Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/55957
Putting the World Into Place by Tricia Bisoux W ith demand for global education on the rise, business schools are doing more to expose students and faculty to the world's major and emerging markets. But as more programs expand into the global arena, they must compete not only regionally, but internationally. That raises the stakes—and the pressure—for business schools everywhere, says Peter Rodriguez, direc- tor of the University of Virginia's Darden Center for Global Initia- tives (DCGI) in Charlottesville. "The world has gotten a whole lot bigger for business schools," says Rodriguez. "We're going to see more business schools expand their reach into new markets and offer new products and programs. The difficulty will be, how do they do that while schools everywhere— particularly in growth markets like China and India—are doing the same thing?" To make globalization more manageable and meaningful, many busi- ness schools are adopting strategies that tap into their existing resources— many of which are already surprisingly close to home. They're broaden- ing their international networks, embedding study abroad within courses, and infusing their programs with global perspectives. Most important, they are creating more multinational campuses, so that students and fac- ulty can experience global environments before they ever leave home. 26 BizEd SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2010 As business schools customize their individual global strategies, together they're developing a more complete and comprehensive picture of global business.