Mr. Plesse, you’re the managing director of Neher Multiraum, a company based in Frittlingen, Germany. What made you want to pursue the IndustrialBBA?
Our growth and concomitant expansion dictates that we stay on top of our business and professional development; these skills will allow us to remain successful in the years to come. Mastering this challenge takes more than getting behind the wheel. We have to be able to steer our own course. This realization is what prompted us to investigate options for employee development. We found that the program offered by the Business School Alb-Schwarzwald, part of Steinbeis University Berlin, was exactly what we needed.
Ms. Jetter, you were enrolled on the same degree program as your father. You don’t see that kind of generational mix in educational programs every day.
At Neher Multiraum, I’m an assistant to the executive board, so I have a very solid grasp of what goes on at our company. Employee motivation and commitment plays such a large role in a company’s success, so I thought it made sense to enroll on the same program as my father. It was very well received by our employees, especially since they’re involved in their own professional development and can take advantage of educational opportunities, too.
What did you think of degree program, and what did you gain the most benefit from?
One thing we’d like to emphasize is how well the topics were covered in the program and how it was all organized. Each module clearly plugged into the others. Underpinned with real-life examples, theory came to life – it wasn’t just notes on a page. We also enjoyed some very lively discussions. And we can’t leave out our excellent supervisors and the informal atmosphere throughout our studies.
Mr. Plesse, what benefits has this program brought to you and your company?
You know, we’ve all reaped the benefit; by that I mean the company as a whole, along with all of our employees. Just one example: there was project and transfer work focusing solely on Neher Multiraum, so we gained fresh insight into useable methods and models. We incorporated this new knowledge into employee training sessions to help our people share information throughout the company. There were also targeted analyses on our company and competitors and these opened up new avenues that will lead to more projects. What’s more, we had the opportunity to hold in-depth conversations and this helped students from other industries cement new professional contacts. When we weren’t exploring theory, we visited some very interesting companies abroad and got to see first-hand different ways of doing things. This program also put our personal abilities to the test and helped us discover new forms of entrepreneurial thinking.
Would you recommend this program? If so, to whom?
We’d definitely recommend the degree because we’ve seen how we’ve changed in the last three years, both professionally and in the way we see things. Having time to reflect on things and concentrate on transfer has prompted us to change our relationship with Neher Multiraum and ourselves. The degree is an excellent choice for people who want to become entrepreneurs or hone their skill sets – especially if they’d like to find better ways of working and managing people while making their companies more successful.
Berthold Villing | Theresia Naujak
Business School Alb-Schwarzwald of Steinbeis University (Berlin/Rottweil)
stz774@stw.de