1.
Practical Information
The BI Exchange Office is very helpful and will give you the information you need through different
exchange seminars and information brochures. The Exchange fair at BI is very helpful when it comes
to providing useful information. In addition, atbi.no have all the information you need regarding to
be prepared for your exchange.
VISA
No visa is necessary when you go on exchange to Lyon if you are a Norwegian citizen.
Travel
There are several ways to get to Lyon, but unfortunately there are none direct flights from Oslo to
Lyon at the moment. The airport in Lyon is called Lyon–Saint-Exupéry Airport.
Here are some suggestions to several flights to Lyon:
1. Air France: Oslo-Paris-Lyon
2. SAS: Oslo-Paris, Air France: Paris-Lyon
3. Brussels Airlines: Oslo-Brussels-Lyon
4. Or you could take a plane from Oslo-Paris and then a 2.5hrs train ride from Paris to
Lyon.
The main train station close to the city center is called Gare de Lyon Part Dieu in which you can take
the Rhone Express (like Flytoget) when you arrive at Lyon Airport.
Housing
In order to find an apartment in Lyon, there was a bit hard to communicate with the French owners
as many of them was poor in speaking English. However, here are some useful websites to look at:
1. www.leboncoin.fr (which is like finn.no in Norway)
2. www.airbnb.com (most of us got our housing via Airbnb)
3. www.urbansejour.com
4. www.seloger.com
5. See also: “Erasmus and International Students Lyon 20XX-20XX” Facebook page
Croix--‐‑Rousse
Two of us were living close to a place called Croix-Rousse, which is very close to the city
center. It takes only 10 min. to walk to Hotel de Ville and approximately 15-20 min. to walk
to Place Bellecour. We rented the apartment through Airbnb, as this was very convenient and
we were able to get detailed information about the appartment in addition to pictures to look
at. We were really satisfied with both the landlady and the apartment had a very high standard
with a great view of the city.
- Monthly cost: € 800 per month
- Deposit: € 0
- Registration fees: € 0 O
Gestetud Othelia Michel Angel
One of us rented a student studio apartment through the agency Gestetud Othelia in Route de
Vienne. Route de Vienne is quite un-central, hence I don’t recommend living there since I spent a lot
of time travelling back and forth to my apartment. However, Gestetud Othelia provides other
recidences that are more central ex. Gestetud Victor Hugo that can be available if you book earlier
than I did. The arrangement with the agency worked well, everything was in order and the
accommodation is less expensive then other alternatives.
- Monthly cost: € 550
- Deposit € 330
- Registration fee € 70
Cordeliers
It is fairly hard to find an accomendation in Lyon. However through airbnb three of us found a very
good apartment in the middle of Lyon (between Hotell de Ville and Cordeliers at the 1
arrondisonment), the price we paid were €650. But then again it is possible to find cheaper
appartments if you go further away from the city center. Overall we found it better to pay more to
live in the city center as this is where the most of the exchange students lives.
- Monthly cost: € 900
- Deposit: € 0
- Registration fees: € 0
Bellecour
One of us rented a studio apartment right next to Bellecour in Rue Sala, also through Airbnb. This
was a very nice location since it is walking distance to everything central. About 5 minutes walk to
the main shopping district Rue de la Republique, 10 min to Vieux Lyon, 15 min to Hotel de ville and
place Terraux and 30 min to the Part Dieu shopping center/Part Dieu train station. To get to the
school you take the metro from Bellecour and switch to bus at Gorge de Loup (bus 3) or Vaise (bus
4). The area feels very safe and you have everything you need close by (grocery stores, restaurants,
pharmacy, shops etc).
- Monthly cost: € 900
- Deposit: € 0
- Registration fees: € 0
Costs
Housing rent
The rent depends on the area you are living at and the standard, but is is within the range of
€400-800 a month. Note that living in the city center is usually more costly.
Books
The school provides you with all reading material, no books are required.
