AccreditationAnother measurement tool is accredi-tation. Increasing numbers of inde-pendent accreditation agencies areemerging which, depending on stan-dards, evaluate universities (and theirprogrammes, processes, faculty andactivities). In the field of Business andManagement, the two most renownedagencies are EQUIS (European QualityImprovement System) and AACSB(American Assembly of CollegiateSchools of Business). EQUIS is aEuropean-centred agency with cur-rently about 114 accredited schoolsfrom 33 countries. AACSB, theAmerican-based international agency,has accredited 555 schools1. Bothagencies set extremely high standardswhich applicants must fulfil.Accreditation processes stretch overseveral years and are subject toperiodic reviews. (The FHNW School ofBusiness is currently in the process ofapplying for AACSB accreditation.Some individual programmes alreadyhave beenFIBAA – Foundation for InternationalBusiness AdministrationAccreditation - approved).

RankingUniversity rankings, originally knownas league tables, were set up early inthe twentieth century, mostly by news-papers and magazines. The leadingnames are the QS and The TimesHigher Education Supplement WorldUniversity Ranking. Other leadingmagazine rankings include those fromNewsweek, Wall Street Journal, DerSpiegel, Financial Times, Guardianand Le Nouvel Observateur.The QS/THES rankings are determinedby 6 indicators: Academic Peer Review(40% weighting), Employer Review(10%), Faculty/Student Ratio (20%),Faculty Score (20%), InternationalFaculty Score (5%) and InternationalStudent Score (5%)2. Measurement ofthese criteria is achieved by differentmethodologies. The academic peer andemployer reviews are based on globalon-line surveys, the faculty score isextracted from an internationalresearch papers database which tracksnumbers of citations to publishedresearch done by faculty.Since 2003 the Shanghai ranking hasalso achieved significant recognition.This ranking is more research-focused,allocating a majority of points for

Nr 1. / April 2009

The Sextant is a twice-yearly publication produced by the International Office of the School of Business of the FHNW (University of Applied SciencesNorthwestern Switzerland). People, projects and programmes with an international aspect related to the School of Business are the focus. It doesnot reflect the opinions of the School of Business, the FHNW or any other organisation.

Page 1InternationalUniversity Rankings:Vietnam Visit

Page 2SoapboxNews

Page 3Focus Interview

Page 4UniverityPartner Profiles

Page 5Agony AuntSpotted on the Radar

Page 6Who’s Where

Page 7ContinuationWho’s Where

Page 8A Day in the Life of

In June 2009 the fourth conference on the International Rankings ExpertGroup will take place in Kazakhstan. Its aim is to provide the largest updatedranking list of universities around the world and to include institutionsbelow the top 200 which will favour many universities not currently ranked.Rankings can serve a myriad of purposes. High rankings attract students,professors and money. They can also give prospective employers an indicationof the quality of the degree a student presents in a dossier. However, widelydiverging measurement tools and the non-inclusion of thousands of“lower”universities mean this tool is hardly fulfilling the needs of potentialstudents or employers.

InternationalUniversity Rankings:An Unequal Tool

Continued on Page 2

1

Vietnam seeks to learn fromFHNW university system

In its major reform and upgrade of the tertiary educationsystem, Vietnam is seeking to increase the qualifications oflecturers, increase number of students and decreaselecturer/student ratios by 2010. A high-ranking governmentdelegation, led by the Vice Prime Minister and Minister ofEducation Nguyen Thien Nhan, visited the FHNW SchoolofBusiness earlier this year with several proposals forcooperation aimed at achieving these goals.

Nguyen Xuan Vang, the Director General of the ministerialInternational Education Development, stated that aims withinthe Training of Trainers programme include having 20’000 stu-dents annually gain a PhD, half of these to be trained overseasin teaching and educational management. As well, internatio-nalisation of the universities and colleges is aimed for. Thisincludes using English as the language of instruction andadopting international curricula.Nhan stated that it was also a target to “develop closer coope-ration with industries” and that universities in the past hadneglected to ask what industries needed from graduates.“You should not teach what you know,” Vang added. “Youshould teach what reality requires. We want to learn from youhow you combine meeting industry needs with education.”

Concrete cooperation between the School of Business andVietnam includes the already running EMBA in Banking andFinance and two new projects: a Master of Advanced Studies inBusiness Information Systems and a joint BSc in BusinessAdministration. Discussions are under way to investigate howthe FHNW could deliver support in the training of trainers.Vang voiced the hope that more joint activities with Swiss hig-her education in Vietnam would eventuate and also believedSwitzerland needed to publicise its education institutions morein Vietnam.

