WEMBA Policies and Procedures

Part I: WEMBA Program Identity

WEMBA formal status

WEMBA is a joint program of the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management and the Warsaw School of Economics. Its foundation is the written agreement on cooperation between both schools, expressing the strategic alliance agreed by the leadership of both institutions aimed at bilateral benefits stemming from the internationalization process.

Mission statement

WEMBA's mission is the development of outstanding business leaders who will make a meaningful contribution to the sustainable success of their companies and to the welfare of the society as a whole.

WEMBA will achieve this by:

• selecting candidates with the highest leadership potentials, from different business sectors;
• promoting research and teaching according to the highest standards of today's management theory and practice;
• strengthening the contemporary approach of looking at the managerial job as the one requiring high moral qualities, the abilities to think globally, the deep functional knowledge, and the appreciation for life-long learning;
• creating intellectually stimulating academic environment that will attract and develop the best available faculty;
• making the students' knowledge a part of the educational process;
• creating the opportunities for outstanding practitioners to share their experiences with the students and to enrich the content of the curriculum.
• WEMBA should continue to serve as a leader and a benchmarking institution of higher education for the entire management training and development sector in Poland, and eventually in Eastern and Central Europe. It should create industry standards for the quality of curriculum and teaching methods as well as the role models for the faculty members engaged in executive training throughout the region.
• WEMBA will make all this possible by synergically combining the best of both worlds: almost century-long traditions of the Warsaw School of Economics with the proven educational excellence, creativity and vitality of the Carlson School of Management.

Quality of the program

This is the major program attempt and is understood in several dimensions:

• providing the participants with upgraded and useful knowledge and skills necessary to analyze, understand, initiate and manage business processes in a hyper competitive world. Participants should be able as individuals or team members to contribute significantly to market successes of their companies or to act as independent consultants, entrepreneurs and transformation proponents.
• WEMBA degree should be recognized and appreciated by employers and should facilitate individual careers,
• only the best available instructors, curricula and facilities are offered during the program delivery,
• developing long lasting relationships among participants, graduates, teaching and office staff of both universities: networking + integration = platform for sustainable success
• the job market is a final evaluator on long term

Competitive advantage and core capabilities built in the program

The new age means: globalization and huge regional disproportions of growth, pollution and the need for disruptive change in technologies and patterns of economic behavior, technology impact on PLC shortening, the need for innovations, IT impact on operations, management systems and productivity, knowledge and empowerment of human resources as foundations of future capabilities.

The leitmotiv of the program should be strategy of sustainable business development with the special focus put on:

• information and knowledge advantages
• transformation, innovation, entrepreneurship and corporate venturing
• value building in three perspectives: economic, social and environmental competitiveness
• risk handling and financial management
• cross-cultural sensitivity and cooperation

Values

There are three major values the WEMBA program management is based on:

• shared expectations
• commitment
• responsibility

The above mentioned values should be internalized and actively demonstrated by all parties involved in the WEMBA program, i.e.: students, faculty members, WEMBA office staff, WEMBA Council and director, leadership, administration of both schools and finally the president of the Foundation for Management Development of Warsaw School of Economics.

Shared expectations are related to the program quality, proper learning environment and behavior of all parties involved to enhance the learning advantages and to reduce unproductive components through the constant improvement of the program management process.

Commitment means that all parties involved intend to do their best to contribute to the program success and to follow the policies of both schools appropriate for their international programs.

Responsibility means the readiness to accept all consequences of undertaken actions. In particular, both schools are responsible for the program delivery, management and granting the degrees, professors - for the proper preparation and delivery of the courses, the office -for all organizational and technical arrangements, students - for attendance, proper preparation to the courses, active participation, critical and meaningful discussion, timely assignments, GPA not lower than accepted minimum, expected patterns of executive behavior.

WEMBA program attempts to attract the most aspiring candidates. Students are the main forces for implementing the program mission. The program management intends to create the best available environment for their development and personal success without compromising the rights of others and only within the agreed policy and procedures.

WEMBA program aims to employ the best available instructors from the CSOM ad WSE faculty resources interested in teaching there. The teaching staff is recruited by the WEMBA director in cooperation with the Carlson School.

