On January 15, 2020, a regular meeting of participants of the Russian-French University (RFU) was held in Moscow. The members of RFU are eleven leading universities and business schools from Russia and France. Within the framework of the meeting of the RFU Council of Rectors, the results of international cooperation in several areas were presented, one of which was the interdisciplinary project “Design thinking in the global world”.
And it is not a coincidence, since design thinking is considered by the modern scientific and business community as a new cross-functional management technology based on creative thinking methods and on person-oriented approach to solving professional problems in various areas of activity of modern companies. It is on this topic that the Russian Foreign Trade Academy and SKEMA business school (France), which has a wide branch network in different countries of the world, presented the results of successful implementation of a large-scale international educational research project, which they worked on together during the past academic semester.
The project was dedicated to determining the relevance of knowledge and skills in design thinking for modern managers and specialists, as well as assessing the potential effectiveness of using this approach in various areas of economic activity. The project was attended by over 180 students of Master degree programs from the RFTA and SKEMA Business school, representing 104 Russian and French companies of various functional orientations. Participation in the project allowed students to get acquainted with a modern technology and gain skills in the practical use of design thinking tools. The results of the study showed that Russian and French students (more than 86% of respondents) noted high importance of design thinking for professional activities in various areas of the economy. The information obtained from students will be taken into account and will help to develop relevant modules on design thinking for Master degree programs.
Detailed results of the study can be found in a joint Russian-French scientific article, which project managers Prof. Anna Komarova (Department of Management and Marketing, RFTA of the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia), and Prof. Marcos Lima (SKEMA Business School) plan to publish in one of the next issues of “Russian Foreign Economic Bulletin". Anna Komarova, the project manager from the Russian side, thanks all the students participating in its implementation and expresses hope for their further active participation in international events in this area.
About Academy
