EXCHANGE REPORT

SKEMA BUSINESS SCHOOL, SOPHIA ANTIPOLIS, FRANCE

IP CHING YUE

IS & OM, YEAR 3

SPRING 2018

Monthly Activity Log

January

I arrived Nice on 7th Jan, and I joined other exchange students at our accommodation. After

we settled down, there was an orientation day on the next day. The official started day of

the semester is 9th, which was the day after the orientation day. During the second week of

the semester, I did not have any lessons, so I went to Italy with my friend. Four courses

started in this month, and one of the courses was ended quickly because it only used 3 days

to finish this course.

With other exchange students in Nice, France Cinque Terre, Italy

February

My class schedule was quite tight in this month. I had three final examinations as well as the

presentation and project. In the first two weeks, I spent most of the time on study. Although

this month was the busiest month in SKEMA, the workload was easy to handle compare

with studying in HKUST. After I finished them, three courses were ended. Luckily, there was

a long holiday starting from the late of February. I spent my time on traveling to Barcelona,

Copenhagen, Stockholm, Finland, and Norway. If you plan to go to Northern Europe in

winter, remember to bring some water-proof clothes.

Norway in a Nutshell Husky sled in Inari, Finaland

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March

The last two courses started in this month. The class schedule was weird and I only needed

to go to school on the first and last week. Therefore, there was two weeks for me to travel

again, and I went to Lisbon, London, Newcastle, and Edinburgh. After the trip, I had two final

examinations, and my semester was ended at 30th. Since the date of the final examination

of the last course was unknown until the course started (which was at 29th March), I

planned my afterward trip after the semester ended.

Cais das Colunas, Lisbon, Portugal Tower bridge, London, UK

April

I started traveling across Europe at 8th, and my first station is Amsterdam, Netherlands. If

you want to see the view of windmills, I recommend you to visit Kinderdijk (near Rotterdam)

rather than Zaanse Schans. I visited both windmill village, and Kinderdijk was less

commercialization. Afterward, I went to other countries including (Brugge, Brussels)

Belgium, (Berlin) Germany, and Switzerland. Switzerland is a good place to visit if you enjoy

nature and beautiful view.

Kinderdijk, Netherlands Matterhorn, Switzerland

May

I went to Slovenia, Croatia, Poland, and (Munich) Germany. Then I back Hong Kong at

mid-May.

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General Exchange Information

Visa Procedure

You should apply the long stay visa application at least one month in advance. Two

appointments should be made, an academic interview for Campus France and submit the

documents to the consulate. You just need to answer some simple questions during the

interview, and then submit the required documents, which can be found in the website. It

took 2 weeks and 455hkd to process my application.

Orientation Activities

There was an orientation day before the semester started. On this day, you can know more

about SKEMA, courses registration, and some essential information during studying in

France. There was also a campus tour to make yourself familiar with the school. I met other

exchange students and the academic counsellor, as well as the student clubs in SKEMA.

International Services & Activities

SKEMA does not have any buddy program for exchange students. However, a student

association, Interculture, will hold some activities for exchange students. It will post the

events on facebook page regularly, including Valentine’s day party, pub night and even trips

to Venice and Paris. Although I did not join any activities, I thought that this was a good

chance to know more friends and other cultures.

Accommodations

SKEMA provided a platform for students to find the accommodations, but the prices were

quite expensive, so I did not use that website. Instead, I rent an apartment from Airbnb with

other three UST exchange students. Antibes is a good town to live, where were just 25

minutes away from campus, and many SKEMA students are living there.

Antibes, France

Courses Registration

The course registration process is very different from UST. I received the course catalogue

and timetable a few weeks before the semester was started. And then, I needed to choose

maximum 10 courses and filled in the online form. Be careful when choosing the courses, it

is easy to have time clash with other classes because most of them are not in a regular

schedule. Luckily, SKEMA allows students to absence 2 classes. Finally, I met the academic

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counsellor on the orientation day, and submitted the final course list. You can make any

changes during the add-drop period.

Teaching & Assessment Methods

The class size of SKEMA is relatively smaller than UST, and normally take 3 hours for one

class with 15 minutes tea break. Having two classes in the same day is quite tired, but it is

good if you want to enjoy more day-off. Assessment methods are same as UST, which

include assignments, projects, quizzes, presentation, and final examinations. However,

attendances are required in all courses. The teaching method is also lecture, but comparing

with UST, students are encouraged to speak and discuss during lessons.

I have taken 6 courses in SKEMA, total 16 credits.

Big Data and Analytics (5 credits)

At the end of the course, you will be able to understand the value of Big Data and Analytics

for any public and private companies, specifically around the following topics: digital

marketing - customer analytics, risk and fraud management and operational efficiency. The

evaluation format is 40% final examination (MC and one short question), 30% project

(report and 10 minutes presentation), 20% assignment, and 10% attendance.