WEMBA policy is to offer all instructors the best affordable teaching environment and supporting them in their personal development to keep up with trends in science and modern education. Instructors' knowledge, skills, experience and opinions on teaching in WEMBA are crucial for their commitment and the program success. Recommendations to employ or not employ an instructor may stem from instructor's personal decisions and program leadership (WEMBA Council, Program Coordinator at CSOM). Students' evaluations are also being taken into account when making the staffing decisions for subsequent cohorts.

Part II: WEMBA Policies

Due to dual organizational policies - one of the University of Minnesota, the second of the Warsaw School of Economics - and some differences that exist between studying in Poland and in the US it is indispensable to clarify and agree on joint policy and basic organizational arrangements for that particular program aimed at building the high reputation of the program, respect for policies of both schools and avoiding potential confusion, conflicts and unnecessary pressures that might undermine the trust and friendly cooperation. Policies in this context mean shared expectations while procedures mean organizational processes designed for the proper execution of policies and consequences of not meeting them.

The WEMBA program policy is being formulated by the broad program management: the leadership of CSOM, WSE and WEMBA Council. WEMBA director is responsible for the implementation of the policy and formulating proposals for its improvements. All parties involved are strongly encouraged for evaluating the program delivery, sharing concerns and proposing changes. Numerous operational initiatives could be implemented immediately through the decisions of the program director. All major changes requiring the policy alterations or new commitments will be presented at the WEMBA Council forum and, if necessary, at the leadership level for decisions.

A. Students' Code of Conduct

Formal status

1. The WEMBA Program is a degree-granting program of the University of Minnesota. As such, it is subject to all policies governing University of Minnesota programs. Students are registered at the University of Minnesota, receive students' ID cards certifying their status at the University and allowing for the on-line access to the library resources. U of M stores the academic data of all students and issues diplomas. The ID cards are supplied by the WEMBA office as soon as the CSOM receives and processes the data for the accepted list of participants, issues the cards and transfers them to WSE. The card is personal, non endorsable, expires after the program completion.
2. At the Warsaw School of Economics students are registered as post diploma students. WSE does not issue its own students' ID cards for post diploma students and there are no special privileges attributed to this status according to the Polish law on higher education. It stores the academic data and issues the certificate of the post diploma study.

Academic courtesy

1. WEMBA students are expected to behave in the manner that helps creating the friendly relationships and favorable climate for the program implementation. It regards: class attendance, timely and honest preparation of assignments, respect for instructors, classmates, program administrators and others, performance levels, facilitating the instructors the fast identification of students, maintaining the decent work environment.
2. WEMBA students are strongly discouraged for any late arrivals, absences, early exits, using mobile phones in the classroom, frequent chatters or in any other way disturbing others to learn. Intellectual property rights have to be respected.
3. Cheating and dishonest behavior is penalized as in all U of M programs.

Attendance

1. Attendance at all courses is obligatory. The value of the executive MBA program derives largely from the classroom experience. Some courses are offered in very concentrated fashion. Significant absences will mean not realizing the value and falling short of meeting program requirements. It will be reflected in grading policy and is a precondition for receiving a credit. In case of unavoidable absence it is required to inform WEMBA office in advance. The message will be transferred to all instructors. Attendance is controlled three times a day by a student on duty and is reported to the instructor and WEMBA director. WEMBA director monitors the attendance and makes disciplinary decisions.
2. Absence may require participation in the course with the next cohort at the additional fee, thus risking the timely completion of the program. In case of completing the course with a next cohort or according to an individual scheme agreed with the WEMBA director, a student's name will be added to the particular cohort or course list to enable the instructor the control over the group attendance and timely grading.

