School News

ALUMNI

University of Tampa

GLOBAL EFFORTS

EADA

Twenty participants from Henley Management College in the United Kingdom attended The Doing Business in Spain Program at EADA in November 2005.

The program offers practical perspectives on conducting business in the Spanish business environment. Topics included negotiation and human resources management in Spain, supply chain management in Spain, Spanish political and social context, and the role of Spain within the European Union.

The program also involved visits to a number of high-profile companies in the surrounding area such as: Bodegas Torres, Ficosa International, Citygolf, and The Colomer Group. Top executives from these companies shared insights on their corporate strategy.

The weeklong program received good feedback from participants, who called it unforgettable and excellent. In February, EADA offered the same program to Audencia School of Management, located in France.

For further information please contact: Jordi Diaz, director of International Programs, at
jdiaz@eada.edu,

KAIST

The KAIST Graduate School of Management Executive MBA Program in Korea offers alumni the chance to participate with Executive MBA students in international field studies at prominent business schools throughout the world, such as HEC in Paris.

The program also sponsors executive seminars twice a year for alumni and currently matriculated students. The seminars provide an overview of new industry trends and insights on best practices.

Northwood University

In May 2006, the inaugural group of students in the DeVos/Dow/HantzGroup Executive MBA Program at Northwood University Richard DeVos Graduate School of Management will graduate.

The Dow Chemical Company and Northwood University formally partnered in 2004 to launch a global executive program that culminates with the MBA degree. Tailored for Dow, the program initially was offered exclusively to employees who Dow identified as future leaders of the organization. The program now has grown to include future executive leaders from The HantzGroup, a full-service financial holding company with more 20 locations in Michigan and Ohio.

The program offers class sessions at four distinct locations globally:

• Session 1 - Northwood University, Midland, Michigan campus
• Session 2 – Northwood University, West Palm Beach, Florida campus
• Session 3 – Northwood University, Cedar Hill, Texas campus
• Session 4 – Angers and Paris, France

With a third group also set to start in May 2006, more than 100 MBA candidates will be associated with this customized global MBA partnership. The program’s diverse MBA candidates hail from Asia, Europe, North America, and South America.

OneMBA

As part of the international residency for the Global Executive OneMBA cohort, RSM Erasmus University introduced students to Arjan Erkel, the well-known Dutchman who was kidnapped by Islamic extremists in Dagestan in 2002. Erkel joined students to reflect on his almost two-year experience as a hostage.

Erkel was kidnapped at gunpoint while working as a country director for Medecins Sans Frontiers (MSF) or “Doctors without Borders.” He was snatched off the street, beaten, and bundled into a car. Fearing for his life, he was shunted from place to place for days, until his captors handed him to Chechen rebels.

His captors initially told him that they demanded money and expected his release within two months. When two months came with no sign of his release, it became clear to Erkel that he was a prisoner for the long haul.

Although not beaten or tortured, Erkel was confined to a tiny room with just a candle for light. He lived with the fear of knowing that he could be killed at any time. He frequently discussed his own death with his captors and at one point, the lowest during his captivity, he saw the men “digging a hole in the garden that looked very much like a grave.”

Erkel survived by taking an anthropological view toward his own captivity. He passed the time and worked on his own survival by attempting to connect to his captors, even giving them nicknames like “Cook,” “Professor” and “Mr. Tank.” He was careful not to be too friendly, lest he be accused of being a Russian spy.

After 18 months and sporadic negotiation attempts, the MSF moved the negotiation into a higher gear by accusing the Russian secret service and Dagestani authorities of playing a role in his kidnapping. After the payment of an undisclosed sum, his captors moved Erkel to another location and a heavy man with dark glasses said: “You are free and you can go now.”

Whisked back to Moscow and then to the Netherlands, Erkel found himself an instant celebrity and a household name in Holland. Adjusting to his freedom was a struggle, he says, but he has chosen not to be a victim of his experience.

Looking forward and adopting an entrepreneurial view after this experience have helped him, he says. His story offered a personal view on critical events, and demonstrated the power of positive thinking. And would he go back to Dagestan? “Maybe” he says.

Southern Methodist University

The Executive MBA Class of 2006 at Southern Methodist University Cox School of Business compared and contrasted the differences between two communist countries as part of its international trips.

In August 2005, the class visited Havana, Cuba for the school’s first international study trip to Cuba. In March 2006, the class traveled to Hong Kong, Macau, Shenzhen, and Shanghai for the school’s sixth international study trip to China.

