Consumer finance company Home Credit Vietnam said it has for the first time participated in a programme called FIELD Global Immersion, a course designed to develop global students’ ability to manage and operate effectively across cultures and business contexts.

It recently hosted a group of students from the US's Harvard Business School in HCM City for one week as part of their required first-year course.

Home Credit is one of 157 FIELD global partners in 13 countries, and together they hosted more than 920 Harvard students.

“We are pleased to be working with Harvard Business School to provide students with a real-world learning experience in Viet Nam,” Dmitry Mosolov, CEO of Home Credit Vietnam, said.

“We feel certain the students were able to gather insights here they would never be able to glean from a classroom discussion alone.”

The criteria for selecting the partners are that they should value the educational experience and be willing to engage the students by challenging them to step outside their comfort zone to address real-world business concerns.

Home Credit Vietnam executives had been working with the students remotely for months. While here, the students pitched their ideas to the leadership team, conducted field research with consumers around HCM City and presented their final recommendations to management. The purpose of this immersive experience was to provide them with the opportunity to do real fieldwork in an unfamiliar context.

Home Credit has been in Viet Nam since 2008, headquartered in HCM City and with a branch in Ha Noi and eight representative offices in key cities and provinces.

It has a network of 9,400 retail outlets in 63 cities and provinces. — VNS