Summertime is an exciting season for graduate students in the Master of Science in International Management program as their challenging year winds down. Candidates reached one milestone last week as they presented and shared their individual learning and practical experience journeys with their professors and other members of the Franklin University Switzerland community. Having completed the foundation courses and in-company training, the students gave excellent examples of using their Franklin MSIM education in real-world contexts. Students in arts management for example, in their practical experience with SDA Bocconi, experienced closely the common obstacles to the cultural industry such as lack of fundraising, marketing, and democratization in the field, and proposed workable solutions. Those on the digital transformation track, collaborating with Fortinet, faced the challenges of digital integration into management firms, sustainability, and demographic equity in the workplace were identified, and proposals on how to implement change were discussed based on concepts learned from the MSIM coursework.
The practical experience is a required component of the MSIM curriculum that comes during the summer semester: it provides students with the opportunity to work, according to their track of specialization, on an applied project under the supervision of both the academic coordinator at FUS and the host supervisor at an external partner institution or company. Fielding questions from professors Miniero, Suleiman, and Schultz, MSIM students showcased the program's intensive but efficient way of working that prepares new graduates to take their place on the world stage in international management. Students demonstrated how their coursework shaped their path toward a new job opportunity by connecting concepts from specific classes with explanations of their new jobs, freshly begun in the spring. By sharing their experience attending the openings of various art museums and fairs throughout Italy, or by outlining the goals of a project involving women’s empowerment and leadership, students signaled the real benefit of the Franklin MSIM program: allowing for individual educational journeys and self-motivated projects built upon partnerships with international institutions. The broad representation of interests displayed in the practical experience seminar highlighted the vast potential of the FUS master's program to create key players in the dynamic world of international management.
It's exciting to learn that the practical experience part of the master's degree led to invaluable collaborations with the SDA Bocconi School of Management, United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), and Lugano Living Lab, which has led to meaningful projects and employment. Some of the master's candidates reported having already begun working full-time at management firms, in artistic capacities, and in digital media or marketing roles.
Congratulations to the FUS master's cohort of 2023 on this achievement, and best wishes on your upcoming thesis defenses. The Franklin community supports you wherever you go this fall!