Nguyen Xuan Vang (Photo: Michele Canonico)

2

Nobel and research prizes, and other researchcriteria. This is a more academic, quantativereview and several countries, particularly theeducational authorities in the United Kingdomand The Netherlands, have set up their owncomparable independent systems.

CriticismInevitably, rankings are the target of constantcriticism, especially those like the THESranking where great emphasis is placed onsubjective data. In 2007 a major controversybroke out in the USA when university collegesquestioned the impact of rankings on collegeadmissions and eventually 80 colleges opted tono longer participate3.

Swiss RankingsOn an internet site dedicated to the topic ofuniversity rankings4 the Swiss UniversityRector’s Conference (CRUS), also questions theworth of rankings: “Beyond differences that liein the structures and strategies of the univer-sities themselves, there is a serious problem ofavailable statistical information at an interna-tional level. This relates to student and facultydata, to data concerning the teaching andlearning processes as well as the learningoutcomes”.Swiss academic universities appear on some ofthe international rankings and in widelyvarying positions. Seven of the twelve appearin the THES ranking with two of them (the ETHand the EPFL) making it into the internationaltop 100. However, in the more research-basedempirical Shanghai ranking, only the ETHappears in the top 100 (in 2008 at position 24).Interestingly, St Gallen University, highly repu-table in this country especially for Managementeducation, does not appear at all in either ofthese lists.

Universities of Applied SciencesUniversities of Applied Sciences do not appearon any of these ranking lists. There are anumber of reasons for this. These universitiesare new on the international tertiary educationmarket and are based on a national systemwhich is not known in those countries con-ducting rankings5. As well, UAS’s are pro-fession oriented rather than research focusedthus precluding them from such rankingswhich evaluate purely on research criteria.An attempt to rank UASs was launched bySwissupRanking. This listing, a joint CRUSand KFH effort together with German andAustrian counterparts (Centrum fürHochschulentwickling www.che.de andÖsterreichische Qualitätssicherungsagenturwww.aqa.ac.at) and coordinated by a Swissfoundation (Stiftung zur Förderung derAusbildungsqualität in der Schweiz) aims toestablish a European ranking. The most recentranking covers the year 2006 and is based onfederal statistics (Bundesamt für Statistik) anda survey among nearly 3000 students and 1000academics. However, this evaluation couldonly deliver verdicts on InformationTechnology courses as critical sample numberswere not achieved in other fields6.

Until national rankings are established whichcover all universities and all disciplines itremains difficult for students and employers togain reliable quality estimates of the variousschools. The forthcoming conference inKazakhstan aims also to further reduce theUSA-European divide in ranking. However,European UAS’s are not yet on that radar.

Brigitte Sprenger

1 From the www.aacsb.edu website (December 2008)2 From the QS Website http://www.topuniversities.com/worlduniversityrankings/methodology/simple_overview/3 “Some Colleges Drop out of US News Rankings”, New York Times, 20 June 20074 www.universityrankings.ch (December 2008)5 The UK of course, has an approximate equivalent in the ex-Polytechnics which were converted into universities over a

decade ago. However, polytechnics never required vocational baccalaureates nor was the English apprenticeshipsystem comparable.

