between days of the week and movies but Thursday is the cheapest day 4-5€). A lot of people speak English very well even if they are afraid of speaking it. The city is not as cold as most German cities (you will rarely see snow, I saw it once!) but a bit rainy. Finally there are tons of students, exchange-students and bars (Zülpicherstrasse). There is always something going on!

João Maria Hogan, Class of 2012/2013 
Term abroad - Fall 2012

# 3 The Corvinus University of Budapest (CUB)

Corvinus University of Budapest - Budapest, Hungary

Hi! I am Rita and I spent the fall semester of 2012 in Budapest.

Budapest is one of the most beautiful cities I know, well ahead of many of the most known ones. It is also very much in the center of Europe so it is very easy and relatively cheap to travel around. The living costs are lower than in Portugal but be aware that it's not so much cheaper.

Regarding the university, I had the following courses: 

·         Decision Methods
Marketing Challenges in Diverse European Markets

·         Supply Chain Management

·         Sustainability and CSR

·         The Roles and Duties of Management
But you could also choose Financial or trade policy courses.

The university facilities are great and the courses interesting and the workload is fine (less than in Nova SBE) so you can have a little more time to travel around.

Here are some pictures of the city and university:

Additionally, here is my answer to some questions about Budapest:

1. Why did you choose Budapest?

I choose Budapest because I wanted a whole new experience of how is it to live and study in the Eastern European countries. Also because I heard that students have a really nice time here because it is a really vivid city, especially at night! The fact that is near many other countries also influenced my decision as I want to know some of them. 

2. What do you like here the most (can be a sport activity, a person, a party, a building whatever you like)
I like to run at the Margitsziget because it is really near my place and it is beautiful. 

3. What are the best things being an exchange student in Budapest?
So many parties! It is even impossible to attend them all! 

4. What is new here for you?
I have never lived in a capital before so living is such a big city where so many things happen at the same time is new for me. 

5. What is the first place you would recommend to your friend?
The Fisherman's Bastion. I think it is a great spot for tourists. 

6. What is your favorite party place?
Hum… difficult to say. There are so many! I like the Morrison’s two and the Instant that are a mixture between pub and club. And I love Szimpla, considered the second best bar in the world.

7. What is your favorite building, monument, museum etc. here? (Citadella, castle, chainbridge, Széchenyi square, Széchenyi bath, Heroes square, Andrássy street, you name it)
I know that is super touristic but I still love the Parliament. I passed next to it every day on the way to the university but I still like to see it. 

8. What Hungarian words do you know?
Köszönöm (thank you) was the first. And egészségedre (cheers!) of course… 

9. Do you want to stay longer here?
I wish. Four months go by in a second...

 

Rita Marques, Class of 2012/2013  

Term abroad - Fall 2012

# 2 The Stockholm School of Economics (SSE)

The Stockholm School of Economics - Stockholm, Sweden

SSE is considered to be the top management school in Sweden and highly prestigious in Scandinavian countries. It is situated right at the center of Stockholm, having a very privileged location. Known to be one of the best finance schools in Europe, Handelshögskolan counts with a vast number of worldwide known corporate partners that not only sponsor the school but also hire their students on a regular basis. Although being a private school (the only in management and finance education in the country), students are not charged with any fee. The corporate partners assure the financing of the school. (www.hhs.se).

The school has a renovated building facing the avenue that leads directly to the city’s central square. The atrium occupies the largest area of the building and constitutes its main attraction. However, the school lacks study rooms, a proper library (some temporary shelves in one of the corners of the atrium were being used as a temporary library for over two years) and an extra cafeteria with smaller snacks and cheaper snacks. Prices at the cafeteria are quite high. Most of the students bring lunch from home and warm it up in one of many microwaves available in one of the Student Association’s rooms. The atrium has plenty of tables that students use for studying and having lunch.  If you want to find a different place to study you can move to the Studentpalatset – a building standing very close to SSE, dedicated to students from all kind of backgrounds. It provides study facilities for both individual and group work.

The grading system follows the normal distribution. Before the beginning of each course’s program the number of students that will attain each grade is already established. So, for instance, for each course a certain fixed percentage of students will obtain an A-grade while some other pre-defined percentage will be graded with B. A-grades are rare and, as stated by Magnus Mähring – CEMS Academic Director – a C is a very solid achievement at SSE.

