Faculty and MBA Satisfaction
Hervé REMAUD is a Senior Professor of Marketing at Kedge Business School and an Adjunct Senior Researcher at the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science
What is your role within the Global MBA programme?
I have been in charge two aspects of the Global MBA: coordinating the Major in Wine and Spirit Management and supporting the first steps of the participants’ Strategic Business Project.
What kind of personal investment does this require?
The major in Wine and Spirit Management was built / designed taking the strong partnership that KEDGE has with the University of South Australia (Adelaide) and Sonoma State University (Rohnert Park) to an ‘upper’ level. I have been working with colleagues from these universities for more than 10 years because of the strong expertise they have in wine management. As part of the major, we spend one week in these two locations plus one week in Bordeaux.
I am personally involved in the delivery of some courses during these three weeks, and of course, on the design and content of these sessions.
In Bordeaux, we focus on the "luxurisation" of the wine and spirit industry, whereas the Adelaide session is more based on "marketing that matters" and the Sonoma session on "small vs. large wine and spirit businesses strategy".
In 2017, we will "exchange" MBA participants with SSU. We will welcome several of their Wine MBA students to Bordeaux (during the Bordeaux session) and they will welcome us to California (during the Sonoma session).
In Adelaide, we’ll have the session with some UniSA MBA students, delivering a greater international experience to our participants. In addition to the concepts and the academic content, these sessions are always good fun. It involves wine and spirit tasting. This year, we will have the chance to make a Global MBA cuvee in a classified growth Estate.
Finally, these three sessions are also offered to our Global MBA students as a potential international seminar.
With regard to the Strategic Business Project, my investment includes: delivering the market research methods (in collaboration with S. Pace) and SBP introduction, evaluate the participants’ proposal, discuss with the participants any issue they have with their SBP, and for some of them, acting as their tutor. This is time consuming, but very rewarding! Especially when you have the chance to attend their final oral presentation and congratulate them on their SBP journey!
"… to be satisfied"
What is the importance/significance of staff involvement with EMBA participants?
In my view, this is part of the success of KEDGE Global MBA. Delivering a Global MBA is, in many ways, a "normal" business where your "clients" have key requirements … to be satisfied. Having KEDGE staff involved is part of these requirements. And to be brief and simple… the more we are involved and respond to their expectations, the more they will become "prescriptors" of the KEDGE Global MBA.
What do you get out of working with EMBA participants?
Many things! And if I had to elicit one aspect, this would be the fact that it always enlarges and enriches my understanding of the world. They all have various background, working in various industries, in totally different positions… and it makes the discussions with all of them very interesting.
What are your key challenges with respect to participants?
Because they have various backgrounds and experiences, it can be difficult to satisfy the expectations of all of them at the same level. That’s why it’s important in my view to continuously move from group thinking to individual discussions where the participant will extract as much as possible from the concepts and examples being discussed.
Of which achievement involving a participant/participants within the EMBA are you most proud?
It’s difficult to elicit only one of them. In fact, I should admit that I’m proud of any MBA participant who successfully completes the MBA. I’m always impressed with their ability to manage their daily family life, their job, and on top of it… the MBA.
