CEMS Club Helsinki Blog

BLOCK SEMINAR 2014

This years Block Seminar participants had chance to choose from two interesting topics: Multisided Platforms or Corporate Social Responsibility. Two CEMSies shared their experience from this wonderful week.

The 2014 CEMS Block Seminar on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) was the first time many of us had formal education on the topic of social responsibility. Some of the motivations for attending the event included academic curiosity, mandatory attendance, and budding entrepreneurs aspiring to fix the world’s maladies by building socially responsible businesses. Overall in practice, there was a good balance between theory and actual casework for the designated companies.

"The lectures and exercises were led by leading CSR researchers from around the world including Armi Temmes from Aalto University, Yury Blagov from GSOM St. Petersburg University, Pablo Collazzo from Vienna University, and Stefano Pogutz from Bocconi University. All of the lectures were quite good, but the one that stuck out in my mind was Professor Blagov’s fascinating narrative on CSR in Russia in the period following the fall of the Soviet Union. From the angle of social responsibility, Professor Blagov was able to give a seemingly objective history of the Russian Federation from the 1990s to today.

Moving along, one of the cases  responsible alcohol consumption and recycling initiatives for Baltika Brewery. The Baltika Brewery case was the most intensive of the cases and brought its own share of challenges. The task was to develop an implementable CSR project and then pitch it to company representatives.

Our group decided on “drinking responsibly” and after research uncovered a disproportionate amount of deaths related to drunk driving in St. Petersburg, we decided on a localized approach. A surprising twist was that Russia has incredibly strict laws on marketing and promoting alcohol or any alcohol-related messages. We needed inspiration. Experts say that effective presentation involves an intimate knowledge of the topic in hand, so we took to the hotel bar for some wisdom. After a few late nights of careful deliberation and preparation, we were ready to present on site at the Baltika Brewery. Upon arriving at the brewery on the outskirts of St. Petersburg, we received an insightful tour of the brewery. I am guessing some of us went home and started our own brewing operations with our newly gained expertise. In the end, all of the groups presented strong proposals and for those of you wondering, yes, we were given samples…you know, in the name of science."

(Riku Laitasalo, Aalto University)

"The week-long Multi-Sided Platforms Block Seminar took place at Aalto University and GSMO University with a great success. Professors from both Universities put together an exciting and diverse program that included analysis of real cases, group tasks, company visits, for example Tieto and Yadex, and student presentations. The outcome was a vast exchange of ideas, discussion and debates among students, professors and guest lectures.

As students, we got a broad understanding of the managerial challenges and pricing decisions when firms decided to use MSPs. As nowadays companies are trying to expand their operations through MSPs, it is critical that managers understand and identify the type of MSP, optimal for their business.

But not everything was just about the hard work. Social activities such as dinner with our Corporate partner L´Oreal in Helsinki or a boat trip in St. Petersburg were great chance to get to know our new classmates, exchange ideas and have a great dining experience while getting know the local cuisine. I must say, that the Block Seminar brought us, CEMSies, together and a wonderful CEMS spirit was created."

(Dulce Barrueta, Norwegian School of Economics)

"The 2014 edition of the Multisided Platforms (MSP) was the third time we organized this course in collaboration between Aalto University in Helsinki and Graduate School of Management in St Petersburg. The course consists of two days of teaching in Helsinki, followed by a train journey to St Petersburg and two days of teaching there.

Our aim for the week is to introduce the conceptual model of multisided platforms and give a number of real-case examples to illustrate how the learnings on MSPs can be put to practical use. The workload for the week is quite heavy but then again, the course lasts only one week without any exam or report to be submitted afterwards.

From a teacher's perspective, the intensive CEMS block course week is a perfect match of talented students from all over Europe, an interesting topic, and great locations and company visits in Helsinki and St Petersburg. I use a number of teaching cases in my courses and I am always impressed by the way the CEMS students solve the cases. What is surprising is the variety of arguments the students find for supporting their response to the case. This was true in this year's edition as well; the case reports of the students were of very high quality."

(Esko Penttinen, PhD)