Most of the courses offered for CEMS students are half-semester electives. On a regular track, each student should take two courses each half. Finance courses require a substantially higher amount of effort. For the 2012/2013 academic year the school offered the following courses:

CEMS courses offered in Fall 2012
Courses starting first period:	Courses starting second period:
1301       Analyzing Innovative Operations	1303       Business Development Project
1302       Business Plan Project	1306       Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility
1311       Civil Society Organizations	3304       Corporate Valuation
2307       Management in a Globalizing Economy	4310       Venture Capital and Private Equity
3301       Financial Accounting	4313       M&A: Strategic and Organizational Aspects
3302       Management Control	4316       Financial Stability and Regulation
4309       Investment Management	4319       Corporate Finance
4312       M&A: Financial Aspects	5303       Macroeconomics
5308       Markets and Institutions	6108       Intern. Bus. Strategy: Innovation and Growth
9478       CEMS Block Seminar	8065       Business Model Innovation
	8073     Science to Service – Transform. Health Care

CEMS courses offered in Spring 2013
Courses starting first period	Courses starting second period
1310       Leadership	4312       M&A: Financial Aspects
3305       Financial Accounting (Preparer Perspective)	4314       Behavioral Finance and Trading
3306       CFO Challenges in Multinational Companies	5317       Emerging Mkts: Econ. and Politics of Change
4306       International Financial Management	5318       China in the World Economy
5311       International Trade	5319       Health Economics
6109       Cross Cultural Negotiation
6109       Cross Cultural Negotiation

Students from Handelshögskolan are considered to be the elite of Management in the country as only the top graded candidates can attend the school. Other universities’ students consider “Handels students” as the snob and “posh” people that hang out around Stureplan (the fancy area of Stockholm’s nightlife). Even though these comments arise from the healthy rivalry that exists between the different schools it is possible to understand the source of such observations. The general fashionable appearance and careful presentation of students, with some even wearing a suit for casual situations might be one of the causes of the way they are characterized. Still, SSE provides a multifaceted environment where everyone fits perfectly. It is very international oriented having students from all kinds of multicultural background. The great student involvement in the Student Association’s activities should be an example for other schools.

The Student Association at the Stockholm School of Economics (SASSE) constitutes one of the most relevant strong points of the school. Students involvement at the school is great and they take special effort in making sure that involvement reflects in visible events. Divided into different committees, SASSE covers most of the student’s needs. Each has its own office and program of events scheduled throughout the semester. Each week, a printed newsletter booklet with information about weekly activities is available for free. Business, Education, Sports and Social committees are examples of the different areas of SASSE. You will have the ability to join any of the innumerous sports teams (from “soccer” to American football) or any other committee at the beginning of the semester. You should also expect a lot of company presentations, most of them covering the Investment Banking and Consulting Industry. Although students have to pay a fee each year in order to benefit from these opportunities, it was free for all exchange students (www.sasse.se).

The CEMS Club was not as active in terms of social events throughout the semester (Fall 2012) when compared with the Lisbon CEMS Club. CEMS students were invited by some companies to attend a presentation in their premises (Universum, EF and Ericsson). The CEMS club functioned as a communication intermediary. Besides this, there were not many events worth highlighting during the semester. During the Block Seminar it was apparent that the CEMS Club did not take part in the preparation of the social activities of the course. The Club’s intervention in it could be summarized by the late arranged suggestions of places where the CEMS students could gather for drinks at the end of each day of the seminar. Throughout the semester it seemed there was a lack of coordination/communication between the CEMS Office and the Club. You should not think however, that there are no social activities being provided at SSE. The exchange committee took the very successful role of providing such activities for all exchange students (regular and CEMS).

The Exchange Committee was responsible for the integration of each exchange student at SSE. The team that integrates the committee did an outstanding job in providing information prior to my arrival. They kept a constant flow of information via e-mail with practical information about Stockholm and the activities that were organized for incoming students. The welcome sessions comprised two days. During the first day students were invited to take a bus tour through Stockholm after the morning school presentation. In the second day, a “Peddy-paper” type of led the students to explore the touristic area of the city while they solve the challenges presented. Most of the CEMS students already knew each other as they were together during the week of the Block Seminar. Throughout the semester, the committee organized several activities exclusive for all exchange students (welcome dinner, crayfish party, farewell dinner, waffle night).

