As part of the Management of SMEs course at PAR University of Applied Sciences, students visited the Maritime Center of Excellence (MCE) in Rijeka to kick off their semester project. During the visit, representatives from the company introduced students to their core activities and outlined a real business challenge related to the development of hydrogen refueling infrastructure and smart marina systems. Before this visit, students had already worked on their first exam task – creating a full business plan. The second part of the course now shifts to analyzing and rethinking the business model of MCE. Students are expected to take what they’ve learned and suggest concrete ways the company can develop further, grow its market position or improve operational efficiency. This kind of real-company collaboration is a key part of PAR’s dual education model. It gives students the opportunity to understand how businesses function, what kind of challenges they face, and how to approach them from a practical and strategic point of view. Through this process, students are not only preparing for exams, but also developing a way of thinking that’s relevant and useful outside the classroom as well.