Transportation
A one time-ticket on either bus, metro or tram cost €1.8 if you pay on the machines before going on,
and €2.0 if you pay on the bus. We recommend to buy a monthly bus pass which costs
approximately €30 (this is with a student discount). This card, you can buy at TCL (which is like Ruter
in Oslo). However, it is important to note that this card will expire at the end of each month
disregarding the day you bought it so you should buy it early in each month. Another great way to
get around in the city, is by bike: you can buy a VELO card
(http://www.velov.grandlyon.com/), which costs €15 for a whole year.
Phone
Some of us used our Norwegian phone numbers, and some of us subscribed for a French one. The
cheapest option is either to buy a prepaid card at the grocery store or to make a subscription at
www.freemobile.fr. At Free Mobile you can call and text for free and you get 50GB mobile data for
only € 20 per month. The mobile subscription is not binding, which enables you to end the
subscription (without additional costs) before you leave. However, you have to write that letter in
French. You also have the opportunity to buy a “fixed amount” card, which can be bought at most
Tobacco stores.
Food
The restaurants in Lyon are really great! As they are famous for their gourmet food, you couldget
very nice food without going bankrupt. Most of the restaurants are cheaper compared to Norway,
and you can eat a regular three course meal for approximately € 30. The prices are of course higher
if you go to the more exclusive places, where it may vary from €50-100. The groceries are in general
cheaper, especially the alcohol. The great grocery stores are among others: Carrefour, Petit Casino,
Monoprix, Picard, Intermarché…
One of us had gluten allergy and the restaurants can vary greatly in how experienced they are with
providing good information and meals based on this diet. The restaurants Le Sud, Le
nord etc all have allergen menus. There are two total gluten free cafe’s that also serves some food,
Le Tigre and Le Petit Factory. Since the school is closed at weekends, we had to study at cafes, we
recommend Café Amoure at Croix Rousse.
Language and Culture
The French people outside the school are generally not very good at speaking English, which resulted
in some difficulties in the everyday life. However, you can manage to communicate with some
simple phrases or body language. In order to get a housing, bank account, or mobile subscription,
everything is in French so it is difficult to validate what the contracts are stating if you do not know
any French, so Google Translate was quite useful sometimes. According to the culture, Lyon has to
lot to offer. A tips is to visit the tourist office located at Place Bellecour, where you can get
information if you want to experience the country and the culture.
2. About the School General information
EMLyon Business School is ranked as number 29 by Financial Times of the best Business Schools in
Europe (2015). It has about 2800 students, where as many as 40% of the students are international,
and in total representing over 80 nationalities. This creates a multicultural campus experience. The
school specializes in areas such as Finance, Marketing, Innovation, Management, Law, Economics
and Strategy, but its distinctive quality is founded on teaching innovation and an entrepreneurial
approach to management education.
EMLYON Business School is located in Ecully, a residential suburb northwest of Lyon, approximately
12 km from the City Centre. By bus or metro, it takes about 30-- 40 min to get to the school from the
City Centre. The school consists of three buildings; A, B and C. Building A consists of classrooms and
auditoriums, and this is the building you will spend most of your time. In addition, you will also find
the main cafeteria in building A (which was upgraded during our stay in Lyon). In building B you find
the different departments, in which is mainly for the MBA students, and the professors’ offices,
where you may have some classes. Building C consists of the library, which is called “Learning Hub.”
This area was also upgraded during our stay, and consists of some group rooms and a silent area.
The library is a decent place to read and work, but is really small and it often gets crowded during
the most busy exam period. The library is usually open from 8.30 am until 20.30 pm, and is closed
during the weekends.
Course Registration
The course registration is done through an intuitive Internet system. This year, they change the
school platform from using something called iCampus to BrightSpace. The school provided an email,
with details on the process, in which was a little bit difficult to understand at the beginning. One
should note that there was a short deadline between the signup took place and shout down;
noticeably we were given one day to select our courses. It’s therefore recommended to be prepared
with a selection of courses one wants to attend before the signup day. Some courses were also
unfortunately already filled up before we could select ours, as the French students have priority
before international students. Therefore it is also smart to have some alternative courses planned if
your first pick is unavailable.
