KUE Krakow School of Business invites to
DEGROWTH AS THE NEW NORMAL – PERSPECTIVES AND OPPORTUNITIES
XIX International MBA Congress: 19-21 May 2023
The International MBA Congress is the greatest event in Poland, integrating the MBA community. The event is focused on creating an active platform for cooperation, exchange of experience, and expansion of knowledge and perspectives. The Congress combines debates delivered by academics from Polish and foreign universities with workshops delivered by leading international experts and economists.
MBA Congress in numbers
What will you gain from the XIX MBA Congress?

Thematic Workshops
Meeting with a prestigious group of specialists from different industries is a great opportunity to exchange experiences. Workshops conducted by qualified trainers will help you develop your competences. You will gain practical skills that you will use in your everyday work!
Gala Dinner and Charity Auction
The Gala Dinner with a dance floor and live music at the Hilton Garden Inn Hotel (33 Marii Konopnickiej street) is an opportunity to build deeper relationships with the Congress participants. NO STRESS live music band will be setting the musical tone for the event. It is also a chance to help others through a charity auction. All money will be donated to the Department of Rehabilitation of the J. Dietl Hospital in Krakow for equipment for the seniors and patients rehabilitation with oncological diseases.


Discussion panels
Over 30 representatives from the academic and business world will share their knowledge and experience with you during 4 panel discussions.
Family Picnic
The closing event of the Congress is a Family Picnic combined with a golf competition. Depending on your skills you will be able to take part in the Golf Academy with an instructor who will teach you the basics of the game. Advanced players can take part in KSB UEK Golf Cup Tournament.

Explore The PANELS

Keynote Speaker - Hal Halladay
Breakthrough Leadership

Hal Halladay
CEO Breakthrough Leadership and TEDx speaker
PANEL DESCRIPTION:
Flip the Script: The Power of Mindset to Change the Future of Business
By expanding our perspective we can view change as an opportunity rather than a threat and fully utilize our intellectual resources including creativity and problem-solving skills to flip the script and change the future of business. The default future of business is set unless we choose it to be different. The key to changing our default future is our mindset. Mindset shapes how we perceive and respond to our world and can be either a limiting factor or a catalyst for creating a better business world.

Panel 1
Unpacking Degrowth for Business
PANEL DESCRIPTION:
While we all know that we live on a planet with finite resources endangered by growing carbon emissions, between 2005 and 2022 the global economy had doubled in size.
Degrowth, a concept dating back to the 1970s, critiques economic growth at all costs, in disregard for planetary boundaries, causing human exploitation and environmental destruction. Human endless desire for more — bigger economies, greater consumption, higher corporate profits — is unrealistic in the long run. As uncomfortable as this concept for business is, we believe it calls for conversation. Is degrowth in business an oxymoron?
In this panel we will be talking with academics and business experts to demystify the concept of degrowth, explore its challenges and potential opportunities. We will learn what businesses are already doing to reconfigure their business models, promote degrowth-adapted product design and reposition their value chains. Companies at the forefront of the degrowth movement are creating new avenues of value creation based on market innovations and new technologies. Management scholars argue that while some companies and industries will certainly be disrupted in the near future, others that are currently transforming will outmaneuver their competitors. Where will you be?

Panel 2
Degrowth Management
PANEL DESCRIPTION:
Degrowth is the concept of a future with no growth or less growth than today. With the current use of natural resources, which is destroying life on earth, slowing growth will contribute to improving the quality of life on our planet.
The social dimension of de-growth concerns not only a reduction in consumption but also a change in lifestyle. Scientific research proves that above a certain level of growth and enrichment, they do not translate into an improvement in the quality of life. Lack of time to consume the benefits of growth or the inability to satisfy aspirations cause us to want more and more and we are never satisfied.
During the panel on de-growth in the context of employer-employee relations, together with the speakers, we will consider what are the needs of employees and how to meet them in the spirit of sustainable development. Do the reduction of working time, benefits, or providing tools and infrastructure really impact the well-being of employees? Are modern technologies conducive to de-growth in large, international companies, or just the opposite? We will also talk about how to minimize consumption while maximizing employee well-being.