Preparation for Class

1. Students receive all textbooks and teaching materials proposed by faculty members in coordination with the WEMBA office. Additional suggested resources might be prepared individually by instructors with the assistance of the WEMBA office, displayed on the web page or in the office library. The extensive use of both schools library resources is encouraged.
2. Students receive the syllabus for each course as an agreement between instructors and students concerning the content, methods, resources, exams and other assignments with deadlines and, finally, the grading policy. Syllabi are accepted by the WEMBA Council and CSOM curriculum committee. The program curriculum is a subject of systematic evaluations and organized process of introducing changes.
3. Students are required to submit all assignments on time to the WEMBA office and to store copies of their assignments. Timely delivery of all assignments is a prerequisite for timely protocols and loading in data to the computer system in U of M where it is stored and all transcripts are produced to testify every student performance when needed. It is not acceptable to simply neglect assignments, exams and projects. Any problems should be signaled in advance to the instructor and the WEMBA office. Exceeding deadlines and presenting assignments within the extended period of time unables instructors the timely closure of the course. Instructors are requested to grade all timely assignments and present the protocols to the WEMBA office. Some instructors provide in their grading policy the prolonged acceptance of papers, however with penalty grading. After the deadline the grading of late papers is possible only on individual basis and needs to be discussed with the WEMBA director and the respective instructor. All late papers should be delivered only to the WEMBA office, which in turn will transfer them to professors for revision and grading.
4. Students come prepared to all classes and meaningfully contribute to the class discussions, share their knowledge, experience and problems with others.
5. Students are required to prepare individual assignments without consulting it with others and respecting intellectual property rights. Team assignments require the equal contribution of team members and joint responsibility for results. Not meeting these expectations may be interpreted as plagiarism, academic misconduct, cheating. In such situation the U of M Code of Conduct regulations are being applied. Decisions are taken by the WEMBA director.
6. Students fill in the evaluation forms after completion of every course. This is the vital right and formal obligation of every student and important source of information for the program development.

Grading

1. Grades are an integral part of the educational process and at the WEMBA program are based on a combination of exams, term papers, class participation, case analyses and other assignments. In all cases, grading criteria are determined by the professor. Grades are reviewed on a semester basis and at the end of the first year.
2. Protocols should be delivered not later than one month after the last assignment is due.
3. In 1991, the University of Minnesota Senate Committee on Educational Policy approved the recommendation of the CSOM faculty to implement a +/- grading system. In evaluating students' performance, faculty members use the grade scale listed below:

   Grade	Numerical Value	Polish Grade
   A	4.0	5+
   A-	3.7	5
   B+	3.3	4+
   B	3.0	4
   B-	2.7	4-
   C+	2.3	3+
   C	2.0	3
   C-	1.7 (lowest passing grade)	3-
   D+	1.3	2+
   D	1.0	2
   D-	0.7
   F	0.0

Incomplete Course Work

1. In case of not being able to participate in the course or not meeting course requirements a student does not receive a grade. Its record reflects incomplete (I). In case of three incompletes the feasibility of continuance in WEMBA should be checked with the program director.
2. An incomplete (I) may be granted by the professor only if the student fails to meet all of the course requirements within the given time frame. When the incomplete is given, it must be completed with the next cohort.
3. Prior arrangements are necessary if a course will remain incomplete. Otherwise, the situation may yield an F.

