Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/62913
■ We'll work with an experi- enced firm that has a successful track record in China's higher edu- cation market. It will assist with our marketing and recruitment on the ground. ■ We'll maintain stronger ties with our EMBA program in College Park, Maryland. This will include hosting our Chinese cohort in the U.S. during a portion of the program. ■ We'll share equal risk—and equal reward—with our local partner. This time around, things are different. Emerging with Opportunity This time around, China is different, too. The country has become a domi- nant global force—as have many other developing markets. Accord- ing to the U.S. Department of Com- merce, emerging economies contrib- uted 30 percent of the world's GDP last year, and they are all experienc- ing rapid growth. It is clear that business schools need to be in these countries as much as corporations do, because there is a huge market for world-class higher education. That market is also expanding beyond Asia. The "Arab Spring" and the change of governments in the Middle East and North Africa are setting the stage for new emerg- ing economies. Transitioning coun- tries not only need political leaders, they also need business leaders. They need modern managers who can lead through uncertainty and take advantage of a rapidly chang- ing global landscape. In order to compete and succeed, leaders need to know how to run operations, use marketing tools, nav- igate global finance, raise capital for 24 May/June 2012 BizEd projects, and cultivate investments in countries and companies. They need strong management education from first-rate business schools. But business schools also need the chance to explore emerging markets. Most business schools emphasize the principles of social value creation and social entrepre- neurship—harnessing the power of business to make money and cre- ate transformative social change. If we enter emerging markets, we can practice what we preach about doing well by doing good. We do good by helping to fur- ther education in these markets and creating a solid future for global business. We do well because we reap financial rewards and enjoy the benefits of rich student and faculty exchanges. We also learn how to do the most good with the fewest resources—a critical lesson in these economic times, especially for state-funded public research universities like ours. Business schools that want to get involved in emerging nations Shanghai, China can choose among three primary strategies. What works for one school might not work for another, so administrators must weigh the pros and cons of each approach before committing to one. Strategy 1: The Partnership Model An individual business school can forge a partnership with a school in an emerging market to offer pro- grams jointly. In some countries, the governments require that the foreign university only operate in partner- ship with a domestic university, and in such cases, this is obviously the only strategy that can be used. Though our first stint with the partnership model in China didn't work out the way we had hoped, it wasn't the model or our partner that was the problem. There are many examples of this model working well. Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis forged a successful partnership with Fudan University in Shanghai, and they have been JTB PHOTO/GLOW IMAGES