DAN IE L S C O L L E G E O F B US I NE S S | UNI VE R S I T Y O F D E NVE R
NEWS ABOUT THE DANIELS PIONEER NETWORK: IMBA PIONEERS AROUND THE WORLD
IMBA Inside |
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Announcements................................. pg 2 The Faces of the IMBA Program........... pg 3 in Tanzania GO-IMBA Fall 2012 Learn more on page 4
GO-IMBA in Tanzania........................ pg 4 Global Experiences............................ pg 5 Dreaming of Working Abroad............. pg 6 IMBA Program Redesign..................... pg 6 Alumni Notes.................................... pg 7 Engage............................................. pg 8
Why the International MBA? Doing business in the 21st century involves crossing borders and cultures and requires a different kind of leader. The Daniels International MBA (IMBA) prepares students for careers in a highly complex and globalized business environment. An MBA program at its core, the IMBA provides a solid business foundation taught by faculty with deep international experience, and includes the Compass courses required in our other MBA programs. In addition to their Daniels course work, students take classes at the renowned Korbel School of International Studies that help develop practical international management skills and a broad global perspective. The Daniels IMBA features a required international travel course—past trips have gone to places such as Tanzania, Brazil and China—and a second-language proficiency requirement. Originally founded as the Master of International Management (MIM) in 1975— one of the first graduate business programs in the country to focus on global business— the Daniels IMBA gives students the global perspective, business skills and cross-cultural training to succeed in a global business world. Today, almost 900 Daniels IMBA and MIM alumni are living and working around the world.
IMBA Board of Advisors Ms. Myrna Ann Adkins, Dr. Douglas Allen, Mr. Roy Becker, Mr. Paul Bergman, Mr. Ian Bird, Mr. Matjaz Bren, Ms. Leslie Carter, Ms. Sally Covington, Dr. David Hopkins, Dr. Lloyd Lewan, Mr. Trip Mackintosh, Mr. Tim McCune, Dr. Ved Nanda, Mr. Jim Reis and Mr. Tom Ritter
Special Thanks
Announcements New Students The International MBA (IMBA) program and Daniels community are excited to welcome the incoming Spring 2013 students as they start their educational journey! Harrison Fried Laura Frigo Jing Gao
Robert Guest Halden Kaneb Gregory Majersky
Congratulations to recent March IMBA graduates and to those graduating on June 7! March 2013: Joseph Alfano Heidi Cortez Anthony Haupt
Matthew Hayden David Kenrick Peter Knox
Stephany Olsen Cary Wicker
Alexandra Gardner David Groth Steven Holland MacNeil Jaehnert Aparna Kailasam Gwendolyn Kernan David Kloeckner Kenneth Macneal Ruohan Mao
Sean McCarthy Alison McElroy Devin Mulhern Alexander Podany Christine Rosenfeld Jared Stone Jennifer Wilson Xiaowen Xu Rixin Zhang
June 2013: Younes Ben Brahim Joseph Alfano Tseada Berhanu Kiersti Bird Catherine Ceresa Matthew Cole Ian Doubleday Andrew Douglas Austin Flynn
Letter to Alumni Dear Friends, Last week, after over two years of intensive reconstruction, a completely rebuilt Penrose Library opened under the name Anderson Academic Commons, and it is beautiful! The redesign emphasizes much more meeting space, full utilization of relevant technology and a beautiful venue for study and reflection. As you will see in this issue, “redesign” is in the air at the University of Denver and the International MBA is no exception. We are in the midst of a major redesign of the program in order to ensure that the IMBA remains responsive to the global challenges faced by leaders and managers graduating from our program. We have conducted in-depth research on our current program as well as similar program offerings around the world. We have collected feedback on our current program from leaders in industry, as well as current students and alums of the IMBA/MIM programs. If you have ideas, please send them our way. It is not too late! As you will also see, our most recent GO-IMBA overseas experience traveled to Tanzania where once again, we were impressed with the dynamic growth opportunities emerging specifically in the country, and in Africa more generally. The significance of Africa’s emergence as a key player in the global economy was underscored just last week as China’s new President, Xi Jinping chose Africa (including Tanzania) as the primary destination of his first overseas travel. Africa’s economy was recently described by The Economist as the fastest growing region after China and India and was highlighted for its increasing attractiveness as a prime business opportunity. We hope you enjoy this issue of the Communiqué as we bring you up to date with global developments at Daniels and introduce you to a sample of our impressive IMBA alums!