Policy governing the assigning of 'Incomplete' grades

1. The conditions under which an instructor is permitted to give a grade of 'Incomplete' to a student:
   1. "Extraordinary circumstances" exist that do not allow the student to complete the coursework by the instructor's deadline. These circumstances can include extended illnesses, serious accidents or other emergencies, or unavoidable work-related travel. In the case of EMBA students, the last item (unavoidable work-related travel) would seem to be most relevant.
   2. The instructor has the right to require documentation, such as a letter from the student's employer or physician, to support the claim of "extraordinary circumstances."
   3. The instructor must have a "reasonable expectation" that the student will be able to complete the unfinished coursework by the revised deadline (which will be established in a written contract between the instructor and the student).
   4. The student must notify the faculty member in writing that they will not be able to meet the original assignment deadline. If a student does not complete the assignment by the original deadline and does not notify the faculty member, they will receive an "F" instead of an "Incomplete" for the assignment.
2. If the instructor believes that the conditions listed above have been met, they will ask the student to provide them with a copy of the contract (see attached document). The student will complete the contract, based on correspondence with the instructor. The student will need to sign and date at the bottom of the contract and then provide the contract to the instructor for their signature. If necessary, the student's and instructor's signatures can be electronic. Once the contract is complete and signed by both the student and instructor, the student should submit the contract--along with a copy of the course syllabus--to the WEMBA office. It is important to clarify that only the instructor whose assignment the student has not completed needs to sign the contract. For example, if a student has not completed an assignment given by the Carlson School instructor, only the Carlson School instructor (not the SGH instructor) needs to sign the contract.
3. Considering the structure of the WEMBA program, the WEMBA office will need to play a coordinating role in receiving the completed and signed contract from the student (containing both the student's and the instructor's signatures) and then supplying a copy to Theresa Heath in the International Programs office. Theresa will, in turn, provide a copy of the fully executed contract to the relevant Carlson instructor (if applicable) for their files. The WEMBA office will provide a copy of the contract to the relevant SGH instructor (if applicable). These contracts may need to be completed once the Carlson School instructors have departed from Warsaw, as the assignment deadlines set for courses often fall in the days or weeks after the conclusion of the instructor's teaching dates. It is expected that the student will correspond with the relevant instructor by e-mail in order to complete the contract. The student must submit the completed and signed contract (containing both the student's and the instructor's signatures) to the WEMBA office no later than 30 days after the original deadline for the given assignment.
4. The revised deadline for the student's missing assignment, which will be specified in the completed contract, can be no later than 11 months after the original assignment deadline. For example, if the original deadline for an assignment is January 1, 2011, the revised deadline to which the instructor and student agree can be no later than December 1, 2011. After the student submits their missing assignment to the instructor, the instructor will have four weeks to grade the assignment and submit the assignment grade to the International Programs and WEMBA offices. If the student does not submit their assignment by the revised deadline, they will automatically receive an "F" for the assignment.

Degree Requirements

1. Students must complete all courses and receive an acceptable grade in each of the courses. The lowest acceptable grade is C-.
2. Students must receive 69 credits and an overall grade point average (GPA) of at least 2.8 (on a 4.0 scale) to satisfy the Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degree requirements. Failure to maintain a 2.8 GPA will put students in jeopardy of being placed on probation and possibly dismissed from WEMBA.

Low Scholarship

1. Step 1: Probation - Low scholarship. Students who fail to maintain a 2.8 GPA by the time they have completed at least 26 credits in the program will be placed on academic probation. At that time they will be required to submit a plan for bringing their GPA up to satisfactory level to the program director.
2. Step 2: Final Probation - Low scholarship. Students who fail to maintain a 2.8 GPA will be placed on final academic probation. They make a written contract with the WEMBA director outlining specific courses to be taken and a specified performance level to be attained for each semester.
3. Step 3: Dismissal. Students who fail to meet the requirements of a final academic probation contract will be subject to dismissal from the program due to low scholarship.

Dismissal from the program

The candidacy of a student for the MBA degree may be withdrawn in the following cases:

1. Receiving a failing grade in a course
2. Accumulating three incompletes at any given time
3. Failing to comply with the WEMBA Student Conduct Code
4. Falling below the 2.8 GPA requirements to graduate.

Suspending the participation in the program

A student has the right to suspend his/her study for up to 5 years and come back to the program. An application should be submitted to WEMBA director and all organizational and financial arrangements should be clarified and stored until the application for re-access is delivered. Conditions of re-entrance may change due to programmatic changes and tuition fee changes. Decision is made by WEMBA director.

Communication in the program

1. Students are requested to update all personal data changes, employer, address, position, phone number, e-mail address to enable the smooth communication with the program.
2. The central point for communication is WEMBA office, however students are encouraged to directly communicate with professors, WEMBA director and other units in specific situations.
3. Students are expected to support the program development, to share opinions on program conduct and management, to recommend new candidates and improvements. This could be done through contacting the WEMBA director, office staff, WEMBA Council, instructors. All comments reflecting the cohort agreed opinion, both positive and critical are appreciated. They are supportive to WEMBA organizational learning. WEMBA office may also request participants and alumni to answer some questionnaires aimed at program general evaluation or supporting research activities of our faculty.

