Education
For Migros' founder Gottlieb Duttweiler, "education for all" was an important principle in giving something back to society. Education remains a cornerstone of Migros' philosophy and is firmly rooted in Migros Culture Percentage.
Migros Club School: Education for all
Migros Club School has the right course for all walks of life. In the reporting year, more than 376'000 people benefited from 600 different courses and seminars in six different areas. This makes Migros Club School the biggest educational institution in Switzerland. This is confirmed by the figures for 2015:
- 8'816'686 participant hours
- 376'308 course and seminar participants
- 53'404 courses and seminars held
- 7'500 course teachers
- 1'600 employees
- 600 different courses and seminars
- 50 locations
Digital and innovative
Clear educational routes for career planning: The educational landscape introduced by Migros Club School in 2015 is an important source of guidance. In the form of an interactive image, it provides a clear overview of all the school's own diploma courses as well as all vocational training courses provided by external institutions. Migros Club School thereby ensures transparency in a previously confusing market.
Digital transformation is calling for new skills. At the same time, professionals are keen to make use of the latest technologies. Migros Club School therefore launched the Digital Business range of services in 2015 and further enhanced its practice-oriented training courses in the digital domain. Migros Club School is one of the first educational institutions to provide this future-oriented selection of courses.
It is the first major education provider in Switzerland to launch a content marketing course. Renowned experts are pushing this promising form of marketing communication as an alternative to classic advertising.
In 2015, Migros Club School became the first major education provider in Switzerland to launch a content marketing course.
In summer 2015, the new CAS courses in photography, fashion and visual design were launched. They lead to a Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) audited by the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK), and are awarded ECTS points on the basis of the Bologna Process.
Another new addition is the basic course in caring for elderly and dependent persons, introduced at the end of 2015. Migros Club School is thereby responding to the growing number of people in need of care, while addressing the shortage of qualified staff in the care sector. The basic course also serves as a springboard into the care and nursing sector.
Online academy
In light of the new technological possibilities that are changing the educational landscape, Migros Club School reviewed its business model and added an online academy to its range as a contemporary alternative to traditional lessons. The new e-learning and tailormade blended learning courses will be introduced this year. The options offered by the online academy will initially consist of English courses and will be expanded in line with demand.
Eurocentres: High-quality study tours
In 2015, the study tour provider Eurocentres in the United Kingdom was awarded its highest ever score by the British Council.
Eurocentres in the United Kingdom was awarded maximum points by the British Council.
Eurocentres scored particularly well in the areas of academic staff, quality assurance, course design and teaching resources. The result reflects the constant focus on customer needs, which is also demonstrated by the responsive Eurocentres website. The online campus my.Eurocentres, the digital pillar of the long-established Eurocentres Success System, was expanded further.
Despite the shrinking markets, market shares were increased in the reporting year. This was helped by online and direct sales focusing on key European markets. The expansion is driven by English language schools in non-English-speaking countries, which make language learning accessible to broad sections of the population, by expansion of the range of academic options with more specialised courses, as well as by the promotion of intercultural understanding. Eurocentres is thereby strengthening its position as a pioneer in the field.
GDI Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute: well received
2015 included numerous highlights for the GDI Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute, including the presentation of the Gottlieb Duttweiler Award to Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web.
The GDI researchers held more than 220 presentations for 30'000 people in seven countries.
With more than 220 presentations attended by 30'000 people in seven countries, the GDI researchers set a new record. They conducted six studies, five of which on behalf of customers such as Raiffeisen Switzerland, the Cerebral foundation and Swiss Life. The studies were well received by the public and media, with more than 10'000 downloads. "Digital Ageing" and "Smart Home 2030" were the most popular among the public. In addition, the GDI held 11 events itself and in partnership with others.
The Global Thought Leaders Index was generated for the first time in collaboration with "WorldPost" and the Berggruen Institute on Governance. It enabled the Spanish and Chinese language regions to be analysed in addition to the German and English ones. The results were published across a range of media around the world, including "The Huffington Post" and "El País".
The business area of guest events performed even better than in the previous year. For example, in 2015 the GDI held around 230 customer events with 17'000 participants.
Gottlieb Duttweiler Chair: Research for academia & practice
The Gottlieb Duttweiler Chair for International Retail Management at the University of St. Gallen aims to generate research findings that can have an impact in science, teaching and practice.
Its range of courses attracted a great deal of interest from students in the reporting year, and two new assistant professors were appointed due to the high demand. With a total of five teaching staff, the Chair supervised:
- 4 lectures at Bachelor's level
- 4 lectures and 3 application projects at Master's level
- 1 course at PhD level
- 44 Bachelor's theses
- 57 Master's theses
- 9 dissertations
The competence centres E-Commerce and Retail Branding and the centre for Price Management develop important research results for academia and practice. At the St. Gallen Internet Day 2015 on the subject of "Online think tank: How the internet promotes innovation", twenty speakers discussed activities in cross-channel management, personalisation, customer relationships and idea generation. Numerous publications meet the requirement for results-oriented retail research: 19 scientific and practice-related publications and conference contributions, a publisher's edition, nine books and studies.