Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/90487
Students prepare to attend classes at the Cairo University Faculty of Commerce. exchange programs. In addition, we have worked with Cau- casus University to establish a 2+2 BBA program in which students study two years in their home country; they then have the option to study for two years at GSU and obtain a in the broadest sense, when U.S. schools facilitate business education in developing countries, they contrib- ute to America's goals of promoting the market economy and democracy throughout the world. On a more micro level, when the Robinson College partners with schools in developing nations, it helps Georgia State reach its objec- tives of globalizing the university. First, these partnerships give GSU faculty the chance to teach in other countries. Second, the partnerships result in students from developing nations coming to our Atlanta cam- pus, and their presence promotes the internationalization of Ameri- can students. Third, when visiting faculty from these partner schools teach at GSU, our students are exposed to worldviews that are dra- matically different from their own. Because of our relationship with two schools in Egypt, members of our faculty who had never worked in an Islamic environment have had a chance to develop a deeper understanding of Islamic culture. They have also made their class- rooms richer by incorporating their greater knowledge of countries in the Middle East and North Africa. Our partnerships have also led us to develop joint programs with some of these schools, including student 42 November/December 2012 BizEd U.S. degree as well as one from their home university. Objectives Achieved Many schools from Westernized countries are interested in pursuing educational ventures in emerging economies, which sometimes leads them to set up satellite campuses of their own universities in parts of the developing world. However, only a small percentage of the rich members of a local population can afford the tuition to attend a branch of a U.S. university. If a school wants to build sus- tainable institutions that help the people of other countries over the long term, I believe it should build local capacity to deliver quality edu- cation at an affordable price. That's been our goal at GSU, and I believe we've achieved our objectives with these six universities. All of the pro- grams we helped establish are still in place, and we continue working with them even through their own growth and major changes. For instance, when we launched the first three programs, economic development was slow in those regions, but today the situa- tion in Azerbaijan has drastically improved due to a newly exploited wealth. We have also seen the privatization of Caucasus Univer- sity, which previously was owned by Tbilisi State University and Georgia Technical University. In our ongoing partnership with that school, we have helped establish BBA and MBA programs there, and this year we will finalize a PhD program—which we believe will be the only American-style business PhD in the former Soviet Union. We also remain involved with Khazar University, which is still fol- lowing the format of the programs we started there. Whenever asked, we provide assistance regarding cur- riculum updates and other issues, and I visit the president and faculty of the school whenever I'm in Baku. The newest schools in our part- nership are also thriving: Azerbaijan University has established BBA and MBA programs, Cairo University has instituted a three-track BBA program, and Alexandria University has established an EMBA program. In these three programs, the first cohorts have reached the graduation stage, and the first graduation cer- emonies were held in 2012. The success of these programs truly illustrates the power of man- agement education. At GSU, we want to show business leaders around the world how to build businesses that operate in a market economy, because we believe this promotes global trade and invest- ment and contributes to peace among nations. Bijan Fazlollahi is a professor at Georgia State University's Robinson College of Business in Atlanta. He is also the director of the school's Center for Busi- ness Development in Transitional Eco- nomics. More information about GSU's partnerships with other schools can be found at robinson.gsu.edu/cbdte/.