6 www.rankingswissup.ch, Pressemtteilung 3.04.06

Olten-a truly global village

Sisième

By Alex Capus, Olten author and columnist

There are days when you wonder as small towner why youspend your life exactly here and not somewhere else. I live inOlten and I have grown up here, and about three hundreddays a year I think it is ok that my children also grow uphere. There are the woods, the river, good schools and peaceruling the streets, on top of that we have low real estate pri-ces as well as seven movie theatres and 72 pubs spread allover our little town. Everything very comfortable. But some-times…..It is not true that everything remains forever the same in asmall town, sometimes things change even for the better. Thehotel Astoria, right behind our city hall, for example, a nicesmall building from the thirties with a touch of Bauhaus, hasrecently been tastefully renovated and two floors have beenadded. Right on top on the sixth floor there is now a trendybar, with a nice view over the roofs of the town where you canget a whiskey sour for 18 Swiss francs. And because the bar ison the sixth floor, the innkeeper baptized it in a cosmopolitanmanner „Sisième“.Sisième?It says so on the door.On one of those days when you ask yourself as a small townerwhy the heck you still live here, I passed the hotel Astoria onmy way to the post office. The owner, whom I know from myearly days at grammar school, stood right in front of the ele-vator door leading to „Sisième“. „Hi Marius! No offence but,“ Isaid and pointed to the signboard,“ there is something wrong,I think.“„Why?“„Well, if this is supposed to be French and not another Indo-European language I do not know…..“„ We write „Sixième“ with an X, I know this myself.“„Of course I know that you know this“, I quickly replied. “Butwhy….“„Look, we are here in Olten,“ the innkeeper patientlyexplained. „What will happen if I write „Sixième“ with an X?“„What?“„People will pronounce Sixième with an X!“It took a few moments until I was able to grasp his thoughtsto their full altruistic extent. In order to protect his fellowcitizens from pronouncing „Sixième“ wrongly and exposingthemselves as ignoramuses, the innkeeper preferred to spellthe word incorrectly and look like a fool himself. A trulyChristian deed I thought and continued on my way. But itlooks awful anyway. An X would look much more beautiful.But what can I do.On one of these days as small towner one is truly pleasedabout the fact that from Olten main railway station there aredirect trains to Paris, Rome, Hamburg, Zürich, and Berlin. If Iwanted to I could just get on the train. But then you remem-ber that big cities like Zürich or Berlin are nothing other thanOlten ten times or even a hundred times over. I am sure thereare also people who pronounce Sixième incorrectly. And peo-ple who spell it the wrong way. People who have to spell itwrongly. Or people who think they have to spell it wrongly.

The first cohort of Chinese students from the joint BSc Business Administration (InternationalManagement) degree between the FHNW School of Business and the Qingdao TechnologicalUniversity School of Business are due to arrive in Olten this September.

Out of an original class of about 40 students which started out at Q-Tech nearly three yearsago, eight students were accepted during personal interviews with Prof Dr Markus Freiburghausin HuangDao earlier this year to complete the final graduation year in Switzerland. The jointprogramme enables Chinese students to follow the Swiss curriculum for three years and togather the required work experience during placements before applying to complete theirdegree here. Subject to meeting some further requirements and being awarded a visa, the eightstudents, all female, join the normal programme in Olten this September.

First Cohort fromQingdao to Olten

The Sextant _ Nr 1. / April 2009

3

Nr 1. / April 2009

Focus Interview:Dr Katharina Amacker, HeadDiversity Switzerland, Novartis

At the Novartis headquarters in Basel,more than 90 nationalities work togetheron a daily basis and several hundred newemployees come to Basel from other coun-tries every year. In 2004, Novartis launcheda new Diversity and Inclusion Strategy toaddress the demographics of its increas-ingly international workforce.We asked Dr Katharina Amacker, who isHead Diversity Switzerland for Novartisand a national councillor, about howNovartis promotes Diversity & Inclusion ina highly multicultural atmosphere.

Novartis has put quite an effort into its D&Istrategy in recent years. What does the newstrategy concentrate on?Our strategy is based on five dimensions ofdiversity and inclusion: gender, age, culture,lifestyle and abilities. The gender divide hasbeen a great focus of ours, because inSwitzerland, 40% of our associates are female.One of our goals has been to promote womento leadership roles. I can proudly say that sta-tistically, Novartis has become one of the bestemployers in Switzerland for women duringthe last eight years; women in managementpositions has increased from 14% in 2000 to28% today, and four out of eight locations inSwitzerland are now being headed by women.Our company in Switzerland also has a highnumber of employees olderthan 50, so we make strongefforts to use the potential ofour associates in all phasesof their career. Our BaselCampus provides a lot ofopportunities to learn moreabout these parts of D&I andabout our multiculturalism. In addition toorganized events, there are a lot of socialspaces on Campus that everyone shares, suchas our restaurants and coffee shops. Weencourage those places to embrace our inter-nationalism in a more informal way, for exam-ple through the meals they offer.

Why practise Diversity Management?.Actively implementing D&I practices is a solidbusiness choice. Implementation falls intothree pillars: attractiveness as an employer,innovation as business driver and closeness tothe market. New talent is easily attracted ifour employees feel comfortable and respected.A diverse workforce will also reflect andunderstand the needs of our wide patientbase, which helps us make smarter businessdecisions. By introducing diversity manage-ment, we provide a framework to enablepeople to work creatively in a positive envi-ronment.That isn’t to say that this is easy to imple-ment. Most of the time we profit considerablyfrom our diversity. In some instances, pro-blems arise in the management of multicultu-

ral teams and you have to address these.However, in Switzerland, there seems to be anegative perception of how well multicultur-alism functions in business. When you actual-ly work in a multicultural environment youexperience the positive impact, how much peo-ple from abroad bring to a company. We workhard to make people realize this.

