Real international development challenges put forward by real companies for students from all over the world. This is the MSc International Project Development programme proposed by Ana Colovic and Sandrine Henneron.

The X-Culture Project covers a wide range of business, international, cross-cultural, project management, learning-by-doing subjects for the students on NEOMA MSc International Project Development. Over a two-month period, they worked in teams made up of students from universities and schools all over the world on real challenges proposed by small or medium-sized companies based in Brazil, Poland, Norway, Singapore and the United States who are seeking to expand their business.

Their task covered two main aspects. The first involved analysing a business-related issue, recommending new markets and ways to penetrate them. The second being culture-related. To carry out their project, the students had to find ways to communicate with one another, reach agreement, divide up the work and share the tasks, whilst adapting to cultural differences, time differences, different work methods etc.

The X-Culture Project is best described by the students!

Mathilde:

“What I liked best about the X-Culture project was the fact that I got to talk to people of different nationalities. I got to benefit from a wealth of different cultures and improve my English, especially by having to try and understand the different accents of my team, which included an Italian, a Japanese, two Americans and an Indian member.

The project really helped me develop my project management skills and to be more disciplined to ensure the deadlines were met. Plus, I had the opportunity to discover a new subject I didn’t know before: the world of online games based on the blockchain system.

I was able to contribute to the project by carrying out research on the subject and participating actively in the meetings we had every week. My desire to interact with my team mates, improve my English and take an interest in our topic meant I was a real driving force within the group. I had the opportunity to interact with all the team members and get to know them and how they worked. It was very interesting to find out how everyone worked.”

Margaux:

“It was a highly rewarding project. We got to work on a business issue with people from all over the world. My group of 5 people included 2 Americans, 1 Indian, 1 Japanese and 1 French member. Everything went really well, even though working remotely with time differences and the language barrier was very challenging! This project was very interesting from both a personal and a professional point of view because in an increasingly digital and global world, we have to learn to work remotely with people from different cultures.”

The two professors in charge of coordinating the project also have their say:

Ana Colovic, Professor with the Strategy & Entrepreneurship Department: “I am very proud of my students who successfully completed the X-Culture Project with over 6,000 students from 150 universities located in 78 countries and 6 continents: a truly international learning experience!”

Sandrine Henneron, Professor with the Accounting, Control & Legal Affairs Department: “I am really impressed by the quality of the recommendations made by the X-Culture teams. It was also a unique experience to work alongside other departments with my colleague, Ana Colovic, and to try out working in teams remotely in a post-covid context. We managed to draw on our post-covid experience to perform even more effectively at distance”