CEMS Insider

CEMS Insider Winter 2017

CEMS Annual
Events 2017
Global Sustainability
Week 2017
Berlin Start Up Trip
Breakfast with CEMS
Winter 2017 Alumni
1
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2 Winter 2017
 CEMS Insider
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contents
A Word of Welcome

A Word from President

6
CEMS Global Student Board
Meeting in Sydney 8
CEMS Mock Assessment Centres 11
Students Help to Promote
CEMS at VŠE 12
CEMS Annual Events 2017
14
CEMS Block Seminar
with Hilti 16
L’Oréal Digital Skill Seminar
17
Global Sustainability
Week 2017 18
20 CSR in Practice

22 Career Opportunities in
CEMS Insider

Plzeňský Prazdroj

24 Berlin Start Up Trip

26 Roaring Twenties Gala by

Plzeňský Prazdroj

28 URmall Business Game & European Graduate

Programme by Unibail-Rodamco

29 CEMS Club Prague Activities

30 When Dreams Start Coming to Life

32 Breakfast with CEMS Alumni

34 News from CEMS Alumni

Board in Prague

Winter 2017 3
CEMS Insider
Derek Yunteng Zhang
Editor in Cheif - Insider WS2017/18
CEMS Home University:
University of Economics, Prague
CEMS Host University:
Louvain School of Management, Belgium
CEMS Club Prague member WS 2017/18
4 Winter 2017
From the Editor
Dear Readers,
Finally the Winter Semester 2017/18 at the University of
Economics, Prague has come to an end. Therefore it is my ple-
asure to present you the Winter Edition of CEMS Insider Ma-
gazine. The contents and articles in the issue are contributed
by CEMS Office, CEMS Club Prague members, Alumni and
Corporate Partners.
As a home school student at the University of Economics,
Prague, who majors in CEMS MIM programme, it was an
unforgettable semester for me and my fellow colleagues. The
possibility to acquire hands-on experience from corporate
partners on weekly basis during our regular classes, Block Se-
minar, Skill Seminars, Career Forum as well as many formal
and informal events prepared by CEMS Club Prague was pre-
cious.
The highlight for the winter semeseter have been related
to alumni engagement and CSR actitivies. How did CEMSies
demonstrate their social responsibilities in practice? How did
CEMS Club Prague involve and engage alumni? The answer
can be found in the article about Global Sustainability Week
and CEMS Alumni Community in the magazine.
I would like to thank all authors for dedicating their time
and efforts to contribute to this edition of the Magazine. Mo-
reover, I would like to thank CEMS Club Prague for giving me
the oppotunity to edit the CEMS Insider Magazine, but most
importantly for their great efforts in making this semester me-
morable for all of us.
I hope you enjoy the reading!
 CEMS Insider

A Word of Welcome
Dear CEMS community,

It´s my pleasure to have the chance to share with you

some thoughts in the current issue of our CEMS Insider.

The winter semester 2017 has come to the end and

the new one is already waiting behind the door. Firstly,
let me recap shortly the last semester, which was from
my point of view a very successful one for CEMS Prague.

We have a wonderful CEMS Club that organizes a lot

of great events. I know, there is a lot of work and effort
behind it and I am also very happy that other students
appreciated that. Our CEMS Club has won the award for
“the Best CEMS Club” in the whole alliance.

During the Annual Events, our "Round Table" was

chosen as a highlight of the year.

So, even though there are many aspects of the pro-

gramme that could be even better (as always); I think we
can be proud of ourselfs. The competition in the CEMS
alliance is great and it is always nice to see that we are
full members.

And what is waiting for us in the next months? New Ing. Klára Vítečková
courses, a lot of business projects, many events with Cor-
porate Partners and, on the top of that, a celebration of CEMS Programme Manager
CEMS Coporate Relations Manager
20 years of CEMS at VŠE! I´m sure there is a lot of events
we can already start looking forward to! University of Economics, Prague

Now, I would like to wish to all of you all the best in

2018 – health, love, joy and just a little stress from pre-
sentations, exams and deadlines. I hope this year will be
a good one for CEMS in Prague.

Winter 2017 5
CEMS Insider
A Word from President
Petr Báša
CEMS Club President since SS 2016/17
CEMS Home University:
University of Economics, Prague
CEMS Host University:
Ivey Business School, London, ON
66
Dear CEMS Community,
I am glad to have the opportunity to share a few words about
the past semester with you in this Winter edition of CEMS Insider
Magazine. Insider is another initiative of CEMS Club Prague, pre-
pared in close cooperation with the CEMS Office, Alumni Associa-
tion and the corporate partners, which serves as a hindsight to the
entertaining and eventful term. Special thanks for putting the In-
sider Magazine together goes to our Editor in Chief Derek Zhang.
I would like to start with announcing one amazing global achie-
vement of CEMS Club Prague. At the CEMS Club Presidents Con-
ference that was held in Cologne in October 2017, CEMS Club
Prague won the Award for the best Club of the Alliance for the Su-
mmer Semester 2016/17. We were able to repeat this achievement
after five years and I would like to thank everyone, who was part of
the CEMS Club, because the achievement was well deserved, and I
am glad that the hard work of these people was rewarded.
With a new composition of CEMS Club for this semester, we
strived to bring innovative and engaging events and at the same
time stick to those that were successful in the past and that are in
some cases being held repeatedly for many past semesters.
For the first time in the history of CEMS Club Prague, we orga-
nized a trip to Berlin to meet with four innovative start-ups. Stu-
dents had the possibility to get introduced to their business mo-
dels, network with the employees and in one case also contribute
with their own knowledge and ideas in a workshop focused on in-
ternational expansion. Special thanks to Diana Fegers, member of
Socializing team in the CEMS Club Prague, for devoting her time
and making this trip happen. I hope similar trips will be held in the
future and will help students broaden their horizons in the start-up
scene.
We didn’t stop there with the topic of start-ups and invited Da-
vid Chmelař – a former cemsie and now the CEO of a success-
ful e-commerce start-up in Southeast Asia – to give an interactive
lecture about his career. The lecture was held at the University of
Economics and was open to public. One of my beliefs is that events
organized by the CEMS Club should not be restricted to an “exc-
lusive club” of students, who passed the application process and are
enrolled in the programme. That was one of the reasons we made
this lecture open to all students and enjoyed a fruitful discussion of
Winter 2017
 CEMS Insider

more than 60 participants.