Graduation

1. Commencement/graduation ceremony is a ritual of inaugurating the study of new cohort and granting MBA degree to graduates. WEMBA office orders caps and gowns for every graduating student at students cost. Only students completing everything 3 months before the ceremony will receive diplomas during the ceremony. Others will receive their diplomas proportionally later although for cohort integration reasons all cohort members take part in the celebration except for those who have three or more incompletes.
2. Graduates may apply to U of M for their official transcripts, subject to fee.

Financial arrangements

Students are expected to timely pay the tuition fee according to the schedule delivered to every accepted candidate with all written information concerning the format of documents needed for further processing. Even if the employer is sponsoring the tuition fee of a student, WEMBA office "customers" are the students, not their companies. WEMBA program is entirely based on its own funds gathered on the account of the Foundation for Executive Education Development and cannot rely on University of Minnesota or Warsaw School of Economics revenues.

B. Policy on Academic Standing, Academic Misconduct and Resolving Students Complaints

Academic standing

1. WEMBA faculty has defined criteria for satisfactory standing in its academic programs. The administrative staff is responsible for monitoring the student's academic performance to ensure compliance with these standards.
2. A student who has been suspended or dismissed because of poor academic performance may, after review by the Program Director, further appeal the suspension to the WEMBA Council.

Academic Misconduct and Procedures for Responding

1. Students in the WEMBA program are working toward earning the Master of Business Administration degree conferred by the University of Minnesota. All students enrolled in degree programs of the University of Minnesota are subject to the Student Conduct Code of the Board of Regents of the University of Minnesota (its ultimate governing body). The Student Conduct Code details student disciplinary offenses actionable by the university, including scholastic dishonesty.

   Scholastic dishonesty means plagiarizing; cheating on assignments or examinations; engaging in unauthorized collaboration on academic work; taking, acquiring, or using test materials without faculty permission; submitting false or incomplete records of academic achievement; acting alone or in cooperation with another to falsify records or to obtain dishonestly grades, honors, awards, or professional endorsement; or altering, forging, or misusing a University academic record; or fabricating or falsifying data, research procedures, or data analysis.

   More extensive information regarding the Student Code of Conduct, its interpretation and application, and student rights and responsibilities can be obtained from the Office of Student Academic Integrity of the University of Minnesota (www.osai.umn.edu).

2. A faculty or staff member who believes that a student is guilty of scholastic misconduct should do the following:

   Discuss with the student the nature of the offense and the student's response to it, discipline the student in a manner consistent with the nature and severity of the offense. Options might range from allowing the student to re-submit the assignment, to assigning zero credit for the assignment, to failing the student for the course.

   Inform the student that the matter will also be referred to the Program Director for possible additional action.

   Report the incident and the action taken to the Program Director.

3. WEMBA Director reviews the facts surrounding the offense and undertakes appropriate action against the student. This action can range from a verbal reprimand to dismissal from the academic program. The Program Director will inform the student of his/her right for review of this action by the WEMBA Council.
4. Appeals may be placed at the WEMBA Council after the disciplinary action already taken by the faculty member or the Program Director. The request for such a hearing is made to the Program Director who notifies the WEMBA Council chairs and forwards all relevant materials and supporting all the documents. The chairs convene the WEMBA Council to hear the case and to accord due process to the parties involved.

Student Complaints

1. Grading complaints in WEMBA are handled primarily at the instructor level. WEMBA Council will hear the cases not settled at the Program Director level. Guidelines for pursuing grading complaints are as follows:
   1. Student appeals to course instructor within 60 days of receipt of grade. Response from instructor is required within 30 days.
   2. If necessary, the student contacts the Program Director to review the complaint.
   3. If the matter is not resolved satisfactorily, the student may appeal to the WEMBA Council. Response from the WEMBA Council is required within 30 days.
2. A student with complaints regarding faculty behavior, course content, classroom procedure should first bring his/her concern to the person in question. If the matter is not resolved at this level - to the Program Director who will decide on the course of actions to be adopted. Instructors are obligated to perform their duties without prejudicial behavior, infringement of academic freedom or failure of academic responsibility.

