Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/499026
42 BizEd MAY | JUNE 2015 ities. We're also jointly building mana- gerial capacity and leading the nation to economic success. DRAWBACKS AND DREAMS Despite our lofty goals, we know that any joint international program faces potential hazards. One of our challeng- es is to avoid the pitfalls that Western schools can run into when partnering with schools in emerging markets. These include not customizing content enough to suit the local context, failing to understand the business needs of their host countries, or charging too much for programs. We might avoid those problems, but the JIBS/UR alliance comes with its own challenges. For instance, the geographical distance and cultural dif- ferences between our nations result in high costs for communication, but these are being reduced over time. We are also uncertain about the interpretation of ac- ademic freedom in Rwanda, but remain hopeful this will not be an issue for our joint PhD students. In the meantime, we have received much positive feedback on our programs from deans and project leaders at Addis Ababa University and the University of Rwanda—and we have seen evidence that our programs are producing tan- gible results. For instance, eight junior faculty members from UR are being mentored by JIBS faculty as they con- tribute to a paper that will be presented at a joint international conference in June; the conference, which will be held in Rwanda, will consider how to develop the economy by putting theory into practice. Sida o«cials also believe our programs are working; they have invited JIBS to submit a proposal for a five-year extension of our initiatives in Ethiopia. Meanwhile, we are continuing to explore opportunities to build larger networks and stronger alliances among ourselves, our partner schools, and our host countries. For instance, with our UR partners, we are investigating a re- gional collaboration with PhD programs at other universities in East Africa. We also are looking for ways to collaborate with Rwandan industry. We believe that if our research helps spur the devel- opment of the economy in Rwanda, Swedish companies are more likely to do business in that nation. Finally, our hope is that our collabo- rative business education programs will have a higher-level and longer-term outcome: We will contribute to the eco- nomic complexity that will lead nations like Ethiopia and Rwanda to greater levels of prosperity. That seems like the noblest end goal business education can achieve. Johan Roos is dean and CEO of Jönköping International Business School in Sweden. PARTNERING WITH SIDA The Swedish International Development Agency (Sida), a government agency that has supplied funds and support for JIBS' extensions into Africa from the beginning, views its collaboration with higher education as an important means to develop economies and reduce poverty throughout the world. The organization carries out development cooperation with 33 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America by allocating aid and other funding. The organization's total aid budget in 2014 was SEK38.4 billion (about US$4.5 billion). Sida's position is that knowledge about organizations, economic systems, industry, and regional dynamics is a necessary condition for building democratic institutions and prosper- ous nations. Sida oŒers numerous grants by application to Swedish universities, not only in business and economics, but also in public health, agriculture, mathematics, and informatics. In funding our programs, Sida supports JIBS' goal to have an impact on private and public organizations by educating future leaders. More information is available at www.sida.se or in the 2013 report "Sida's Develop- ment Cooperation in Figures" found at www.sida.se/globalassets/publications/import/ pdf/en/sidas-development-cooperation-in-figures---2013_3665.pdf. Johan Roos (left) meets with PhD candidate Samuel Kamugisha in the lobby of JIBS. PHOTO BY OSKAR POLLACK