A total of 106 students, spouses, family members, and staff participated in the China trip, which included a cultural tour of Macau. Students took part in corporate visits and presentations by companies such as Cathay Pacific, 7-Eleven, Li & Fung, TCL Electronics, Citigroup, Siemens, Shanghai GM, Mary Kay, eeParts China, and the U.S. Department of Commerce.

“Everyone agreed that this was an unforgettable and enriching firsthand experience in learning about China’s fast-growing economy,” says Ellen Lee, associate director.

Tsinghua University

The Executive MBA Program at Tsinghua University in Bejing, China, offers a Doing Business in China Program.

The program attracts classes from Executive MBA Programs throughout the United States, Europe, Latin America, and Asia. The program includes important aspects of business practices in fast-growing China, such as macroeconomics, legal considerations, corporate strategy, capital market, marketing, human resource development, and direct foreign investment in China.

Faculty from Tsinghua University and MNC executives based in China lead lectures. The program also includes corporate visits and networking with the program’s own Executive MBA students.

For information, contact Ruipeng Di at dirp@em.tsinghua.edu.cn.

University of Chicago

The University of Chicago Graduate School of Business recently launched a Global Advisory Board, which consists of three cabinets based on geographic regions.

The Global Advisory Board seeks to strengthen the school’s presence throughout the world. The cabinets will work with the council to increase the school’s global visibility and strengthen relationships with the worldwide corporate and entrepreneurial communities.

The cabinets will help identify new corporate partners, engage entrepreneurial communities, sponsor admissions and alumni events, increase support, market the school, create strategies for additional non-degree program offerings, and identify new opportunities.

The cabinet chairs and vice chairs will serve as ex-officio members of the council, which meets twice a year in Chicago. Cabinets and their leaders include:

• Americas Cabinet (Mexico, Caribbean, Central and South America)
  Chair: Jaime Chico Pardo, President, Telmex
  Vice Chair: Janet Ortega, Director, Saenz Hoffman
  
  
• Europe/Middle East/Africa Cabinet
  Co-Chair: Bruce Rigal, COO, Global Banking Deutsche Bank
  Co-Chair: Frits Seegers, CEO, Citigroup Global Consumer Group – Europe, Middle East, and Africa)
  
  
• Asia Cabinet
  Chair: Luis Miranda, President and CEO, IDFC Private Equity

The University of Chicago Graduate School of Business also supports worldwide business in many other ways, including its service as the knowledge partner of CNBC’s prestigious Asia Business Leader Awards (ABLA). Launched in 2001, the CNBC ABLA celebrates the region’s visionaries who exemplify the best in business.

CNBC, the University of Chicago School of Business Asia Campus, and Development Dimensions International administer the nomination, short-listing, and judging process. The awards include Asia Business Leader of the Year, Asia Innovator of the Year, Asia Corporate Citizen of the Year, Asia Entrepreneur of the Year, and Asia Talent Management Award.

Virginia Tech University

Executive MBA students at Virginia Tech University are sharing their experiences through the use of technology.

One Executive MBA student recorded his observations of the program’s international residency through blog entries, which provide information and personal perspectives to all class mates about presentations and other activities that took place during the residency. Executive MBA students also contribute to Capital Cohort, a student-sponsored web site.

PROGRAM INNOVATIONS

Northwood University

In addition to intellectual development, the Northwood University Richard DeVos Graduate School of Management focuses on improving the attitudinal and emotional competencies of its students.

Emotional intelligence (EQ), which includes self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management, is essential to the success of leadership and development. In fact, research has suggested that EQ, which can be learned, is a more significant driver of individual and workplace success than IQ.

The school requires all incoming graduate students to complete an online emotional intelligence assessment by BarOn EQ-i. Faculty members with organizational and individual behavior backgrounds then review and evaluate assessment results.

In the Executive MBA Program, students first take a behavior-based class, which reinforces the timeliness and relevance of the EQ assessment to class discussions and faculty advising. To measure improvements, students also complete the same assessment before commencement.

In March 2006, the school also conducted an EQ assessment alumni event for its southeastern Michigan alumni group. Alumni completed the BarOn EQ-i online before the event, and Daniel Behring facilitated the EQ assessment discussion. The school received tremendous feedback from participants, and the event will serve as a model for future alumni activities in other regions.

Rollins College

MBA students at the Rollins College Crummer Graduate School of Business apply the investment strategies that they learn in the Rollins MBA Program to manage a real-dollar portfolio, the Crummer/SunTrust Investment Portfolio.

