Indo-German Training Centre welcomed the third group of 23 students from the Duale Hochschule Baden- Württemberg (DHBW), Karlsruhe for their well-established Intensive Study Programme “Business Environment India” from 3rdto 15th January 2015. The delegation was led by Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Schäfer, Head of Department – Management in Commerce, DHBW Karlsruhe and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Eric Zimmerman, Head of Department – Business Administration and Engineering, DHBW Karlsruhe.
Their 13 day schedule was meticulously planned to keep a varied mix of lectures, industrial visits and cultural sight-seeing. The delegation was formally inaugurated at IGTC by Radhieka R Mehta, Director, IGTC who also gave the students an orientation of the city and what to expect in this city that never sleeps – Mumbai! Bernhard Steinruecke, Director General, IGCC welcomed the delegation of young students and took the opportunity to give them insights on economic ties between India and Germany and emphasised on the new initiative by the Prime Minister of India – Narendra Modi called ‘Make in India’.
The lectures at IGTC included an Overview of the Logistics Industry in India with a live demonstration of the famous Dabbawalla system in Mumbai; an Overview of the Economic, Political and Cultural Environment in India and an interactive lecture on the Retail Industry in India with a guided tour to the traditional, wholesale Crawford Market and the hi-end, retail Hi-Street Phoenix and Palladium Mall.
The industrial visits to German and Indian companies such as Tata Motors, Pune and Volkswagen, Pune was fascinating for the students as they could understand and compare how an Indian automobile organization functions as compared to the German organization. The visit to Siemens, Worli was interesting as the students learned about Siemens operations in India and their involvement tin Corporate Social Responsibility. Tech Mahindra– an IT Services company that provides end-to-end CRM solutions for the people in the UK, Ireland and Australia imparted the students with knowledge about the massive IT sector and their operations. At the upcoming, luxurious, residential project “The Park” of the Lodha Group, the students gained a first-hand experience of seeing Indian labourers working on a construction site. This was followed by a visit to the legendary ACC Cement House, which is an energy-efficient, environment-friendly building.
The cultural visits included a visit to Dharavi – Asia’s largest slumwherethe students were amazed to see the workshops of tanning of leather, the recycling of plastic containers, the making of garments, etc. which dispelled all notions of Dharavi being a place of misery. An excursion to Matheran, Asia’s only automobile-free hill stationgave the students a different aspect as compared to the traffic and constant buzz in the city. The travel to Alibag, a coastal town in Raigad District by ferry was spectacular with the sea gulls flying as close as possible.
After the 13 day programme, final presentations at IGTC were made by the students on topics such as Opportunities and risks for German companies in India in the field of Marketing – Distribution and Communication; Products, Brands and Quality; Human Resources – German employees and Indian employees and in the field of Logistics. Followed by a farewell dinner at The Village – an Indian themed restaurant, where the students danced to Indian songs and enjoyed their Indian meal.
This is what some German students had to say about their trip to India:
“The exchange programme enriched my personal as well as my professional life. Exchanging views with Indian students on culture, economy and business has widened my horizon. The programme gave us the opportunity to receive an insight into everyday life and to experience the business environment in India. Thanks to a varied programme, organized by IGTC and the Indian hospitality, our stay was a unique one.” – Anika Sedlacek, Landesbank Baden-Württemberg
“The programme is a great opportunity to learn a lot about the Indian culture, people and business in India. It gives a comprehensive overview in a short time and you will learn a lot during your time in India. Besides that you can meet a lot of new people and have a lot of fun with the other participants and the IGTC students.” – Paulina Kreutel, Witzenmann GmbH
