Program Overview
9
Days
7
Academic engagements
27
Students on program
On this program, Washington University EMBA students explored topics in international trade ranging from global supply chains to the impact of geopolitics. Visiting Hamburg and Amsterdam provided students access to two major European trade hubs that have complex logistical infrastructures and a dense concentration of globally active firms. Their nine days in Europe were action-packed with business visits and cultural activities, including a brewery tour in Hamburg and a visit to a Dutch cheese farm.
The program started with a tour of Hamburg, followed by academic engagements with Boeing, Siemens Energy, and the Hamburg Port Authority. In each visit, the students explored the energy industry and the impact of geopolitics on global trade.
The students paid a visit to Deloitte Hamburg, where they met Dr. Juergen Sandau, Lead Partner for Supply Chain Operations. Dr. Sandau discussed strategies for building supply chains in a time of political instability and outlined new trends like nearshoring. He walked the students through case studies of companies that have successfully navigated major geopolitical disruptions, offering them real world solutions to global problems.
After Hamburg, the program traveled to Amsterdam to visit several top companies including Intralox, World Wide Technology, and Kraft Heinz. The group received an exclusive tour of the Intralox plant and the World Wide Technology shop floor. Session topics at Kraft Heinz focused on the tomato supply chain, climate change, and global sustainability.
By comparing these two European cities, students discovered how each locations' strategic geographic position and strong traditions in international commerce shape global business decisions. The program ended with dinner at a local cheese farm just outside of Amsterdam, where students tasted a variety of Dutch cheeses and reflected on their experiences from the program.
This experience showed how the concepts we've learned thus far play out on the global market, offered a deeper sense of interconnectivity among businesses and strategies of multinational firms, and afforded our cohort the opportunity to share rich experiences and form meaningful relationships.
EMBA Student, Olin Business School
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