GETTING RESULTS
So far, global-oriented MBA programs seem to be benefiting
students, the schools, and employers. Says Mike DeBellis, whose New
York company recruits students for a host of multinationals in the
northeast, "Companies deal on a global basis, and they want
students who can do that for them. It's more important for them to
recruit these students than ever before."
So necessary, in fact, that companies are not only recruiting
students from schools with a more global focus, but even
underwriting international programs.
American Airlines sponsors
SMU's course and a Leadership for the
Americas program at Fort
Worth's Texas Christian University. Morgan Stanley Dean Witter has
a partnership with Hong Kong University of Science and Technology's
School of Business. And
General Motors supports a Stanford Business
School program called GMIX, or "global management immersion
experience," in which students complete four-week internships in
China.
What's good for corporate recruiters and the companies they recruit
for is good for the schools - who earn a reputation for placing
students in better jobs at better pay - and ultimately is good for
the students, too. "It was an eye-opener," says Vanessa Lapice, who
will graduate from SMU in May 2002. "There's a big difference
between going to museums and beaches and touring manufacturing
facilities and seeing the systems and the challenges they face."
Which is precisely the lesson that Niemi, and his colleagues across
the country, wanted their students to learn.
KNOW YOUR RANKINGS
Ranking business schools is, well, big business. Yet each survey
doesn't measure the same thing, or even use the same methods to
compare similar standards. Five of the best known, used for this
story, are those compiled by Business Week, The Wall Street
Journal, U.S. News & World Report, Financial Times, and
Forbes.