This semester we also held a Christmas Gala,
the final and largest event of the semester. With
almost 130 guests, this event helped to connect
students with corporate partners and alumni and
promote networking opportunities between these
groups. CEMS Club Prague managed to arrange
an exclusive partnership with our corporate part-
ner Plzeňský Prazdroj and this way I would like to
thank them once again for their support and co-
operation.
We were also active in CSR. Throughout the
whole semester we managed to collect almost
10 000 CZK, at events such as CSR Pub Quiz, CSR
Beer Pong and at the Christmas Gala raffle, part of
which went to a charitable organization Jako Doma and the rest to orphanages through our CSR partner Tomáš
Slavata. Thank you goes to everyone, who took part in these events and helped us bring joy to those in need.
Other events organized this semester included the regularly held Rotation Dinner - this time on the topic
Marketing and Sales with Hilti, Henkel and Unibail-Rodamco - teambulding weekend in Moravia, running
dinner and running cocktail, Laser Game with Unibail-Rodamco and P&G, alumni brunch and a CSR Break-
fast with L’Oréal and Unibail-Rodamco.
I would like to once again thank all our corporate partners for the participation in block seminar, skill semi-
nars, courses and other CEMS events held this semester. Thank you Plzeňský Prazdroj, L’Oréal, Hilti, Unibail-
-Rodamco, Google, Procter & Gamble, Škoda Auto, Henkel, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte, A.T. Kearney,
McKinsey and Boston Consulting Group!
Special thanks go to the CEMS Academic Office, which has supported CEMS Club initiatives during the
whole semester, namely Ladislav Tyll, our academic director, Klára Vítečková, our programme manager and
Šárka Otčenášková, our PR/Communications manager. This collaboration is essential for the smooth functio-
ning of CEMS Club Prague and helps creating the richest experience possible for the students. I would also like
to thank all the members of CEMS Club Prague for their efforts during the whole semester, you were amazing
and let’s hope that we can repeat the global achievement also in this semester. Thank you!
Last but not least, what can you expect during the upcoming semester? New Club will be appointed, consi-
sting primarily of first year students, and I believe this fresh blood will bring new ideas and initiatives. We also
have the 20th anniversary coming up for CEMS at the University of Economics, Prague, which will be celebra-
ted in April 2018 and will bring together all the important stakeholders of CEMS Programme.
I truly hope you will enjoy reading this issue of our CEMS Insider Magazine, as it gives you an overlook on
what we have done during the winter semester 2017/18, both from global and local perspective.

Yours,
Petr Báša
CEMS Club Prague President

Winter 2017 7
CEMS Insider
CEMS Global Student Board Meeting in Sydney
Dear Students, Academic and Corporate partners, Stakeholders,
Firstly, I would like to appreciate the outstanding
work of CEMS Club Prague during the spring se-
mester with keeping the high standard and introdu-
cing many new events and ongoing initiatives. I am
confident to say the team made the semester truly un-
forgettable for the entire cohort!
I would like to use this opportunity to share a few
words about the year 2017 with CEMS Global Student
Board, its meetings and some ongoing activities and
projects.
What is the CEMS Global Student Board?
CEMS Global Student Board is an initiative created
to connect all the 30 universities of the Alliance, share
best practices and generally link all students with the
CEMS programme management and with each other.
The Board consists of 30 students, one from each uni-
versity, divided into several teams working on enhan-
cing the CEMS experience for everybody. These inc-
lude Executive Team, Alumni Relations, MIM Affairs,
Marketing & Communications, CEMS Club Support,
Corporate Partners and Responsible Leadership. The
mission of the Student Board is supporting locally -
advocating globally.
8 Winter 2017
Look back at 2017
The year brought many Student Board now tra-
ditional events but also new initiatives and ideas.
March brought the CEMS Club Conference held in
Warsaw bringing together 19 presidents of different
CEMS Clubs. Following, the Global Alumni Week
included seminars with Alumni of the Year 2016 and
many events on the local level at all schools. At the
end of March, the first Student Board meeting in Pra-
gue took place. The spring is traditional time for the
Regional events with V4 in Prague this year, Mare-
nostrum in Barcelona, Nordic Forum held in Bergen
and DACH in Cologne with the Student Board Repre-
sentatives's active participation. Cologne was also the
city hosting the second Student Board meeting. Oc-
tober brought many CEMSies to Cologne one more
time for the second CEMS Club Conference of 2017.
The following weeks were full of different events and
initiatives – from Global Sustainability Week with the
first instalment of Responsible Leadership Challen-
ge (an online case competition focused on the work
of social partners) to new voting for Alumni of the
Year and finally the Startup Challenge. Held for the
second time during the Career Forum, this event bro-
ught together many talented entrepreneurial students

committee consisting of corporate partners and
CEMS entrepreneurs. The year finished with last Stu-
dent Board meeting connected to the Annual Events
graduation and Asia Pacific Forum all held in Sydney.
Student Board Meeting in Sydney
The meeting took place from 26th November to
1st December and it consisted of meetings of diffe-
rent CEMS Committees and Stakeholders, the An-
nual Events, Asia Pacific Forum and as usual some
corporate partner interaction, this time with ABB
and McKinsey & Company.
Outcomes:
•Committees - The Student Board has a seat in 8 out
of the 13 governing bodies and committees to en-
sure that the student's voice is heard within CEMS.
During the meeting in Sydney, the Student Board Re-
presentatives in the committees successfully joined
the meeting of those committees.
Winter 2017
CEMS Insider
•Responsible Leadership - The new CEMS vision
2025 includes responsible leadership as one of its
core elments, leaading the need to address this in all
areas of CEMS.
•Graduation 2018 - The Graduation in 2018 will take
place in Malta. Koc University will host at a later time
due to current travel bans.
•Student Board Teamwork - The six Student Board
teams used the possibility to physically sit together
in Sydney to discuss and plan the initiatives for 2018
together with school and Head Office contacts. New
projects and initiatives were introduced, strategy for
the upcoming Executive Team was developed and
current projects were brought forward.
•New Executive Team – with the calendar year over,
the Executive Team running the Student Board han-
ded over their responsibilities to their successors. The
Executive Team for 2018 is Pieter Bosmans (LSM),
Olivia Luz (USYD) and Nini Trinh (RSM).
9
 CEMS Insider

As you can see, Student Board is taking an active How to stay updated about the
role in enhancing the CEMS experience for all sta- Student Board’s activities?
keholders. The new-joiners take a lot of responsibi-
lities and ownership of different projects very quic- ➤➤ Like the CEMS Global page on Facebook
➤➤ Visit the Student Board section on cems.org
kly. This experience has enabled me an outstanding
➤➤ Read the Student Board Newsletter
personal growth as well as meeting many new inte- ➤➤ Contact VŠE Student Board Representative directly at
resting people across the whole world. I hope these ➤➤ robert.pradl@cemsmail.org
words have inspired you for higher engagement and
staying in touch with all the exciting projects of the
Student Board!

Robert Pradl
CEMS | VŠE | HKUST Business School
VŠE Global Student Board Representative
CEMS Club Support - Team Leader

10 Winter 2017
 CEMS Insider

CEMS Academic Committee

CEMS Mock
and Faculty Assessment
Group Meeting
Written by Šárka Otčenášková
Centres
Within the Winter Term 2017/2018, the CEMS Office at VŠE registered great interest in so-called CEMS
Mock Assessment Centers from the side of prospective students. That is why four terms of the mock assess-
ment centers were organized in October, November and December 2017 and almost 50 participants could thus
gain experience how it is to go through the real assessment center, which is a part of the admission process for
the CEMS Programme at VŠE.

The real CEMS assessment center is held for the whole day and a jury assesses students from many per-
spectives, e.g. how they work individually, in groups, their motivation, willingness to take risks or behavior in
stressful situations.

During these mock assessment centers, which take one and half hour, applicants could experience two
types of tasks – one individual and one teamwork, at the end they got feedback and could also ask questions
regarding the admission process. These centers were led by Veronika Motlová (Department of Managerial
Psychology and Sociology, Faculty of Business Administration). Capacity was limited, all four terms were fully
occupied. Another such assessment center will be organized in March 2018 within the Job Fair Šance.

