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2018/2019  KAN-CCMIV1121U  CEMS Business Project

English Title
CEMS Business Project

Course information

Language English
Course ECTS 15 ECTS
Type Elective
Level Full Degree Master
Duration One Semester
Start time of the course Spring
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Min. participants 63
Max. participants 63
Study board
Study Board for BSc and MSc in Business, Language and Culture, MSc
Course coordinator
  • Peter Ørberg Jensen - Department of Strategy and Innovation (SI)
Main academic disciplines
  • Strategy
  • Supply chain management and logistics
  • Cultural studies
Teaching methods
  • Face-to-face teaching
Last updated on 09-10-2018

Relevant links

Learning objectives
The main learning objectives below describe the ambitions of the project and establish the evaluation criteria which will be used in the assessment of the student’s performance. Upon completion of the project, the student should be able to:
  • Identify and formulate a management question in response to a corporate problem
  • Select, define and apply appropriate research-based tools and analytical methods
  • Identify and present the firm implications – challenges as well as opportunities – that may be derived from the analysis.
  • Suggest decisions and actions that may help the firm in question to address challenges and benefit from opportunities.
  • Design and implement a project plan and comply with the related deadlines and deliverables.
  • Manage the relation with the company partner, including, for example, communication flows, and company partner expectations
Course prerequisites
THE BUSINESS PROJECT IS ONLY OPEN TO CEMS MIM STUDENTS
Prerequisites for registering for the exam (activities during the teaching period)
Number of compulsory activities which must be approved: 3
Compulsory home assignments
Before submission of the project report, the student team must complete the following actvities:
A) Briefing Note
B) Mid-term evaluation
C) Reporting findings and conclusions to the host organization.
See below for an elaboration of the three mandatory activities.

Oral presentations etc.
CONFIDENTIALITY: The Business Project will provide insights into confidential company data for both students and CBS advisors. As the CEMS community is very concerned with trust and long lived relationships, we take confidentiality seriously. Therefore, the CBS standard confidentiality form must be signed by all parties involved. This form is in line with overall CBS confidentiality principles and is in accordance with Danish Law.
Examination
Business Project - CEMS:
Exam ECTS 15
Examination form Oral exam based on written product

In order to participate in the oral exam, the written product must be handed in before the oral exam; by the set deadline. The grade is based on an overall assessment of the written product and the individual oral performance.
Individual or group exam Individual oral exam based on written group product
Number of people in the group 4-5
Size of written product Max. 40 pages
Assignment type Project
Duration
Written product to be submitted on specified date and time.
20 min. per student, including examiners' discussion of grade, and informing plus explaining the grade
Grading scale 7-step scale
Examiner(s) Internal examiner and second internal examiner
Exam period Spring and Spring
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
Description of the exam procedure

The examination consists of written business project report and a 20-minute oral examination. The examination and grading will be done by an examiner (the group’s academic advisor) and a second internal examiner. While the business project report is the collective product and responsibility of the group, the oral examination, which is held on the basis of the report, is individual. Each student is given one grade based on the combined assessment of the written report and the student’s performance at the oral examination. As each student is assessed individually, grades within a group may therefore vary, due to varying performances in the oral examination.

Course content and structure

The Business Project aims to provide the students with a real life learning experience. International student project teams solve a real business problem as a one-semester part-time activity in consultation with the partner company and an academic advisor in parallel. The Business Project is a consultancy-like project that aims to make a contribution to the partner company with analytical results and advice.

 

Even though the Business Project course includes a number of fixed deliverables and a tight schedule, students have full responsibility to manage the project process, the analysis, reach conclusions and present these in a clearly communicated way. The students are dedicated to work with a company and will be assigned a company contact person and an academic advisor from CBS.

The implementation of the Business Project will therefore help students develop a range of competences, in terms of analysis, communication, project, and process management – in other words, competences that are in high demand in the corporate world.

 

The Business Project forms a substantial part of the workload in the spring semester, and each student is expected to allocate approximately 400 work hours to the project.

The main part of the Business Project consists of the student group’s project work process and the group’s interaction with the case company.

 

The project team will work on a business problem/challenge/opportunity, as provided by the company partner.

 

It is the responsibility of each project team to establish an internal project organization and structure to be able to handle the process of coordinating tasks, communicate efficiently and effectively with the company partner, and ensure that the milestones and deadlines in the process are met.

 

The kick-off for the CEMS Business Project is scheduled for Friday 8 February 2019. The kick-off will be held at CBS, where the company presents the case and meets the student project team for the first time. The aim of the kick-off is to:

 

  • Create an initial understanding of the topic and the situation in the project team
  • Establish a shared understanding of the project task
  • Set out the framework for the work process towards the first deliverable, the Briefing Note on the project approach

 

Before the kick-off students are assigned to specific company partners. It is expected that the students prior to the kick-off have done some initial information search, e.g. via the company partner’s website, annual reports, or through consultation with other sources for industry insights.

 

The kick-off and the following initial project work will lead the project team to produce the first deliverable in the Business Project, the Briefing Note.

 

Re. A: Briefing Note

 

The Briefing Note must be submitted to the group’s academic adviser at CBS and to the company contact person. The purpose of the Briefing Note is to outline the project’s purpose, the management question, research-based foundation, methodology and expected outcome at an early stage of the process.

The Briefing Note (and related emails, if relevant) must be enclosed as an appendix to the final project report and will be included in the grading of the report.

 

Re. B: Mid-term evaluation

 

The project team must arrange one mid-term evaluation meeting with the company which is the second deliverable in the Business Project. While the mid-term evaluation meeting is mandatory, the format for the meeting is flexible and the most convenient format for the specific project may be determined by the project team in consultation with the company partner. 

 

Re. C: Reporting findings and conclusions

 

The content and structure of the report will naturally vary according to the company case and management question investigated. The report writing process will lead to the two final deliverables – the company presentation and the final report – which are described in the following.

 

Prior to the submission of the report the company must present the preliminary results to the company. At this stage, the report does not need to be finalized and the project team is not expected to send a draft report to the partner company. Instead, the project team must orally, on the basis of a supporting slide presentation, communicate the main findings of the project and the derived suggestions.

Description of the teaching methods
CBS will divide the students into a number of project teams of approximately 4-5 students each. Each company team will be assigned to a host firm, a corporate contact person, as well as an academic advisor from CBS. Each team will consist of a mix of both CBS–CEMS students and visiting international CEMS students. The teams are composed to ensure the best possible match between the project topic and the students’ educational background as well as other qualifications, and to create diverse teams in terms of nationality, home university and gender. The teams will be announced prior to the kick-off.
Feedback during the teaching period
Ongoing consultations with the CBS project supervisor.
Student workload
Business Project work 200 hours
Business Project work 200 hours
Expected literature

There is no general course curriculum, as each project is expected to select and draw on a more specialized portfolio of readings that relate to the project’s topic and management question. The student project team is expected to consult with their academic adviser in order to identify relevant academic literature. For example, projects may draw on diverse literatures in strategic management, operations management, marketing, etc., or a combination of these literatures. The selected academic literature, and other sources, used in the report must be referenced in accordance with established standards for academic works.

 

 

Last updated on 09-10-2018