To what extent is it helpful to impose legalframeworks to implement diversity?

It is risky to impose regulati-ons. To make something man-datory downplays the intrin-sic motivations behind it, andthat’s what we want to pro-mote. We practice diversitybecause we think it’s theright thing to do. But we also

do it because we have made a risk analysisand have researched what damage can beinflicted on the company if we don’t practicediversity. We strive for the business motivati-on to practice Diversity & Inclusion.

How are new policies implemented?We very much focus on training and educa-tion. When we have a new idea for how to pro-mote D&I, we create pilot programmes withina small group and part of the com-pany, whichmay then result in a policy.There is a lot of flexibility for each division topromote D&I according to their needs.However, our efforts are structured: each divi-sion has a D&I head, each of whom are advi-sed by a D&I council of business leaders andare in charge of their own diversity networkand resources. Because of this flexibility, wefocus more on universal leadership principalsthan on tight policies for the whole company.Novartis also implemented an advisory boardof external D&I experts.

What are some of the challenges within multi-cultural teams?We must always be careful that one culturedoes not overly dominate another. If you havemore Swiss than French in a team, the Swissway of doing things can take over and make itmore difficult for the French, who may dothings differently. A team’s dominant cultureof language and jokes can leave others feelingleft out or create a false sense of hierarchy.When this happens, a team cannot realize itsfull potential. What you need is a good mix-ture. For this to work everyone must be wil-ling to step outside their comfort zone and trya bit harder to work together.

[The School os Business FHNW has conductedseveral research projects with Novartis.]

Brigitte Sprenger

Dr Katharina Amacker, Head Diversity Switzerland,

Novartis (Photo Novartis)

„When you actuallywork in a multiculturalenvironment youexperience the posi-tive impact…“

4The Sextant _ Nr 1. / April 2009

Partner ProfilesThe School of Business cooperates with 150 universities around the world.A full list is on www.fhnw.ch/business/international. Each issue of The Sextant profiles half a dozen of these partners.

Ajou UniversityWhere Suwon (30 km from Seoul), KoreaCooperation Student and Lecturer ExchangeSize 9 Faculties, 14’000 students (9’000undergraduate, 3’500 postgraduate, 1’500other), 600 international students per yearBusinessBachelor degree programmesin Business Administration and in e-business.Within Business Administration themajors are: Accounting, Marekting, Finance,General Management, ProductionManagement, OB & HR. About 17 courses aretaught in English in the School of Business(some at various levels)Campus Ajou has a full campus which inclu-des cafetarias, sports facilties, banks, librari-es, events, host families, buddy pogramme,dormitoriesWebsite http://www.ajou.ac.kr/english/

Hogeschool Utrecht/University ofApplied Sciences UtrechtWhere Utrecht (centre of The Netherlands),several campus locationsCooperation Student and Lecturer Exchangeand Intensive Programmes (one-week semi-nars where UH students come to FHNW orvice versa)Size 12 professional/academic departments,8’000 full-time and 400 part-time students,200 international partnershipsBusiness Bachelor degree programmesin International Finance and Control,International Business & Management,International Marketing Management,Entrepeneurship for Developing Areas,International Communication & Media; 2Master programmes in Communication areas.Many courses are taught in EnglishCampus Several (non-residential) campusLocations inside and outside the city,access tofull infrastructure, extensive sport and socialprogramme. Housing usually in student flats,private but organised via International OfficeWebsite http://international.hu.nl/

Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops,CanadaWhere Kamloops, British Columbia(on the plains behind the Rockies)Cooperation Student & Lecturer Exchange/involved in CASE (Canadian Academics Studyin Europe) programmeSize 9 Faculties; 6’000 Bachelor students,4’000 other students; 50 undergraduate pro-grammes, 20 professional diploma pro-grammesBusiness Bachelor in Business Administrationwith a variety of Major/Minor options. Alltaught fully in EnglishCampus Full campus (housing, sports, thea-tre, libraries, shops, food etc)Website http://www.tru.ca/

