STUDENT REPORT, FALL 2013
IAE AIX-EN-ROVENCE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT
Name of the University:
IAE Aix – Graduate School of Management
Exchange semester: Fall 2013
1. Aix-en-Provence
Aix-en-Provence is a small city in south of France, only 30 minutes from Marseille. It is a part
of the PACA region (Provence-Alpes-Cotes-d’Azur). The number of habitants in Aix is
150,000 and there are approximately 70,000 students in the area. The short name for the city
is Aix, which is pronounced like the English word “Ex”.
The city is small and beautiful, and looks like a stereotypic French romantic city from the
Provence district. It is full of tourists during summer, but is still no typical tourist city. There
are many restaurants and some quite nice shopping streets. However, unfortunately for the
students, this is one of the most expensive cities in France.
A special weather feature in Aix is the Mistral, a very cold wind from the North which pushes
away the clouds and gives the city a lot more sunny days. During summer and early fall, the
weather is warm (+25 C), but it gets closer to between 0 and 10 degrees late fall/winter. A tip:
Do not underestimate the French winter, it can be freezing. Plus, le Gazelles like to control the
dorm radiators, which make you miss the Norwegian building isolation and heaters.
2. General information about the school
IAE Aix – Graduate School of Management, or in short: IAE, which is pronounced “IAØ”
with Norwegian pronunciation. IAE is a part of the Aix-Marseille University, and is situated
in Puyricard, a tiny village 20 minutes outside of Aix city center. Around the school, you can
see fields and some horses. So yes, this is really out on the country side. The school is EFMD
Equis accredited.
An important thing to know about IAE is that things are not planned and organized in the
same way as at BI in Norway. For example, while you at BI know which courses to take, the
curriculum and how the exams are arranged even before the semester starts; these things are
planned and organized along the way at IAE. This means that courses might change
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completely during the semester. So when you leave for Aix, you have no idea which courses
you will take or how the semester will look like. For us structured Norwegians, this was hard
to deal with, and caused a lot of frustration.
2.1 Academic calendar
Our semester was from 9th of September to 16th of December. Some of the programs had a
week off during the semester, but not on the same time. However, we all had schedules with
many long weekends, enabling us to travel a lot.
Here’s a tip: If you have to select free electives, you might get a whole week off if you select
away one of the electives, and take an extra course instead.
Before the semester started, we were offered an intensive French language course for two
weeks, from August 26 to September 6. This course was important to learn the basics in
French language, but also for building up our social network. The course is for all levels.
Arrival date:
August 21.
First day of the semester:
September 9.
Last day of classes:
December 19.
Examination period:
No special period.
Any special
National holiday
events/holidays:
November 1 and 11.
Other:
2.2 The International Office
There is one person in charge of the Erasmus students. She helped us to enroll to the school in
the beginning, and signed the Learning agreements and other Erasmus documents. She has a
lot on her plate, so do not expect too much extra help from her.
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2.3 International Days
The International festival is an evening where the international students show their cultures by
giving a show/presentation in the main auditorium and/or presenting a culinary experience. It
was a great fun.
3. Academic information
I followed the first semester of the IMMIT students (International Master of Management in
IT). In the end of this chapter, a short description of the programs followed by the other
Norwegian students (from Handelshøyskolen i Trondheim, HIST) will follow to give the more
information about the different programs to choose from at IAE.
The IMMIT program is an international master program with semesters in France, Finland,
The Nederland and finally an internship wherever in the world. The students are therefore
very international with no dominating nationality, which I appreciated a lot. I chose to follow
the IMMIT program because I was told it was about general management with an IT flair.
However, it was just general management, where many of the courses were similar to BI
bachelor courses. So if you want new challenges in courses you haven’t had before, do not
choose to follow this program. If you want a repetition, on the other hand, this is a nice
program.
The teaching style at IAE is very practical with often cases and little theoretical background.
In the program of IMMIT we only read a few HBR cases, just a little theory, and not a single
academic article throughout the semester. The workload is very small compared to BI. The
curriculum in most courses is the teachers’ slides only.
