BizEd

MarchApril2014

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58 March/April 2014 BizEd unique characteristics and meet the challenges they face. Expanding Reach, Reaching Out For more than 100 years, business schools have acted much like cas- tles with moats: Each year, they've lowered their drawbridges to allow new students to come rushing in. Today, as competition for the best students intensifies, that rush has become less automatic for all but the most prestigious private schools or the most subsidized state institu- tions. Emerging markets can pres- ent an opportunity for institutions in developed economies looking to satisfy capacity. Instead of, say, a regional school in Alabama looking to Tennessee to address a dearth in students, that school could look toward an emerging market, whose students would breathe additional cultural diversity and a global perspective into the school's student body and community. To attract such stu- dents, schools in developed econo- mies increasingly must enhance their student recruitment plans, tar- get their strategies more effectively, strengthen their marketing and branding mechanisms, and expand their reach farther than ever. In the next few years, technol- ogy will be essential to help schools overcome time zone differences, manage large globally distributed student cohorts, and accommodate local cultural differences in their online programs. Business schools that use new technologies effectively not only will raise their global pro- files and reach new markets, but also will help students in emerging markets access quality management education. Schools in developed markets may need to focus their efforts in one or two regions that have an abundance of quality students but lack the resources necessary to satisfy the demand. That's the approach that Tulane University's A.B. Freeman School of Business in New Orleans, Louisiana, has taken. For many years, the Free- man School has targeted Latin America for master's and doctoral students, a strategy that has helped it become the largest producer of PhDs in Latin America. It has directed its culture, its faculty expertise, and its research orienta- tion beyond its domestic roots to a target market with a high demand for its programs. For schools in emerging mar- kets, however, the opposite is true. They have too many students and not enough faculty. Schools are operating at or above capacity, fac- ulty have high teaching loads, and many students are denied access to the best schools. Many developing nations are working to transition the basis of their economies from primarily the extraction of natural resources to the delivery of technologically sup- ported services. In Latin America, for instance, a number of countries are rich in natural resources, but still struggle to advance their higher education infrastructure. Peru, for example, has made strides in provid- ing quality business education to the region, but the country still needs more capacity. Its population needs more opportunities to develop the skill sets necessary to shift its market and those of surrounding countries to an economy fit for the future. To help their regions prosper, business schools in emerging econo- mies must help raise the education level of their populations by address- ing their resource constraints, insuf- ficient infrastructure, and outdated technology. Most often, the quickest route to addressing such challenges is through partnerships with schools in developed nations. Engaging in Collaboration One example of such a success- ful collaboration is the Sasin Graduate Institute of Business Administration at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand, a joint effort of Chulalongkorn, the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and the Whar- ton School of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. The partnership involved academic and faculty exchanges between the institutions, leading to the devel- opment of Sasin's own full-time faculty with PhDs and a robust curriculum. Collaborations between institu- tions in developed and developing countries can support not only faculty development, but also cur- riculum design, student and faculty exchanges, and cross-continental student teamwork via technological platforms. Through close-knit col- In the next few years, technology will be essential to help schools overcome time zone differences, manage large globally distributed student cohorts, and accommodate local cultural differences in their online programs. GEORGETTE CHAPMAN PHILLIPS will become the Kevin L. Clayton '84 '13P and Lisa A. Clayton '13P Dean of the College of Business and Economics, and professor in the Perella Department of Finance and in the Africana Studies Program. A NEW KIND OF LEADER Lehigh's College of Business and Economics is honored to welcome Georgette Chapman Phillips as our next dean. Aside from leading the Undergraduate Division at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, she also taught real estate, law and Africana Studies. That's just the kind of interdisciplinary perspective we expect of our students, too. Visit: lehigh.edu/business

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