3. Discrimination or Harassment incidents are against the WEMBA Policy of the Equal Opportunity, adopted by the U of M as well as WSE and should be reported to WEMBA Director, or further to the WEMBA Council. Equal Opportunity Statement: the WEMBA program is committed to the policy that all persons shall have the equal access to its program, facilities, and employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, disability, public assistance status, veteran status, or sexual orientation.

   Sexual harassment: unwelcome sexual advances, request for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when (1) submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or a condition of the individual's employment or academic advancement, (2) submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for employment decision or academic decision affecting the individual, (3) such conduct has the purpose or effect if unreasonably interfering with an individual's work or academic performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working or academic environment

C. Instructors Responsibilities

Course preparation

1. Instructors are requested to prepare an extensive syllabus for the course and deliver it to the WEMBA office in the electronic form not later than 2 weeks before the course start to allow for its timely distribution to students and preparing all needed facilities.
2. Instructors are requested to inform the WEMBA office not later than 3 months in advance on all needed textbooks and teaching materials requiring international purchasing and 1 month in advance for other course materials (copies, library resources, Internet resources, software etc.)
3. Informing the WEMBA office on the deadlines for all written assignments will make it possible to monitor and control the delays. Every instructor can introduce any change agreed with all cohort or particular students but has the obligation to inform the office about the change.
4. Instructors present their teaching materials, hand-outs, etc. in the electronic form and at generally accepted standard. CSOM library access provided to all permanent instructors enables to make an extensive use of the library virtual resources and services, including the demonstration of the selected articles and up to 2 chapters from the textbook on free of charge basis. Students could easily inload these materials. At WEMBA we try to avoid as much as possible the duplicating of the paper copies of materials.
5. All new teachers at WEMBA should visit their CSOM partners at work and jointly prepare with them the program content, methods, materials, etc., accordingly to WEMBA program development plans and budgets. Close relationships of co-instructors help towards faster faculty cross-cultural learning, developing joint research and publications.

Grading

1. After the course completion all instructors are requested for timely grading and delivering the protocols to the WEMBA office not later than 1 month after the last assignment is due. This is absolutely essential to provide the students satisfaction for their efforts and keep the discipline under control. All laggards will be immediately depicted, their grades accounting for the late delivery, but also within the reasonable time clearly stated in the syllabus and the grading policy. In individual cases the decision on later delivery can be made by a professor and agreed with the WEMBA director. Professors should not accept papers from students not listed in the protocol. WEMBA office only may add the names of students re-entering the program.
2. If the course is delivered by a team of instructors the grading policy should be agreed on and WEMBA office informed on the procedure of timely delivering the joint protocol.

Reporting

1. To collect the information useful for the program control and development all instructors are requested to present a short report on their teaching. Any critical comments can be shared with WEMBA director any time. Basing on students evaluations WEMBA program will honour the best teachers according to the WEMBA Council suggestions.
2. WEMBA office collects reports, monitors attendance lists and reported late arrivals or unprepared participation. WEMBA director undertakes the necessary disciplinary actions against students violating the code of conduct, basing on the reports of instructors and attendance lists.

Sharing WEMBA experience

Instructors are encouraged to share the experience and knowledge gathered at WEMBA with other WSE students (but not sharing the materials bought by WEMBA for the program use) and preserve the competitive advantage of the program (not teaching the same course elsewhere).

D. WEMBA Office Responsibilities

Position and role

1. WEMBA office is a separate unit within the WSE structure, entirely maintained by the Foundation for the Executive Education Development to provide the administrative support to the program conduct.
2. It is the focal point, where all information is gathered and all processes are being organized, facilitated and supplied with necessary materials. WEMBA office serves the students and instructors in the smooth run of everyday activities. It plays the central role in distributing all completed work by students and serves as the key communication link between students and faculty. Although the responsibilities of the office staff are clearly attributed to particular persons in their job descriptions, the office staff has to behave as a team to provide all expected results on time and to serve as communication center for any internal and external customer.

Responsibilities

1. Recruitment process.

   Preparing all necessary information and forms for the recruitment to the program, organizing tests and interviews, veryfying, processing and storing the data of candidates, mailing, receiving recruitment fee, reporting.

2. Orientation session.

   Organizes the orientation session according to agreed program, facilitating students' adaptation, delivering information, supply with necessary materials, payment and accounting.