HongKong Polytechnic UniversityWhere Hung Hom, KowloonCooperation Student and lecturer exchange.Size 8 Faculties. (In 2008-09) 14,875 studentsincluding 13,360 full-time and 1,515 part-timestudents (1,199 postgraduate, 9,579 undergra-duate and 4,097 sub-degree level).Business BA‘s in Accountancy, FinancialServices, Masters in Professional Accounting,Corporate Governance, Corporate Finance,Investment Management, WealthManagement, Business Administration, PhD.Mostly taught in English.Campus The Student Affairs Office offers awide range of services including career coun-selling, financial assistance for students inneed, and a Foundation Programme inPhysical Education to encourage participationin sports. Health services available to full-time students include out-patient medicalconsultations and physical check-ups, etc.,provided by the University Health Service, aswell as subsidized dental care. First-linemedical services provided by the UniversityHealth Service are also extended to staffmembers and their families.Website http://www.polyu.edu.hk

IPAG École supérieur de commerceWhere Two campuses in France: Paris andNiceCooperation Student and lecturer exchangeSize 1150 students, 200 internationalstudentsCampus Only few steps away from the histo-rical downtown area of Nice. Functionalstudy environment on more than 1500 m2with a garden, a terrace, a cafeteria, twoamphitheatres, documentation centre and 60PCs in a wifi environment . In Paris: Situatedin Saint Germain des Prés, IPAG is located inthe building of one of the oldest societies ofscience of France, the geographic society,where more than a hundred years ago,Ferdinand de Lesseps planned and designedthe Panama canal.IPAG provides assistance in finding accomo-dation close to the school.Website http://www.ipag.fr/

Universidad Católica de Santiago deGuayaquilWhere City of Guayaquil, EcuadorCooperation Student exchangeSize 9 faculties, 12000 studentsBusiness Faculty of Business: Bachelor pro-grammes in Business Engineering, Tourismand Hotel Industry, International Finance andCommerce, Sales Administration, Marketing,Web Design, Electronics Technology andComputation; Institute of EntrepreneurialSciences. Master programme in BusinessAdministration. Courses taught in Spanish.Campus Guayaquil has a full campus withlibrary, aula magna, cafeteria, sports facili-ties, events.Exchange students can live with Ecuadorianhost families which can also function as abuddy system.Website http://www2.ucsg.edu.ec/

5

… This month about 50 students embark onthe unique student on-site seminars: FocusIndia, Insight China and Networking NewYork. Accompanied by School of Businesslecturers, the two-week seminars includecompany and industrial visits, visits to uni-versities and organizations as well as a littletourism.

… The School of Business currently has stu-dents registered in various degree pro-grammes from 58 different countries

… Seventeen students in the MSc inInternational Management visited Brazil withtwo professors at the end of last year. Thestudy trip is part of the “Manager’s shadowproject” course with the aim to obtain insighton how international managers function inthe real world. Through international rela-tions with partner University in southernBrazil: the University of Caixas do Sul, cultu-ral events, educational company visits andcarrying out structured interviews withmanagers of both local and internationalorganisations, the students were able to gainknowledge of how international business isdone in Brazil and abroad.

… Margaret Oertig, professor inCommunication in the IBM and MSc IM pro-gramme went to Malardälen Business Schoolin November: she taught a number of size-able classes on Intercultural Communicationand meetings with faculty there have lead tothe investigation of pursuing a joint pro-gramme

… Bengt Nättorp from Boras University inSweden will be a guest lecturer in Statisticsand also present a software lab in April. Hewill be teaching classes both in Olten andBrugg

… As part of the twinning programme bet-ween the cities of Basel and Shanghai fouryoung entrepreneurs from the latter city areto visit Basel early in May. Hosting them hereis Prof Dr Axel Schilling, head of the Institutefor Non Profit and Public Management , andthe small group are to receive input from ProfDr Ruedi Nützi on OrganisationalCommunication, from Prof Dr ChristophMinnig on Organisational Behaviour andMargaret Oertig on Cultural Values in theSwiss Business World.

… A number of new student and lecturerexchange contracts were completed betweenthe FHNW School of Business and partnersacross the world this semester. This includesco-operations with such as the Anglia RuskinUniversity in Cambridge and CapilanoUniversity in Canada.

Spottedon theRadar

Dear MaeveI’m on my exchange semester in Finland. I have met the most gorgeous girl here and now really

don’t want to leave already in January when I’m supposed to go back to Switzerland and comple-

te my degree there. I can’t bear the thought of then not being around her for 18 months.

What can I do?

Greetings Northern Lights

Dear Northern LightsYou’re not the first student to fall in love during an exchange semester: we should conduct polls

to check out how many love stories started this way and perhaps prep students before they go

and warn them of the imminent danger.

Here’s what other students have done:

1. Convinced the loved one to come and do an exchange semester in Switzerland

2. Applied for an extension for another semester (this may not be approved but sometimes your

exchange can be organized). If you had qualified for a cantonal grant, this may be rescinded.