Panel 3
Degrowth Marketing
PANEL DESCRIPTION:
When Philip Kotler, the “father of modern marketing,” speaks publicly, every marketer listens carefully, especially if the topic is as thought-provoking as this.
In one of his recent speeches in 2022, Kotler stressed that while “society’s mission is endless economic growth,” we must pay the price for “depleting natural resources…. even threatening the survival of our planet.” What is interesting, however, is how does this affect the marketing profession? According to the professor, “degrowth” is intended, among other things, to reduce consumption – but doesn’t this contradict the main goals set by marketing executives?
Is -relatively new in the business environment – the idea of “less is more” – pushed so far only by social marketers who “use marketing to change behavior and lifestyles” – is it likely to find its way into B2C business as well?
During the discussion, we will focus on the future of marketing and a meeting on the strategic direction of its further development; together with the speakers, we will consider whether the path paved by automation, metaverse, and AI is the only way forward. Or are we facing a social and cultural revolution of “unplugging” and brands consciously giving up investing in marketing? Finally, our new technologies will likely transform how we think about sustainable marketing and point to yet another path of change that has so far been inaccessible to us. Together, we will also consider what sustainable marketing is – and to what extent we can teach, obey and enforce businesses to follow the “new” marketing rules.
Tickets
Register Now:
* On Saturday Wine Tour, Shooting Tour, Obwarzanek Museum and Nowa Huta Tour take place in the same time, so please select only one Tour
Agenda
- Friday, 19.05.2023
- Saturday, 20.05.2023
- Sunday, 21.05.2023
11:30-13:00
Registration/Rejestracja
- Krakow University of Economics
- building S, hall/pawilon S, hol
Lunch Break/Przerwa obiadowa
- Krakow University of Economics
- building S, hall/pawilon S, hol
13:00-13:15
Official Opening of the XIX MBA Congress/Oficjalne rozpoczęcie XIX Kongresu MBA
- Krakow University of Economics
- building S, classroom 9/pawilon S, sala 9
13:15-14:00
Keynote Speaker – It is good business to do a good business – How to create value in the new world?
Speaker:
- Anna Pawlak Kuliga , Global CFO IKEA Retail (Group Ingka)
- Krakow University of Economics
- building S, classroom 9/pawilon S, sala 9
14:00-14:45
Panel 1: Unpacking Degrowth for Business
Speakers:
- Agnieszka Żur, Ph.D. (moderator)
- Michał Możdżeń, Ph.D., Krakow University of Economics
- Jef Teugels, MBA, Founder of Reins Group
- Adam Zych, Founder of Projekt PL
- Krakow University of Economics
- building S, classroom 9/pawilon S, sala 9
14:45-15:00
Coffee Break/Przerwa kawowa
- Krakow University of Economics
- building S, hall/pawilon S, hol
15:00-15:45
Keynote Speaker – Breakthrough Leadership
Speaker:
- Hal Halladay, CEO Breakthrough Leadership and TEDx speaker
- Krakow University of Economics
- building S, classroom 9/pawilon S, sala 9
15:45-16:30
Panel 2: Degrowth Management
Speakers:
- Monika Sady, Ph.D. (moderator)
- prof. dr hab. Paweł Poszytek, Dyrektor Generalny FRSE
- Jacek Drabik, Motorola Solutions Systems Polska
- Piotr Prokopowicz, Ph.D., Organizational psychologist and sociologist
- Krakow University of Economics
- building S, classroom 9/pawilon S, sala 9
16:30-17:15
Panel 3: Degrowth Marketing
Speakers:
- Katarzyna Sanak-Kosmowska, Ph.D. (moderator)
- Karolina Harazim, Admind Branding & Communications
- Dominika Kaczorowska-Spychalska, Ph.D., Dyrektor Centrum Mikser Inteligentnych Technologii
- Magdalena Petryniak, Strategic Communication Advisor/Public Speaker/Change Maker
- Krakow University of Economics
- building S, classroom 9/pawilon S, sala 9
20:00-02:00
Gala Dinner and Charity Auction/Gala Dinner wraz z aukcją charytatywną
- Hilton Garden Inn Konopnicka Kraków
- ul. Marii Konopnickiej 33, 30-302 Kraków
09:30-11:00
Round-tables sessions/Sesje round-tables
Round table 1. Erasmus+ for Business
- Krakow University of Economics
- soon
Round table 2.
- Krakow University of Economics
- soon
11:00-11:15
Coffee Break/Przerwa kawowa
- Krakow University of Economics
- building G (KSB), hall/pawilon G (KSB), hol
11:15-14:15
Workshops/Warsztaty
Workshop 1. Managing Your Personal Finance (by Jacek Więcek)
- Krakow University of Economics
- building G (KSB), classroom 7/pawilon G (KSB), sala 7
Workshop 2. Acting Workshop for business people (by Don Allen)
- Krakow University of Economics
- building G (KSB), classroom 8/pawilon G (KSB), sala 8
Workshop 3. Product strategy: a hands-on workshops (by Joanna Mariasiewicz)
- Krakow University of Economics
- building G (KSB), classroom 12/pawilon G (KSB), sala 12
Workshop 4. Cognitive bias (by Łukasz Czyż)
- Krakow University of Economics
- building G (KSB), classroom -1/pawilon G (KSB), sala -1
Workshop 5. Ideation phase of new product development – idea generation workshops (by Dorota Zacharska)
- Krakow University of Economics
- building G (KSB), classroom 8/pawilon G (KSB), sala 8
Workshop 6. How to perform express financial statement analysis of a company? (by Tatiana Garanina)
- Krakow University of Economics
- building G (KSB), classroom 11/pawilon G (KSB), sala 11
Workshop 7. Travel smart for business (by Edyta Satchell)
- Krakow University of Economics
- building G (KSB), classroom 10/pawilon G (KSB), sala 10
Workshop 8. Mindset Matters: Lead with Curiosity (by Hal G. Halladay)
- Krakow University of Economics
