Asia residency to be part of EMBA

By JOHN DELLA CONTRADA
Reporter Contributor

Enrollment in the Executive MBA (EMBA) program in the School of Management now will include a first-hand look at the world's largest emerging market, Asia.

Beginning next semester, the EMBA curriculum will feature a one-week residency in Asia, during which students will tour Asian businesses, meet with officials from top Asian companies and visit regions where many of the students' employers do business.

The residency requirement will take place during the fourth semester of the 22-month program as part of the EMBA's international-business course. The EMBA program is designed for high-achieving managers who wish to develop the skills needed to contribute more effectively to the strategic initiatives of their organizations.

"International experience is particularly important to Executive MBA students, most of whom are likely to assume greater responsibilities in international business," says Courtney Walsh, executive director of the EMBA program.

"This experience will build profound understanding of international economics, the role of governments, emerging trends in the global market and the influence of culture on business practices," she adds.

The international-residency program will benefit from the School of Management's long history of innovation in Asia. From 1984-91, the school operated the first and only U.S. MBA program on Chinese soil, which graduated 216 students before funding from the U.S. Commerce Department expired.

The school this year launched an EMBA program in Beijing and it also operates an EMBA program in Singapore that is in its fourth year. Through the international-residency program, UB students in Buffalo, Beijing and Singapore eventually will work together on group projects.

"We have begun to develop new ways for School of Management students worldwide to interact and learn from one another," says Lewis Mandell, dean of the School of Management. "In addition to international-residency programs and study tours, we plan to implement distance-learning and Web-based programs that will allow us to deliver management instruction anywhere in the world."