Studenti Manchester Metropolitan University v Praze

Prague trip April 2012
Cohort 9

The study trip began in the very modern Prague University of Economics with two very interesting lectures on the current economic position of the Czech Republic and why so many companies choose to invest in the country: “Doing Business in Central and Eastern Europe Countries” presented by Ing. Jaroslav Halík, Ph.D., MBA professor, University of Economic, Prague and “New trends in business management” presented by Ing. Karel Havlíček, Ph.D., MBA General Director at SINDAT GROUP, Prague. This was followed by a fascinating tour of the historic Prague Castle and the first of our many meals in one of Prague’s fine restaurants.

The first of the business visits was to Hewlett-Packard with a seminar on cultural differences by the Ing. Pavel Klimuškin, ESSN Country Director and Mgr. Kateřina Braithwaite, Ph.D., Alliance Manager “Intercultural differencies and communication”. After gaining an insight in how to deal with different cultures across Europe - and learning that not everybody understands the British sense of humour - we headed to the Pilsner Urquell brewery for an educational insight into one of the Czech Republic’s greatest exports.
The next visit was to the Moser Glassworks just outside of Prague, where we saw glass blowing of the finest world-renowned crystal, using traditional production methods. We moved on to a guided tour around the beautiful spa town of Karlovy Vary, ending the day with a tasting session at the Beckerovka distillery and a tour of the Grand Hotel Pupp, the film location of Casino Royale and the Czech Republic’s annual international film festival.

A trip to the Skoda factory and tour of their car museum allowed us to see how the moving assembly line has changed since the day of Henry Ford to include high levels of automation. The afternoon was spent on a walking tour of Prague city centre crossing the famous Charles Bridge and seeing all its charm. 
The next day began with an economics lecture from the Head of the EU Office, Česká spořitelna/Erste Bank in Prague, Ing. Petr Zahradník highlighting the advantages and issues faced when conducting business in Czech Republic.

The trip to TPCA (Toyota Peugeot Citroën Automobile) followed, where we could compare their production to that of Skoda. A Q&A session with the Head of Marketing helped us understand why Toyota would open a joint venture with Peugeot and Citroën when they are the experts in automobile production. The evening was spent at a traditional Czech restaurant, where we enjoyed an entertaining night of food, drink, singing and dancing!
The final day’s excursion to the breath-taking Castle Karlštejn was a captivating history lesson of the Czech Republic and its colourful past, rounding off a full and action-packed week in a wonderful country.
Prague proved itself something special that we would all recommend as a destination to visit. The trip itself proved to be very exciting, enjoyable and a real opportunity to understand doing business in a post-communist country. Something that we will all look back at with fond memories, just one of the benefits of doing the MMU MBA.

Phil Osborne