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
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Courses starting first period:
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Courses starting second period:
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1301 Analyzing Innovative Operations
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1303 Business Development Project
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1302 Business Plan Project
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1306 Corporate Sustainability and
Responsibility
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1311 Civil Society Organizations
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3304 Corporate Valuation
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2307 Management in a Globalizing Economy
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4310 Venture Capital and Private Equity
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3301 Financial Accounting
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4313 M&A: Strategic and Organizational
Aspects
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3302 Management Control
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4316 Financial Stability and Regulation
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4309 Investment Management
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4319 Corporate Finance
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4312 M&A: Financial Aspects
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5303 Macroeconomics
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5308 Markets and Institutions
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6108 Intern. Bus. Strategy: Innovation and
Growth
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9478 CEMS Block Seminar
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8065 Business Model Innovation
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CEMS courses offered in Spring 2013
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Courses starting
first period
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Courses starting
second period
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1310 Leadership
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4312 M&A: Financial Aspects
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3305 Financial Accounting (Preparer
Perspective)
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4314 Behavioral Finance and Trading
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3306 CFO Challenges in Multinational
Companies
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5317 Emerging Mkts: Econ. and Politics of
Change
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4306 International Financial Management
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5318 China in the World Economy
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5311 International Trade
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5319 Health Economics
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6109 Cross Cultural Negotiation
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6109 Cross Cultural Negotiation
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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 15th. 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
