INSEAD Business School had announced the Abu Dhabi Module in Sep 2012. However, the first class of the Module began in Jan 2013. The program gives students in France and Singapore the opportunity to work with the government, and Businesses in UAE.The Module has 10.5 elective credits. It is divided into three parts: Doing Business in the UAE and the Middle East, Negotiation Dynamics and field-based project with a local company. For the Module, 35 Students from 22 nationalities have been selected from over 1000 student INSEAD MBA Class.
Students learn through lectures, interaction with local and regional Business Experts, and field-based projects on actual cases. Some of the local partners for the Field-based projects include Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC), Masdar, Mubadala Development Company, and MBC Group. In addition to local companies, Global companies such as Standard Chartered Bank, Booz, and McKinsey & Co. are also part of the Abu Dhabi INSEAD Module. From the Govt. side, Ministry of Sound is a key partner in the program. The primary goal of the Module is to deepen the understanding of Middle East, especially UAE as a destination for doing Business.
What has INSEAD Abu Dhabi Module Students been saying?
According to Weiwen Chen, Singaporean Class of 2013J, “A key highlight of our trip was the three panel discussions on economic development in Abu Dhabi, human capital development and financial issues in the region respectively. What struck us was the consistency and clarity of the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030 articulated across different organisations from within and without government. The vast amount of resources invested in improving education and promoting entrepreneurship was also astounding”.
For INSEAD MBA 2013 Malaysian Candidate - Pei Chieng Soh, it was about the opportunity to meet INSEAD Alumni in the region. According to her, "The INSEAD alumni generously held a reception at the Capital Club, a prestigious private club in the Dubai International Financial Centre for us. There, we got a chance to meet the several alumni in the region and get their thoughts about living and working in the region. Everyone I spoke to was very positive, with one lady based in Saudi Arabia even observing that the country’s attitudes to women working were being increasingly relaxed. In true INSEAD tradition, the highlight of the evening for many of us was definitely going to the Armani club at the bottom of the 828m-tall Burj Khalifah"
For INSEAD MBA 2013 American Candidate – Lisa Barrett, it was the development plans in UAE that impressed her. According to Lisa, “We spent a week between our second and third periods in the United Arab Emirates, meeting with regional leaders in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and gaining context for the ambitious and impressive development plans in the UAE. From building a world-class education system, to creating free zones to attract entrepreneurs, to becoming a global leader in capital-intensive, high tech industries, the UAE is engaging in one of the most rapid, impressive, and unique nation-building exercises the world has ever seen”.
The module is useful for Students who have worked in the GCC region and who are looking forward to working in the region post-MBA.
Recommended Read: Insead MBA Abu Dhabi Experience
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