CEMS students Anna Cermakova and Petr Trung

Luong describing how they felt during the assessment
centre when applying for CEMS

Winter 2017 11
 CEMS Insider

Students Help to Promote CEMS at VŠE

Written by Šárka Otčenášková

Visits in Courses courses of “Career Development” AIESEC team (over 30 students) in

and the course “Marketing 1” and November.
In order to attract more students introduced CEMS to approxima-
from our university, we addressed tely 200 Bachelor’s students. CEMS at Job Fair Šance
teachers of particular courses and
got a “permission” to introduce the Presentation at AIESEC Meeting Within the Job Fair Šance
CEMS Programme among Bache- CEMS had an info-stand in Rajska
lor’s students. The focused students Each year we have some candi- Building atrium and prospective
were mainly second and first-year dates also from the AIESEC orga- students could gain valuable infor-
students. The fulfillment of some nization. CEMS students Kateřina mation and find answers to their
admission requirements, such as Kochová, Derek Zhang and Filip questions from current CEMS stu-
English language certificate (C1 Drápal, former AIESEC members, dents (Petr Báša, Kateryna Zhuzha,
level), pass necessary courses, re- introduced CEMS to the current Nikola Kmoníčková, Monika Pe-
levant work experience, experien-
ce from abroad or the second lan-
guage, needs a longer preparation,
thus we are trying to focus also on
fresh Bachelor students.

To enhance the prospective stu-

dents’ interest, I was always accom-
panied by current CEMS students:
Igor Lorenc, Kateřina Kochová,
Anna Čermáková, Petr Trung Lu-
ong, Eliška Macháčková, Martina
Krivošová in the particular co-
urses. I believed that sharing our
students’ experience with potential
applicants can be very engaging.
During the autumn we visited four

12 Winter 2017

trášová, Isabella Höllriegel, Kristi-
na Andělová, Viet Hung Nguyen,
David Nosák and Sarah Schwind).
On this day, the CEMS Mock As-
sessment Centre was held. Stu-
dents, who attended this session,
were able to experience various
aspects of the real CEMS assess-
ment center which our applicants
Winter 2017
CEMS Insider
have to pass. This center was led CEMS office would like to conti-
by Veronika Motlová (Department nue and expand marketing acti-
of Managerial Psychology and So- vities of this kind in the upcoming
ciology, Faculty of Business Admi- semesters.
nistration). The next mock assess-
ment center will be held during the
next Šance Job Fair in March 2018.
Finally, I would like to thank all
CEMS students for their effort.
13
CEMS Insider

CEMS Annual Events 2017

Written by Klára Vítečková

The Annual Events and Graduation Ceremony (informally called The Networking Event of the Year) draw together
members of the CEMS Community and offer a unique opportunity to network, collaborate and, most importantly,
celebrate the achievements of our CEMS Master’s in International Management students. The Annual Events com-
prise a series of academic and corporate meetings as well as the graduation of the respektive CEMS cohort.
The Annual Events include the following features:

➤➤ Plenary Session (election of new academic and corporate members, executive and strategic board representati-
ves and presentation of accounts; Mr. Jiří Hnilica or Mrs. Hana Machková are the voting representatives for VŠE).

➤➤ Executive Board Meeting, Academic Directors Meeting, PM´s Meeting, CRM´s Meeting, Alumni Meeting,
Student Board Meeting.

➤➤ Graduation Ceremony

The Annual Events are organized on a rotating ba-

sis by member schools. This system offers the host in-
stitution the chance to share its local customs within
the uniquely international environment characteri-
stic for CEMS with the rest of the CEMS Community.
The upcoming Annual Events, the 30th edition, will
be held in Malta (2018). The Strategic Board decided
to move the destination of the event from Turkey (as
originally planned) due to the political situation in
the region. Koc will host the graduation at a more se-
cure time in the future. The planned locations of the
Annual Events are as follows: Vienna at WU (2019),
South Korea at KUBS (2020), Denmark at CBS (2021)
and Brazil at EAESP (2022).

14 Winter 2017
CEMS Insider
This year, for the first time, the Annual Events
and graduation were held outside of Europe. The
University of Sydney Business School proudly ho-
sted the events.
The University of Sydney is Australia´s oldest
and most prestigious tertiary institution, which was
established in 1850. The Business School has more
than 11,000 students and is an integral part of the
wider University.
For the past four years, the Financial Times has
ranked the Master of Management program num-
ber one in Australia, in top five in Asia and in the
top 50 programs of its kind in the world. The Busi-
ness School joined CEMS in 2007.
Graduation ceremony is the peak of the whole
event. This year, probably because we were in Au-
stralia, the Annual Events started with the Gradu-
ation and all the other meetings and events follo-
wed. VŠE was represented by 14 students out of 33
graduates in total who had completed their CEMS
degree in 2017. In total, almost 300 graduates from
all over the word came to Sydney.
Winter 2017
CEMS Insider
2017 was very successful for our university –
VŠE was awarded two prizes during the Graduation
Ceremony. CEMS Club Prague was chosen to be
the best club out of 30 CEMS Clubs from different
schools within the CEMS Alliance. Congratulations
went also to the VŠE CEMS Alumnus 2010 Tomáš
Laboutka, who was awarded the CEMS Alumni of
the Year 2017 prize in the Young Leader category.
Tomas personally took over the award in Sydney.
For the first time in the history of this award, the
University of Economics, Prague had two candida-
tes in both categories – CEMS VŠE Alumnus 2005
Petr Šmíd was nominated in the Senior Leader ca-
tegory.
The Annual Events in Sydney proved to be a very
nice experience enabling us to see a completely dif-
ferent part of the world. I believe all of our students
enjoyed this a lot as well.
Having a nice fresh memory of the Annual Events
in Sydney, we can now start to look forward to the
2018 Annual Events which will surely be new and
specific in many aspects.
15
CEMS Insider
CEMS Block Seminar
CEMS Academic Committee with Hilti
and Faculty Group Meeting
"As a student from LSM, having my Erasmus
during the second semester, I really appreciated
the opportunity to take the block seminar abroad.
I had the chance to chose the block seminar I'm in-
terested. In Prague, we met Hilti. I loved the intro-
duction part, especially the way they structured the
presentation and how they approach students. After,
Hilti invited us to their headquarters; some students
went to a field with them for a day, I enjoyed this
intense week and truly learn a lot."
--Axelle Charlier
"The CEMS Block Seminar is not only the first
CEMS class students take, it is also an opportuni-
ty to network with students from all over the world
and numerous partner universities. This year, the
Block Seminar was offered in cooperation with Hilti
and students worked on a concept for the creation
of an ecosystem with and around Hilti. The field ri-
16
des with experienced Hilti account managers gave
students a good understanding of how B2B sales
in the field functions. Furthermore, it allowed us
to identify the core competencies of the company
which were crucial for the development of the final
project presentation.
The team of which I was a part proposed an eco-
system through which Hilti power tool owners wo-
uld be able to share the tools with others to cross-
-finance the initial acquisition. The Uber for Tools
already exists in a C2C context, but the B2B poten-
tial remains to yet be tapped. Not only did we have
fun working on the project together in Prague, but
we also met again at the Career Forum in Budapest
several weeks later. All in all, the Block Seminar was
the kick-off to an exciting first semester of CEMS
and will be remembered as a great hands-on expe-
rience with Hilti as a corporate partner."
--Florian Březina
Winter 2017

