In July 2023, a group of 25 students of the Faculty of Management, Economics and Social Sciences has travelled to Thailand to get insights into Business in Asia. For several years now, the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences at the University of Fribourg has organized a ten-day Summer School in partnership with the College of Management at Mahidol University (CMMU) in Bangkok. The aim is to familiarize students with the specifics of management in Asia through lectures by Thai professors, company visits and lectures by managers. Lead by Prof. Dirk Morschett, our 25 students also got to know the Asian operations of several Swiss companies this July.
Impressions of the Company Visits and Executive Talks [Click on photo for a short diashow]
The group was hosted by the Swiss Thai Chamber of Commerce and its executive director David Stauffacher, the Swiss Embassy in Thailand and the Swiss-Canadian entrepreneur Robert Woodrich, CEO of Paper & Page, for an afternoon in the Swiss embassy where it got great insights into Swiss-Thai relations, Swiss Business in Thailand and how to set up a successful marketing agency in Thailand.
On another day, understanding Thai retailing was done not only in lectures but also with a visit to Central World, one of the largest Shopping Centres in Bangkok, where their head of marketing introduced the group into some business figures and explained the marketing activities of the Shopping Centre Group to attract local customers but also huge number of tourists each year to their premium shops. Side remark: A larger public in Switzerland may now know the name “Central Group” because they are the full owners of the Swiss Globus department stores.
Impressions of the Lectures at CMMU [Click on photo for a short diashow]
Another highlight was the visit to two subsidiaries of companies from Fribourg in Thailand. That great day started at Polytype Asia-Pacific Ltd., a subsidiary of Wifag Polytype from Fribourg. Their managing director Patrick Corpataux gave the group an overview of their activities in Thailand and then a factory tour to see the production of their printing machines. In the afternoon, Liebherr Thailand opened its doors for the group, gave an overview of the the Liebherr Group and of Liebherr Thailand and a factory tour to see the production of their truck mixers and mixing plants. And finally, the students and the company representativesday and our partners from the College of Management of Mahidol University gathered for a wonderful evening at the beach where the conversations about business in Asia continued in a perfect Southern atmosphere.
Another Swiss perspective on Business in Thailand was given by Roland Wider, Managing Director of Sika Thailand. He gave a presentation on Sika’s activities in Thailand, the markets that are served from Sika Thailand, the cooperation between Sika’s headquarters in Switzerland, the Regional Headquarters in Singapore and the subsidiary in Thailand and in his experience after many years in Asia.
Prof. Morschett explains the benefits of this Summer School as follows: "Southeast Asia is still booming and offers excellent opportunities for Swiss companies. The students should see this themselves, in the country have it explained to them by specialists, and feel the enormous dynamism of these countries so that they can later operate successfully in these markets." And not at last, it is also a great opportunity to dive into the culture of a foreign country and to exchange with peer students during this experience.
Impressions of the Social and Cultural Events [Click on photo for a short diashow]
The participants cover the costs of the trip as well as the course fees themselves. Many of them also take the opportunity to explore the region on a tourist basis following the Summer School.