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Post-Brexit executive education program designed by ESMT Berlin wins international award

Enter the Eurozone
The European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) recognizes the successful partnership of Irish government agency Enterprise Ireland, international business school ESMT Berlin, and IMS Marketing with an Excellence in Practice Silver Award 2020 in Ecosystem Development.

The core of the partnership is Enterprise Ireland’s “Enter the Eurozone” executive education program, designed and delivered by ESMT. It aims at accelerating the number of Irish small and medium-sized firms entering new markets in the Eurozone. The initiative is, among other reasons, a response to growing uncertainties for Irish businesses in the post-Brexit UK market.

The initial Enter the Eurozone cohort of 20 clients started as a pilot in 2019, with the program designed to scale over a four-year period. Its curriculum is composed of a four-month learning journey, with sessions in Berlin, Dublin, and Paris as well as online. The goal is for companies to develop a detailed market entry plan (MEP) while working towards a first contract win in a chosen Eurozone market. The first group of participants, who graduated in January 2020, gave the program an average rating of 1.3 on a 1-to-5 scale, with 1 being the best.

Julie Sinnamon, CEO, Enterprise Ireland, says, “Irish companies are recognized as some of the most innovative and flexible in the world, and bringing the Irish Advantage to our closest Eurozone neighbours has never been more important. The Enter the Eurozone program provides a strategic stepping stone for ambitious companies to begin exporting to this region, and I am delighted that EFMD has chosen to recognize the achievements of this Enterprise Ireland initiative which is in partnership with ESMT Berlin and IMS Marketing.”

“Helping Irish companies enter new markets in the Eurozone is a great cause on its own,” says Nan Guo, program director at ESMT and director of the Enter the Eurozone program. “Receiving the recognition from the EFMD community motivates us to keep up the good work with our great partners Enterprise Ireland and IMS Marketing. We are excited to bring program design and delivery to the next level and look forward to developing more Irish business leaders in the upcoming cohorts.”

EFMD is an international non-profit association and Europe's largest network association in the field of management development, with member organizations from academia, business, public service, and consultancy. Its Excellence in Practice Awards recognize outstanding and impactful client-supplier partnerships in the domains of leadership, professional, talent, and organizational development. The winning partnerships will be officially honored at the EFMD Executive Development Conference on October 21–23, 2020.

 

About ESMT Berlin

ESMT Berlin is a leading global business school with its campus in the heart of Berlin. Founded by 25 global companies, ESMT offers master, MBA, and PhD programs, as well as executive education on its campus in Berlin, in locations around the world, online, and in online blended format. Focusing on leadership, innovation, and analytics, its diverse faculty publishes outstanding research in top academic journals. Additionally, the international business school provides an interdisciplinary platform for discourse between politics, business, and academia. ESMT is a non-profit private institution of higher education with the right to grant PhDs and is accredited by AACSB, AMBA, EQUIS, and ZEvA. It is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion across all its activities and communities.