- Soon
12:00-14:00
Round-tables session/Sesja round-tables
(for invited guests only/jedynie dla zaproszonych gości)
Round table 1. Wartość dyplomu MBA w Polsce (in Polish)
- Krakow University of Economics
- building G (KSB), classroom 13/pawilon G (KSB), sala 13
14:15-15:00
Lunch Break/Przerwa obiadowa
- Krakow University of Economics
- building S, hall/pawilon S, hol
15:00-15:15
Official closing of the XIX MBA Congress/Oficjalne zakończenie Kongresu
- Krakow University of Economics
- building S, classroom 9/pawilon S, sala 9
16:00-20:00
Study visits/Wizyty studyjne
Located only 20 km west of Krakow, a local Jura Vineyards offers delicious grape wine-tasting experiences. The vineyard provides tours during which you will learn about the company and the winemaking process. Moreover, you will try the one and the only wine in the region. Each sample has a wonderful taste and scent that you will enjoy in an atmospheric setting. Zagrabie Vineyard is not only for wine connoisseurs but also for standard visitors who want to taste original white, red, and sparkling wines during our Wine Tour.
The Vineyard produces high-quality grape wine. The vine grows on a southwestern hillside which gives it a unique character. The vineyard tour is also a fantastic opportunity to admire the Polish countryside region full of greenery and nature.
First, you will stroll along grapevine paths. During the walk, the owner will present interesting facts and information about the wine-making process. Next, you will take part in a wine-tasting session together with delicious local cheese and meat products.
- price/cena: 400 zł (min. 10 persons)
- meeting point/miejsce spotkania: before building G (KSB), main exit/przed pawilonem G (KSB), wyjście główne
Let our professional English-speaking instructors take care of you providing all safety measures. Guided by your private instructor you are going to learn how to operate and shoot any possible type of gun. Our helpful staff is going to answer all of your questions about guns and shooting in a professional manner, making your trip entertaining and informative at the same time.
Enjoy shooting such legendary weapons as Kalashnikov AK 47, Glock, pump-action shotgun, or combat revolver loaded with .44 Magnum bullets making it “the most powerful handgun in the world”. Choosing from many different packages offered by the tour operators and shooting ranges, you can rest assured that MrShuttle offers you the best package with the most beneficial number of shots and a variety of weapons.
The package includes 47 shots from Glock 17, PM-63 9mm, Colt 1911, AK47, Saiga or M4.
- price/cena: 400 zł (min. 10 persons)
- meeting point/miejsce spotkania: before building G (KSB), main exit/przed pawilonem G (KSB), wyjście główne
Museum was opened in 2017. Obwarzanek or sometimes obarzanek, is a kind of Polish bagel. The name derives from the processing step obwarzanie (parboiling), or dipping in the boiling water. A Russian cognate is baranka. Obwarzanek krakowski has the status of a regional food with protected geographical indication. The visit includes Obwarzanek making.
- price/cena: 150 zł (min. 10 persons)
- meeting point/miejsce spotkania: before building G (KSB), main exit/przed pawilonem G (KSB), wyjście główne
The tour will start in front of the University of Economics building. Participants will set off in period cars to one of the most interesting districts of Krakow.
The first stop will be Plac Centralny, where visitors will be able to admire the monumental architecture of socialist realism and hear the history of Nowa Huta.
The next stop will be the administrative buildings of the former Lenin Steelworks.
Participants will have a unique opportunity to see the now defunct conference rooms, the offices of the directors and chief engineers, which were once a symbol of elegance and luxury.
One of the most interesting points on the list is a tour of the bunker located in the underground of the Steelworks.
Visitors will inspect old maps, building plans and a command centre. They will light their way with flashlights to get an even stronger feel for the Cold War atmosphere.
Finally, the guide will show participants one of the most important places in Nowa Huta – the Ark of the Lord church, which was fought for and won by the citizens as a symbol of opposition to communist regime.
- price/cena: 200 zł (min. 10 persons)
- meeting point/miejsce spotkania: before building G (KSB), main exit/przed pawilonem G (KSB), wyjście główne
10:00
Family Picnic and Golf Tournament for the CSB Director goblet prize/Piknik rodzinny wraz z turniejem golfowym o puchar Dyrektora KSB.
- Royal Kraków Golf & Country Club in Ochmanów (near Krakow)
Speakers

Hal Halladay

Don Allen

Tatiana Garanina

Joanna Mariasiewicz

Agnieszka Majeran

Michał Możdżeń

Dorota Zacharska

Adam Zych

Dominika Kaczorowska-Spychalska

Karolina Harazim
Previous editions
Honorary Patronage


Honorary patronage of the Mayor of the Municipality of Krakow
Jacek Majchrowski

Honorary patronage of the Rector of the Krakow University of Economics
Stanisław Mazur

British Honorary Consul in Krakow
Kazimierz Karasinski, MBE

Hungarian Consul in Krakow
dr Tibor Gerencser

Honorary Consul of Belgium in Krakow
Dr. Philippe De Brouwer
Institutional Patronage


Media















Organisers




Contact
Krakow School of Business
Krakow University of Economics
Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny w Krakowie
Rakowicka 27, 31-510 Kraków
Building G (KSB), 1st floor
e-mail: kongresmba@uek.krakow.pl