Classroom concepts take flight for Global Management students
For Martin Sithole, Royal Roads University's tagline “The world is your classroom” took on a whole new meaning during his Master of Global Management international residency.
Together with seven of his classmates, he traveled to Germany and Turkey for a two-week deep dive into the complexities of international business.
“I’m so glad I did it. It opened my eyes to a lot of opportunity,” says Sithole, who is clinical governance lead at Island Health.
Building a global mindset
The residency, a requirement for the blended MGM program, is part of two courses, Supply Chain Management, and Logistics and Change Management.
The trip offers students the chance to integrate their in-classroom learning with first-hand experience about operational and change management aspects across a variety of sectors, says Assoc. Prof. Deb Linehan, MGM program head, who led the residency alongside Assoc. Prof. Hassan Wafai.
“As a global manager, you may be situated in different countries and you need to be able to adapt,” she says. “We really highlight intercultural studies and building a global mindset to understand the world we live in.”
"We really want to highlight intercultural studies and building a global mindset to understand the world we live in," says Linehan.
Understanding our global world
Cultivating those skills are more important than ever in our global world, she says, even for those who work in Canada.
“We are a dynamically changing country. Our workforce is international. And we trade internationally. With all the geopolitical machinations going on, elections and economic repercussions, this program gives you insights frameworks to help you understand the world and the interdependencies of it.”
In each country, the students began with a trip to the Canadian consulate where they learned about the local political landscape, economy and trends with trade.
“It was cool to understand how the consulate members got to where they’re at,” says Sithole.
An "eye-opening" experience
Other visits and behind-the-scenes tours included the BMW museum and plant, Başakşehir City Hospital – one of Turkey’s largest healthcare facilities, an innovation hub at Advantech and the Istanbul airport.
Those visits were an “eye opener,” says student Hitha Das.
“The hospital visit was essential to demonstrate how a public-private partnership can pave the way to creating a complex yet efficient system using operations, processes and supply chain concepts,” she says.
Başakşehir Çam and Sakura City Hospital is the third largest healthcare facility in Turkey. Here, students are touring part of the robotic blood lab in the basement.
Behind-the-scenes access to business innovations
At the Istanbul airport, she notes students got a backstage pass to incredible innovations in technology such as baggage automation.
“It broadened my understanding of the concepts and gave me tools and insights to apply in my work,” says Das, who is a supply chain food safety quality manager for PepsiCo’s operations in Western Canada.
The Istanbul airport is one of the largest in the world. Students got a behind-the-scenes tour into control rooms and learn about innovations in technology to prevent baggage loss.
Outside of class hours, students have the chance to explore the city, take public transport, visit museums enjoy local fare.
Sithole says he scored tickets to a soccer game in Munich one day after class and won’t soon forget the experience or the people.
“I just loved the fashion, the food and people were so friendly,” he says. “Even though you might not understand the language, you get to learn so much about the culture, interact with the people. It makes you a well-rounded person.”