3.1 Facilities
The facilities at school include a computer room and a library. Technically, the school is not
any high tech at all: the Wi-Fi is slow and often not working, and the library and the PC rom
is not well equipped with power sockets, making it a little challenging to work from our own
laptops.
The canteen serves two or three different dishes for € 3.15 every day.
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3.2 Exams
Most courses do not have exams, but only a project report, a presentation and/or class
participation. We had only mid-term exam in accounting. Almost all projects were group
based, and the amount of individual work load was overall small.
3.3 Our courses at IAE
Course code &
name
ECT Exam form
S
Prerequisites Comments
ServiSim
(business
simulation)
3
The results
from our
business
simulation
None
A fun and engaging business
simulation. However, there
was a lot of confusion about
whether the course was 3
credits or not. I got 3 credits
in the end.
Accounting
3
Exam in the
middle and end
of the course
None
A nice repetition, but BI
students know this from their
bachelor.
Finance
3
Group project
presentation
None
A nice repetition, but BI
students know this from their
bachelor.
Marketing
3
Group project
presentation
None
A nice repetition, but BI
students know this from their
bachelor.
Leadership
1.5
Simulations in
class
None
Very interesting about
different personal profiles,
and how to handle them.
Change
management
1.5
Class
participation
None
Also very interesting about
how to lead change
processes.
Integration of
cultures
3
Group project
report and
presentation
None
A quite interesting course
about how to deal with
cultural differences.
The European
integration
process and its
influence on
business
3
Group project
report
None, but
helpful with
knowledge
about strategy
and macro-
My most interesting course.
About the Euro crisis
influences how to do
business around the world.
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(elective)
The art of LAGuser innovation
(elective)
economics.
3
Individual
presentation of
business idea
None
A very interesting course
about how to use the LAG
methodology to innovate.
3.4 The programs the other Norwegian students took
(HHiT): I chose the program called International Business. The courses was amongst others
finance, strategy, marketing and HRM, all with an international perspective. The program is
supposed to be a “full English track”, although some courses were still run in French. For us
students who doesn’t speak French, the teacher and program director decided that our
evaluation would be different than for the French students. I was happy with this arrangement.
Our class was consisting of 8 exchange students and about 25 French students, who all spoke
very well English. Being in a class where the majority is French have definitely been a
benefit, as they found it fun to teach me French and also showing me local culture through
social activities. For the whole semester we were divided into groups of 5, with at least one
international student in each. This arrangement gave me four very nice “buddies” who all
have made sure to take good care of me.
All classes are based partly on group work, and this has been the source of both frustration
and joy. I had to adjust my perspective and habits on work methods, as the French students
had a very different approach to school work than I’m used to from Norway. This also made
me realize that achieving good grades became very difficult.
In general the courses are on a basic level and the curriculum is at a minimum (compared to
the Norwegian system). I found the teachers as qualified and competent, most spoke good
English. My favorite course was French language, as the teachers had a very inspiring
approach towards the students. My opinion in the end of this semester is that the system of
1,5/3 credit courses limits the content of the courses to the extent that they become
unnecessary basic. Most courses were interesting, but the limited time made them shallow.
Evaluation method varies from group work to exam quiz, all very little stress related
compared to the Norwegian exam period.
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All in all I will recommend International Business to those who wish to have close contact
with French students seeks a broad variety in courses and value the cultural experience of
being in the south of France. The program is not in an academically challenging or attractive
level, compared to Norwegian master level, but it is my impression that it is the same for all
other programs at IAE.
4. Practical information
4.1 Information before we left
We received general information about the school, and a list with the names of the courses
and programs before going to France. Some information about the dormitories was also sent.
However, we had to search for much of the most relevant information ourselves, and because
most information is in French, we used a lot of Google Translate.
Make sure to bring copies of passport, insurances, European health card etc.
