Traveling in the outskirts of the Dutch capital of Amsterdam, one can find the small but peaceful town of Breukelen adjacent to the river Vecht.

This is where Nyenrode Business Universiteit, the country’s only private university, resides with its peculiar mixture of old and new. Inside its 13th-century castle estate, students from all over the world discuss issues of international business.

Nyenrode was founded by Dutch industry leaders such as KLM, Shell and Philips in 1946. Since then, it has focused on showing students how to cope with dynamic, real-world challenges instead of simply transferring knowledge.

“It’s not about theory ― it’s about practice. Can you use that theory tomorrow? This is why we invite a lot of our alumni and top entrepreneurs to also teach here,” said Misa Dzoljic, a rector magnificus and the CEO of the school. His title alone offers hints at the school’s principles of “for and by business.”

Entrepreneurship along with leadership have always been one of the university’s key values, he explained, but it is just as important for future leaders to be responsible.

While it is important for leaders to seek profit for their organization, Dzoljic explained that leadership and entrepreneurship without stewardship can be “devastating” in the business world.

Balancing leadership and entrepreneurship is essential in ensuring that people take responsibility not only for stakeholders but also for the future generations he said.

Bob de Wit, professor of strategic leadership, pointed out that social responsibility is one of biggest changes for today’s companies. He took the example of Nike, a behemoth in the field of sports products which became embroiled in a scandal over child labor.

De Wit pointed out that students from the University of Oregon ― which had a close relationship with the company ― worked to form a governance organization that monitored its activities to ensure that it acted socially responsible. “Only on the basis of meeting the society’s needs, you can be profitable,” he said.

Nyenrode has made plenty of efforts not to become outdated in a rapidly changing society. As part of such efforts, it has emphasized practical learning and firsthand experience in the business world.

In the course of practical learning, students are challenged to understand, analyze and come up with the ideal solution for the challenge at hand.

Last month, an “MBA Weekend” for potential applicants of the school’s international MBA program took place. During the weekend, students participated in one of the program’s classes where they were to provide business consultation for a newly appointed fictional company leader dealing with an embezzlement case.

In the animated discussions that ensued, they presented various options including firing the corrupt officials, sending them to a lower position, conducting an internal probe and even leaking the case to the press.

“If I was the CEO in this situation, I would’ve stopped the presentation and said that’s enough,” said Christo Nel, program director of the full-time international MBA and executive MBA programs, during one of the presentations. His issue was not that the ideas were bad, but the dragging first minutes of the presentation.

Speaking from his experience running a business consulting firm, Nel explained that the CEO would not sit through a presentation where the content is what he or she already knows.

“Students are required to move from merely understanding the problem to deeply analyzing and coming up with execution plans,” he said. “This is the key thing that management and organizations want. They want people who can not only analyze the situation, but also come up with recommendations on how to (address) it.”

Also for lecturers in MBA courses, it is important to understand that teaching everything one knows is impossible, Nel said. The main thing is to select key pieces of information needed to stimulate students’ learning.

“We want to create people who are critical thinkers, analysts, decision-makers and executioners of plan,” Nel explained.

In the course of training for such qualities, students are asked to self-evaluate their goals, merits and motivations, explained Victoria Bressers, the school’s adviser for careers and personal development. In addition, students are also motivated to become leaders.

“As a student, you learn to work in groups, and you don’t always work with people you get on well with. Students learn how they work best and how they can get the best out of other people, because that is (the) quality of a leader,” she said.

While discussion-based lessons are relatively common in education today, perhaps one of Nyenrode’s most distinctive offerings is its “Meet the CEO” sessions, in which participants of the international MBA programs visit organizations to interact with the CEO and his or her team.

Desiree Van Gorp, Nyenrode’s associate dean of degrees programs, explained that such a method allows students to get a better feel for the industry and learn which issues are at stake in the actual field.

“The idea is to have students get different experiences working with many different companies,” she said. “They also get to see what the CEOs are like and how they got to where they are right now.”

Students are also given an opportunity for practical application of their knowledge while building their network at the professional level.

The point, however, is not to just acquire experience, but to make plausible solutions for the organization related to problems it may be facing. “It demands a lot from the student. You don’t just sit there ― you are really required to deliver.”

Dzoljic explained that the university has been keeping a close relationship with the business world. He added this is why many of the faculty members retain positions outside the university.

“We encourage, sometimes demand that they (the faculty) are practicing outside, so they know what is going on outside these beautiful walls. This is very important for students because they will see immediately when (professors) are just teaching out of books,” he said.

By Yoon Min-sik (minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)