L’Oréal Digital Skill Seminar
Written by Kate Zhuzha
On the 19th of October 2017,
we were delighted to participa-
te in the Digital Skill Seminar
that was organized by L’Oréal
CZ/SK. Prior to the Seminar we
have received a quiz powered by
Google Digital Academy that
both assessed our skills in Di-
gital Marketing and also gave a
glimpse into different challenges
and situations we could solve
with the proposed tools. Upon
completing the quiz we got a re-
sult that indicated our level of
knowledge.
For me personally, this was a
great push to better prepare for
the Seminar day and revise the
Digital Marketing techniques.
The seminar itself did not di-
sappoint either – engaging pre-
senters from the L’Oréal Marke-
ting department and the deck of
materials, an impressive result
of L’Oréal and Google collabo-
ration, gave a perfect ground for
the productive day. We learned
the multiple ways on how to cre-
ate, implement and track Digital
Marketing programs. The the-
ory was accompanied by several
Winter 2017
examples of how L’Oréal reaches
and engages its customers in
many markets.
Upon reviewing the tools
and techniques, we have been
divided into five groups of 5-6
people and given a challenge.
L’Oréal has recently introduced
a beauty product to the Czech
and Slovak market that was me-
ant to target the millennial male
customer group. One of the issu-
es that the campaign was facing
was on how to attract this au-
dience through digital channels,
given that the usual campaigns
most often targeted at female
customers did not prove to be
successful.
The groups were to develop
a solution in 1,5 hour and then
present it to multiple represen-
tatives of L’Oréal, including the
Manager of the Marketing De-
CEMS Insider
partment, Digital Director of
Marketing and HR employees.
All of the CEMSies came up with
brilliant ideas, including esta-
blishing a Gentlemen Academy,
Adword Google Campaign and
many others creative Digital
Marketing techniques.
The group of which I was a
part of, came up with an idea of
advertising the Product through
such digital channels as Insta-
gram and Tinder, while actively
promoting the Product through
placing promotional photobo-
oths on University Campuses
across the country. We were
very pleased to have been cho-
sen as the winners of the chal-
lenge and even more pleased
to receive amazing packages of
L’Oréal products! In line with
the discussed trends, L’Oréal
was actively documenting the
whole event on their official In-
stagram page, where all of us got
featured. It was a productive and
fun day - Prague CEMSies went
Digital!
17
CEMS Insider
Global Sustainability Week 2017
Written by Anna Oemer, Manouk van Dam
We started Global Sustaina-
bility Week 2017 a bit early and
organized the beloved CEMS
CSR Running Dinner in the be-
ginning of October. Events like
this are amazing opportunities at
the start of the semester to meet
fellow CEMSies outside of school
and projects. The event works
like an ordinary running dinner
with students signing up in pa-
irs and each pair then receiving
instructions on which course to
cook and at which other places
they are going to dine. Easy, right?
Well, that’s not about it! To make
it more interesting and of course
sustainable, certain challenges are
added to each course: A dash of
vegan recipes, a sprinkle of using
only local products and a course
that has to be done without using
electricity. Some CEMSies were
quite challenged when cooking
using only 1 liter of water, for
example, but in the end everyone
managed. (CEMSies love challen-
ges, don’t they?). We all had great
fun tasting / sampling the meals
prepared by our fellow students
and it was a nice opportunity to
raise awareness of environmental
18
issues. The Sustainable Running
Dinner was the perfect occasion
to promote Global Sustainability
Week.
We finally kicked the actual week
off with a CSR breakfast sponsored
by L’Oreal and Unibail-Rodamco. In
a very casual setting we could enjoy a
raw vegan breakfast at MyRaw Café
in the company of representatives of
both corporate partners. Let’s put it
like that: The food was interesting,
but the company amazing! It was
the perfect setting for all the career-
-related questions we had, otherwise
never dared to ask and of course also
to learn more about the companies’
CSR activities. We could have never
The importance of su-
stainability and respon-
sible global leadership
is steadily increasing.
This might be one of
the reasons why CEMS
has decided to initiate
the Global Sustainabi-
lity Week, held at all
CEMS schools around
the globe in each year’s
fall semester. Naturally,
also CEMS Club Pra-
gue puts a lot of effort
into this week and we
would like to share our
events with you.
Winter 2017

dared to ask and of course also to
learn more about the companies’
CSR activities. We could have ne-
ver imagined that both companies
take CSR as seriously as they do
and organize many initiatives thro-
ughout the year. L’Oréal also offe-
red to cooperate on some of them,
which we will gladly take into fur-
ther consideration!
That same Monday we also in-
troduced our Step Tracking Chal-
lenge, supported by Unibail-Ro-
damco. We motivated students to
walk, run or dance instead of going
by car, taxi or public transporta-
tion. They tracked their steps thro-
ughout the whole Global Susta-
inability Week, some even with a
shared app we downloaded which
always lets you see the step count
of your fellow students. It was great
fun, as CEMSies are quite compe-
titive and really thought about how
to achieve more steps – for exam-
ple, some often decided to walk
to school. We were happy to hand
Alissa the voucher provided by
unibail-rodamco for her incredi-
ble result of 83812 steps! Congra-
tulations, Alissa, and collect many
more steps spending the voucher at
the newly-extended center in Cho-
dov!
CEMSies love challenges, so we
decided to organize a CSR Pubquiz
to raise funds. Students could enter
the quiz in groups of up to 4 people
and we had an amazing number of
35 participants! We started off with
a round of anagrams, which was
harder than we initially expected
it to be. The questions then ranged
from facts on famous people and
sustainability issues to popular cul-
Winter 2017
CEMS Insider
ture. Would you have known how veral times a year!
many liters of water it takes to pro-
duce 1 kg of beef, or which event Also, our amazing socializing
happening in 2010 in the Gulf of team made CEMS CSR Beer Pong
Mexico is also known as the Ma- happen again! What better day to
condo blowout? Well, our CEMSies choose than CEMSgiving to give
certainly did, proving their smart- back to society? Thank you to Pl-
ness once again! We were happy to zeňský Prazdroj for once again
give the group with the most cor- supporting us with beer donations,
rect answers gift bags sponsored by the event was great fun! And we
L’Oréal in the end. Special thanks could happily donate the raised
to our corporate partner for sup- money to Jako Doma, an organiza-
porting us, and a big shout-out to tion supporting homeless women.
our CEMSies - you made this event
enjoyable for us! Global Sustainability Week is
the main event of the semester for
We are happy to announce that the CSR people of CEMS Club.
with the money raised, we were With a variety of events we tried to
able to donate a bike to one of the offer something for everyone and
orphanages some of our CEMSies get people thinking. In general, we
have visited during the semester. try to promote sustainability thro-
Thank you to Tomas for being our ughout the whole week, course of
social partner and cooperating events and semester: Take a bag
with us! with you when you go shopping
instead of buying one each time.
One group of Prague CEMSies Refill your water bottle or shop at
also participated in the Global Re- the local farmers’ market to avoid
sponsible Leadership challenge tons of plastic. It is the little thin-
organized as a competition for all gs that can make a great difference.
CEMS school around the world. We hope that all CEMSies enjoyed
We are proud that some of our our events.
students dared to take on another
challenge, despite all the school At this point, we want to thank
work they are facing! That’s the spi- everyone who helped us organize
rit, guys! the events, the CEMSies who parti-
cipated and made them a huge suc-
Another event that was organi- cess, and last but not least, our cor-
zed during the semester and had porate partners - especially L’Oréal,
a sustainable approach was the Plzeňský Prazdroj and Unibail-Ro-
CEMS Blood Donation. A special damco. Without you we would not
shout-out goes to Anna C. for ma- have been able to pull off a week
king this happen even for inter- like this.
national students! We cannot wait
to be back next semester with the Thank you for everything and
CEMS blood race coming up and keep it up next semester!
hope that some CEMSies will be-
come regulars now and donate se-
19
CEMS Insider
CSR in Practice
Written by Kateřina Marxtová
I once read a quote by John M.
Simmons: “Orphanages are the
only places that ever left me feeling
empty and full at the same time.”
Until the experience with this CSR
seminar, I feel that I had not ful-
ly understood the full meaning of
this sentence.
As my CSR activity, I chose a
two-day trip with Tomas Slavata,
as a part of which we were suppo-
sed to spend a weekend in a child-
-care home in the Northern part
of the country. It was my first such
experience.
Tomáš Slavata turned out to be
one of the most inspirational pe-
ople I have ever met. His priorities
were very well-defined, shaped
by his hard life and his own bitter
experience. Even at the first sight,
it was obvious that he is a person
of a big heart with a very clear
life mission: to make other’s lives
worth living and to show the bri-
ght side to the ones, who have so
far only experienced the darkness.
We as the visiting student trio
He himself has adopted his and as the outsiders to this world
20
sister’s kids when there was nobody
to take care of them, even though
he was just in his teens at that time.
These days, these kids are already
all grown up, but that did not stop
him from helping even further.
Thus, he now adopted other two
boys, to whom he intends to give
everything he can. Obviously, he is
not a person looking for excuses.
When he was playing with the
kids, he showed them the respect
they might have never experien-
ced outside of the child-care home,
especially not from their parents
which should normally become
the living image of what they strive
to become. Luckily, there is Tomas
who is here for all of them to be-
come their role model. He himself
explained that for him, in the bit-
terest moments of his life, having
such role model and devoting him-
self to sports was what helped him
to become himself. Moreover, it
taught him how to avoid the mista-
kes of his close ones.
could only try our best to follow
his example. After this weekend, I
must say that there is nothing bet-
ter than seeing the joy in kid’s eyes
when he or she feels they are being
listened to, cared about, respected.
When we cooked pancakes for the-
se children, I was amazed some-
thing so ordinary made them that
happy. Moreover, when we started
to make them the heart-shaped
pancakes, their faces lit up with
sincere joy. For us, it was giving
them a bit of our time and care.
Nevertheless, afterwards you co-
uld not possibly feel better. And all
it costs was a bit of listening, love,
eggs, milk, and flour. It was such an
eye-opening experience.
What surprised me the most
during this trip was how demo-
cracy sometimes does not work
the way we, the lucky ones, belie-
ve it does. You might hear people
claiming that we are the architects
of our own happiness. Well, I beg
to differ. If I were in a position of
young Damián, aged 5, who almost
cannot speak, who is so tiny that
you would easily mistake him for
Winter 2017
 CEMS Insider