Image credits: Doug Allen Contributing Writers: Chelsea Lehman Christy Hotard Rosenfeld The opinions expressed in Communiqué are those of the writers and do not necessarily represent official positions of the Daniels College of Business or the University of Denver.
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Laura Steele
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Douglas Allen Director, International MBA Program Daniels College of Business
The Faces of the IMBA Program
Meet Our Current IMBAs The IMBA program at Daniels includes individuals who have diverse areas of interest and come from a variety of professional and personal backgrounds. While their ages and pursuits vary, the one thing that remains constant is their mutual understanding of the importance of learning how to conduct business on an international level. Take a moment to read about a few of our current students and the things that make the Daniels community stand out.
MATTHEW BOWERS Matthew Bowers is a first year IMBA student at Daniels. He received a B.S. Mechanical Engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder and has spent most of his career in the energy industry. Matt is actively seeking out experiential opportunities throughout his program. Most recently he went with the Deutsche Bank Microfinance class to Cambodia where he worked with a team to evaluate a Microfinance Institution. Matt is also an active member of Net Impact and will be a part of the leadership team next year. BEN FOUTY Ben is a second-year IMBA with a concentration in international development. Prior to attending Daniels, he was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Benin, West Africa where he worked to develop microfinance institutions and spent two years immersed in the fascinating culture. Ben chose Daniels because of its innovative IMBA program that helped him develop and focus his international experience. DAVID GROTH David, a Colorado native, is a second year IMBA student concentrating in business intelligence. After graduating from Colorado State University, David took a position with a media sales company in Belgium focused on promoting business opportunities in developing countries. His position as an International Media Sales Consultant, allowed him the opportunity to work all over the world and directly with CEOs and Country Managers of large companies. After realizing that almost every CEO had earned an MBA from a US university, David decided to go back to school. He chose the University of Denver because of the good reputation for ethics and the International MBA. After graduation, David hopes to work with a multinational corporation based in Denver.
ALI McELROY Ali McElroy hails from the great state of Minnesota and graduated from DU undergrad with a BA in international studies and Spanish. She is a 4-1 student and will finish her IMBA in just one year. Her passion is finding ways that business principles can be implemented as a means to international development. She has gained valuable tools through the experiential courses like the GO IMBA Tanzania trip and the Deutsche Bank Microfinance class that took her to Cambodia. Ali is eager to utilize these new skills as she searches for international work in Latin America or Africa after graduation. DENA NEW Dena is a first year IMBA student focusing her studies on finance and sustainability. After completing her undergraduate degree in food operations management, Dena lived in Spain and worked for the Spanish Ministry of Education. She has also spent time working for a non-profit in Cusco, Peru. Dena chose the International MBA program because of her passion for multicultural communication and her desire to return to the food and beverage industry working for a multinational corporation. KAVITA RODGERS Kavita is currently pursuing a Dual IMBA and International & Intercultural Communications degree. She chose the Daniel’s IMBA for its international focus, and the opportunities for out-of-the-classroom experiences. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in economics from Iowa State University, Kavita interned for Engineers Without Borders USA, which sparked her interest in sustainable development. She has a passion for international community development, and has lived, studied and worked in India, Malaysia and Belize. Kavita is currently involved in developing best practices for a financial consulting start-up, which she hopes will allow her to analyze the role of partnerships between the for-profit and non-profit sectors in community development.
