In October 2013, the Ruhr University Bochum (RUB) was admitted to the Microeconomics of Competitiveness (MOC) Affiliate Network at Harvard Business School. Six years later, Prof Matthias Kiese offers the MOC course developed by leading management professor Michael E. Porter for the eighth time this semester. 18 participants registered for this innovative course offered by the Institute of Geography at RUB, once again representing a diverse mix of six nationalities and seven different programmes. One third of MOC students represent the M.Sc. programme in Economic Policy Consulting this semester, while another third is from the M.Sc. programme in Economics. Together with another student from the M.Sc. programme Management and Economics, students from the economics faculty account for 72 per cent of participants. The field is completed by two students from the M.Sc. Geography programme – once again constituting a minority on their home turf, one student from Mathematics and Mechanical Engineering, and one from Spatial Planning at the TU Dortmund. Needless to say that class discussions once again benefit from the international and interdisciplinary mix of participants. “This diversity of backgrounds and experiences enriches our discussions enormously”, rejoices Prof. Kiese, as the course is built around case studies on the competitiveness of countries, regions and firms, as well as their spatial concentration in so-called clusters. This semester’s edition offers students the special treat of two guest instructors. Former RUB MOC instructor Dr Christian Hundt led the discussion of the Estonia case, while Prof Edgar Aragón will take charge of the European integration and competitiveness case. A Mexican based in Brussels, Edgar Aragón is a visiting professor for public finance at the Willy Brandt School of Public Policy at the University of Erfurt. MOC comprises ten case studies this semester, including classics such as the Japanese fax industry and the Californian wine cluster, but also modern favourites like the Dutch flower cluster or Mayor Bloomberg’s economic development strategy for New York City. Students complete the course with group projects, each group analysing the competitiveness of a cluster of their own choice. When choosing their case studies, the groups ventured far afield this year. While one group started its research into the aerospace cluster around Boeing in Seattle, another group chose emerging clusters of information and communication technologies (ICT) in Ukraine. The two remaining groups selected the Rotterdam chemical industry cluster and logistics in North Rhine-Westphalia as topics for their research. Additional motivation comes from a World Cup-style contest. The best case study from Bochum will enter a competition with more than 100 universities world-wide, which are part of the MOC network. The winner will be honoured at the annual MOC affiliate workshop in Boston. In 2016, a RUB student team managed to claim the prestigious trophy with a case study on Frankfurt’s financial services cluster. While the eighth MOC class at RUB has just started working on their group projects, preparations for the ninth class in the Winter Term of 2019/2020 are already under way. Once again, the course will be offered on a weekly basis every Monday afternoon from 14-17 hours – Monday is MOC day! Until 30 September, 2019, Master-level and PhD students from all programmes across the University Alliance Ruhr (UAR) are invited to register with matthias.kiese@rub.de. Places will be allocated on a first come, first serve basis.
Further information about MOC can be found here:
Diese Meldung wurde aus dem Archiv der bis Oktober 2022 aktiven Instituts-Homepage importiert. Bilder, Formatierungen und Links sind ggf. inkorrekt oder fehlen.