a 2-year old, I doubt I would be
able to be where I am now. Having
the support of your family and
friends supporting the path you
choose in your life as well as your
personal development, that is so-
mething we often take for granted
while we definitely should not do
so.
Moreover, while interacting
with the children, you could see
that they are sincerely trying to
get as much as they can from the
world. However, the conditions
they were born into might restrict
them from fulfilling their poten-
tial. Furthermore, sometimes the
poor conditions in their family had
such an impact on them at their
young age that it is now impossible
for them to recover. For example,
little Dominik was malnourished
and mistreated when he was living
with his parents. Now he has tro-
ubles understanding more com-
plicated sentences and also, due to
the poor nourishing, he will never
fully grow up.
is if it would be possible for us to
combine these two very similar in-
stitutions – the retirement houses
and the child-care homes. Both
strive for the same goal, which is
to fill the lonely lives with love and
joy. Unfortunately, such a reform
would require to get rid of the con-
nected taboos which make it im-
possible for us as a society to start
the necessary conversation and to
start the changing process.
Overall, I believe that these two
days were as life-changing as they
could have been. I feel that I got to
experience a different bubble than
then one I live in. It showed me
that we should not close our eyes
at the first sight of poverty and
misfortune; quite the opposite –
we should help as much as we can
and not just pass such responsibili-
ty to the authorities.
Only by helping out and treating
such situations as the real pro-
blems they will be valued as such
by the whole society. And then, so-
mething might improve. For now,
we can start with changing our
perspective of the world – and that
can begin with the smallest of thin-
gs, just a smile or holding a door
for somebody might do it. Perhaps,
one day, by changing our life attitu-
de, we might also become the role
models as is Tomas Slavata. For his
work, I have the greatest apprecia-
tion. I hope that one day I might
become as great a person in my he-
art as he is.

Furthermore, this trip also re-

minded me of a newspaper article
reporting on retirement homes. It
stated that people tend to give the
elderly money, while they should
instead only give them something
as simple as their time. No big gifts,
no great gestures, just time. Here,
in the child care home, even tho-
ugh quite on the other side of the
life cycle, we can see the same pat-
tern. No donation can do the good
as can just giving the kids your at-
tention.

Actually, this leads me to an

idea we discussed with Tomáš: that

Winter 2017 21
 CEMS Insider

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CEMS Insider

Berlin Start Up Trip

Written by Diana Fegers

From the 19th till the

21st of October the CEMS
Club Prague organized for
the first time a startup trip
to Berlin. With 22 partici-
pants in total we started
our journey to Berlin in
order to get in touch with
the startup scene, meet in-
spirational entrepreneurs,
hear about exciting busi-
ness ideas and enjoy all this
in one of the most exciting
cities in Europe.

We kicked off you first

company visit at one of
Germany's well known Venture
Capitals Project A. After enjoying
the evening sun on Project A’s
roof top terrace and being equip-
ped with a Club Mate, we got to
meet some representatives from
Project A’s investment as well as
HR team in Berlin. Investment
Manager Mila gave us insights in
the various business operations of
Project A. We learned that Project
A invests in passionate early stage
entrepreneurs and provides them
with exclusive access to a team of
100 operational experts in vario-
us business areas. We were deeply
impressed by the professionalism
and authenticity with which Mila
could answer us all different kinds
of questions.
To finish the day in the perfect
startup style ensemble we went
to Markthalle 9 in Kreuzberg.
Markthalle 9 is a food market ho-
sted every Thursday night with
regional and local specialties
and is known for its food quality,
transparency and sustainability.
In a relaxed after work atmosphe-
re, with the best Burger in town
and a fresh and cold craft beer in
hand we got to round off this first
day of our Berlin startup trip.
On Friday morning we kicked
off the day with a visit at Ada He-
alth. Ada Health is a Berlin and
London based health tech startup
which developed a personal he-
alth companion and telemedici-
ne application akin to an AI po-
wered doctor. The conversational
interface is designed to help you
work out what symptoms you