Academic Calendar
The fall semester starts around the 10th of September and last (depending on your final exams) to
the 20th of December. Some people were even done with their semester in the beginning of
December. During the fall semester, there are usually a one week break in the end of October,
in which the school is closed and there is no lectures. This is a good opportunity to travel around in
France or where you wish to go.
Arrival
The orientation day at the school was overall good, and the necessary information was provided by
the International coordinator. We were promptly introduced by the international team, and they
provided a guided tour around the EM Lyon campus in addition to its surroundings. At the beginning,
we felt that it was difficult to find the classrooms and to get around at campus, but we got used to
that after a couple of weeks. In addition, during the first couple of weeks, both French cell phone
companies and banks were present in order to help us with any difficulties.
The International Office
The international office was somehow useful, but they had some strange opening hours in which
forced us to plan our meeting with them in advance. However, they were able to help us in case of
emergencies, and facilitate those who had trouble settling in.
Promoting BI and Norway
It happened sometimes that we were in contact with students who were considering applying for an
exchange semester at BI Norwegian Business School. It was especially our French class mates who
showed the most enthusiasm of applying to BI as they are obliged to have a semester abroad. There
was also one international exchange fair organized by the school in November where the students
from Norway were having a stand.
Social Activities
The school has a ton of different student groups, arranging everything from casual dinners, a get
together, rock concert and parties. However, a lot of the arrangements are just marketed towards
French students, so one should talk to the students promoting their arrangements outside the
cafeteria. You really should not miss the school parties arranged by the SDA, you then pay 18 euroes
for open bar and a crazy party. There is also a very active international association called i-link that
arranges a lot of parties, trips and meetings for the international students. Lyons Erasmus
association is also very active and arranges around 2 parties each week for the international
students in Lyon. This semester, there were over 100 international master students at EMLYON,
making it really easy to make new friends and be social after school.
3. Academics In the classroom
Attendance in class were usually for most of the classes mandatory, up to one, maximum two absent
without documentation. This changed during our semester in Lyon, so only a few classes were
actually mandatory to attend. However, some of the teachers made their own rules, so it is
important to know which classes that you cannot miss out. Thus one would experience that some
lectures are mostly a discussion, opposed to others. This varied however greatly on the teacher’s
attitude to teaching. In France, they are more used to having presentations in class, in which was a
bit new for us compared to BI. However, it was not a very high standard on the presentations, so the
pressure was not too high.
Course Materials
There are supplied readings for most of the classes we took; however they are in essence not
mandatory to read. Since most of the course material is to find on the professor’s PowerPoint,
so do the course materials. In some of our courses we got access to an online book, free of charge to
use as a lookup tool during the course. One should note that books are seldom used as a primary
source, as the library is rather small, and there’s no bookstore available at campus.
Exams
We had for a larger part, only multiple-choice exams. Many of the exams were conducted in a pc-lab
(Building C), where you had a set time to finish the questions and deliver your answers. In most of
our exams there were no immediate feedback, even though the exam took place on a computer.
One should note that there was an excessive amount of questions on all our exams, and little time so
the exam can be quite stressful even though it's only between 30 min to 2 hours. The questions
however in most part represented fairly the course curriculum. There was unfortunately at least one
exam where some of the questions was about subjects not discussed in class.
Library and Technology
Depending on prior experiences of libraries, this was the smallest we had ever witnessed. With study
areas for around 100 students, there were seldom places to be found in December/exam hours.
Other than that the librarians spoke well English and was to great help. However, they upgraded the
library during our stay, and it was very modern and nice.
5. Description of the Courses
Practicing Corporate Valuation
Credits: 30 hours, 5 ECTS
Pre-requisites: We expect students to master basic financial mechanisms and know enough
accounting to be able to perform a quick financial analysis of the companies to be evaluated.
Approved as: Free elective
Evaluation: 20 % case in the beginning of the semester, based on DCF model.. 30 % final valuation
report plus presentation. 10 % participation grade. 40 % individual written exam. There will also a
percentage of the grade for a M&A case next year.
Learning Goals
● The key objective of the course is to help students acquire an actual corporate valuation knowhow.