3. Applied to the host university to become a permanent student there and complete your

degree in Finland. (This will, if approved, have a number of consequences. You will

probably not qualify for any grants in Finland and will have to pay full fees.)

4. Fallen out of love again by Christmas

Whatever you do, remember to inform the folk back in Switzerland. And remember to at least

stay partially focused on your studies

Twinkly greetings Maeve

Dear MaeveI’m here in China on business: negotiating for a research project. My problem is all the

banqueting. Nearly every evening they have invited me to a formal banquet (and the food is

pretty amazing!) but this also means that every evening I face all this toasting business. The

stuff they pour is incredibly strong : At this rate I’ll hardly be able to talk sense in business

meetings much longer.

Regards Gambei

Dear GambeiAs you know, these banquets are an important part of Chinese business culture but there are

some pretty good survival techniques.

Some people, to avoid the alcohol altogether, claim to be on antibiotics and therefore have a face-

saving excuse to not touch the 60% liquor. Less radical is to, especially after the first toast, get

the waiter or waitress to pour you other drink instead: you can ask for beer or wine. Or you can

pour tea into the spirit glass and toast with that. By tradition you are permitted to ask for a

drinking second who does the toasting/drinking for you. Just politely ask the head of the table to

nominate a second for you then you can raise your glass at the toast but your second will have

to drink it

Tipsy greetings Maeve

Sign along U.S. Highway 20, just out of Idaho Falls. http://www.everywheremag.com/photos/4748

Nr 1. / April 2009

The Sextant _ Nr 1. / April 2009

Antti Manninen, visiting student from

Tampere University/Finland

Stefan Philippi, scientific assistant, FHNW

School of Business, Basel

Prof. Dr Rolf Meyer, professor in management,

deputy head of the Institute of Management and

also deputy dean of the MSc International

Management at FHNW School of Business

Two years ago I was asked by students whetherI would support a new project besides the alrea-dy existing insight China and Focus India. I likethe fact that students come up with new ideasand commit themselves, so Networking NewYork was born. I enjoy supervising student pro-jects because I can directly support young peo-ple in project management. It has turned intoone of the major student projects that perfectlymatch with the strategy of internationalisationof FHNW. Besides, I find networking a very

important topic regarding the students’ future.They learn about networking strategies, toolsand so on.It was my first time in NY and Boston - so I gotan interesting – but very selective impression ofthis region of the world. There were manyinteresting company and university visits,interesting lectures. I was particularly impressedby the support from the Swiss consulate in NY.

We were informed about Staff Exchange by ourmanagement. This is a unique possibility to getto know not only another school system andanother institution of education, but at the sametime experience another country and its people.I spent two weeks in Milwaukee at theMilwaukee Area Technical College (MATC) andlived at a lecturer’s house in the area.

I brought a lot of positive input back home.Some good comparisons between the Swiss

and the US educational system will help me alot in the future.

The size is definitely impressive: at the timethere were 60000 students enrolled at MATC.There are also several campuses. The averagestudent age is lower than at FHNW, but thereare also quite a few older students who take upfurther studies after years in work life. The spiritand enthusiasm to support young people wasthe same at both institutions.

We have a partnership with Anglia RuskinUniversity in Cambridge, UK, and this has madeit possible to go abroad for three months on alecturer exchange, with my whole family.

It has been an old plan of mine to go abroad fora few months, but this is getting more and moredifficult with children growing up into schoolage, so this was the perfect opportunity for us.My wife could also take unpaid leave at her joband so that made it possible. I want to improve

my English, I want to know our partner universi-ty better, I want to start a few research co-ope-rations between our institutions. I will work on aproject with SME’s in Switzerland and the UK.Eventually I want to strengthen bonds betweenFHNW Switzerland and the UK.

I have been in the tutoring team in Tampere forthree years now, and last year I met three lovelystudents from FHNW Switzerland who studiedthere, we became friends and then I decided togo to Switzerland to study, it is always great togo to a place where you already know people.I would like to point out that I like the Oltencampus because it is in quite a small area andyou do not have to travel a lot to your classes,and the level of education is also good, thesame level I am used to back home in Finland.

This also suits me very much because it is thefirst time I study business and it is very differentfrom studying electrical engineering.

I think what I miss most is cheap school lunch,back home lunch is 2 Euro 30 cents, here it ismore than double this price.

Who’s Where?

