EMBA China Trip: An Expat Experience Few executives get to ‘try on’ the title of expatriate before being whisked into an international assignment. But for the 52 students in Thunderbird’s two Executive MBA programs, the opportunity presented itself during the group’s international study tour in Beijing and Shanghai, China, March 16-25.
“Because students in the Arizona program are only two months away from graduation when they attend this trip, many are determining what they want to do next,” explains Aminda Parafinik, Thunderbird senior program coordinator for the Executive MBA program. “An international assignment is often among the options.” The 10-day trip exposes students to the realities of doing business in China by introducing them to local business practices, customs, cultures, political agendas and cuisine. They also have the opportunity to apply their new language skills and international business acumen to the real world. “It is one thing to read a Harvard Business School case study about business in China and to see it in action,” explains Radhika Rao ‘07, a manager for Intel Corp.’s Mobile Platforms Group in Phoenix. “We studied China telecom throughout the MBA program, but not until I saw a ‘Mobile Phone Super Market,’ did I realize the enormity of the Chinese mobile phone market.”
During the study tour, the group met with 28 government officials and business leaders of U.S., German, Swiss and Chinese multinational corporations. Bayer China, American Express, Shanghai General Motors, Eagle Logistics, Simplot, ASM, and Beijing United Family Hospital were among the companies represented by either guest speakers or business visits. “Students had opportunities to meet nearly 30 local Shanghai and Beijing alumni at receptions in these cities,” explains professor Mary Teagarden, who led the trip. One particular panel presentation addressed the expatriate experience, highlighting the professional experiences of four alumni working in China. Students also toured Beijing’s hutongs — ancient city alleys full of connected houses and shops — via human-powered tricycles (pedicabs). They visited the Bund, a district in Shanghai that includes historical buildings that once housed numerous banks and trading houses from Britain, France, the United States, Russia, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands and Belgium. “Students could stand on the shore of the Huangpu River in front of European buildings from the 19th century and look across the river at more neon and modern architecture than anywhere else in the world,” explains Teagarden. The group of students, primarily from the Arizona-based Executive MBA program, was accompanied by seven classmates from Thunderbird’s European Executive MBA program. The added diversity of the group — with students from Iceland, the Czech Republic, Germany and Russia — says Teagarden, further strengthened the experience for students. “I thought it was valuable to get to know and network with our colleagues from Glendale,” explains Brynja Thorbjörnsdóttir ’07, a retail banker from Iceland. “There is only so much you can learn from books; the rest comes from touching, feeling and seeing, which is — in my mind — what this trip is all about.” Tactile experiences, indeed, played a large role in the capstone experience, as students toured Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven and the Great Wall of China. Some also took a river cruise down the Yangtze River, and others headed to Hong Kong for an extended cultural learning tour. “Given the historical significance of Tiananmen, it was almost overwhelming to believe that we, a group of multinationals, were standing there taking photographs,” says Rao. “But the fact that we were there was a testament to how far China has opened its doors in the last decade.” “China is growing in importance in the world of international business,” adds Teagarden. “Study tours like this expose students to a week of ‘living cases,’ the opportunity to ask tough questions of leaders on the ground, and to see first-hand the challenges and opportunities of doing business in China.” Thorbjörnsdóttir says she now has a more realistic view of what China has to offer and what going there could mean for businesses and expatriates. “This knowledge will help me develop a global mindset that is necessary to succeed in today’s business environment,” she believes. “It was really interesting to see all the changes that occurred since I was in China seven years ago. It makes you wonder what will happen in the next seven years.” The China trip is the capstone international study tour of the Arizona Executive MBA experience, and the second of two global study tours in the program. |  |
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