Developing actionable ideas for cross-sectional interactions

Interactions between individuals and groups with many different experiences, identities and goals are enriching for all involved. However, such interactions can also be challenging and require an opportunity-oriented approach to develop meaning and benefit for those involved.

As part of the Global Interactions Collective initiated by Erwin Silaban and Prof. Dr. Mayank Kumar Golpelwar, more than 30 students from the School of International Business from two different courses (ISGM and Business Administration), two different semesters (3rd and 7th semester) and four different nationalities (German, Korean, Japanese and Indonesian) came together on January 20 for a joint exercise that also brought together students with and without semester abroad experience.

In a wonderfully interactive way, Dr. Lisa Heindl and Marta Backowska from HSB's Freiraum Innovation Lab) led the diverse group in jointly developing opportunities and solutions to improve skills transfer between cohorts and disciplines at the university. With their support, students actively learned to use and apply tools such as design thinking, structured brainstorming and pitching to overcome challenges and to develop and present actionable ideas.