Programs News
First "Offshore Experience" for PMBA Students Set for Ireland
For the first time in its 37-year history, the Moore School’s Professional MBA (PMBA) program will offer a concentration in International Business. To qualify for the concentration, students must take a course that requires an “offshore experience.” This year, the offshore experience will take place in Ireland July 7-15.
About 25 students – all working professionals -- are expected to enroll in the course, which will show how the characteristics of a location affect the success of multinational enterprises (MNEs).
The course, part of the “PMBA Globalization Experience,” will feature lectures and visits to both domestic and foreign MNEs in the food, construction, manufacturing, and financial services sectors. The students will also visit Irish government offices and stock markets.
“We will analyze Ireland as a success story of a small, less affluent country becoming a magnet for MNEs,” said Dr. Alvaro Cuervo-Cazurra, the assistant professor of international business who will teach the course and direct the trip. “Ireland is a good point of comparison with the Carolinas and their ability to attract foreign MNEs,” he added.
Before they leave for Ireland, students will be assigned a company to research and analyze. Upon their return, they will write a report that summarizes that company’s history and foreign expansion; the students will also analyze how the location influenced the firm’s internationalization.
“Introducing this concentration makes sense because there is so much interest in international business today among our PMBA students,” said Dr. Thomas J. Madden, professor of marketing and director of the PMBA program. Moreover, offering such a course “just helps to broaden our international reputation,” he said.
The popular PMBA program, the first of its kind in the United States when it was introduced in 1970, is designed for working professionals who want an MBA but also want to continue working full-time. The distance education program utilizes a combination of classes on campus, interactive satellite broadcasts, and blended education technologies. In the fall of 2006, the program opened its first location in Charlotte, NC, to attract students living in the Charlotte area.
| Jan Collins | |
| January 2007 |