Programs News
Inaugural PMBA "Offshore Experiences" Were a Hit
Building on the Moore School’s top-ranked reputation in international business, the school's popular Professional MBA (PMBA) Program has begun offering a concentration in International Business (IB). To qualify for the concentration, students must take a course that requires an "offshore experience."
The program's inaugural offshore experiences took place during the spring or summer of 2007, and 55 PMBA students enrolled in the IB courses abroad as part of the “PMBA Globalization Experience."
Judging from post-trip comments, the students who traveled to Austria/Slovakia; Ireland; South Africa/Swaziland/Mozambique; or England/France/the Czech Republic thought the Offshore Experience classes were invaluable in helping them understand today’s global business environment.
Introducing this IB concentration "make sense because there is so much interest in international business today among our PMBA students," says Dr. Thomas J. Madden, professor of marketing and director of the PMBA Program. Offering such a course "just helps to broaden our international reputation," he says.
(The PMBA Program, established at the University of South Carolina 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, North Carolina, to attract students living in the Charlotte area.)
Vienna, Austria/Bratislava, Slovakia
Before leaving for Europe, the 24 PMBA students who went on the Austria/Slovakia trip coordinated and led by Professor Madden were given an assignment to provide first-hand experience in developing a marketing plan for entry into another country, such as Austria or Slovakia. While visiting the companies during their offshore experience, the students collected data to help them develop the marketing plan for introducing a brand or company into the foreign market.
"The trip gave me a more global mindset," says Paige Lane, a 32-year-old marketing representative for BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina for the past eight years. "I now think on a more international level and truly appreciate cultural differences."
Beth Chadwell, a business supply chain specialist with Milliken & Company, says the course gave her "a new perspective as well as insight into how other countries conduct business. It also gave me a chance to see first hand all the developments going on in Central and Eastern Europe since the fall of the Iron Curtain. I know that I will now consider the opportunities available in Eastern Europe when making sourcing decisions due to the cost savings." Chadwell, 27, had another comment: "By providing these trips, USC’s PMBA program has set itself apart from other PMBA programs in the area."
The
7-day Vienna/Bratislava trip, which included lectures, city tours, a visit to the United Nations
Industrial Development Organization, a bank, and a Volkswagen plant, along with a meeting with an
advisor to the Prime Minister of Slovakia, was "a perfect way to end my MBA career," according to
Amy Vogt, who finished the program earlier this year and is a Procurement Leader (Underbody,
Insulation and Fuel Systems) for the BMW car company in Munich, Germany. "More business
people (and MBAs) will need to be able to better navigate the international business world," she
says. "The Vienna trip supported this need because it showcased several different industries
as well as the infrastructure for Austria and Slovakia, thus providing a broad picture."
Roddy Cooper, a Procurement Technical Manager at New South Companies, Inc., agrees. "The PMBA Program revolves around the global economy that we live in today. The international and cultural experience [of the Offshore Experience classes] deepens your perspective and understanding of the impact that cultures, history, and geography play in shaping the stage of our global economy." Besides, he says, "where else can you have so much fun, build great relationships, expand your global perspective and eat really good food, all the while earning credit hours for your MBA."
Finally, Mike Osterfoss, Product Sales Manager, Automotive, Defense, Resale and Laser Products,
CeramTec North America Corporation, says he is encouraging as many PMBA students as possible to
enroll in the Offshore Experience classes. They "will pull together the multitude of concepts you
learn in your regular coursework, and you will see how these same concepts are applied effectively
throughout the world." And, says Osterfoss, "If you are like me, you may also be lucky enough
to make some very close friends while this happens."
Dublin, Ireland
Twenty-four PMBA students journeyed to Dublin, the capital city on the Emerald Isle.
"The interesting thing about Ireland is that it's about the same size as South Carolina," says PMBA student Bonnie P. Dumas, who works for MeadWestvaco Corporation, the international packaging company. "So it was really neat to see how successful Ireland has been in drawing global companies to locate there, and to be able to see what they’re doing and compare it to what South Carolina is doing. This really made the course."
The Ireland course, coordinated by Paul Yazel and taught by Dr. Alvaro Cuervo-Cazurra, assistant professor of international business, analyzed Ireland "as a success story of a small, less affluent country becoming a magnet for multinational enterprises (MNEs)," says Cuervo-Cazurra. "Ireland is a good point of comparison with the Carolinas and their ability to attract foreign MNEs."
Before they left for Ireland, the students were assigned a company to research. They summarized the company’s history, foreign expansion, and how the location influenced the firm’s internationalization.
