Thomas Paris, 4^th Year student at the American Business School of Paris had just gotten back from Cannes after the closing ceremony of the G20 Summit when he gave us his first impressions.  As a member of the Marketing Team and Communications Board for MEDEF (The French Business Confederation) he worked together with the teams to organize the Business 20, or B20, which has been organized as an integral part of the G20 Summit.  The B20 itself is meant to express the common views from the international business community, more specifically; its main purpose consists in developing recommendations and issuing relevant commitments from the business leaders and business organizations to deal with the current global issues firms are facing.

It’s within the framework of the G8 and G20 exclusively under French Presidency this year, that President Nicolas Sarkozy gave mandate to MEDEF, the French Business Confederation comprised of more than 800 000 companies, to organize the B20 Summit. This event took place in Cannes on November 2^nd and 3^rd concomitantly with the G20 Summit.

In short, the B20 is organized around twelve topics, which are crucial to the Business community and that are priorities for the G20. The Presidents of the business confederations of the G20 countries, as well as 120 CEOs and Chairmen from a many international companies have been working together for several months. They were gathered in 12 working-groups, each of them co-chaired by a company CEO and a President of a business organization to elaborate concrete recommendations. Those proposals were then presented to the Head of State and Government of France and used as key points in the G20 final conclusions.

As the youngest member of the Board, Thomas insisted on and prepared new conferences to be created during the Summit, notably regarding green energy, information technology, media regulations as well as innovation as a key growth factor. As the B20 was held exclusively in English, Thomas assisted with every media interface, communication as well as overall preparations very closely. 

All decisions where made within the Board meetings that were held on different topics almost every day, especially near the end.  Major decisions regarding the budget, security, and G20 integration had to be validated by Laurence Parisot, President of MEDEF, before being fully enacted.  All databases had to be checked and rechecked by various members; updates on guest participations were on a minute-to-minute basis to provide a zero-error environment.  Thomas also worked not only on the identification, selection and communication of the VIP’s but also the logistics of their visit to France and/or the flight to Cannes.  Teamwork, he said, was "key to realizing a fully developed vision of what we all believed was necessary and highly ambitious".  After only several months of organization, however, it was show time.

“The professional world is different from the student life, and the young student has to accept the differences, the rules and adapt rapidly to this new world during an internship.”

This was one of the most frequent remark during the Professional Advisory Board (PAB) of the American Business School that was held on October 11th. Mrs. Nazima Canda, the Corporate Relations Manager of the American Business School, received us for an interview about this meeting. 

Can you please tell us what the purpose of the PAB is? 

       The Professional Advisory Board is composed of companies, faculty members and alumni. They gather twice a year to provide input on the evolving needs of the business community. Topics such as competencies most desires by companies, or the evolutions of profesionnal careers are brought up.

Besides, the PAB also advises the school on the content of programs and courses. It is essential to offer a quality BBA degree. It is also a requirement, as we have a certification (titre certifié Niveau II).  

        The competitive education market having industrialized and internationalized over the years, we have to adapt to the given: there is a necessity for highly adaptable and culturally sensitive players. With more than 90% of our alumni being employed within the next 6 months after their graduation, one of our main goal is to train qualified students which will respond well to corporations needs.

Which companies or institutions were represented in this meeting? 

Abercombie & Fitch, ADP Inc., Canal +, la Chambre de Commerce de Paris, Crouzet Samaha Fine Arts, Disneyland Paris, Groupama Banque, the International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education (IACBE), Meije Conseils, Sandoz, Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking (SGCIB), Youssou Ndour International Office, and The American Business School. 

Did you have a specific theme for this board?

         Yes, indeed. Iit was: “What is ideal corporate behavior?” What companies expect from interns?

Some of our latest corporate feedbacks left us thinking there was still more to be taught or understood by our students. In some cases, students do not fully grasp the learning process within this first practical experience and do not respond to it with all the professionalism required. At other times, they are not well prepared to the corporate communication process or its evolving needs. Let's take corporate culture, for example. It is something the student has to adapt to right away. It asks for high flexibility and compliance, which is not always taken into account by the intern beforehand.

This theme was therefore crucial. It takes the three parts (the school, the student and the corporation) to improve the positive impact of this practical training.

What was the Board's overall conclusion?

Our role is to make sure our students are ready for the professional world, and that is a reason why they are taking Carrier Management Program courses. It is an indispensable tool as real professional teach them how to present themselves, how to affine their soft skill and also push them to reach their full potential.

We have to focus on the soft skills. We will also work with the students and the companies on better follow ups, and lead students towards internships that would match their needs and the firm's at best.

 During their internship in the company the students are representing the American Business School, creating opportunities for themselves and also for future other student. Our goal as a business school, a company, a manager is not only to bring the students the support they need for the matter but also help them build their career plan. Therefore we need to have them prepared over the various mentioned aspects and feel ready for the company. An internship is the first bridge between the school and the professional world. It is a practical training, which taken seriously can be of great added value. 

Thank you very much Mrs. Canda for your time.

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