Lead Week
expands MBA experience farther and wider
Goizueta is on the move, and that becomes more apparent
with each new addition to Lead Week. Two new international modules—Singapore/Bangkok
and Brazil—debuted this year, immersing approximately seventy MBA
students in the international business culture of two disparate continents.
The Brazil module was organized by Brazil native Paulo Macedo ’02MBA
and Kembrel Jones ’00MBA, assistant dean and director of the
MBA Program. The Singapore/Bangkok trip was led by Susan Gilbert,
associate professor in the practice of finance, with Maria Radulovic,
director of alumni relations.
Before they could start packing, Lead Week organizers had to deal with
the fallout from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The module lineup was
to be unveiled to students Sept. 15—an event that was put off for
a month—and Gilbert believes some students ultimately were discouraged
from traveling long distances.
Eighteen students signed up to go to Asia, almost all of whom had taken
Gilbert’s economics class. Gilbert, who had never been to Asia but
volunteered to lead the trip because so many of her students have Asian
backgrounds, says she chose the two destinations because they are opposites.
“There is almost nothing you can generalize about Singapore that
you could say about Bangkok. They are different politically, economically,
demographically. That was pretty eye-opening, I think, for a lot of students.”
Singapore is a city, a state, a country, and an island—with almost
no natural resources. A very affluent, modern financial and transportation
center, Singapore also is one of the most orderly and stable societies
in the world. Bangkok, on the other hand, is noisy, polluted, crowded,
and “extremely vibrant,” says Gilbert. It is more ethnically
diverse but also is a hub city and headquarters for a large number of
Asian firms.
In addition to visiting Philips and talking with Daiwa Securities, ExxonMobil,
Byun & Co., Excel Machine Tools, Kroll Associates, and E2Open in Singapore,
the students met with Ron Frank, former Goizueta dean and now president
of Singapore Management University. They capped the trip by researching
and debating whether Singapore should deregulate its power plants. The
audience was a panel from Mirant, which is preparing to make the case
for deregulation to the Singapore government. Mirant was perhaps heartened
by the outcome of the debate: in favor of deregulation but only by a single
vote.
Most students found Bangkok “not nearly as Westernized, which was
refreshing,” says Joel Seitz ’02MBA. Between visits to
the Thai Stock Exchange, Coca-Cola, Siemens, and Deloitte Consulting,
students received briefings on the Asian currency crisis, which is still
negatively affecting the Bangkok economy, and the challenges of doing
business in Asia, including different attitudes about transparency, the
legal system, and corruption. A side visit to Mercy Center, an AIDS hospice
and orphanage in Bangkok left Seitz with “two key thoughts: how much
we can help others as future business leaders and how fortunate we have
been in our lives.”
Before heading home, some intrepid students sampled the street fare of
Bangkok: fried maggots, grubs, and crickets. The verdict? “Fried
maggots taste quite good—kind of like french fries,” reports
Christopher Miller ’03MBA. “Crickets are a little like
what you would expect warm grass to taste like. Grubs are crispy on the
outside and warm and juicy on the inside—an unwelcome surprise.”
The Brazil module attracted fifty students and lasted seventeen days,
beginning with a three-day boat trip up the Amazon to a resort—where
students had to battle drink-stealing monkeys—and another three days
on the beach at Bahia. The group then visited Salvador, Rio de Janeiro,
and Sao Paulo. In Salvador, the group lunched with autoworkers at a new
Ford plant, and visited Gerde, a steel manufacturer, and Oderbrecht, a
construction and engineering concern. Other stops included Coca-Cola,
Intelig Communications, McCann Erickson, and a group of entrepreneurs,
who explained the many obstacles to starting a company in Brazil.
According to Annie Mueller ’03MBA, because of Macedo’s
Herculean efforts “we were able to see things I would not have seen
had I been on my own,” including a rowdy local soccer game and a
concert by Timbalada, a popular band rehearsing for the upcoming Carnival.
And Michael Schwartz ’03MBA noticed how Brazilians view the
United States “with respect and admiration but also with skepticism.”
One of the highlights for many students was the Ayrton Senna Foundation,
named after the late Brazilian racecar driver and dedicated to helping
poor children. “There is so much need for groups like this in Brazil
and so few that actually do it,“ says Schwartz. “The trip reinforced
my desire to continue to be involved in the nonprofit sector.” After
returning to Emory, the module participants sent a $1,000 contribution
to the foundation.
Most students find simply being somewhere else educational. “The
most important thing I learned is that you absolutely have to walk in
someone else’s shoes before you can claim to understand them,”
concludes Miller. “Pictures are worth a thousand words, but seeing
the way other people live and how they treat each other is worth more
than any number of words.”
Goizueta students could be found around the globe during this year’s
Lead Week. In addition to the newest modules, Brazil and Singapore/Thailand,
students participated in international modules in China and South Africa.
China
Led by Nancy Roth Remington ’86EMBA, executive director of
international programs, the China module focused on Shanghai and Beijing.
Students had the option of taking a five-day pre-trip to Hong Kong and
Yangshuo, a small rural community. The module began in Shanghai with visits
to the Shanghai Stock Exchange; Coca-Cola’s China marketing headquarters
and central China bottling plant; a major Intel factory in the new Free
Trade Zone; and Fudan University. Goizueta also met with Cheng Wei Ventures,
a Chinese venture capital firm that specializes in high-tech investments,
and Groove Street, a small entrepreneurial marketing startup.
#1:
The group visits the Forbidden City and poses against an appropriate backdrop.
Lying at the center of Beijing, the Forbidden City was the imperial palace
during the Ming and Qing dynasties.
In Beijing, students met with McKinsey China; McDonald’s; China International
Capital Corporation Investment Bank; China’s Ministry for Foreign
Trade and Economic Cooperation, Legend Holdings (China’s largest
PC maker), the U.S.-China Business Council, and the Beijing Olympic Committee,
and CNN’s Beijing Bureau Chief.
#2:
From left: Peter Ernst '03MBA, Professor Haiquan Xia (Goizueta's academic
liaison with the University of International Business and Economics in
Beijing), Marc Kaplan '03MBA, and Vera Allain '02MBA visit the home of
the Emperors of China in Beijing.
Cultural highlights included visits to the Great Wall of China, Summer
Palace, the Forbidden City, and Tianmen Square along with the Shanghai
Museum, and the 17th century Yu Garden complex. Banquets, which are integral
to Chinese business and social interactions, introduced students to each
city and brought the program to a close.
South
Africa
John Hammond, assistant dean and director of the Evening MBA Program,
led the South Africa module, which included visits to Johannesburg, Pretoria,
and Cape Town, with a pre-trip safari in the well-known KwaZulu Natal
area. In addition to the safari, participants spent the night in a Zulu
village and several relaxing days in the Durban area, near the east coast
of Africa. In Pretoria, students visited the office of Trade and Investment
South Africa, and the S.A. Reserve Bank.
From right: Sean J. Stapleton '03MBA-'03L, Andy Esdaille '03MBA, and Jon Henry '02MBA explore the Phinda Forest Reserve with a safari guide (far left).
Rhinos were among the wildlife spotted in the Phinda Forest Reserve.
In Johannesburg, participants visited Pick-n-Pay, Gordon Business Institute, and South African Breweries. In Cape Town, the students visited the wine lands, including the vineyards of Nelson’s Creek and Boschendal Wines. Students also had the opportunity in Cape Town to consult in small groups with several black-owned small and medium sized companies.—David Black
