Research & Programs - HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management

22 Research & Programs
Interview
“PR skills are a long-term investment
for MBA students”
Journalist Hannes Külz explains why he
teaches public relations skills to HHL’s
MBA students. Külz contributes to Financial
Times Deutschland and Welt am Sonntag.
He is copy chief of Berlin-based media
agency KircherBurkhardt.
HHL news: Why is public relations
an issue for future managers?
No company can survive without acknowledging
its environment. The public demands
How can we provide a quick look at such a fun
and knowledge-filled week? How can we describe
the sun shining on the water in the harbour,
the taste of Boston’s culinary offerings
and the rides out to the outlying commercial
parks in a yellow school bus? How can we cover
all our activities, meetings, presentations and
guest lectures at international companies
and Ivy League universities in and around Boston
in just a few words? Impossible!
Locals Dean Goodermote and Rusty Tunnard,
our HHL professors for Entrepreneurship
and Problem Solving & Communication,
headed up our group as we toured through
Boston’s academic and commercial worlds.
Harvard Business School, MIT, Suffolk Law
School and Tufts Fletcher School opened
their doors to us, offering lectures on topics
ranging from Porter’s cluster theory at
Harvard Business School, binomial lattices
in a nutshell at MIT, the impact of the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act at Suffolk and Fletcher’s
insights into how to use social networks to
coordinate disaster relief aid (Haiti), to Partha
Ghosh’s fascinating talk on the importance
of innovation in meeting the enormous ecol-
transparency in all regards: ecological and
ethical behavior, fair treatment of employ-
ees, honesty of the management and much
more. In brief: everything the concept of
”corporate citizenship” comprises. Last but
not least, a good corporate reputation
increases loyalty and motivation among the
workforce and goodwill among the clients
and shareholders. That should be enough
for managers to care about.
HHL news: How do you teach public
relations?
PR skills are no ready-to-use kit but rather a
long-term investment for MBA students. In a
theoretical part we take a look at different
communication concepts and see how the
approach of public relations has changed
over time. We discuss how a PR program
can be planned, implemented and evaluated.
Of course, internet PR plays an increasing role
as well as internal communications – as the
employees are an important public that needs
to be addressed. Besides this, to improve the
students’ communication skills, the course
includes a writing workshop and crisis
Boston: Tea Party, lobster and Ivy League –
the P5 Global Immersion Seminar 2010
ogical, economic and ethical
challenges we are facing in a
globalized world with rapidly
changing demographics. It
was all followed by a tour of
the campus, giving us a
quick peek into life at an
American university.
While half of each day was
spent in the academic
world, the other half was
dedicated to Boston’s business
side – we visited companies
and institutes working in a range of
industries: Thermo Fisher Scientific, Fresenius
Medical Care, the Broad Institute, the Boston
Redevelopment Authority, and Simon Kucher
and Partner offered us insights into innovating
logistics in the medical supply industry, lean
and six sigma processes in the production of
high-tech scientific instruments, strategy consulting
specializing in pricing, a human genetics
lab run with six sigma precision, and
steering Boston’s development as a city,
keeping it attractive to businesses, residents
and students.
HHL News – wiNter 2010/2011
communication simulation: groups of
students represent the board of a company
that gets in trouble. They have to deal with
extreme pressures of time, uncertainties,
lack of control – and master a press
conference under these conditions that
is videotaped. Their performance will be
analyzed and their crisis communication
discussed. This helps a lot more than
memorizing handbooks and checklists.
HHL news: Are your courses structured
differently in the part-time and the
full-time MBA class?
The different schedules require certain
adjustments, for example in the way
practical PR is integrated into the course.
In the part-time class several students
present and discuss the strategies of their
respective companies whereas in the full-
time program groups of students visit the
PR executives of major Leipzig companies
and examine their findings with the class.
Our evenings allowed us to renew our
strength for the next day, thanks to Boston’s
many culinary delights: We cured our jet-lag
with lobster, oysters and fresh fish, net-
worked over a family-style Italian dinner a few
days later, and closed the week with a wonderful
dinner of typical Boston steak and
seafood near the wharf.
All in all, it was a rich week – and the best
way to finish our Part-Time MBA with our P5
group – thanks to all who made it possible!