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GO-IMBA in Tanzania
Global Theor y in Practice: GO Tanzania Last Fall, a group of students traveled to Tanzania with the GO IMBA Global Theory in Practice class. The students participated in four different live consulting projects for Opera Software. The DanielsOpera partnership has proven to be a continued success, and this trip was no different. The four different projects ranged from Internet marketing strategies appropriate for the Tanzanian market, communicating with potential Opera users via word-of-mouth and other marketing strategies, barriers and benefits to mobile internet adoption, and blue ocean strategies for Opera in Tanzania. In addition to field research for the Opera projects, the class also visited several international businesses including the Tanzanian Communication Regulatory Authority, A to Z Textile Mills, Upper Zonal Trading and Airtel (formerly Zain). Insight into the business community was informative, but the students were also exposed to the non-profit community development side of the country. The students had the opportunity to spend a day with Heifer International, a worldwide organization dedicated to working with communities to end hunger and poverty through empowerment. Additionally, the class met with PRIDE Tanzania, a microfinance institution dedicated to providing credit to small and micro entrepreneurs throughout the country. PRIDE started its operations in January 1994, opening its first office in the capital, Arusha. The organization offers five different loan products, with the most popular being enterprise group loans. The loan groups meet weekly and our students were lucky enough to sit in on one
The IMBA program would like to thank Opera Software for their valuable partnership and continued support of the program. Additionally, we would like to thank PRIDE Tanzania for opening its doors to our students and welcoming us into their community. For those that may be interested in partnering with the Daniels IMBA program for future projects, please contact Leslie Carter (lcarter@du.edu) for more information.
of these meetings. One student, Ali McElroy, really enjoyed the experience and was surprised to learn that the organization has a 0% default rate due to the positive peer pressure from the groups. The students asked a variety of questions and the overall consensus was that the clients were very satisfied with PRIDE and its services. As the organization continues to grow, they hope to provide additional services like savings and remittance services in the future to further meet the needs of their clients. After the business end of the trip, the students were able to relax and enjoyed a 3 day safari through Tarangire National Park, Lake Manyara National Park and Ngorongoro Crater. According to Ali, interacting with locals at the businesses and organizations provided a much needed insight into the Tanzanian industries and markets and proved to be an invaluable resource for the Opera Consulting projects. However, there is nothing that compares to driving through a national park and seeing wild animals in their natural habitat.
Opera Software
PRIDE Tanzania
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Global Experiences
In Pursuit of Global Experience If there is one salient quality that stands out among our IMBA students, it is a quest for global citizenship that extends beyond the classroom. From the start, students ‘Lead at The Edge,’ and then as the program progresses, students are given the opportunity to participate in live team-based consulting projects during their required international trip. For some, this isn’t enough: Many of our current students have sought out additional international experiences that exceed the degree requirements. Student’s experiences run the gamut from language immersions (to help satisfy this IMBA requirement) to independent consulting projects. Christy Hotard-Rosenfeld, a second year with the program, visited Peru during the winter break to enhance her Spanish skills by volunteering at a local pre-school outside of Lima. According to Christy, “It’s fun to get out of the classroom and
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actually put into action what I’ve been studying for the past two years. These experiential learning opportunities are essential to round out any education.“ Walter Cottingham, a first year IMBA student, along with two other Daniels MBA students, traveled to India for a month to implement a consulting project with Jaguar Land Rover. They worked on a project regarding the company’s current operational structure of outsourced vendors used for engineering design purposes and the business feasibility of bringing operations in house. Walter believes that being able to apply lessons from the classroom to a live and very real project is a valuable complement to his courses at Daniels.
