Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
About working with an application company:
How do I get in contact with an application company? Does the Imagineering Academy assign me one?
No. We encourage the students of the Master in Imagineering to find the organization or company they will be applying the Imagineering methodology to on their own. By achieving this, students have the opportunity to look into industries that they are interested in developing for the future or establish contact with organization that also represent future opportunities.
It is common practice for students to look within their personal networks (friends, former colleagues, lecturers and family members) to find contacts in the organizations and industries of their interest. There are other techniques previous students have tried, you can find some tips in our Finding an Application Company series.
Of course, the Imagineering Academy is in contact with various institutions and companies who often manifest interest in wanting students to focus their work for their organization and, in such cases, we may put both parties in contact.
Why doesn’t the Imagineering Academy assign companies to students?
Besides the point elaborated in the previous question (a more tailored and relevant choice of organization for the student), we firmly believe that our students construct a more professional relationship when they are the ones taking the initiative in approaching and negotiating with the organizations.
Is the work with an application company an ‘internship’?
It is important to remember that students of the Master in Imagineering are all individuals who hold a bachelors degree and, for the most part, have relevant working experience (often many years) in their field, thus it is best not to characterize it as such.
We propose that a student’s intervention in the organization be considered more as a consultant/research role, in which the student will critically observe and study various aspects of the organization to design strategic artefacts that propose routes in which the organization can find new sources of value (symbolic and economic) through co-creating along with consumers and employees.
However, it is really up to the student (along with the organization) to decide the best type of working relationship for their collaboration to be fruitful.
What companies have been the subjects of Master in Imagineering student’s work?
The type of organizations that have participated in the program have been very varied both in the industry they work in and in their size. Amongst these we can find big companies like Rabobank, the Efteling, Mars, Bayer Material Sciences, Facilicom, Chevrolet, T-Mobile and Bruna or smaller organizations like theatres, advertising agencies, public libraries, business consultancies, local communities, airlines, hotel chains or health care organizations.
What is expected of an organization in the role of an “application company”?
What we (and the student) generally expect from the company is basically collaboration, to the best of your available time and possibilities, in order to get information (through documents, interviews and observation) and perform sessions with your staff and possibly consumers.
It is common practice that one person from your staff act as company coach (basically the main contact person for the student).
What can the application company expect from the student?
A professional and hard-working critical thinker who will be delving into cutting edge theories of marketing, organization sciences, management, design thinking, amongst others that lay the conceptual support for Imagineering, and through the applications of various techniques of research, creativity and implementation will develop insights and craft a strategy specifically tailored to your organizations context.
Besides this, the student will be working in a multi-cultural classroom and under the supervision and assessment of a multi-disciplinary team of practitioners and educators that constitute the staff of Imagineering Academy, one of which will be assigned as the coach of the student throughout the year.
What is the timeline for student’s work with an application company?
While this varies greatly depending on the student, the organization, the particular context in which the relationship was forged and other factors, a roughly general timeline could be construed as:
September – December: During this period, while they are acquiring the basic building blocks for the rest of the year it is probably best to focus on introducing the student to the organization: who works there, what they've done, etc. as well as helping them conduct an industry analysis.
Added to this they will begin to workshop various techniques for conducting interviews, creative sessions, etc. and set-up information meetings about Imagineering in the company, it's aims and begins discussions with team about possibilities they perceive.
January-to-April: Students start having sessions using various techniques (creative sessions, appreciative inquiry, etc.) with members of the company and/or members of the public while also interviewing experts to start designing a concept and the way it can be worked out in practice.
April-to-August: Students put into application the concept, evaluate, possibly iterate another concept because of something learned through the first, etc. They spend a lot more time at the company because there are no lectures any more. They finish writing their dissertation.
Again, this is by no means the only way this relationship can unfold since it doesn’t account for various variables that have to be dealt on a case-by-case basis.
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