Language Centre
The four-day intensive summer school concluded the 10-week virtual collaboration with assigned virtual partners from the participating universities. Reginal Brautlacht (Germany), Dr Gloria Agyapong (Ghana) and Dr Joseph Owino (Kenya) received funding from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) to implement this hybrid virtual exchange project with 35 students in the Master’s degree program in Marketing. The program not only enhances virtual collaboration skills, but it also provides an insight into entering the German and African market through practical negotiation and intercultural skills training.
During this four-day intensive program, the participants gained in-depth knowledge of negotiation strategies, many intercultural encounters and discussion opportunities as well as an insight into corruption practices. One of the highlights was the field visit to an eco-apple orchard. H-BRS and BAIN alumni, Monika Rönn, manages the family-run farm in the neighbouring city of Meckenheim. She shared her experiences of running a German family-owned agri business. It starts with a integrated pest management and hiring seasonal agricultural workers as well as marketing and distributing their apples to wholesalers. She gave a detailed account of the dire situation of farmers in Germany and their attempt of surviving the rigid control of the wholesale markets.
Regina Brautlacht is appointed Commission for Global Digital Learning at H-BRS and initiated this virtual exchange project in 2021. She explains “It is important to offer students opportunities to collaborate and work online in international teams to practice important skills such as negotiating online in real-life senarios. This year the students were also able to benefit from a real-life encounter with their negotiation counterparts”. Ms Brautlacht added: "We need to rethink new models of international exchange and offer many different hybrid experiences for our students. It is important that what ultimately matters for such a summer school, especially after two years without in-person events, are the intense and purposeful interactions between students and experts from diverse backgrounds both in and outside the classroom environment". The participants challenged themselves academically and gained experience in knowledge sharing and exchanging ideas with international staff, lecturers and other participants.
In addition to the professional skill programmes, two social events took place. On the first day, Sunday June 19, Daniel Seibert from the H-BRS Language Centre organised a tailor-made sightseeing tour of Bonn. This was followed by a beer garden at the banks of the River Rhine, where the guests experienced this excellent piece of German culture and the fantastic summer weather. Secondly, on Monday, June 20, Regina Brautlacht hosted a potluck-inspired bbq-party for all students and staff to welcome them to the week. These social events offered the participants sufficient time to get to know each other and for team building which will undoubtedly have a lasting effect on the cooperation with the Ghanaian and Kenyan universities.
BAIN Summer School was a long-awaited face-to-face event after having spend 10-weeks of collaborating online. It also was a welcomed change after the previous COVID-19 restricitons. We want to thank all participants and faculty involved in implementing the BAIN Summer School 2022. We are looking forward to seeing everyone again – either in Ghana, Kenya or in Germany.
The project was funded by DAAD-IVAC and received additional support from the University's Office of the Vice President for International Affairs and Diversity as well as the Department of Management Sciences.
About the Project
Project Team
Becoming an International Negotiator (BAIN) is a virtual mobility program initiated by Regina C. Brautlacht, Senior Lecturer in Business Communication and Entrepreneurship, who teaches Negotiation at H-BRS. Her colleagues , Dr. Gloria Agyapong (University of Cape Coast, Ghana) and Dr. Joseph Owino (University of Nairobi, Kenya) both teach Marketing in their respective countries. In 2022, Professor Dr. Jürgen Bode joined the project with his graduate students in Marketing Implementation/International Marketing to expand the virtual collaboration by also offering the African students an opportunity to work on a case study to enter the German and EU market.
Funding; International Virtual Academic Collaboration (IVAC)
Under the umbrella of the International Virtual Academic Collaboration (IVAC) program, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) provided funding in 2022 to the Language Centre / Department of Management Sciences in cooperation with the University of Nairobi, Kenya and the University of Cape Coast, Ghana.