CHRISTY HOTARD-R OSENFEL
D | PERU
JENNIFER W ILSON | SO UTH AFRICA
Chelsea Lehman, a first year in the program, traveled to the United Arab Emirates and Qatar to meet with high ranking public and private sector figures to deepen her understanding of the political, economic and social dimensions of the Gulf within the Middle Eastern context. Chelsea believes that taking the initiative to experience other cultures in a tangible way is of the utmost importance in integrating classroom learning into an experience that can help inform and shape a career. Jennifer Wilson, a current IMBA student, and her husband, also a DU student spent three months working in South Africa this past summer. She interned with the United Nation’s Office on Drugs and Crime – Southern Africa (UNODC) working with the advocacy and communications team to assist with the launch of the 2012 UNODC World Drug Report, a leading international publication. According to Jennifer, “The exposure I received at
Daniels around organizational dynamics and strategy enhanced my ability to understand the complexity of the UNODC and its position within the greater UN system as well as the community, in a more nuanced way.” Taking the initiative both in the classroom and outside of the classroom sets the Daniels IMBA student apart, and the flexibility of the program allows students the opportunity to participate in a global exchange of ideas that knows no bounds. WALTER COTTINGHAM & OTHERS | INDIA
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Working Abroad | IMBA Program Redesign
Dreaming of Working Abroad? Make It a Reality Part II In the Fall 2012 issue of the Communiqué as part of a two-part feature, we highlighted two IMBA alumni who have had success in securing work in the international arena. In the second part, two more alumni from the Masters in International Management (MIM) and the IMBA program share their insights into what it takes to build a successful career as an expatriate. Angela Mutungi believes that International assignments are some of the most dynamic, challenging and rewarding career experiences. Being successful on the international career circuit requires a high level of flexibility and an ability to rapidly embrace change and the unknown. Strong morals and high levels of ethics and integrity should always guide you. Angela believes that foreign language skills are important as they facilitate communication in business and also greatly ease social integration and immersion. Currently she works as a Principle Credit Risk Officer at The African Development Bank in Tunisia. When asked how she feels about her international experience, she said “I have enjoyed every moment of my
incredible career journey in the world of international banking! The dots all connect back to the Daniels College of Business.” Angela is a 1999 MIM graduate with a focus in Finance. Matt Davis spent three years working as an expat in Mongolia for an NGO and now currently works for Wagner Asia Equipment. He has witnessed the country’s rapidly changing economy and is constantly reminded of the importance of cultural sensitivity and mutual respect. Many of the multicultural communication lessons he learned as an IMBA student that seemed obvious at the time, are regularly ignored by many of the expatriate workers in the country. To overcome the resulting heightened apprehension among locals, Matt also stresses language ability as a key action to take. He also recommends taking an interest in the people and culture of the country. “Learning about the country’s history, music, sports, art, politics and pop-culture has been both rewarding and provided many opportunities to connect with Mongolians.” Matt graduated with his IMBA from Daniels in June 2011.
ON IZ R O H E H T N O E R A S E CHANG The International MBA is in the initial steps of a program redesign focused on taking the already strong program and updating it to bring it to the next level. Program leaders at Daniels plan to include additional experiential dimensions with the ultimate intent of exposing participants to various economies around the world. Dr. Doug Allen, Director of the IMBA Program, in discussing the redesign stated, “Students who are emerging from MBA and IMBA programs today will have to deal with unprecedented levels of complexity, a strong focus on sustainability, an understanding of emerging markets, and a pervasive need to work across cultures.” The new IMBA program will be a more distinctive program, attractive to a global audience, while seamlessly integrating global opportunities and content across the curriculum. The curriculum went through a major revision in 2000, when the program underwent a change from a Masters in International Management (MIM) to an International Masters of Business Administration (IMBA). Since then, the program has gone through continuous upgrades, including a shift to a live team based international consulting project working with companies overseas. A number of focus groups with current and former students and other stakeholders including potential employers were held in the fall and have informed the current redesign process, providing 6
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invaluable insight for the potential changes. The objectives of the IMBA redesign are to continue to build student capacity for ethical and sustainable leadership in globally focused organizations and across cultural contexts. The new program will build special capacities to address challenges and opportunities in emerging markets while incorporating new technologies to help with delivery of content. According to Dr. Doug Allen, “Our goal is to take a great program and revamp it by creating additional opportunities for experiential learning in international settings, utilizing state of the art technologies for program delivery, and adding a focus on emerging markets which are undoubtedly the growth markets of the future.” The new program configuration will be designed to offer a compelling value proposition to students that will balance preparation for near-term employment with future-oriented career growth.
If you would like to give your input on the redesign process please contact Leslie Carter with any questions or comments (lcarter@du.edu).
Alumni Notes
MATTHIAS EDRICH, IMBA 2007
(JD 2007)
As a tax attorney at Kutak Rock LLP, Matthias was reappointed by Governor Hickenlooper to serve on the State of Colorado Private Activity Bonds Allocation Committee. This committee provides advice to the Department of Local Affairs to determine allocation of bond volume cap to qualifying housing and manufacturing projects.