● A second important goal is to provide them with opportunities to step-°©--‐ back from techniques,
and be able to criticize the numerous technical choices they have made, while implementing the
valuation. With this understanding of the consequence of the technical choices, students should be
able to perform a critical review of a corporate valuation performed by an appraiser or financial
analyst.
● The course makes use of an active pedagogy, which fosters students’ initiative –in data screening–
and promotes critical thinking thorough evidencing the face that corporate valuation is a no rocket
science.
● A strong emphasis is put on business modeling, in link with the company’s industry and strategy.
Key Concepts
● Discounting principles and techniques, including perpetuities, for the DCF method and CAPM for
the expected shareholders`return and WACC calculation
● Levered and unlevered, and total Beta.
● Normative multiples formulas to assess the comparability in peer valuation.
Experience
During the course you will get to know a lot of valuation techniques such as comparable multiples,
transaction multiples and discounted cash flow method. The teacher is trying to do it as close as it is
in the real world, and therefore it becomes quite practical. There is several papers and excel files to
hand in during the course, where in the end the teacher ask for a complete stand alone valuation
done in teams. In this course you will basically have something to do every week, but also learn a lot.
Still we feel that the course expects a lot of prerequisites from both accounting, in addition to some
valuation background. The final exam was quite hard, and the teacher is well aware of the fact that
the course is demanding. Still for people with interest in either accounting or valuation it can help
gain even more knowledge than for comparable courses at Bi.
Marketing Strategy Implementation - Seminar Course
Credits: 30 hours, 5 ECTS
During the Fall Semester, the session 02 of this course takes place over the Seminar period (from 14
December to 20 December).
Pre-requisites: None
Approved as: Free elective
Evaluation: Strategic analysis: 20 %, Markstrat simulation 30 %, Markstrat presentation 20%,
Markstrat quiz 30 %.
Learnings goals:
- Define a coherent long term Marketing Strategy that takes into account the market attractiveness
and the firm’s position.
- Build a medium term offer that will enable the firm to reach significant market share with
maximum profitability.
- Conquer a short term leadership position against direct competitors through an optimal
management of the Marketing Mix.
- Organise an efficient marketing team with good marketing intelligence system.
Key concepts:
Strategic marketing, operational marketing, R&D, marketing strategy, offer development, marketing
actions.
Experience:
This course is an intensive seminar course in the end of the semester. It is basically build upon this
business simulation game, with a program called Markstrat. The course encourage you to make
quick decisions and find the appropriate marketing strategy. Workload is a lot since it is
only a week and you get 5 ECTS. Definitely a bit challenging, but still fun. For the final exam
everything is based upon the rules of the simulation game. The course could be a good choice if you
want to have one less course when all the other exams are due.
Advanced Corporate Finance II - Selected Chapters
Credits: 30 hours, 5 ECTS
Pre-requisites: Basic knowledge of corporate finance it required (e.g material covered in the course
corporate finance.)
Approved as: Free elective
Evaluation: 50 % quiz online with 5 modules (approx 3 quizzes per module), and a 50 % final exam.
Learnings Goals
The course aims at giving a systematic view of the main topics in corporate finance including:
● Capital structure and taxation
● Capital budgeting decisions with leverage and real options
● Long-term financing:
● Equity issues
● Debt issues
● The specificities of small and medium enterprises
Key concepts and Skills Required after the Course
Adjusted present value. Real options. Equity issues and offerings, IPOs, SEOs, PIPEs and reverse
mergers. Bond covenants and options embedded in bonds. Alternative sources of finance: venture
capital, business angels, crowdfunding.
Experience
This course gives a clear insight into some fundamental concepts of corporate finance. The teacher is
extremely well structured and explains the concept in understandable way compared to some of our
previous finance courses. During the course there will be several quizzes to each of the key concepts,
which makes it both easier to get a higher final grade and perform better at the written exam. Since
the exam is quite close to the previous year makes it not as hard as it maybe seems. Overall we are
very satisfied with this course, and definitely recommend it to people that want to gain some more
knowledge of corporate finance.
Crossing Cultural Borders
Credits: 30 hours, 5 ECTS
Pre-requisites: None
Approved as: Free elective
Evaluation: 50 % written report plus a presentation, and 50 % written multiple choice exam.