3. Teaching process preparation and facilitation.

   Organizes the teaching processes for two parallel cohorts, communicates with students, instructors from CSOM and WSE, administrative staff at CSOM and WSE, suppliers of books, materials and services etc. Takes care of securing the best affordable work environment. In particular WEMBA office collects and diffuses syllabi for each course, orders and supplies students with all necessary textbooks and teaching materials, monitors the deadlines for students and instructors, controls the timely delivery of papers and grading through direct mailing of due papers to instructors, preparing protocol forms, informing students on the results, preparing the attendance list and evaluation forms, providing visual presentation of class for instructors, distributing questionaires, gathering, processing and reporting all sorts of information needed in the program, organizing the student-on-duty work, taking care of clasrooms and friendly office space.

4. Financial arrangements.

   Prepares financial documents for timely payments of tuition fee, gathers information on individual accounts and cohort's payments for the accounting company according to budgeting procedures and accounting legislation, provides the rational management of financial resources of the program, reports on quarterly basis on budget.

5. Maintenance, repairs, investments.

   Prepares the processes and orders services within the plan and budget.

6. Marketing and PR.

   Planning and implementing all necessary marketing activities and communication with the internal and external environment.

7. IT support
8. Commencement/graduation ceremony

9. Support.

   Providing services to graduates Providing administrative support to WEMBA Council Being supportive and open to new valuable initiatives serving the program development.

E. WEMBA Director Responsibilities

WEMBA Director is nominated by the program leadership and is responsible for the execution of the WEMBA Council policy and the overall performance of the program. In particular he/she is responsible for:

1. Initiating of all necessary strategic activities
2. Properly positioning the program within the competitive environment and both schools strategies
3. Discussing and negotiating the strategy with all partners
4. Organizing for proper implementation, control and continuous development
5. Staffing the program with faculty members in cooperation with CSOM
6. Preparing yearly budget
7. Reporting to WEMBA Council
8. Supervising the WEMBA office standard operations, evaluating its performance and rewarding the staff
9. Operational decision-making within competences,
10. Investigating the new needs
11. Signaling perceived problems and opportunities to program leadership
12. Maintaining good working relationships with all progam stakeholders
13. Representing the program outside
14. Building a positive climate for program development through contacts with graduates, business leaders, instructors, media etc.
15. Raising funds for the program development.
16. Negotiating with the president of the foundation the costs of its services for the program on yearly basis.

F. WEMBA Council Responsibilities

WEMBA Council is the body consisting of 5-6 professors from CSOM and WSE nominated by CSOM dean and WSE rector. Its role is to:

1. Recommend the WEMBA director to the program leadership
2. Advise the WEMBA director on program development
3. Control the overall performance of the program operations, the budget and major investments
4. Prepare the agenda for discussing the major development issues on monthly or quarterly basis
5. Meet once a year in full team to discuss the proposed programmatic changes, agree on the tuition fee and budgeted costs of both schools, necessary investments into the program, evaluation of the program management and remuneration of the director
6. Investigate and propose solutions in cases of violating the policies of both schools by any of program participants
7. Consider all complaints exceeding the competences of the WEMBA director
8. Report on yearly basis to the WEMBA leadership, represented by associated dean for international programs at CSOM and deputy rector for international relations at the WSE
9. Build liaison between WEMBA program and the management studies at the WSE aimed at developing a strong management education centre at the WSE
10. Build the positive climate for the WEMBA program in WSE and in its environment
11. Promote the program, lobby for the program}

G. WEMBA Leadership Role

WEMBA Leadership has been provided by heads of both schools, i.e. the dean of CSOM and rector of WSE, who signed the agreement on cooperation. Operationally they are respectively represented by the associate dean for international programs of CSOM and deputy rector for international relations of WSE. The leadership:

1. Constitutes the policy
2. Formulates expectations as to the program delivery on yearly basis and informs WEMBA Council on these expectations
3. Creates favorable environment for the program development and positioning
4. Nominates the WEMBA Council and the WEMBA director
5. Monitors the yearly reports of WEMBA Council and evaluates the program}