KATHARINE BRACKEN, IMBA 2008 Katharine has been involved with several large information management projects including a combined database roll-out (Compustat & CapitalIQ) at Standard & Poor’s and the 2010 U.S. Census among others. In August of 2012, Katharine accepted a leadership position at HCA (Hospital Corporation of America), located in Nashville, Tenn. In this role, she is responsible for teams that manage the Enterprise Data Warehouse for patient financial data and Special Reporting. She is also directly responsible for overseeing the implementation of regulatory changes to the data warehouse as a result of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. In addition to her new position at HCA, the move to Nashville has allowed Katharine to more actively pursue her hobby as a singer/ songwriter/artist manager, in which she is an active member of the Nashville Songwriters Association International.
JAMES WEINGARTEN, IMBA 2010 Since graduating, James has been active in Denver’s entrepreneurial community, working for Mobile Ticket App (Denver based start-up) and FlyLow Gear (Denver based ski clothing company). He is currently in the process of launching a ‘charity-driven’ apparel company called For Love of All Things – FLOAT. The company slogan is ‘Globally Conscious Consumerism Funding the World’s Best Non-Profits’ and, with $8 from every $24 shirt sold going to charity, James hopes FLOAT will set a new standard in Corporate Social Responsibility. Congratulations are in order as James is engaged to be married in August to Danielle Hayutin.
SHARLEEN WANG, IMBA 2011 After graduating, Sharleen started her exploration of the international freight forwarding industry. First, she took a summer internship at Gallagher Transport International Inc., which focused on customs brokerage. After returning to China, she started working in Shanghai for a Denver-based freight forwarding company, Graebel, as an International Relocation Consultant. Graebel’s specialty is to provide international relocation services for Fortune
500 multinational companies, like IBM and Procter & Gamble. According to Sharleen: “What I have learned from the Managing Export textbook, like freight forwarder, customs broker and Incoterm, now become a part of my daily life! I always believe my IMBA is more than just a degree. What I have gained from that two years enriched my knowledge, helps me with the current job, and will benefit me for life.”
BO STOROZUK, IMBA 2012 Bo first joined on with CH2M HILL, while completing his IMBA at Daniels, as an intern in Global Recruiting Operations. After graduation, Bo transitioned to the Global Mobility group as an Expatriate Services Consultant, where he is part of a team that is responsible for the management of approximately 500 expatriates, working on more than 130 different projects in 39 countries worldwide. Bo provides consultation for projects and employees going on expatriate assignments on issues such as country specific cultural information, global immigration processes, expatriate allowances, relocation services, international tax policies, benefits, and other mobilization related items. Bo and his fiancée Chelsea, a fellow Daniels Alumni, got engaged on their IMBA trip to South America and are getting married this summer.
Calling for Alumni Notes New career, new promotion, recently married? We want to know. Please contact Leslie Carter at lcarter@du.edu to submit an update along with a photo.
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Stay Connected to the Daniels College of Business International MBA Program facebook.com/DUDanielsIMBA
Daniels International MBA
IMBA alumni move around a lot and that makes keeping track of former students difficult for Daniels staff. In an effort to keep our contact and mailing lists up-to-date, we encourage you to let the IMBA staff know where you are and where you’re going. Also, you may often be the best source of information about your fellow alums, so encourage your friends and classmates to stay in touch as well.
S CHANGE E TH ARE ON HORIZON
Alumni can register in three easy steps:
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Go to alumni.du.edu and select “First Time Login” in the top left.
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Enter your last and first name, then click “Find.”
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Find your name, click on it, then enter your DU ID number.
Joining the Daniels alumni network will grant you access to IMBA graduates located all over the world. Our alumni network helps graduates locate former classmates and make new connections across industries and borders. Past graduates have used alumni resources to research global cultures, prepare for a career change and offer guidance to current IMBA students.
The IMBA department is constantly evaluating ways to make the IMBA programs and classes the best they can be. If you would like to be part of this process, contact Leslie Carter at lcarter@du.edu.
If you no longer have access to your DU ID number, or you need to update your contact information, please contact Leslie Carter at leslie.carter@du.edu or 303.871.2037.
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