SunTrust Banks of Central Florida Foundation made five annual $100,000 contributions to establish and support the Crummer/SunTrust Investment Portfolio. Students in the portfolio management/theory and applications course direct the fund.

“We try to bring together the theories of portfolio management and the real-world management of a portfolio,” said Edward Moses, finance professor who teaches the course. “Crummer’s approach is somewhat unique in that our fund is managed from a portfolio perspective rather than adding or deleting one security at a time without considering the impact of individual security changes on the risk and return characteristics of the total portfolio.”

Moses structures the class like an investment company. Two co-managing directors and teams of students analyze and select securities in the portfolio.

Students in the risk management and derivative markets course also manage a hedge fund in the portfolio. J. Clay Singleton, finance professor, teaches the course, and students in Singleton’s class present to students in Moses’ class, who may allocate up to 10 percent of the portfolio’s value to the hedge fund managers.

Students gain experience in managing real funds, which support an important cause. Each year, the school uses 4.5 percent of the portfolio’s three-year moving average value to fund the scholarships. The better the portfolio performs, the more dollars are available for the scholarships. Over the past two years, the portfolio has funded in excess of $45,000 for scholarships.

For more information about Rollins, visit www.rollins.edu.

University of Central Florida

Reflecting the growth of the University of Central Florida, the Executive Development Center (EDC) recently added to its on-campus Executive MBA Program by offering a new Professional MBA.

The Professional MBA features a convenient schedule with classes two evenings each week, small cohort size, and a 21-month curriculum. The program is geared to younger professionals with an average age of 30 and three years of work experience. The program joins the already existing Executive MBA Program, which offers alternating Friday-Saturday classes in Orlando.

Professional MBA faculty members teach classes at select off-campus sites throughout the Central Florida region. The inaugural Professional MBA cohort in Daytona Beach graduates soon, and a new cohort begins in Palm Bay in August 2006.

For information, contact Michael Sheahan, EDC director, at msheahan@bus.ucf.edu. Sheahan recently joined the EDC after serving as director of student services for Executive Education Programs in the Krannert School of Management at Purdue University.

Suffolk University

In September, the Suffolk University Executive MBA Program is launching a new concentration in innovation and design management.

Located in the heart of Boston, one of the nation’s leading design centers, this new concentration is a natural fit. It provides professionals from a variety of design-related disciplines the key business knowledge that they need to gain a holistic view of the organization. With this knowledge, they are prepared to set strategy and lead the organization into the future.

The format of the concentration in innovation and design management mirrors that of the traditional Executive MBA. Students enter the program in cohort teams, taking a total of 51 credits over 18 months. The program delivers its fully integrated curriculum in four clusters that relate to key business environments.

Students in this concentration also participate in four residential seminars on management, global issues, Washington policy, and leadership. For the program capstone, students create a research-based project that relates to their own career goals.

As Executive MBA students, candidates for the concentration must meet all admissions requirements, including seven or more years of leadership experience. For more information, call 617.573.8660 or visit www.suffolk.edu/execmba.

Tsinghua University

An initiative of the Tsinghua Executive MBA Program, Mobile Campus allows students to explore cities well beyond the Tsinghua campus.

During their off-campus travels, students attend four days of classes, participate in discussions about local economic policy, and further experience the local climate. They are encouraged to visit some representative local enterprises and donor local educational institutions. The students are well received by local media and government because of their entrepreneurial and business experiences.

Mobile Campus not only has mobile classrooms but also has mobile consulting missions, mobile capital flows and mobile love envoys. Mobile Campus already has visited more than 20 cities both in China and abroad, and it also serves as an ambassador of the Tsinghua Executive MBA Program.

MILESTONES

IEDC–Bled School of Management

One of the first management development institutions in Central and Eastern Europe, IEDC-Bled School of Management celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2006.

Since 1986, more than 33,500 participants from 57 countries have attended IEDC educational programs. The school has become an internationally well-known and respected institution, receiving the AMBA accreditation for all three MBA programs.

IEDC-Bled School of Management will mark its anniversary with various events in participant countries and with two international conferences at Bled in June and October.

