Seeing Theory In Practice At A Visit To An Italian Company During My Full Time Mba

By Author: Edmund Brunetti
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Whilst doing our Business Research module on the full time MBA in which we learnt about effective research and writing skills, our director of studies in Perugia Dr. Zahid Hussain took us to visit an Italian company located in the nearby Marche region, writes Hajime Sudo.

The company, Gruppo Loccioni, has defined and created the first eco-sustainable completely integrated community in Italy. It provides services that promote sustainability including environmental and human care. They emphasise coexistence with nature through a ‘Leaf Community’ that is the result of a positive meeting between technology and nature.

We saw first-hand how they have put in place a system to actively reduce CO2 through their operations management. By allowing us to observe what they were doing in the company and at their factory, they showed complete transparency in their operations, which they consider particularly important.

Thanks to the Manufacturing Systems and Supply Chain Design module we took recently, we were able to understand how theories we are learning can be applied in practice by looking inside the factory. ...
... The visit also opened our eyes to different perspectives of corporate culture and management style. We saw the benefits of diversity, sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in action.

The purpose of the Business Research module is to prepare my fellow MBA students and I for undertaking our management project. The Bradford-Perugia full time MBA is structured so that the management project and dissertation is done as part of a work placement over the summer. We knew this was going to be very challenging but our visit to the company and its factory helped us see that it would be the perfect environment in which to make our research meaningful and applicable to the real world of business.

In between modules, I flew back to Tokyo in my home country of Japan for four days to celebrate my old friend’s marriage ceremony. I did some reading and kick started research for my management project whilst on the flight. I thought about Dr. Zahid Hussain’s advice that creative thinking is crucial for increasing productivity and effectiveness. As an MBA student, you have to bring your management expertise to your own studies in order to be able to fit everything in and get the most out of it!

Hajime graduated from the Accounting School of Tohoku University in Japan. The School is located in Tohoku area, which was one of the areas most damaged by the catastrophic earthquake that hit Japan. As a result of the quake, the region faced a diverse range of social, environmental, ethical and financial problems.

The earthquake made Hajime consider how he could contribute to his country. He wants to help re-build the economy using his accounting skills. To make a real difference he decided to look into doing an MBA and found Bradford University School of Management’s full-time MBA at the University of Perugia in the Spoleto region of Italy. It had everything he was looking for. I was attracted to Bradford’s MBA programme at the University of Perugia because it is where Luca Pacioli (Fra Luca Bartolomeo de Pacioli) used to teach. He is well-known as the establishment of double-entry bookkeeping system and is someone that I have always looked up to. Furthermore, the University of Perugia has a long history over 700 years. This academic and traditional background makes it a very attractive place to study an MBA.

I am now over half way through my full time MBA course and I intend to continue in my endeavour to think creatively and keep coming up with new ideas. Writing for this blog is helping me to reflect on what I am learning at every stage and consciously and unconsciously help me find my passions and goals for the future.

Bradford University School of Management comes into the support of those who are interested into management education by offering Full-time MBA courses and certifications.