H. Foundation for Management Development Role

It is a separate legal entity entirely owned by WSE, where both schools outsourced the financial and administrative management of the WEMBA program. It has no academic rights for issuing CSOM neither WSE diplomas. The foundation:

1. Provides the program with the services of separate gathering of the program revenues on the bank account, managing the financial resources, effectuating all program payments according to yearly budget, accepting and controlling all invoices prepared by the WEMBA office as due payments and signed by the program director
2. Formally employs WEMBA office staff, instructors for particular courses, legal advisor and accounting company
3. Accepts donations and raises funds for the program and faculty development through initiating educational non-degree programs
4. Negotiates with the WSE administration the WEMBA fees for using WSE resources
5. Negotiates with the WEMBA director the yearly costs of its services for the program
6. Is managed by its president and controlled by the supervisory board nominated by the WSE rector.

Part III: Potential Sources of Conflicts

From the very beginning of the program some different patterns of behavior have been observed among students in the USA, Vienna, China and Poland, all offering the CSOM executive MBA programs. WEMBA management is carefully analyzing every case of violating the shared expectations and looks for the best ways of regulating the behavior to meet high international standards of conduct.

There are four major identified sources of problems:

• Conflicting expectations of individual students, their family members, employers, WEMBA management, WSE and CSOM community and leadership that create pressures constraining the commitment and responsibility in particular conflict situations. The conflict of roles is not always solved in accordance with the WEMBA policy.
• Behavior violating the program shared expectations, policies and procedures due to individual preferences and learned ways of acting in external situations.
• Organizational deficiencies of the program management in both schools, i.e. the weak early warning system, constrained communication, poor logistics and administration due to poor coordination of activities split between WSE and CSOM.
• General environment features, i.e. political, legal, institutional, economic, social, technological context of the students situation having their impact on their behavior. One of the crucial issues is the understanding of cultural differences, what may lead to oversimplified and emotional reactions. Sensitivity, communication and the proactive behavior are needed to avoid this sort of conflicts. Cultural differences cannot however justify the unfair and dishonest behavior.

The most frequent "troublemaking" situations that happened within the time of the program delivery are:

• Cheating and academic misconduct. In these cases the "F" grade is automatic for the particular part or the full course. It has to be repeated at additional cost with the next cohort. In case of repeated dishonest behavior the penalties may be more severe, including the relegation from the program without the right to come back. Decisions on the penalties are taken by the WEMBA director accordingly to the program policy and procedures. All claims can be submitted to the WEMBA Council through the WEMBA office. In case of the threat of loosing the program integrity due to numerous violations, WEMBA leadership may take the decision on closing the cooperation if any other actions would not bring positive solutions.
• Late delivery of assignments. Within agreed grading policy there is some space for extension of the deadline at the cost of reduced grade. Exceeding this deadline requires the individual decision by the WEMBA director whether the course should be repeated, when and how the assignment could be eventually submitted and graded by the instructor. The reasons for late delivery are important. Early information on expected problems or on emergency situations may help to find better solutions.
• Class behavior hampering the course delivery, like: permanent chatters, late comings, early exits, extending the breaks over the scheduled time, using mobile phones during the class, poor preparation to the course, unproductive discussions, not using the name badges, undermining the course sense and integrity, lack of respect to professors and colleagues. Keeping the program quality requires the discipline and actions from all responsible and interested stakeholders to reduce this sort of behavior.
• Unexpected absences. Special procedures are designed to deal with this crucial issue (see: part II).

Every difficult situation reducing the benefits and satisfaction from participating in the program should be reported by instructors to the WEMBA director. Students are encouraged to select their delegates who will speak for them and present agreed cohort opinion. Due to emotional reactions of individual students the relationships within the program faculty members, administration and leadership may deteriorate for longer run, thus reducing the motivation and contribution to the program success. All frictions reported to the WEMBA director will be analyzed and taken care of.

Final Remarks

The program management is a permanent process of looking for better solutions of problems that may occur. Avoiding the risks is possible if the proper communication exist among all parties involved in the program delivery. This is the interactive learning and knowledge creating process. The program management declares the full commitment to smooth all frictions within existing possibilities.