4.2 Travelling to Aix-en-Provence
The closest and most convenient airport is Marseille. From here you take the «Navette», a
shuttle bus which takes you from airport to Aix around twice an hour. The journey takes about
40 minutes and single way ticket costs 7,60 €, 2€ if you have the Cartreize.
The TGV train station is located 20 min outside Aix. The “Navette” also shuttle from here to
Aix. There is also a local train station, close to Aix city center.
The “Aix en bus” is the local bus and takes you around the city and to Puyricard. It is quite
cheap, especially if you buy a bus card for 24 € a month or 100€ per year. One journey ticket
costs 1€, 10 journey ticket costs 7€. Bring your student card, residence address, residence
confirmation (for the annual card only) to their office in the tourist office.
The Cartreize bus card is free and easy to create at Gare Routiere. Bring your student card and
a small picture. After receiving the card you charge it with money and can travel 24 h for 2€
in the region. This can be used to Marseille, airport and TGV station. Great deal!
The Zou card is costly, but if you wish to travel a bit outside the region it will save you a lot
of money. You get 50% discount on fares and can give the same to three friends when
travelling together. Make sure to check which discount card is appropriate for your journey.
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4.3 Housing
The capacity at CROUS University Residence is limited, so only exchange students from a
school with a special agreement are offered this accommodation. CROUS have more student
residences, but our experience is from the one called Les Gazelles. The location is good, a 1015 minutes walk away from the city center of Aix. The area is nice and there is the convenient
park “Parc Jordan” close by. The bus to school departures in the city center.
The rooms are in good standard (varies in different buildings), about 12-14 m2, have a
bathroom with sink, toilet and shower. There are a refrigerator, desk, bed, pillow, shelves and
closet. You must provide towels, duvet, toilet paper and so on. Be careful to never leave your
room unlocked, even if you are in the kitchen.
The reception in CROUS Les Gazelles is open at all times, but the only language spoken is
French. They generally try to understand what you mean if you give your French language a
try. When you arrive it will be helpful to have your reservation in printed version. CROUS
argued that only French housing insurances are accepted. However, if you have an English
version of your insurance receipt they might accept it. French personal responsibility
insurance is asked for. This may be provided by your French bank.
4.4 Costs/Expenses
Approximately how much per month did you spend on rent, books, food, transportation, and
other personal expenses?
Rent
NOK 2000
Books
NOK 0
Food
NOK 2000
Transpor
NOK 250
t
Other
NOK 250
This covers the necessities, not party, shopping etc.
Multiple banks visit IAE to make them your customer. A French debit card is useful to charge
your CROUS student card (laundry, cantina) and when other nationality cards are not
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accepted. To close your account you must make an arrangement with your bank contact
person and hand in your cards and cheque book.
4.5 Social life
IAE arranges the first meeting amongst the ERASMUS students the week before language
courses starts. Other than that the students are left to themselves but language courses and
additional social activities in the evenings made us into a good group before school started.
Getting to know people was no problem, as long as you take the initiative and are open to the
new people.
IAE also arranges some “get togethers” during the semester, in addition to the international
festival. This is a great party at IAE, where the international students are encouraged to
contribute with expositions about their country and its cuisine. If you have a talent, they will
be happy to see you perform in the show.
The student union at IAE, the BDE, arranges multiple activities during the semester, for
instance camping-party-tour, wine tastings and parties in Aix. This is promoted on facebook
and at school.
4.6 The French culture and language
Generally, the French culture is welcoming and polite to international students. It takes some
time to adapt to the “French time- attitude”, meaning that everything functions in a lower
phase than in Norway. Dinner is usually eaten after 8 o’clock.
It is very useful to know some French, but English only is also ok (as long as you are prepared
to use a little body language in addition). Aix are used to tourists and exchange students, so
most people speak at least some French.
5. Summary
All in all we have had a great semester in Aix-en-Provence. The cultural differences have
been interesting and the experience will be a positive memory for a lifetime. Attending a
French school has offered frustrations and new insight, but as long as the personal experience
is more important than the academic one, this is a journey definitely worth taking.
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