Learnings Goals
The main objectives of this elective are the following ones:
‑To provide an in depth understanding of the concept of culture (through anthropological and
historical approaches)
‑ To provide an original analysis grid of the different national cultures
‑ To supply an in depth understanding of some cultural features related, in particular, to friendship,
conversation, to develop an awareness to perceive values and meanings in different cultures
‑ To prepare the students to adopt adequate behaviors when they are confronted to other cultures
Key Concepts
Global mindset, cultural intelligence, 7‑D model, Cross Cultural Communications theories,
Hofstede`s model, DLribarne`s Approach, Teamwork Process approach.
Experience
The course is quite interesting and the professor is a Brazilian firework with great knowledge about
crossing cultural borders. The course gives you insight into fundamental differences across cultures
and theories, as well as challenging some of your own thoughts andviews. During the class we had
Two team projects, with people from all around the world. In terms of workload this course is
definitely manageable, and the exam was quite easy if you knew the most important theories.
Though it is important to know that the professor is quite strict when it comes to participation and
attendance in class.
Protecting and Developing Firms Creations
Credits: 30 hours, 5 ECTS
Pre-requisites: None
Approved as: Free elective
Evaluation: 100% 30 min. multiple-choice exam with 61 questions.
Learning goal: The aim of this course is to enable participants to understand Industrial Property
Rights issues in the different industries as well as in services. It is also to make students pro-active
managers in the development and the protection of their firm’s brand as well as their innovative
creations.
Key concepts
Intellectual Property, Industrial Property, Copyright, Trademark, Community trademark,
International trademark, Patent, Unitary patent, Invention, Discovery, Industrial secret, Knowhow,
Industrial model, Utility model, Domain names, Legal monopoly, Principle of Speciality, Exhaustion of
rights principle, Extension of rights, Priority right, Licensing, Transfer of technology, Counterfeiting,
Free movement of goods, Free Trade Area and Customs Union.
Experience
The concepts of this course is actually quite interesting and also an important know-how when doing
business. Still we were quite unlucky with this course, since the previous teacher was sick we got
different speakers every time. This made the course not structured at all, and quite boring. In
addition we also got a multiple choice exam with 61 questions in 30 minutes, which didn't really
reflect that much on what we learned during the class. Even though this was the case, it is still a
quite easy course to do well in. For next year they are probably also going to be a presentation that
accounts for some percentage of the grade.
Operations Strategy:
Experience
A mixture between logistics and strategy from BI. The main lences he used is resourcesess based,
processbased view competencies. Compared to other courses the work level is moderate, but to get
a good grade in the course is fairly easy. The course is mainly based on readings, but in addition
some NPV calcluations and real options of waiting. The teacher has a very standardized teaching
system and he does not require to much from his students. In conclusion this is a course which is
easy but you dont get the learning output as you might expect.
Big Data for business
Credits: 30 hours, 5 ECTS
Pre-requisites: No pre-requisites
Approved as: Free elective
Evaluation: 21% Individual assignments corresponding to 7 sessions, 40% Group assignment,
39% Individual exam
Summary of the objectives of the course
Selling goods and service on the market generates flows of valuable data for managers, from
purchase transactions to webpage visits. These data can help improve customer segmentation,
optimize store management, and increase rates of conversion in the purchase process. This course
will introduce the fundamental concepts necessary to use data analytics in a business environment:
the different kinds of data and a non-technical view on the most recent trends in data analysis (“big
data”, “open data”, “linked data”, “data science”). These concepts will be used to present the value
of data to management, focusing on Business Intelligence (BI) and Customer Relationship
Management (CRM).
Learning goals
The objective of this elective is to give you to the concepts, methods and tools necessary to manage
flows of data for your management goals. In recent years, the multiplication of distribution channels
has increased the amount of available data enormously: mobile apps, social media networks,
geolocalized browsing information… this also made it harder to integrate and understand. There is
an opportunity for managers who will know how to leverage these data all while keeping a focus on
their traditional core business objectives.