Design to Cost (2 credits)

Design-To-Cost is an important lever for enhancing the competitiveness of products and

services: it is about optimizing the ratio of incurred costs and delivered value, not about

reckless cost cutting. In practice, it is frequently observed that cost reduction and value

increase can go together and are not opponents. This hands-on course teaches students

how to put Design-To-Cost in practice. The evaluation format is 100% final examination (MC

and short questions, which is very easy).

Lean Management (2 credits)

Students will understand the history of lean management and its main principles as one of

the proven methodologies that are driving world-class supply chains with a specific focus on

how they can be applied across the entire supply chain domain, not just manufacturing. This

course is constructed based upon the basics of lean thinking, examining real case studies of

companies utilizing lean, and also by applied examples and in-class group exercises. Applied

exercises will transfer key practical skills such as Kaizen improvement techniques and

application of the lean techniques for driving supply chain efficiencies including the ability to

visualize the problem areas by value stream mapping. The evaluation format is 100% final

examination (MC and short questions).

Basic of Revenue Management (2 credits)

The main objective of this course is to understand the marketing concepts and the

organizational impacts of yield management in the hospitality and travel sectors with a

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special focus on hotels, airlines, trains and ferries. The content is included revenue

management concepts, revenue management in the tourism industry, distribution channels,

revenue management structure and culture, factor affecting revenue channels, and

productiveness. For exchange students, the evaluation format is two quizzes, including MC

and short questions.

Performance Improvement (2 credits)

This course focuses on IT organisation consulting: How to assist organisation in their

transformation. The course will be structured with 4 classes to give you an understanding of

the main domains linked to the transformation of your organization and your IT to reach

better performance. The evaluation format is 100% final examination (all MC, which is very

easy).

Negotiation Skills (3 credits)

The course will provide students with practical and cognitive techniques for an efficient

management of interpersonal relationships and negotiation situations. The evaluation

format is 20% attendance, 30% participation, and 50% final examination.

Sports & Recreation Facilities

I did not use any sports and recreation facilities in SKEMA. You can run next to the sea if you

want to do some exercise.

Finance and Banking

I did not open a bank account in France because it was quite annoying and took a long time

to process. If you do not bring enough money to Europe, you can take money from ATMs

which have Union Pay service. Remember to open the oversea service for your ATM card

before departure.

Health and Safety

There is a social security for students who are studying in France. You need to pay for it in

order to finish the registration. Also, an extra travel insurance is recommended to buy if you

want to travel around during exchange. Antibes or Nice is a safety city comparer with Paris,

but there is some homeless, so it is better not to stay in the street at night.

Food

There are snack shop and canteen in SKEMA, but I only tried once in the orientation day. I

usually prepared my own lunch box to school. Eating out is quite pricey, but it is worthy to

try some dessert in France.

Transportation

You can take Line 1 or 100 from Antibes to SKEMA. I paid 5 euros for a Line 100 bus pass,

that allowed me to take Line 100 for free within a year. This pass can be made in the bus

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office. If you want to travel to Nice or Cannes, or go to the airport, you can take Line 200. It

costs 1.5 euros per trip, and you can buy the ticket on board. Remember to check the

schedule of the bus, especially at night or during lunch time. Moovit is a useful app to check

the bus route in France.

Climate

The weather of Southern France is nice and warmer compared to other countries in Europe.

The lowest temperature in January is around 3 degree Celsius. Starting from end of March,

temperature will go up to 14-16 degree Celsius, which is very comfortable. It seldom rains

and there is always sunny with blue sky.

Communication

In the first month, I ordered the SIM card from Lycamobile on the website and it was mailed

to me within one week. The plan was cheap (around 72hkd), and included 10GB data in

France and 4GB in other European countries. For the other months, I used the SIM card

which was bought in Hong Kong before I came to France.

Most of the locals do not speak in English. I did not learn any French, but it was fine for me

since the people living here was nice. It is recommended to download the translation app

(e.g. Google translate) before arrival, it will be very useful when living in France or traveling

in other countries.

Cautionary Measure

Do not plan your trip too early. SKEMA will change the class schedule even the course is

started.

Spending

Items HKD

Air tickets 6200

Accommodation (around 3.5 months) 12000

Visa 455

Insurance 3000

Food 1000

Travel (19 countries) 50000

Others 1200

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Items to Bring

✓ Passport

✓ Laptop

✓ Cash

✓ Medicine

✓ Backpack

✓ Personal care stuff

✓ Adaptor

✓ Credit card and ATM card

✓ Warm clothes

✓ Passport-sized photos

Useful Links and Contacts

Campus France Hong Kong

http://www.hongkong.campusfrance.org/en/

VISA Application

http://www.consulfrance-hongkong.org/Visa-Application

SKEMA Business School

http://www.skema.edu/

SKEMA Student Portal

https://students.skema.edu/

If more information is needed, get my contact from SBM Exchange Team by emailing at

bmugexch@ust.hk.

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