The class included a tour of Dublin and visits to Allied Irish Bank, IDA Ireland, Sisk Ireland, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, U.S. Commercial Services, and Google’s European Headquarters. Plus, of course, there was a tour of the famed Guinness Storehouse.
Tara J. Bachkosky (pictured on the right), Lead Regulatory Analyst at SCANA, where she
has worked for the past seven years, says the Ireland course "broadened my perspective about
business. I saw how companies in other countries face some of the same challenges [as
American companies] but how they sometimes respond to those challenges in different ways."
The trip, she added, brought "the international classes to life and allowed students to experience
some of the things they’ve only read about."
Bachkosky stayed on in Ireland a "few extra days to experience the beautiful countryside and the wonderful hospitality of the Irish people. I'm very glad I made the trip."
For Clint Bridges, Quality Assurance Engineer for VeriSign, Inc., the week in Dublin was "an experience that I will never forget. The instruction we received from the Irish business leaders seemed to sink in much deeper when we were immersed in their culture. It was unlike any course I have ever taken in that the lessons came not from a book or a study guide, but from the people we met and the environment in which we lived."
Bradley C. Punch, a contracts manager for Computer Sciences Corporation, believes that his
offshore experience in Ireland was "not only beneficial, but also essential to getting a
well-rounded business education. It's hard to realize how the things you learn in
international business classes apply to the real world unless you actually experience it. If
I wasn't graduating in December, I would try to take as many more offshore classes as possible."
South Africa/Swaziland/Mozambique
Five PMBA students traveled with 13 University of South Carolina undergraduates for a new "Business in Africa" course that was taught primarily "on the road" by Dr. Robert J. Rolfe, professor of international business. The course featured lectures and visits to "spaza" shops, a diamond mine, a gold mine, a glass factory, a government-run orphanage, various companies (including Coca-Cola), and Kruger National Park. The students also went on a safari in the Kapama Game Reserve.
"This was much more than a 'photo op' of elephants," says Rolfe. "The students saw what the tourists see, but they also learned the history, culture, and politics of the area." The course was partially funded by the Moore School’s Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER). CIBER's Director, Mike Shealy, and Amy Lantz, scheduling coordinator in the Dean's Office, helped coordinate the course and traveled with the group to Africa.
|
|
Lester Lachuk, PMBA, with African children. |
Lester Lachuk, 35, one of the PMBA students who took the Africa course, says it was "a great opportunity to visit another country in a professional manner, even if one’s career path is not in international business. One gets to meet new people, experience the business culture to the fullest, and develop fond memories…".
Lachuk, Director of Pharmacy and Medical Services for InStil Health Insurance Company, BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina for the past four years, learned many things while visiting the three African countries, including the fact that the Kingdom of Swaziland, "where a cow is just as good as money," has the highest rate of HIV/AIDS in the world.
"My take-home message from the 'Business in Africa' course is that you really can't believe
everything you hear about Africa," says Lachuk. "It’s beautiful, has good food, and the
currency rates favor the [American] dollar. You really have to experience Africa yourself."
London/Paris/Toulouse/Prague
|
|
The red roofs of Prague. (Photo taken by Tappan Shah.) |
The course focused on Europe as a context for global business, examining the economic, political, and cultural conditions in the region and their effect on the investment climate and management of global companies. Class work during the trip included lectures, student presentations, visits to European and U.S. companies in Europe, visits to financial and pan-European institutions, and cultural activities.
The students were divided into four groups, and each group was responsible for writing a 12-page paper on the topic "Business Environment in Country X: Political, Economic, and Cultural Analysis."
Tappan Shah, a 26-year-old PMBA student who is an engineer with Parsons Engineering in Aiken, South Carolina, says the course "opened my eyes to how fast-paced the business world is today, and the depth to which American businesses extend around the world. Working in Aiken, sometimes the concepts of ‘fast-paced’ and ‘international business’ are lost on me. Meeting with International MBA (IMBA) alums [from the Moore School] in London helped answer a lot of my questions about working as an expatriate, and put me at ease about taking an international assignment. I definitely plan on pursuing an international assignment after graduation."
In London, the students visited the London School of Economics, Citigroup and Lloyds of London. After traveling to Paris by way of the Eurostar, the fast train under the English Channel, the group visited the International Chamber of Commerce and Euronext. During a side trip to the French city of Toulouse, the group visited an Airbus factory, where the A-380 plane is manufactured. Moving on to Prague, the course included a visit to the Egermann glass factory, a Skoda automobile factory, and the American Chamber of Commerce. During an evening at the Czech National Opera, the students heard Verdi’s "La Traviata."
Concludes Shah: "It was an awesome course."
| Jan Collins | |
| October 2007 |