Living in Stockholm

The opportunity to experience living in the Stockholm city is without a doubt the highlight of integrating the exchange program at SSE. It truly makes justice to the definition of capital of Scandinavia. Although enrooted in a culture that is significantly different from the one you can experience in southern European countries, you will find no problem adapting to the culture. Everyone speaks perfect English and, despite what the stereotype says about the Nordics, people are easy to communicate with.  The most striking aspect is related with the duration of the day. In late November at 4pm it was already night time.

 

 

The price level might constitute a barrier for exchange students. You should expect prices to be between 1.5 to 2 times higher than in Portugal. However, it is perfectly possible to live in Sweden without having to raise your usual budget too much. Lidl stores (there is one right beside the school) offer more quality products than the equivalent store in Portugal. It is clear than quality controls are much tighter and you will not have a problem finding everything you need for a very acceptable price. In Sweden, you will be able to find all the products you are used to find in Portugal. The variety of fish available will be lower though. Alcoholic drinks can only be sold by the state which provides exclusive shops for the purpose. Named System Bolaget, these shops can be found in every major areas of the city. Any drinks presenting more than 3.5% of alcohol level cannot be found in regular supermarkets.

The public transport system in Stockholm is known by the name SL. It works perfectly, without any delays. The metro (Tunnelbana) is functioning for 24 hours during weekends. The cheapest way to use the service is by buying monthly subscriptions with the use of the SL card, which gives you access to all transportation options – buses, metro and trains. The 3-month subscription is the cheapest deal, costing SEK 1500 (≈ €175) with the student discount. The 1-month subscription costs SEK 560 (≈ €65). The transportation schedules and detailed directions can be consulted at www.sl.se.

Student Residence

It is strongly advisable that you take the full advantage of the housing service provided by SSE as it is extremely difficult to find a place to rent in Stockholm. Three of the most popular residences among exchange students are known as Lappis, Saltis and Liljeholmen.

Lappis

Lappis is a residence complex for students. It is close to the Stockholm University and 30-35 minutes away from SSE. You could either take the metro (Universitetet station – red line) or the bus (40) to move from the residence to SSE. Rooms are individual and each has its own private bathroom. It was the cheapest option available and provides very good conditions. There is a kitchen and a common room for each floor and only the 10 people living in it can access it. At the center of the residential complex there is a supermarket, open until 10pm (9pm on Sundays and Holydays) where you can also pick up your mail in case it does not fit in your mail box.

 

Saltis

Saltis is owned by SSE and is right next to the school, in the center of Stockholm. It has a very good location. It is a privilege to be a student in a foreign city and live in such a central area. Rooms are bigger that the ones in Lappis and have their own small kitchen and an individual bathroom. Some rooms are shared for two people. The building has one common kitchen that functions as the meeting point for many exchange students (even the ones not living in Saltis) for pre-parties during the weekends.

Lijeholmen

Just like Lappis, Lijeholmen is not located in the center of the city but it’s a short metro trip away from the center (Lijeholmen station – red line). It provides the best room quality for students as they are in fact small apartments. Standing over a hill, students living here benefit from a spectacular view over south Stockholm.

Map

1 – Stockholm School of Economics

2 – T-Centralen

3 – Saltis

4 – Lijeholmen

5 – Lappis

The Block Seminar

Block Seminar

The Block Seminar in Stockholm is one of the earliest seminars of the academic year. In the Fall 2012 it begun in August 15^th. It was focused on Corporate Entrepreneurship. Group division and the necessary readings for the seminar were presented in early August. Each group was assigned to a different company (Bonnier Mag+, Ericsson, Google, HCL Technology and Rochier), based on which the block seminar project had to be developed. At the end of the seminar each group had to deliver and present a Student Team Project answering the questions raised by the case-study, delivered beforehand, prior to the students arrival in Stockholm. Throughout the duration of the seminar, students got the chance to attend each company’s presentations and to gather extra information for the project. Additionally, each member had to hand in an individual take-home exam accounting for 40% of the final grade (delivered after the end of the Block Seminar).

