Our current MBA students had the pleasure to welcome two company guests in class in just one day: Dr. Wolfram Heger, Sr. Manager for Corporate Responsibility Management at Daimler AG and Sally Ghaly, On Products Communications Manager at PUMA, who at the same time is one of our recent alumni from the program.

In the morning, Dr. Heger exemplified the active management of interests and concerns of stakeholders of a company such as Daimler as major CSR challenges. About Stakeholder Management and dialogs, especially with civil society, he said: "They offer huge potential to turn global challenges - such as the requirements of the sustainable development goals of the United Nations (UN Sustainable Development Goals) - into an opportunity of sustainable entrepreneurial activities.” According to Dr.Heger, within a few years, the respect for human rights will be of equal importance for society and companies as the CO2 debate is of today.

Later in the afternoon, the students received Sally Ghaly, On Products Communication Manager at PUMA and Alumna of the MBA Class of 2014. Ms. Ghaly started off with a company introduction of PUMA, which is one of Germany’s biggest producers within the sporting goods industry. Our speaker then continued on how PUMA managed to make some major changes within the organization through its new strategy “forever faster”. The students got insight on the impacts it had on internal and external processes of PUMA, and how the company’s culture changed towards constant communication and innovation.

At the end of both presentations, our students took the chance to exchange with the guest speakers. Through asking questions, the students better understood the applicability of the strategies and norms explained. Thanks to our guest speakers, the students experienced the real life applicability of theories learned in courses such as Sustainable Globalization and International Business Development.