Skills
At the end of the course, the students will be able to understand the core concepts and stakes for a
data-intensive business in a cross-platform environment, and will be able to deploy CRM and BI tools
in response to managerial opportunities.
The course is designed for students with no technical background who want a practical view of the
managerial implications of these concepts.
Experience
Overall a good course that gives you a good insight into the technical part of marketing. The teaching
process is very different from what we are used to, with “online” sessions before each class. The
professor upload video lectures before each class that you need to watch and study to be able to
answer the individual quizzes before each session (3%*7sessions = 21%). The classes were very
practical with group assignments almost every session. The course was well structured, interesting
and the workload was manageable.
European Competition Law: A comparison with the US
model
Credits: 30 hours, 5 ECTS
Pre-requisites: No pre-requisites
Approved as: Free elective
Evaluation: Group assessment: Group assessment: Oral presentation based on hand-in (1/2),
Final Multiple choice exam (1/2).
Learning goals
Concerning competition policy worldwide, only two models do exist: the US and the EU ones. When
working internationally, EU managers must be aware of the legal consequences of their decisions for
their company as well as for themselves, and understand the changing legal framework, at least in
Europe. It supposes to compare it with the US one, which is the historical reference. The aim of this
course is to enable participants to understand the impact of the E.U. competition policy upon
international management, procedures and decision making, and then to compare it with the impact
of the American one in order to develop the best understanding of the legal environment of firms.
The key issues from the firms’ perspective are commercial policy, distribution networks, transfers of
technology, and mergers and acquisitions. In other words: How to avoid cartels? How to defend your
firm? How to organize distribution networks compatible with competition law? How to manage
merger and take-overs procedures?
Key concepts
Free Trade Area, Customs union, Relevant market, Undertaking, Extra-territorial effect, Vertical
agreement, Horizontal agreement, Cartel, Conspiracy, Hub and spoke cartel, Intra- Brand
competition, Extra-brand competition, , Selective distribution Exclusive distribution, Franchising,
Transfer of technology, Abuse of dominant position, Attempt to monopolize, Concentration, Jointventure, Leniency program, Compliance program, Class action, Optimal sanction, Public
enforcement, Private enforcement, Settlement procedure, Passing on defence.
Skills
The skills acquired by the students at the end of the course are:
- To be able to read a contract
- To be able to identify and understand the main issues in choosing to develop a distribution network
or to develop its own shops and/or to sell through the web
- To facilitate the organisation of the merger control at the EU level
- To be able to use antitrust policy has a strategic tool: a sword or a shield
Experience:
Tercinet is a skilled professor in her field and highly competent, though she is not very educational.
Her teaching form is very messy and it makes it hard to follow her during classes, which could lead to
problems, as there are no reading materials, just in-class presentations. The content of the class
itself is interesting and important to know to anyone in business, though the teaching format makes
it hard to follow and it was frustrating reading to the exam, which was multiple choice.
Final Comments
The semester in Lyon has been a Great experience. The city is beautiful, the people are nice and
there is a lot of cultural arrangements to attend. It is easy to get an overview over the city and after
short time it really feels like home. Lyon is also located very central in France which makes it easy to
discover France and other nearby European countries. Some of us travelled to Paris, Annecy,
Chamonix and the French Riviera during the semester. In the vacation one of us travelled to Bordaux
with 3 of the other exchange students, while 2 of us travelled to Avignon and rented a house with 20
of the other exchange students. The workload at EMLyon is much lower than the first year at BI,
making it possible to travel and making the most of the exchange experience. Although the French
school system is hard to understand and it was sometimes frustrating knowing what was expected
from you, the teachers at EMLyon are very good and provides a different, more practical learning
experience than at BI. Since there are over 100 international master students at the school, its easy
to get in touch and meet new people from all over the world. This semester we had a Facebook
group for all the international students at school, making it easy to be social afterschool. Lyon is a
great student city with 200-300 000 students across numerous universities. This makes it easy to
also meet students outside EMLyon, and there is always something going on. With so many
universities, Erasmus is highly active, arranging various trips and weekly parties at different venues.
All in all, we really would recommend a semester in Lyon if you want to live a semester in France,
meet new people and have a chill semester.