24 Winter 2017

have and offer you information
on what might be the cause. We
got to know the application and
the work behind Ada Health from
various perspectives such as mar-
keting, PR, genetics and the data
science site.
After a walk along the histo-
rical east side gallery we met up
with Europe’s leading online fa-
shion e-commerce platform Za-
lando. We started the meeting
with a lunch and meet & greet
followed by a quick introduction
of Zalon by Zalando. Zalon is a
curated shopping service develo-
ped within Zalando as an entre-
preneurial project. After getting
to know the business concept of
Zalon we had one hour to work in
small team on a market entry stra-
tegy for Zalon. We had a lot of fun
Winter 2017
to analyze the case and come up
with creative market entry strate-
gies. We also enjoyed working to-
gether with Rene and Marc from
Zalon, who really brought us the
Zalando spirit closer.
The last stop on our startup
journey was at Wine in Black,
which is a startup with an inno-
vative premium online wine con-
cept. Wine in Black belongs to
the fastest growing companies in
the field of wine e-commerce. We
were very warmly welcomed by
the founder Christian Hoya. After
an introduction of the business
operations of Wine in Black as
well as their career opportunities
we also got to work on a creati-
ve case study for a real business
challenge. But the best comes for
last, we got to finish this exciting
CEMS Insider
day with an exclusive wine tasting
with the whole Wine in Black
team.
After all these different insi-
ghts we let the night while away
in relaxing atmosphere at the re-
staurant and Polit Café “Ständige
Vertretung”. To sum up we can say
that this first start up trip to Berlin
was a huge success and should be
implemented as an integral part
of the yearly CEMS Club Prague
event schedule.
25
 CEMS Insider
Roaring Twenties Gala by
Plzeňský Prazdroj
Written by Lucie Geroldová
As every winter semester, the
biggest event comes just before
Christmas. This year’s traditional
closing Gala, powered by our cor-
porate partner Plzeňský Prazdroj,
was held in the beautiful premises
of Gallery of Café Louvre in the
heart of Prague. With the topic of
Roaring Twenties, the guests had a
great chance to dress up to match
the vibe of the venue in the rhythm
of electroswing. This year’s exclusi-
ve partner generously donated the
liquid gold treasure of Czech heri-
tage, Pilsner Urquell lager. We wo-
uld like to thank Plzeňský Prazdroj
and their representatives for their
26
support and partnership! current Prague cohort, representa-
tives of majority of our corporate
It turned out our awesome Pra- partners, academic representatives
gue cohort holds a great potential and a handful of CEMS Alumni
for such retro-style, with many and friends in an informal setting,
showing up in their best Great when all guests had an amazing
Gatsby-like outfits, including our opportunity to reunite, network
academic director. The stylish ve- and discuss all important matters
nue decorated in gold and green, of the past term as well as plans for
evoking not only the colours of Pl- the upcoming year.
zeňský Prazdroj, but also the upco-
ming Christmas. The combination For the first time, we introdu-
of delicious catering provided by ced the concept of Gala Guides –
Café Louvre and Pilsner Urquell CEMS Club representatives whose
on tap created a joyful and relaxed task was to act as a bridge between
atmosphere. Event with almost 130 exclusive partner’s representatives
guests united basically the whole and preselected current CEMS Stu-
dents, who expressed their interest
in career opportunities at Prazdroj.
The Guides ensured seamless ne-
tworking between students and re-
presentatives to get answers to any
Prazdroj-related questions. We be-
lieve this brings added value both
to the students seeking opportu-
nities as well as our corporate part-
ners, who are talent-hunting, and
we will continue with this practice
in our future events.
The special vibe of the night
was further enhanced when we
announced the winners of CEMS
Winter 2017
 CEMS Insider

Awards. The whole cohort

could vote for the most
significant personalities
in many categories, such
as Who will be the first
one of us to win a Nobel
prize, Who is the best to
bring home to mum or
Who is the most annoying
but loved. In line with
the competitive nature
of CEMSies, we also pre-
pared a beneficiary raffle
with an unexpectedly lar-
ge participation and truly
surprising passion about
winning a pair of socks.
Huge thank you to the
CEMS Office and all cor-
porate partners, who kindly dona- the Gala. After meeting in person to thank the amazing socializing
ted exciting gifts. with each interested partner and team and CEMS Club for ensuring
preparing a tailor-made version of a completely seamless and fun
This year’s approach to the orga- the Gala concept, we agreed with event.
nisation of closing Gala was more Plzeňský Prazdroj, who was truly
structured than in previous years, enthusiastic about the concept in-
since we decided to take a truly troduced and matched the vibe of
personalized approach to each of the venue just perfectly. I deeply
the corporate partners who wanted hope that all attendees enjoyed the
to participate at the organisation of night to the fullest and I would like

Winter 2017 27
 CEMS Insider
In the course of CEMS studies,
we are often presented with various
competitions and business games.
This winter term, our corporate
partner Unibail-Rodamco organi-
zed 4th URmall Business Game, this
time with focus on the topic of CSR
and Operational Improvements in
line with their strategy named Bet-
ter Places 2030. The initiative aims
to redesign the concept of shopping
malls as we know them today and
turn them from places to shop into
destinations, where people come not
only to do their shopping, but also to
meet with their loved ones and enjoy
all possible aspects of their leisure
time.
The competition begun with an
URmall Business Game & European Graduate
Programme by Unibail-Rodamco
Written by Lucie Geroldova & Radovan Sahánek
assets, and undergo a public spe-
aking training in order to improve
our public speaking that consisted
of an interactive workshop and ge-
nerous feedback from the coaches.
This experience helped us to be bet-
ter prepared for the grand finale of
the competition, a pitch in front of
the whole corporate board including
Sponsored Article
company’s CEO. Presenting before
such senior leaders in a conference
room filled with over 70 people was
a great experience.
On top of the great opportunity
to meet many interesting and in-
spiring people and learn great insi-
ghts about Unibail-Rodamco’s acti-
vities, advancing to the final round
in Paris also brings the advantage of
moving up to the final round of in-
terviews for the European Graduate
Programme (EGP). The programme
28
online application including a CV
after which the participants of the re-
gional (first) round were asked to vi-
sit one of Unibail-Rodamco’s assets,
identify room for potential improve-
ments, and find a local start-up that
could collaborate with Unibail-Ro-
damco in order to achieve the pro-
posed improvement. A successful
proposal could be implemented first
in the designated asset and poten-
tially spread to the global level. After
individually presenting the ideas to
the local board, the two most promi-
sing concepts were chosen and sent
for consideration to headquarters in
Paris, where the successful candida-
tes would compete in the final Eu-
ropean round.
involves a 12-month rotation where
the graduates enjoy rotating through
3 different assignments in various
departments in 2 or 3 countries of
operations. The programme starts
with EGP Seminar – a week-long
programme filled with workshops,
team-building activities and asset
visits to get onboard as fast as possi-
ble. After the candidate gets familiar
with the company, the programme
starts with the first mission – either
abroad or at the home country. Each
of those 3 missions can vary signifi-
cantly in terms of the focus a well as
geography, depending on the streng-
ths of the candidates. Broadening
one’s skills in different areas such as
operating management, internatio-
nal leasing or operations manage-
ment of a mall brings many advanta-
ges in terms of profiling and finding
The European round hosted 21
participants from all across Euro-
pe, many of them being our fellow
CEMSies. All the finalists were set
up into 5 teams to work on a feasible
implementation strategy with 5 star-
t-ups that were chosen from the re-
gional rounds as having the highest
potential. The atmosphere in the Pa-
ris office was incredibly supportive
and relaxed. We got to meet a huge
variety of Unibail-Rodamco’s mana-
gers from all possible departments,
including Innovations, URlab (cor-
porate CSR hub), URlink (corporate
business accelerator), design, inter-
national leasing, and many others.
We also had the chance to explore
Les Halles, one of the key Parisian
one’s strengths, but also brings many
unexpected challenges and oppor-
tunities. Unibail-Rodamco’s key va-
lues resonate around bringing fresh,
innovative ideas to life in order to
have positive impact on customers’
shopping experiences as well as local
communities.
URmall was a great sneak-peek
into company’s culture and brought
us first-hand experience with the
supportive management and en-
thusiastic EGP participants. It was
not only fun, but also truly enri-
ching international experience that
exposed us to many innovative ideas
within Unibail-Rodamco and cre-
ated many lasting relationships.
Winter 2017
 CEMS Insider

CEMS Club Prague Activities

CEMSbuilding
This year's teambuilding was a spe-
cial one. We decided to take our fore-
ign buddies as well as our Bohemian
friends to a region of our beautiful co-
untry they would not ever go on their
own, as people there speak a unique
language neither of those two groups
understands. However, they produce
wine so delicious it immediately helps
you overcome the language barrier -
we went to Southern Moravia!

