The start-up phase is over? Ask our EMBA students

Last January, Professor Bernd Vogel led our EMBA students to reflect on the following questions:

1. How can I mobilize and sustain healthy team engagement, energy, and performance in my area of responsibility?
2. What factors are helping or are in the way of sustained team engagement how can I address acceleration, toxic energy, conflict, or team dysfunctions?
3. What is the range of different leadership perspectives and practices that can address team engagement?

The concepts taught by Professor were highly appreciated. But in terms of “Team engagement”, a live case study was something Bernd and the board of the Geneva EMBA wanted to add to the course.

Alpian opened its door to our EMBA class. This bank was founded in 2019 for bringing a new digital product and an innovative business model on the market. It was a pure start-up till October 2022. Once the IT solution was developed, Alpian became a private bank. The company had to leave the start-up spirit. A new concern immediately rose. The teams were initially focused and energized on creating a new product. How do you engage them towards classical business goals?

During a whole afternoon, our 27 students experienced an exciting learning journey at Alpian. They met with Schuyler Weiss, the CEO, Marion Fogli, the Managing Director, and other managers. The debate was highly engaged. Questions were challenging, answers were open. After 5 hours of intense discussions and teamwork, clever recommendations were made by the students.

Following Professor Bernd Vogel, this immersion within a specific context has given life to the theory and facilitated the learning. Marion, Alpian’s MD, shared that she was highly satisfied with the quality of the recommendations. 2 have already been implemented into the company for improving Team Engagement. Our students made it clear: Such experiences bring an enormous added value to our Geneva EMBA.

That’s exactly what we aim for through confronting our students with the rich local ecosystem. That’s what we call the Geneva Advantage.