Prof. Dr. Anita Graf, lecturer in human

resources management, FHNW School of

Business, campus Olten

6

Dr. Volker Schulte , Institute of Management, Brugg,

visiting Nottingham for project purposes

Selen Egit, visiting student from Ankara

University/Turkey

Maria Kaklyugina, full-time student BSc Business

Administration (International Management)

Anita Schrag, Alumna of BSc Business

Administration (International Management)

I have been working at the Institute ofManagement in Windisch since April 08. As ahead of our health management division, I’m incharge of developing a new health managementprogramme.

One of our strategic priorities is to apply for amembership in the global WHO CollaboratingCentre Network (WHO CC Network).These predo-minantly research institutes are designated by theWHO-Director-General to carry out activities insupport of the Organisation‘s programmes.Currently there are over 900 WHO collaboratingcentres in 99 Member States working on areassuch as nursing, occupational health, communica-ble diseases, nutrition, mental health, chronicdiseases and health technologies. We would liketo join the Global Programme of Action on work-ers’ health 2008–2017, endorsed by the WorldHealth Assembly. As a former civil servant ofWHO Geneva I’m in a mutual cooperation withWHO headquarters.

The idea is to establish a twinning programmewith another WHO CC in a country of transition.

Together, we will elaborate practical tools for theassessment and management of occupationalrisks (e.g. psychosocial risks), projects whichinclude inventory, framework document, mappingof use and types of tools, evaluation, and definiti-on of toolkits. Further the development of a glo-bal framework and guidance on healthy work-places. Projects include review of effectiveness ofexisting programmes for healthy workplaces, anddevelopment of tools for creating healthy work-places. Our Institute‘s goal is to develop one ofthe leading national Centres for HealthManagement in Switzerland. There is also a riskpotential. First, we have to face a long applicationperiod (2-3 years) and evaluation proceduresrespectively. Second, it implicates enduringinvestment.

There is a potential for international acknow-ledgement for excellence in health managementfor the School of Business as a whole. To be pre-cise, being a WHO CC is one of the best and wellrecognised labels within the health sector. Gettingthe WHO CC stamp is synonymous with a globalcertification of excellence in our research field.

I am from Russia, St. Petersburg, I studied phy-sics for two years at the Baltic State Universityand then came as a visiting student to FHNWBasel for a year, where I met my boyfriend anddecided to stay with him. I studied in Mannheimfor two semesters and then I came to Oltenbecause all the studies are in English and myGerman would not be sufficient to followcourses. I also came because it is a high qualityeducation with up to date material.It is a very successful organisation, because not

only students are interested in the studies butalso professors and lecturers, because they havetheir projects, and this is a very interesting ideabecause people can develop themselves anddevelop knowledge, everybody brings every-thing in, and knowledge is very important andbeing up to date is crucial.

I have also a lot of friends here inSwitzerland, but I miss my friends back home inSt. Petersburg.

I now work in the corporate finance departmentfor Meyer-Burger, founded 50 years ago, locatedin Thun, there are 500 employees worldwide,including China and the Philippines, we producecutting machines to slice silicon wafers for pho-tovoltaic power generation and the computerchips industry.Next to making really good friends during mystudies at FHNW the biggest highlight of my stu-dies and of my whole life was my exchangesemester at Ajou University in South Korea. Iwas already married at that time, and beingaway from home and family was a big challengeand at the same time the greatest time of mylife, every day there was something new to expe-

rience, a new life, new friends, new food, newways of communicating.The hardest part at the beginning was the dormi-tory, suddenly you had to share rooms withother people. Academic life was really hard atthe beginning because we have a very differentway of learning in Switzerland. At FHNW welearn a lot with case studies etc, in Korea, inmarketing for example, you really have to learntexts by heart and then, in the exam you have tofill in gap texts with the exact word required. Thebiggest cultural difference was family life andtheir wonderful food culture. They start eating at9 in the morning and finish at 11 pm, somethingreally extraordinary.

My family are mainly teachers and professors;they also speak German at home, so I wanted toimprove my German. Also my best friend didher exchange semester in Bern and I visited herlast Christmas. I liked the people, the way theyare, the way they speak, and so I thought this isreally a place I would like to go.

Everybody here is so positive and helpful. Thestudent life is really good, the school has provi-ded us with rooms at a staff house, which wecall our five star hotel, and we have a really

international delegation! At the university thelecturers are really nice, speaking perfectEnglish, the cases we studied are really updated.All in all I really like the education here.

