The Department of Management and FEMA at the University of Malta have recently run and concluded the May 2019 edition of German HNU University’s MBA International Extension, Strategy Live Case executive programme in Malta.
This intensive full-week programme of applied sessions, enterprise collaboration, management meetings and in vivo strategising is run by the Department annually and rides on the back of a long standing alliance and ongoing collaboration between the University of Malta’s Department of Management and HNU’s Department of Business and Economics. Various practicing professionals and specialists from FEMA departments are involved.
For this edition, the collaborating top management team and enterprise partners were Simonds Farsons Cisk plc, a long-established, international award winning brewer and key player in the beverage industry in Malta – currently eyeing strategic growth and further internationalisation initiatives.
The strategy exercise, which also included coordinated preliminary analysis and case familiarisation at the business school in Germany prior to arrival – in Malta entailed extensive meetings and interaction with the top management team at Farsons, on site review of key facilities and operations, as well as specialist HNU participants ‘embedded’ with divisional managers at the company.
Business strategy and finance workshops and masterclasses were undertaken at the University of Malta’s Valletta and Msida campuses, complemented with research, selective in-depth analyses and facilitated strategising sessions – towards conducting a review of the organisation’s competitive realities, dynamic challenges and potential strategic opportunities. At the end of the week, Farsons’ CEO and top management were presented with the strategic review, observations and potential areas for consideration, followed by further discussion – consolidating the collaborative exercise.
The profile of this edition’s international cohort of HNU final-year Executive MBA participants included executives employed at multinational blue chip companies such as Airbus, Continental AG, Liebherr-Hydraulikbagger GmbH, IVECO, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH, and Kamag Transporttechnik GmbH; as well as other German SME champions of industry – engaged in sectors spanning automotive, aviation, precision engineering, biotech, pharma, nuclear powerplants, electronics, legal and consulting.
The Department of Management thanks Farsons’ CEO, Group Secretary and management team for their active engagement in this strategy exercise geared towards creating mutual value and opportunities for critical insight and learning – and wishes them every success.
In concluding the programme, a formal award dinner and certificate presentation were held at Capua Palace, Sliema.
HNU MBA cohort at Farsons for management meetings and facilities review, accompanied by (from left) Mr Jean Sacchet (Consultant and HNU partner), Dr Nathaniel Massa (Strategy case director, UM), and Mr Charles J Falzon (UM Programme Manager)
Presentation underway: HNU team delivering their strategic observations and recommendations to Farsons’ top-management at Farsons, Mriehel. In foreground (R-L): Mr Eugenio Caruana (COO), Mr Philip Farrugia (Group Head - IT & Business Services), and Mr Norman Aquilina (Group CEO)