Overcoming Linguistic Barriers and Adapting to New Business Cultures – A Student’s Take on Studying in Milan
When opting for a new program, there are always certain apprehensions. The syllabus, the faculty, the infrastructure. It was all new. What drew me towards the luxury management program was the course content and the fact that it was associated with SP Jain. This gave me the comfort to believe it would go well.
The course structure was thoughtfully planned for students from assorted academic backgrounds. It was to bring students like me, an architect with no background in business studies whatsoever, on par with other students, who have perhaps studied or worked in management related roles previously. This led us all together on a path of learning how to curate, design, market, and sell luxury products and services.
Our first term focussed on covering all MBA subjects such as marketing, operations, and finance which helped to level the field in terms of student knowledge. We were fortunate enough to get detailed lectures on business communications where everything from the basics of making presentations to public speaking was taught. Apart from the core subjects, additional courses such as business communication and business negotiation helped us develop our personality, making us ready to take on the competitive world of luxury business.
During the course of the program, the college took care of our potential linguistic dilemma prior to leaving our homeland. We had an Italian language tutor to teach us the language before we left for Milan.
The campus facilities included a canteen which functioned till late in the evening and break-out rooms where we could sit for as long as we wanted to study, work, and complete group assignments. The environment truly fostered the spirit of learning.
Another invaluable feature was the conversation series. Every alternate Friday we would invite industry experts from across the country to visit our campus and speak to us about their journey. This was a student initiated and faculty supported cell, wherein students would moderate a panel of invited guests with questions from the class. Many of these panelists have gone ahead to hire students from our class. It only goes to show that with the right support and true dedication, anything is possible.
Our second term focussed wholly on the creation and business aspects of the luxury markets. With detailed and extensive lectures focussed on branding and the creation of brands, we also got the opportunity to interact with industry stalwarts and learn directly from them about their stories, successes and failures. We made multiple site visits to various brands where we got to integrate our classroom learning with real life experiences.
Paris for fashion, Reims for wine and champagne, Germany for automobiles, Neuchatel for watches, and Milan for hospitality are some of the experiences which came along with the course. What tied all that we had learnt in the first and second terms together was the third and final term. During the final two terms, we got to integrate all our learning into a live project for a company of our choice. It gave us an opportunity to hone our classroom learning and display the skills we gathered along the duration of the first two semesters. All in all, it was one great experience which not only helped me grow professionally, but personally as well.
I would definitely recommend this program to those who have the clarity to chase what they want and are focussed on wanting to build strong careers in branding, marketing, and operations.
About the Author: Sailee Bhandarkar
Sailee Bhandarkar is a recent graduate from the SP Jain School of Global Management with a specialisation in Luxury Management. An Architect by profession, she had 2 years of work experience before joining SP Jain. She currently works as the Architecture and Technical Associate at Araiya Hotels & Resorts where she’s involved across all verticals of the business.
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