20% discount for the 2024-2026 intake: The EMBA from the University of Geneva and the Geneva Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Services (CCIG) are cementing a partnership based on a shared vision for French-speaking Switzerland’s economic education. Against the backdrop of digital innovation, environmental challenges, and the generalized volatility of markets, particularly in energy, the shifts underway in organizational and structural logic call for unprecedented skills, offered by this internationally recognized high-level program. Pauline Zahlaoui, Commercial Director of the CCIG, and Jean-Yves Mercier, Director of the Geneva EMBA, explain their vision of the necessary connection between innovation and leadership.
Why is the CCIG interested in the Geneva EMBA?
P.Z. The CCIG is aware of the challenges of continuing education for professionals, whether they are employees or executives, especially in a context of accelerating demand for new skills. To this end, it offers a catalog of practical training courses dedicated to marketing, digital, or management themes, but also related to international trade. For its part, the University of Geneva boasts one of the best European EMBAs. We believe that the ongoing education of managers and business leaders contributes to the economic influence of the canton, and it is a pleasure to recommend this program from the prestigious institution founded by John Calvin.
J-Y.M. We have the privilege of leading one of the few accredited EMBAs in Switzerland, which also ranks in the top 50 worldwide. Our “Responsible Leadership & Self-Leadership” program targets executives and entrepreneurs wishing to go beyond traditional management and develop their skills in foresight, creation, and the management of projects or organizations.
How does the CCIG respond to these new needs for expertise prompted by the major changes in the world of work?
P.Z. The CCIG, founded in 1865, has played an essential role since its inception in supporting the economic evolution of Geneva. We are aware of the challenges related to employment, employability, and the availability of skills in our market. Despite the strong attractiveness of the canton of Geneva, we notice a gap between the know-how sought by companies settling here and what can be mobilized locally. It would be regrettable not to craft our own response to these imperatives for upgrading, especially in a country renowned for the quality of its education. We therefore maintain constant dialogue with training institutions, such as the Geneva EMBA of the University of Geneva, and exchange ideas about the current and future needs of the market. In this spirit, we maintain long-standing links with the University of Geneva, particularly with the Faculty of Law, which we recently supported in organizing the Intellectual Property Law Day in the nascent era of artificial intelligence.
Jean-Yves, what prompted you to approach the CCIG?
J-Y.M. The CCIG is a key partner in Geneva’s life. It is one of the essential meeting points for businesses and also plays a role as a spokesperson for promoting the canton. Our EMBA is not just a degree: we aim to train and provide a generation of leaders ready to engage with the significant changes that lie ahead, in an increasingly demanding competitive space.
What do you expect from this partnership?
P.Z. We support all serious means that allow our members to excel in their activity and to train themselves in the face of the challenges of this early 21st century. Thus, we count on the EMBA to create the conditions for a self-reliant and prosperous Geneva through effective and up-to-date entrepreneurship. In this spirit, we also organize cycles of conferences and round tables on topics such as corporate social responsibility (CSR), sustainable management, free trade agreements, emerging markets, and opportunities to seize.
How is your partnership materialized?
J-Y.M. The CCIG offers us the opportunity to meet a wide variety of decision-makers and managers and to encourage them to engage in their own personal and professional evolution.
We offer them a course schedule adapted to their professional activity and a 20% discount on enrollment for the 2024-2026 intake.
In addition to this preferential offer, we plan a joint communication strategy, as well as discovery visits by our students to the CCIG, to encourage exchanges on both sides, with, we hope, recruitment opportunities.
We invite you, the reader, to visit our website to learn more about the 2024-2026 intake!