A General report
1. Host institution and exact dates of semester abroad
Stockholm School of Economics Riga, 18/08/2014 until 19/12/2014
2. Contact with home faculty, preparation and journey
Contact with the home faculty before the journey, and during my stay in Riga I had only contact
with Beppo van Leeuwen, because I had to change my learning agreement.
3. Residence abroad
I am an EU citizen, and thus no additional visa and/or permit was necessary. I arrived one week
before the start of the university, because I was looking for an apartment. Finally, I found a
beautiful apartment at Stabu Iela. If you are looking for a very kind landlady and well-equipped
apartment, contact Liene Zelmene from Appeltoftinvestment (You can find her on FB).
My university had an introduction at the university about schedules and the university rules.
Also, we went to Jurmala (beach) to get to know all the other exchange students.
The Stockholm School of Economics is a high-level university, which makes it challenging to
obtain 30 ECTS. Despite this, I was able to enjoy traveling in Latvia, and cities like Tallinn,
Vilnius, Stockholm, and many more. Furthermore, student life in Riga is perfect, and many bars
and clubs, and many other (exchange) students. The language spoken is Latvian or Russian,
and most of the younger generation speaks English.
4. Grant – Amount
In total you will receive €750 from the Erasmus+ grant, and additional expenses that I had were
€280 for my room (24m2). Traveling is cheap, within Riga I never used a ticket, but even if you
do it is very cheap. Price of food is normal, and there is a lot of cheap alcohol, but make sure
you buy that before 10pm.
5. Study (general)
The university has a high level of education, which makes it challenging to pass all the courses.
However, in general the courses are well organized and qualified lecturers in front of the class.
The major problem is the schedule, which is changing during the semester. Also, if you choose
courses from year 1, 2 or 3 at the same time, there might be overlap, which is annoying,
because most lectures are mandatory. Make sure you plan well, and keep an eye on the
schedule during the semester. Finally, the International Office is very helpful and there is always
a way to solve problems.
B Specific report
Ethics and Sustainable Business
Lecturer: Dr. Roberts Ķīlis, Maija Kāle, Dace Kavasa
Objectives
Main purpose is to introduce and critically analyse the value basis of business and work and the
ongoing business ethics discourse of the contemporary industrial world.
The course covers some basic notions and theories of business ethics, value formation,
deonthological and consequentialist theories, justice and responsibility. Furthermore, it covers
from en ethical point of view intra-firm relationships in different organizational designs, market
relationships and marketing ethics, corporate social responsibility and the ethics of international
and transnational business.
Organization and Examination
The course consists of lectures in full group and seminars in smaller groups.
The evaluation consists of two parts. The student is requested to pass in each of them
independently. There is a short written examination, focused on the knowledge of notions and
concepts. The main weight of the evaluation lies with the written report. In groups of 3-4
students, each participant is obliged to write a report on a chosen subject, approved by the
teacher. The main quality evaluated in the reports is the ability to identify the ethical perspective,
to interpret a situation and be aware of the values at stake, and to conduct an analysis of the
ethical implications of an issue.
Political Economy
Lecturer: Boriss Grinzburgs
Objectives
Political economy commonly refers to interdisciplinary studies that draw on economics, law and
political science in order to understand how political institutions and the political environment
influence market behavior. Alternatively, one may think of political economy as of application of
the methods of economic analysis to the questions that were traditionally addressed by political
science. Some of the topics that we will cover belong to what is known as the field of “public
choice”, or nonmarket decision making.
Organization and Examination
* There will be a final exam, which will count for 60% of the course grade. The exam will cover
all the lecture material and all of the assigned mandatory readings. Note that the exam will be
CLOSED BOOK AND NOTES. However, you will be permitted to use an A4 sized ‘cheat sheet’,
where writing is allowed on both sides of the page. The cheat sheet must be hand-written – no
Xeroxing, machine reduction, or computer production is allowed. You will not be allowed to
exchange your cheat sheets during the exam.
* Seven sets of practice ‘problems’ will be distributed during the course. Practice problems will
not be graded but solving them will help you cope with the assignments and the final exam.
There will be seven seminars led by me and the TAs, who will help you solve the practice
problems (but not the assignments) and navigate through the assigned articles. Attending
seminars is mandatory and attendance sheets will be distributed. Your activity (and attendance)
during the seminar will contributed 10% to the course grade.
* Each week will conclude with a written assignment for a total of three assignments. Each
assignment will be evaluated and will contribute 10% to the course grade. Assignments are to be
written and submitted individually. Late assignments will be awarded zero points.
* Some students may find it helpful to work together on the problem sets, but simply relying on
the work of others on the problem sets is a recipe for disaster on the exams. Grapple with
problem sets communally; write your answers individually!
Specialization Course: Marketing
Lecturer: Philippe Mihailovich, Juris Baumanis
Objectives
The objective of this course is to give students an understanding and complete view about retail
marketing discipline, including the following stages such as: consumer buying behavior and
trends nowadays in different cultures, developing marketing strategies in connection with
consumer buying behavior, different store concepts and its marketing strategies, development of
store concepts and main rules, merchandising, customer service and influence on sales,
different store promotion tools (in-store events, test trials, cross promotion etc.), repeat business
development, innovation development and promotion. It also looks deeper at retail marketing
targets, marketing key performance indicators (KPI) and practical retail marketing plan in
connection with social media influence. It would allow students to consider how marketing
strategies are linked to store concepts, customer service, merchandising strategies, consumer
behavior and purchasing trends.
Organization and Examination
To evaluate performance of students the following criteria will be taken into account:
* Attendance and active work during lectures 20%;
* Seminar work and presentations of case studies 20%;
* Project work which is delivered with high level credibility 60%. Total maximum points 200.
Specialization Course: Entrepreneurship
Lecturer: Viesturs Sosārs, Andrejs Strods
Objectives
Ability to develop appropriate business strategies, manage financial and human resources,
generate sales, implement marketing and promotion strategies and communicate within a group
are skills which can potentially add to the competitiveness of any business company. During the
previous years of studies at SSE Riga or elsewhere, you have acquired most of these skills,
including ‘real entrepreneurship experience’ in Entrepreneurship and Business planning during
Year 1. Advanced Entrepreneurship aims to enhance your entrepreneurial expertise, building on
and extending this knowledge. The target for this course are those of you at the final year of
studies, who either run companies already or are planning to do so in the nearest future.
Advanced Entrepreneurship is a ‘practical’ course, with only a very limited level of ‘classic
lectures’ and involves lots of team and field work as well as interaction with successful
entrepreneurs. The course is arranged around 5 core elements of entrepreneurship, which are:
1. Business idea generation process
2. Marketing and promotion
3. Attracting finance and financial planning
4. Business and product development strategy
5. Risk management
Organization and Examination
While focusing on these topics, the course involves participation in ‘Innovation Camp’. This
means that you will spend one full day at the beginning and one full day at the end of the course
as intensive team working within creative environment outside the school. Your task will be to
respond to the opportunities brought by this environment and develop the business company.
Both theoretical and practical support will be provided to you in order to achieve this. Lectures,
case studies, literature and practical seminars as well as individual team work, focusing on the
five core elements outlined above, will be held in- between.
Your final grade will consist of three parts:
1. Report on your company (team work, 45%)
2. Presentation of your business idea (team work, 5%)
3. Exam (individual work, 50%)