The highlight of the seminar was the 2-day trip to the archipelago in the surroundings of Stockholm. The transportation was made by boat, allowing for the first sightseeing experience in Stockholm. The class stayed in a countryside lodging terrain overlooking the water, in a very typical country inn. During the day there was the opportunity to go to the sauna or relax in one of the balconies of the house. We slept in bungalows for one night. The second day was dedicated to the remaining presentations and group work.

The trip to the archipelago was the main pre-organized social event for the participants of the seminar. At the end of the working day, the president of the CEMS club usually recommended a meeting point for people to gather after dinner. Despite not leaving too much time for students to mingle outside the course context, the seminar allowed for every member of the class to know each other.

Below you can check the program of the Fall 2012 SSE Block Seminar.

 

Miguel António Mendes, Class of 2012/2013   

Term abroad - Fall 2012

#1 Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi (UB)

Universitá Luigi Bocconi- Milan, Italy

What made me choose this university: After being one of my top choices for my undergraduate exchange and not being able to get in, I considered Bocconi as my first choice for the CEMS semester abroad and was able to get accepted. The reputation of the university and the course offer were by far what attracted me the most.

Experience: As I already mentioned, Bocconi's key strength is it's brand name. A true reference when it comes to European Business Schools. Sadly, some of the courses I intended to take were no longer offered when I enrolled, so I had to make the best of the situation.

Here are the courses I'm currently taking:

Block Seminar: Entrepreneurial Finance (Interesting but a bit demanding specially for your first week. Gives you a broad approach on topics such as Private Equity, Venture Capital and Mergers and Acquisitions. If you're looking for a "week-off" just take the block seminar on "Public and Private Sector". Avoid "Social Entrepreneurship")

Courses:

Advanced International Business Management: Could be better if lectured by a different teacher. You basically have a lot of readings to do, two group presentations (group members are allocated randomly by the teacher) and you have to take part of a jury evaluating presentations twice as well. Take into consideration

International Corporate Finance: Great course lectured by a good teacher. No group works or presentations, but you have a mid-term which may affect you in case you want to travel during the break week (yes...there's a break week in late October). Strongly advice you to take it

Global Strategic Management: It's mandatory and that's all you need to know. The teacher is really good and is able to include some comic remarks during the lectures.

Management of Fashion and Luxury Brands: I'm going to be honest: I took this course under the recommendation of an alumni, in order to manage the overall workload. It's an ok course. You have to deliver one presentation and you have a final exam. If you're interested on the subject and/or if you pick some courses with a heavy workload, be sure to include this into your selection.

Entrepreneurship and Business Planning: Avoid at all costs!! You're limited to a lousy offer of projects to work on; classes are of no interest whatsoever, and the weekly presentations you have to give are pure non-sense (specially when the entrepreneurs and other contacts cannot supply all the information you need within the required time range). Good thing about the course: No exam.

Positive feedback: Mergers & Acquisitions; Management Consulting (both of which were not offered this semester) Structured and Project Finance; Accounting and Planning in Organizations

Negative feedback: Change Management; Social Movements and Organizations and Supply Chain Management.

Now that we went throught the boring part; let's move on:

Overall, life in Milan is good. The nightlife is amazing and getting the ESN card is an investment worth making. But before you have all the fun, you'll have to find a place to stay: a process that could take months. I, luckily, found a great place and I'm willing to share the contact of the landlord to the ones that go to Milan in the following year.

The cost of living is pretty standard and in most of the cases similar to the ones found in Lisbon, except for taxis and telecommunications. 

Travelling in Italy is easy and relatively cheap. Moreover, Ryanair and Easyjet are flying from two of the three main airports in Milan, so might as well take advantage of the opportunity

And surprisingly enough, Italians speak a decent enough English (even at supermarkets and McDonalds). I haven't learned Italian, since I didn't have a chance to attend the crash course (which was overlapped by the block seminar) and thus couldn't take the follow up course.

And that's about it. Any further questions you may have feel free to ask.

Pedro Correia, Class of 2012/2013 
Term abroad - Fall 2012