NEOMA Alumni Mag - N°33 - Décembre 2022 - 53

AN INTERNATIONAL LIFESTYLE
George Ganchev (MBA K 14)
Hotel General Manager in Baku, Azerbaijan, Accor Group
In the Kempinski Group during 25 years, George Ganchev first started his career as
a Front Office Manager in Sofia, before moving up the corporate ladder. Thanks to
a partnership between NEOMA and Kempinski, he studied for a MBA in Hotel Hospitality
Management at NEOMA Business School over the course of five years. This
degree enabled him to become General Manager in 2010: " With ten other Kempinski
employees, we spent a month every year in a hotel, where a NEOMA professor
flew in to teach us. I didn't like having so many classes and exams, but I really
enjoyed meeting professors from different nationalities " he comments, mentioning
hotels in Dubai, Switzerland and China as some of his unusual MBA classrooms. In
2022, his NEOMA degree and experience facilitated his recruitment by the Accor
group in Baku, a city he has been enjoying so far: " Azerbaijan is a very modern and
safe country with friendly people, good international schools and overall everything
you need " he declares. Over the last 20 years, this hospitality professional has
moved all over the world, from Africa to Asia and the Middle East: " After a while,
being in a hotel becomes very monotonous so changing location and meeting new
people help renew your interest for the job. The downside is that children have to
change schools every couple of years " he comments. The next step for George?
Hopefully Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, a place where he has already
been employed between 2005 and 2007 and that he remembers fondly: " The city
is very modern with a huge expat community, open-minded people, a dynamic
cultural life and lots of places of entertainment " he says. And, if the hospitality
industry has been deeply affected by the Covid pandemic, the alumnus claims it
remains dynamic and provides opportunities for those who are willing to relocate.
ALWAYS READY
FOR A CHALLENGE!
Caroline Ferrand (BSc 13)
Chief of Staff Jordan & Egypt
After graduating from NEOMA's bachelor program, Caroline Ferrand
trained for one year at Kuehne + Nagel, her first step in the
transport and logistics industry. She then got a Master's degree
in Supply-Chain Management, before moving to Warsaw, Poland,
for a VIE contract as a Supply-chain Analyst & Project Manager
at FM Logistic, where she was responsible for structuring and
developing the transport branch of the group. After three years
in Poland, including one on a local contract, she decided to take
a year off to travel the world: " I was dropping resumes along the
way and got plenty of leads including in Europe, Chile and Asia.
In Amman, I was offered to work as Chief of Staff Jordan & Egypt
for the companies in partnership with CMA CGM. This was a
position with much more decision power and a salary 30%
higher than in Europe so it was a really interesting opportunity "
she comments. She supervised five companies and several
mega projects. It was challenging: " The work culture is very different
from the one in Europe. It is all aboutnetworking and
decisions are not always based on pragmatic KPIs. Moreover, I
was a 28 years old woman managing older men. This was not so
easy for them to accept at first. On the positive side, people were
very welcoming and made me feel comfortable as I was settling
there " she explains, adding that going through the Covid period
in Jordan was complicated, as the airport was shut down for a
year and strict lockdown rules were applied. After four years in
this position, she felt ready to move on and decided to explore
new opportunities in Morocco: " CMA CGM group offered me a
position as a Deputy General Manager for Casablanca Terminal.
Again, I know it's not going to be easy but being an expat makes
you grow so much that I don't see myself coming back to France
anytime soon! " claims the alumnus, who considers moving to
Chile or Argentina after Morocco.
NEOMA ALUMNI mag DÉCEMBRE 2022 - 53 -
NEOMA Alumni Mag - N°33 - Décembre 2022

Table des matières de la publication NEOMA Alumni Mag - N°33 - Décembre 2022