CEMS Laser Tag

The Laser Tag event is intended to bring
together CEMS students and corporate
partners in an informal setting. While one
half of the group is playing, the other half
will have chance to network while having
tons of fun! The whole event is organised in
collaboration with our corporate partners
Procter & Gamble and Unibail-Rodamco.
thanks to them!

Talk with David Chmelař

David went from a consultant at Boston Con-
sulting Group to being the youngest member of
the board at Wüstenrot Financial Group. Three
years ago he decided to seek a new challenge
and now he is the CEO of iPrice Group - a Ku-
ala Lumpur based e-commerce affiliate network
serving seven Southeast Asian countries. We
invited him over to talk about his story in front
of more than 60 VŠE students.

Winter 2017 29
 CEMS Insider

When Dreams Start Coming to Life

Wen Cai is one of several CEMS from University College Dublin education background. So you feel,
graduates who joined ŠKODA Michael Smurfit Graduate Business once CEMSie always CEMSie spi-
AUTO. Why did she decide to work School. I choose CEMS program rit.
at traditional and biggest car facto-
because it fits my foreign langu-
ry in the Czech Republic and what age skill, business background and Q4 - How long do you work at
is she working on? Are you curious? personal interest. This program ŠKODA AUTO and what is your
Read our interview with Wen right provides students with incredible current position there?
now! international study environment
at top universities and networking Wen - I have been working for
Q1 –Where do you come from possibilities with most successful ŠKODA since two and half years.
and why did you choose to work international companies. During I have been working for Product
at ŠKODA AUTO? CEMS study I had semester aboard marketing department for two
at Vienna University of Economics years; there we finished many
Wen - I come from China. and Business. I also attended the exciting projects. At the moment
The reason why I chose to work CEMS Nordic Forum in Helsinki I have just changed to Sales Chi-
at ŠKODA as through CEMS job and CEMS V4 conference in War- na department for new challenges.
fair, I had very good contact with saw. My graduation ceremony was China as biggest single market for
ŠKODA. The brand ŠKODA has a in Brussels 2014. ŠKODA plays important role. I will
long history and is developing suc- use my Chinese expertise to contri-
cessfully in the world. The working Q3 - Are you still part of the bute ŠKODA understand the com-
environment at ŠKODA is dyna- CEMS team? Are you still in to- petitive market situation and better
mic and international; in my team, uch with your former schoolma- develop the business in China.
we have Chinese, English, Czech tes from CEMS program?
Sponsored Article

and German colleagues. I find my Q5 - You are a ŠKODA Trainee

work here very satisfying. Wen - At moment I am not Program graduate. What is the
directly working with CEMS or- most valuable thing, moment or
Q2 - What is your alma mater? ganization. But I am still in touch attribute that people can gain
Why did you join CEMS pro- with my CEMS classmates. On top from being a ŠKODA Trainee?
gram? In which countries did you the most exciting thing is that whe-
study thanks to the CEMS pro- rever you go to a new city, as long Wen - ŠKODA Trainee pro-
gram? as there are CEMS students and gram provides you a perfect start
alumni, they are always open to of automotive industry. During the
Wen - I am a CEMS graduate meet up owing to the same CEMS Trainee Program, you can choose

30 Winter 2017

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different job rotations in different departments at
ŠKODA including international rotation at other
Volkswagen brands according to your interest and
desire. In this way, it can guarantee that by the end
of one-year trainee program you will find the po-
sition, which fits you best. Also during the trainee
program, company arranges you trainings, events
etc. At the same time, through trainee networking,
you can also get to know experiences and be inspi-
red by ex-trainees.
Q6 - During the time you have spent at ŠKODA
AUTO, what was the most disruptive innovation
that affect your work?
Wen - Talking about innovation at work, I think
the most impressive thing recently is the ŠKODA
Digi Lab. The goal of ŠKODA Digi Lab is to develop
entirely new mobility solutions for our customers.
At ŠKODA Digi Lab, we generate and develop ide-
as, test them, and turn them into customer-oriented
products and services at rapid pace to enable new
era of mobility today; where driving is easy, safer,
more efficient and comfortable. ŠKODA DigiLab
develops new solutions and business models also
in cooperation with key partners. Some of the best
ideas come from startups, talented individuals and
universities, governmental infrastructural projects
etc. Thanks to ŠKODA Digi Lab we aim to bring
digital, connected, safer, greener and smarter cars,
mobility products and services.
Q7 - In which areas in terms of technical innova-
tions do you consider ŠKODA AUTO as a world
Are you interested in more details about the
Trainee program? Check www.skoda-career.com/
trainees and find more!
Winter 2017
CEMS Insider
class player?
Wen - In many areas ŠKODA AUTO is very in-
novative, e.g. electric car. ŠKODA is showcasing the
purely electrically driven concept car at Auto Shang-
hai 2017 (19 - 28 April). The futuristic design shows
the characteristics of ŠKODA’s new design language
for future electric vehicles. The striking body, the
bright interior, generous sense of space, convincing
electric driving range will definitely bring a lot of
surprises to the customers.
Q8 - Do you have any dreams about automobile
innovations?
Wen - Yes, I am excited about the innovations,
like autonomous driving, electric cars, all the driving
assistant systems, new energy cars, connectivity etc.
I could imagine a car so personalized which will not
be only a car but also my personal driver, assistant
and friend. The car would safely drive itself, bring
me to the destination on the right time according to
my calendar, electric charged by itself, going to car
dealer for maintains, having the exact driving habits
like me owing to the AI features. And I think it is
not only a dream but a sure future which will come
to life.
31
CEMS Insider
Breakfast with CEMS Alumni
Written by Florian Březina
One major advantage of being part of the CEMS
family is the great relationship CEMS Alumni main-
tain with each other as well as with current students.
Especially for current CEMSies it can be immensely
motivating to see what all is possible after graduation.
Also, the one or other tip on how to deal with the
workload is always appreciated. This autumn, there
were many opportunities for Alumni to mingle. Apart
from several the great CEMS Talks organized by the
CEMS Alumni Association Prague, current students
had the opportunity to get to know graduates through-
out corporate events or over a delicious breakfast at
Secret of Raw in the Prague city center. The official
topic of the day was digital transformation and how it
shapes the future career of CEMSies, but many more
topics were discussed. It was an informal discussion
between graduates and soon-to be graduates about ca-
reer opportunities, hiking and exotic vacations.
The key take-aways from the event were:
➤➤ If you are not 100% sure of what you want to do,
choose a career that allows you to experience diffe-
rent functions
➤➤ CEMS is just the beginning of a truly internatio-
nal experience
➤➤ Stay connected with the CEMS community after
graduation
"What I found very nice is that Alumni are still intere- stages of my career – my mentor is helping me to build
sted in meeting CEMSies. Also, it was nice to hear about network with more senior people in the organizations.”
their experiences from studying and working and career
paths. Personally, I was lucky to have met a person from
32
my future exchange university and I got really useful
tips. All in all, the unique value of being a CEMSie was
proven and it was an inspirational morning!"
Monika Petrášová, first-year CEMS Student
Another key topic that is often mentioned when
talking about student-Alumni relations is mentorship.
Many successful entrepreneurs and business leaders
give credit to their mentors for having helped them
build their careers and furthering their personal deve-
lopment. The CEMS Alumni network frequently ena-
bles these kinds of relationships which can long outlast
the two-year period of studies. Of course, mentorship
is a two-way street. The student in the mentorship duo
should be sure to identify what value he/she can bring
to their mentor in exchange for the valuable insights
and counceling they gain from the relationship. Many
within the current CEMS cohort have mentors, and
one of them has agreed to share how she has benefit-
ted from the exchanges with her mentor:
“My mentors help me create a link between the current
CEMS subjects I'm taking and the corporate world re-
alities. Furthermore, the relationship gives me a safe net
where I can always seek for objective advise from some-
one senior and experienced. Sometimes you just need
an outside opinion. Lastly, the mentorship program
enables me to get help to connect to the right people.
Networking is extremely valuable, especially at the early
Kate Zhuzha, first-year CEMS student
Winter 2017

