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| Students in front of Saint Basil's Cathedral in Red Square in Moscow, Russia |
27 Rutgers MBA students answered the call of Doing Business
in Russia, an elective class that includes academic study of the Russian
socioeconomic climate, as well as a 10-day trip to Moscow and St.
Petersburg. I was one of the 5 full-time
RBS students who attended, along with 22 flex students and 3 faculty
members. Professors Jeff Robinson and
Alex Settles, who teach Entrepreneurship, Corporate Social Responsibility, and
International Business at Rutgers, designed the trip’s itinerary, which included
city tours, cultural attractions, and visits to businesses and startup
incubators in Russia’s two most prominent cities. We flew in to Moscow on March 12th,
and returned from St. Petersburg on March 22nd, 2015.
We spent our first days becoming acquainted with the
historical and cultural sights in Moscow.
We toured the Kremlin, Red Square, St. Basil’s Cathedral and other
landmarks, ate in restaurants suitable for royalty such as Turandot and Café
Pushkin, and saw a ballet at the Bolshoi Theatre. Moscow is a magnificent city that also has a
night life to rival or surpass that of any major city in the world. A night with more than 3 hours sleep was a
rare occurrence on this trip.
Of immediate note was the importance of reading and speaking
Russian. English is not widely spoken in
this city, and nearly all of the signs are written in Cyrillic. Basic commerce is possible through hand
gestures and a smile, though Muscovite retailers are less motivated than their
American counterparts to engage with customers, particularly foreigners.
After a few days of sightseeing, we visited the Higher
School of Economics and listened to speakers from the Russian business world
articulate their experiences doing business in Russia. We also toured Startup October, an incubator
connecting financiers with startup entrepreneurs, and learned about Moscow’s growing
entrepreneurial culture. Finally, we
visited an industrial park which housed Oriflame, a Swedish cosmetics firm, as
well as other tenants. The industrial
park generated its own power as opposed to connecting to the local power grid,
which can be a prohibitively difficult task in Russia. I was sad that Oriflame did not offer Swedish
meatballs in their cafeteria.
An overnight train brought us to St. Petersburg on the 19th. St. Petersburg is the same latitude as
Alaska, and has few sunny days throughout the year, though we were lucky enough
to enjoy unseasonably warm weather. We heard from consulate and state department
officials who provided insider knowledge into how to protect our data and
identity, as well as the secret, non-touristy spots to visit in St. Petersburg.
We also spoke at length with
business leaders such as the CEO of Subway in Russia, and a software developer
for Oracle. At night, we saw the Jenufa opera
at the fabulous Mariinsky theatre. I’m
glad I packed my tuxedo.
Our last day in Russia did not disappoint. We took a tour of the Hermitage, a palace
converted into one of the largest museums of art in the world. We saw original artwork by all of the
masters, and took hundreds of pictures of paintings and sculptures. No amount of time seems sufficient to soak in
all of the art at the Hermitage. For
lunch, we followed the state department employee’s advice and found a secret
Indian restaurant in the heart of St. Petersburg modeled after a
prohibition-era speakeasy. The entrance
was located behind a secret passage in a bookstore, and inside they served
cocktails made up of their own special blends of alcohol. This was the best meal I ate in Russia, even
though Beef Stroganoff was not involved.
It is truly hard to capture in words how rewarding this trip
was. We explored two of the greatest
cities in one of the largest and most misunderstood nations in the world. We also experienced Russian academic and
business culture, and learned about the similarities and differences which make
Russia an intriguing but challenging place to do business. I hope to go back again soon.
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| Visiting the Oriflame Distribution Center in Moscow |
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| Enjoying the sights in St. Petersburg |
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| Attending the Hamlet Ballet at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow |
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| William at the World War II Museum in Moscow |
William Pollak is finishing up his 2nd year in the full-time RBS MBA program. He is a fellow of the Rutgers Center for Supply Chain Management and former treasurer of the Student Government Association. After graduation, he will begin his career in Inventory Control Strategy with Dell in Austin, Texas.
