Training at kmbs does not stop during the war because the more challenging external circumstances are, the more critical strategic and systemic thinking and other components of MBA programs are for managers. From September 12 to 16, the Presidents' MBA-24 group met at the business school instead of online for the first time since the full-scale invasion began. It had another educational module, during which the participants deepened their understanding of strategy as the game's rules — and were also happy to meet personally with kmbs professors.

They talked about strategic thinking with kmbs dean Oleksandr Savruk, studied systems modeling with Eduard Maltsev, and learned about strategic marketing together with Olena Maltseva. Art critic Diana Klochko and philosopher Taras Lyuty were responsible for the humanities component traditional for Presidents' MBA in this module. With Ms. Diana, the participants talked about what they call "Ukrainian art," and with Mr. Taras, they discussed life's challenges.

In this module, PMBA-24 participants started a new "Economic Engineering" course with Victor Halasiuk, economist and president of the Ukrainian Association of the Club of Rome. Mr. Victor believes that this discipline gives managers an understanding of economic processes and the leverage to influence them.

"Economics is not physics at all in terms of its complexity and unpredictability," says Mr. Viktor. — But this does not mean we cannot find specific supports. Unlike physics, the impact on reality in economics is two-way and depends on belief. Some belief in gold because it is thousands of years old. Someone has bitcoins and laughs at those who believe in gold. It sounds paradoxical, but it is a fact in economics: if many people believe that something has value, it becomes true."

In a lively discussion with Mr. Viktor, PMBA-24 participants touched on many topics: from the investment attractiveness of Ukraine to the delayed recession in the USA, from debt cycles to the dangerous imbalance in the education system between analysis and synthesis in favor of the former. And indeed, the participants got a lot of ideas for further thinking — enough until the next module.