Except, well, it may not be the most importantthing, but the photocopier here is killing me. Weare not used to this. In Turkey there is a guy whodoes this for us and we just pay, here we have toeverything ourselves.

7

Nr 1. / April 2009

8

A Day in the Life of

Prof Dr Knut Hinkelmann Dean MScBusiness Information Systems, Head ofCompetence Centre Information &Knowledge Management, School ofBusiness, FHNW

I cycle to work whenever I can. It might meantaking a bag with suit and tie – but it’s agood start to the day.

The first meeting of the day was about theFIBAA (Foundation for International BusinessAdministration Accreditation) accreditationfor the MSc BIS: it’s a federal requirement toget accreditation and we opted for an inter-national one. Today we discussed what stillneeds to be done: I was rather shocked athow much work it involves – at least 50 pagesof documentation on strategy, course descrip-tions, lecturer qualifications, gender policy,partnerships, teaching methodology. Wehave to be accredited by this summer.

After this I started on my mails – there areabout 70 per day, mostly from students witha million questions. Then Holger Wache and Ihad a very lively discussion about the con-tents of a Knowledge Engineering course weteam teach. I love these discussions with col-leagues, pulling together interesting fieldsand debating how best to teach these. We

were so busy disagreeing we didn’t even taketime out for a coffee. However, we had ourweekly lunchtime meeting for the CompetenceCentre for Knowledge Management after-wards and then I popped out to buy a sand-wich and a coffee. Today Barbara Thönssenand Daniela Feldkamp reported back on avisit to London with the application partnersof a project we’re in. Together with partnersfrom several European countries we’re deve-loping a technology for personal and organi-sational learning environments. These lunch-time meetings are very informal and enjoya-ble.

The afternoon continues with answeringmails, meeting with the International Officeto discuss possible cooperation with anItalian university and writing an examination.I also called our Austrian MSc partner, theUniversity of Vienna, because tomorrow Igo there for two days of guest lecturing.Hopefully we can then also discuss somedetails regarding students who wish to dothe dual degree modus. There are currentlytwo students interested in this.

Last thing on the programme was a prepara-tory meeting about a conference. This one, onProfessional Knowledge Management, is oneour competence centre organises. It’ll be held

in the city of Solothurn in March and weexpect about 200 delegates from several coun-tries. To date there are 116 registrations – it’sa bit slower than last time. We not only orga-nise the programme but all the other confe-rence matters as well: the venue, the work-shops, the publishing of all the papers thatwill be delivered. This is a lot of work for theteam.

I cycle home again. This evening we have animportant match. I coach a young women’svolleyball team. We’re going to win tonight!

If there’s still energy left, then I’ll be review-ing papers for a conference in BusinessInformation Systems in Poznan, Poland, thisMay. Actually, I often work during the night –I don’t really need a lot of sleep. Between twoand five hours is often enough. Somehow Ihave a lot of energy at night and it’s quietthen and I can work undisturbed and concent-rate much better. It does mean I’m not one ofthese people who can get up very early and bereally productive early in the morning. I guessthat’s also another reason why I enjoy cyclingto work: it wakes me up!

The Sextant is published twice a year by the International Office, School of Business, University of Applied SciencesNorthwestern Switzerland FHNWEditorial Team: Brigitte Sprenger, Markus AndresLayout: AHA Marketing Kommunikation AG, BaselPrint: DietschiCirculation: 2000 and as pdf on www.fhnw.ch/intbNext Issue: October 2009Contributions to brigitte.sprenger@fhnw.ch and markus.andres@fhnw.chwww.fhnw.ch/intb

Record Registrations forEurope Study TourDespite the current financial crisis especially in the USA, the28 places available for mostly US students on the BusinessEuropean Study Tour in June this year were filled in recordtime. There is currently a waiting list.

Undergraduate students from CSU (Fullerton) and Universityof Mississippi and Nelson Mandela University in South Africawill take part in the 3-week tour to many high-level organisa-tions and businesses in The Netherlands, Belgium, France,Germany and Switzerland. Academic credits are awarded forparticipation in this joint programme with the School ofBusiness FHNW, Nürtingen University (Germany) and ISCID(France).

Irish Marketing Expertto BruggDr. Aidan Daly from National University of Galway will lec-ture on International Services Marketing in Brugg in April.Daly, former director of the Marketing Department and winnerof the President’s Award for Teaching Excellence, also hasconsiderable industrial experience, including many years withGuinness.Students from both the Brugg and the Olten campuses will beattending the lectures.

Photo: Jeannette Merguin

Nr 1. / April 2009