301 Master’s degrees awarded

13 April 2013. A total of 301 graduates were awarded their Master’s degrees in the following programmes: 

• 33 in International Affairs and Governance
• 12 in Law
• 14 in Law and Economics
• 64 in Banking and Finance
• 26 in Information, Media and Technology Management
• 50 in Marketing, Service and Communication Management
• 11 in Quantitative Economics and Finance
• 57 in Accounting and Finance
• 23 in Strategy and International Management
• 11 in Economics

Gallus’s start-up
President Thomas Bieger spoke about the lessons that managers can learn from Gallus. He looked back on last year, in which the 1,400th anniversary of the foundation of the City of St.Gallen had been celebrated. City patron Gallus looked for God in the wasteland, the later St.Gallen. In a modern sense, Gallus was an entrepreneur at the time who penetrated into a previously uncultivated area and launched a start-up with his cell. Against this background of local history, Bieger showed what managers can learn from hundreds of years of monastic experience. Thus Gallus’s "start-up", which later developed into an abbey, also required tenacity, a touch of stubbornness, a vision and charisma. A hundred years after Gallus’s death, Otmar only found two monks and derelict cells. "We know this from the concept of a company’s development stages: from a certain size and age onwards, the rules and structures have to be detached from any particular person."

Benedict’s rules
Otmar gave St.Gallen the rules of St Benedict. The success of the Benedictine Order was ascribed to these rules. They admit of adequate variety while at the same time providing clear guidelines for people’s actions. "It is not for nothing that today, many management seminars make reference to the Benedictine rule," said Bieger, and gave the graduates practical advioce from this rulebook to take with them on their way.

Attractive entertainment
Carla Leemann, committee member of the Young Chapters of the HSG Alumni, gave a welcoming address to graduates and guests. The musical background to the three ceremonies was provided by Malcolm Green, who also led the singing of the traditional Gaudeamus igitur.