Professor Pierre Casse, dean of the Berlin School of Creative Leadership and world-known lecturer in the field of leadership, will chair the first conference, European Leadership Trends and Success Stories, set for June 1-2. The conference will explore the latest trends and issues that today's leaders need to address. Invited conference speakers include Dr. Erhard Busek, special coordinator of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe and former vice-chancellor of Austria; Bert Heemskerk, chair of the Executive Board of Rabobank, the Netherlands; Mark Stoddard, associate editor, Business Leadership Review; Ruben Vardanian, president, Troika Dialog Group, Russia; and many others.

The highlight of the 20th anniversary celebration will be the Oct. 20 ceremonial international conference, Leadership for a Better World, which will draw together about 500 alumni, friends, and business and political leaders from all over the world. Top lecturers and leaders from business, public institutions, and NGOs will reflect on the key challenges that they face as leaders and steps to a better future. Lecturers will include Dr. Ichak Adizes, a renowned management guru and one of the world’s leading experts in change management, as well as a round table with renowned professors and business leaders from Slovenia and abroad.

Mercer University

For more than a decade, the Eugene W. Stetson School of Business and Economics at Mercer University has provided accessible executive education to the Atlanta market, but in 2004, the school recruited the first class to its recently constructed regional academic center in McDonough, Georgia.

In May, the inaugural class becomes the first to graduate from an AACSB-accredited business degree program in Henry County, a rapidly growing community in the southern tier of the metropolitan-Atlanta area.

This milestone highlights a three-year period of growth. Executive MBA enrollment tripled during the period as admissions became more selective.

Thunderbird, the Garvin School of International Management

More than 400 members of the Thunderbird community celebrated the 60th anniversary of the school’s founding April 6 while Thunderbird President Angel Cabrera unveiled a bold new vision for the school that builds on its strengths.

Thunderbird has thrived—even though its founding principle was conceived more than 60 years ago—because its mission remains as relevant as ever. “What holds Thunderbird together is a shared belief and shared mission, the belief that we can make the world a better place,” Cabrera said.

In addition to celebrating Thunderbird’s founding, Cabrera detailed Thunderbird’s immediate future, which was mapped out in the recently approved strategic plan, Thunderbird 2010: A Truly Global Vision.

Although Thunderbird 2010 calls for making significant changes in some of the school’s operations, it affirms the school's founding mission: to educate global leaders who create sustainable prosperity worldwide.

The plan includes changes that involve offering early career master’s degree programs by 2007 and re-engineering the Executive MBA Program so that it’s more flexible, offers more global experience, and can serve executives all over the world.

Thunderbird 2010 also establishes the development of a global mindset – the ability to work with individuals, cultures, and systems different from one's own – as the principal learning outcome for all school programs.

"It is the global mindset that sets our graduates apart and allows T-birds to have a powerful and positive impact in leadership positions throughout the globe," said Mansour Javidan, director of Thunderbird's Garvin Center for Cultures and Languages of International Management.

University of New Mexico

This fall, the Anderson School of Management at the University of New Mexico is launching a Professional MBA Program, which is modeled after its Executive MBA Weekend Program.

Kate Livingston, who has managed the Executive MBA Program since 1995, will direct the new Professional MBA Program.

The school will offer the inaugural Professional MBA class onsite at Intel Corp. in Rio Rancho, the fastest growing city in New Mexico.

“Investing in the community is an Intel tradition, and the University of New Mexico’s business school is an excellent educational institution,” says Lawrence J. Alei, Intel strategic analyst who serves on the school’s Foundation Board. “Hosting a Professional MBA is another way of putting our corporate values into practice, and we are delighted to provide classroom space for the very first class.”

Open to both Intel and non-Intel employees, the 28-month program is designed for those with at least one year of professional work experience. The class will meet on Monday and Thursday evenings from 6 to 9:30 p.m. Participants will complete a 48-hour, lock-step curriculum that includes a weeklong trip to Mexico.

The Rio Rancho Regional Chamber of Commerce endorses the program.

“The Professional MBA Program will be a tremendous asset to the community,” says Kim Hedrick, chamber board chair. “As a graduate of the University’s Executive MBA Program, I know its true value. The Professional MBA will provide long-term benefits to all who participate and also will contribute to the economic development of our region.”

University of Virginia

Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia is launching an MBA for Executives Program in June.

The 22-month program is designed for practicing managers with 10 to 15 years of professional experience. The 45 students in the entering class come from a wide range of diverse backgrounds, functions, and industries with on average 13 years of experience.

The format blends four, four-weeklong leadership residencies, including an international residency, with classes at Darden every three weeks. In addition, about one-third of the core curriculum is delivered by distance, using WebCT as the course management system.

Back to top