News from CEMS Alumni
Written by Pavlína Šimurdová
Dear CEMS Community,
It is with a big pleasure that
I can share with you a few words
about the activities of the CEMS
Alumni Community in the Czech
Republic. Some of you may know
that our team has been elected in
December 2016 after a period of
no Alumni Board in place.
Looking back, the first half of
2017 can be called as the “Get to
know” phase. During this period,
we experimented with different
types of activities to understand
what works best for the CEMS
Alumni Community in the Czech
Republic.
This brought us to the intro-
duction of CEMS Talks, which
soon became our core event. The
concept is very simple: one topic,
three speakers, no slides, a unique
location, informal atmosphere.
The main purpose of CEMS Talk is
to share real stories in an authentic
and honest way and thereby inspi-
re members of the CEMS Com-
munity in their future life and bu-
siness choices. Every CEMS Talk is
Winter 2017
dedicated to a unique topic related
to life and career in today’s world.
Speakers are chosen based on the-
ir level of experience and relevan-
cy for a chosen area. The audience
is built from CEMS Students and
Alumni, both Czech and interna-
tional. During the second half of
2017, we hosted CEMS Talks de-
dicated to topics such as “Building
Big” with top entrepreneurs, “Go-
ing the Other Way” focused on al-
ternative career choices and “Digi-
tal First” with experts from digital
companies.
CEMS Insider
As many CEMSies are already
parents, we continue in a tradition
of organizing family-friendly
CEMS events. The ever-increasing
number of attendees makes us co-
nvinced that hosting even more
baby-friendly events is the way
forward.
We are extremely proud that
CEMS Alumni Community in the
Czech Republic became active and
well-known also on a global le-
vel. Concepts of CEMS Talk and
CEMS RoundTable became part
of the best-in-class initiatives held
among CEMS Alumni Commu-
Alumni Board Article
nities globally. At the same time,
two Czech Alumni got nominated
for the CEMS Alumni of the Year
Awards: Petr Smid in a category
for senior leaders and Tomas La-
boutka as a junior leader. It was
for the first time in the history that
Alumni from the Czech Republic
got nominated for this award. Not
only nominated, Tomas Laboutka
became also awarded as the CEMS
Alumni of the Year. Big thank you
to both Tomas and Petr for your
endless effort in promoting the
CEMS Programme and supporting
33
 CEMS Insider
Alumni Board Article

the CEMS Alumni Community and also to all of

you who have voted for these two great CEMS re-
presentatives.

Not only our activities but also our team is con-

stantly evolving. In the past twelve months, we
managed to grow from three to five – representing
various alumni generations (graduation years from
2007 till 2017) from three different countries (Czech
Republic, Poland, and Russia). Yet our plan is to
expand even further and build a stable foundation
for future CEMS Alumni Boards ensuring its conti-
nuity in a long run.
Important events, that we are very proud about
and really look forward to in 2018, is the celebra-
tion of the 20 years of the CEMS Programme in the
Czech Republic. Together with the CEMS Team at
the University of Economics, Prague and CEMS
Club Prague, we are already preparing special events
dedicated to this anniversary on April 19, 2018. At
the same time, we are going to launch an internatio-
nal CEMS Alumni flagship event held in the Czech
Republic. On a global level, the key topic for the
first half of the year is CEMS Thought Leadership,
in which the Czech team will take a co-lead role. In
2018, you can also look forward to new releases of
CEMS Talks as well as various social events with a
key ambition to bringing different CEMS genera-
tions together.
You can learn more about our activities on our
Facebook page #CEMSAlumniCzechRepublic as
well as on our blog http://cemsalumniprague.blo-
gspot.cz.
I would like to use this opportunity to express my
deepest thanks to the CEMS team at the University
of Economics, Prague as well as to CEMS Club Pra-
gue for their enormous support and help. Finally, a
big thank you goes to all members and supporters
of the CEMS Alumni Board Team. Without you, it
would not be possible to deliver such a successful
year as we did.
Pavlina Šimurdová
on behalf of the CEMS Alumni Board Team
(Vojtěch Opleštil, Jan Horáček, Katarzyna Golab,
and Darya Hvizdalova).

34 Winter 2017
 CEMS Insider

CEMS Club Prague

CCP BOARD
Petr Báša Igor Lorenc Florian Březina Lucie Geroldová Sarah Schwind
President Vice President & Head Head of Head of Socializing Head of Marketing
of Corporate Relations Alumni Relations

Anna Oemer Martin Krejčí Robert Pradl

Head of CSR Treasurer Student Board Representative

MARKETING
Alissa Maier Derek Yunteng Zhang Kateřina Marxtová TEAM
Marketing Marketing Marketing
Coordinator Coordinator Coordinator
SOCIALIZING
TEAM

Kate Zhuzha Diana Fegers Anna Čermáková

Event Coordinator Event Coordinator Event Coordinator
TEAM
CSR

Manouk van Dam

CSR Coordinator

Winter 2017 35
CEMS Insider
Published by
CEMS Club Prague, z.s.
University of Economics, Prague
Nám. Winstona Churchilla 4
Prague, Czech Republic

Editor-in-Chief
Derek Yunteng Zhang

Contributing writers
Petr Báša, Robert Pradl, Florian Březina, Lucie Geroldová
Anna Oemer, Kateřina Marxtová, Kate Zhuzha, Diana Fegers
Manouk van Dam, Šárka Otčenášková, Pavlína Šimurdová
Klára Vítečková, Adéla Teplíková, Axelle Charlier
Monika Petrášová, Radovan Sahánek

Graphic Design
Olga Barańska
Back cover: Nicolas Billardon

Photography
Šárka Otčenášková & Others

CEMS Corporate Partners

Winter Edition, 2017
CEMS Insider

http://cemsmim.vse.cz/english
http://cems.cz
36 http://www.cems.org Winter 2017

No reprints without prior permission of the publisher