MBA students enjoy 'transformational' tour of Poland

In an "eye-opening and transformational" trip to Poland, more than 30 Bradford MBA students were able to immerse themselves in Polish culture and gain unique business insights by visiting three local companies to probe areas such as innovation, product development, management styles, growth strategies and internationalisation. The trip also included a guest lecture from a leading Polish economist, as well as visiting the country’s salt mines and touring the university in Krakow.

The trip was led by Craig Johnson, Senior Lecturer and Head of Studies for MBA programmes in the UK. He explains: "The years of communism means the cultural differences are significant and management styles are going through an evolution into a more Western way style of working with people. The Bradford MBA is all about international experience. This trip enabled the students to look at a country and business case studies in-depth, with first hand input from the business leaders.

"It has been a fantastic cultural adventure for the students that will feed into their education and future careers. It was also valuable for the business leaders we met in Poland. It’s rare you are able to get such unique insights from the next generation of business people like this."

Some comments from our MBA students:

"In this age of globalisation, it is truly important to have knowledge and experience about different cultures, values and practices. It has been an eye-opening experience with unique insights into a different culture."

"I knew little about Eastern Europe before coming to Poland and this trip gave me invaluable insights for the future. It’s given me an amazing step forward in my studies and provides so much more than your average classroom experience."

"Poland presented me with a great opportunity to grow as an individual. This is now a country that has a direction and momentum on its side to make things even better. I will try to take on this philosophy for the rest of my life. Always knowing where I want to be and building the momentum and support I need to get there. My MBA is almost complete by way of the degree, but as I learned from Krakow, things change and learning and growing will never end for me. This has been a truly transformational experience."

"It was an eventful week with lots of exposure to different cultures, fresh business thinking ideas, the chance to bond with colleagues outside the formality of school and the broadening of my ideas and experiences. For this, I will always be grateful and thankful."

For more photos from the trip see the photo album on Facebook.