What’s It Like to Earn Your MBA in Canada at McMaster’s DeGroote School?
Hockey, maple syrup, the friendliest people you’ll ever meet … all reasons to love Canada. But have you ever thought to earn your MBA in Canada?
More often than not, when MBA candidates think about where to go to school, they tend to scour the U.S. for the best programs. Occasionally, they’ll expand their reach overseas to the top programs in the UK and Europe, but often Canada is overlooked; and that’s a mistake. Canada has become an international destination for MBA students looking for an affordable education with an excellent reputation.
Canadian MBA programs offer many of the same opportunities as U.S. programs, but with some surprising benefits. To get a better idea of what it’s like to go to school in Canada, we talked to Bach Dang, a ’19 MBA student at McMaster University’s DeGroote School of Business. Continue reading…
Inside the NYU EMBA Global Study Tour to Vietnam
Global study trips are one of the most valuable opportunities available to MBAs. It can provide students with the chance to experience different business practices, learn from companies across the world, and better understand the global marketplace. It’s a beneficial learning environment for students in any industry and job function.
At the NYU Stern School of Business, the most recent Global Study Tour took a group of Executive MBA students to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. During the trip, students met with representatives from a wide range of companies including Vina Capital, Grab, AstraZeneca, Siemens, Esquel Group, and more. Don’t worry; they also had plenty of time to sightseeing and eat the local food.
To learn more about this most recent Global Study Tour to Vietnam, we spoke with Anjou Martinez, an ’18 EMBA student, who was on the trip.
MetroMBA: What was the highlight of the trip for you?
Vincom Center
Anjou Martinez: The best part of the trip for me was the Local Market Immersion, where each group was assigned a tour guide/interpreter and was given an itinerary to visit a variety of local places to observe the daily life in Ho Chi Minh. My group was tasked to visit Vincom Center, a high-end shopping mall equipped with residential and office space. At lunch, we sampled traditional Vietnamese cuisines such as Bun Bo Hue, a traditional Hue-style beef noodle soup, Xu Chicken Rice, a crispy chicken dish with ginger chili soy sauce and aromatic rice, and Sautéed Vermicelli Noodles with vegetables.
Ben Thanh Market
After lunch, we walked to the famous Ben Thanh Market, an indoor marketplace that sells local handicrafts, branded goods, and souvenirs at inexpensive prices. In this setting, prices are not fixed, so you have to haggle to find a bargain. We also visited Phuong Ha, a specialty grocery store for expats and more affluent locals. Most of the goods were manufactured from the U.S., Europe, and Australia.
On our way to our last stop, which was Maybank, we added a side trip to the Bitexco Financial Tower, which is the tallest skyscraper in Saigon. We ended our immersion at the bank, which was closed by the time we arrived—it closed at 3 p.m., which we thought was early compared to U.S. standards.
Metro: What company visit had the greatest impact on you and why?
AM: My favorite company visit was at Doan Potters, a private company in Binh Duong province which exports its pottery and home décor products to big companies such as Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Crate & Barrel, and Pier 1 Imports. The management was very accommodating. They broke us into groups and assigned us an expert to tour their facilities and better understand their business from converting the raw materials into clay, designing, slip-casting, jiggering, hand-turning, glazing, carving, and firing. This experience showed me how small businesses in Vietnam can thrive, make an impact in their community, and profit globally.
Doan Potters
Metro: Can you share one of your funniest situations or experiences in Vietnam?
AM: The most unique experience I had in Vietnam was after class, when several of us rode on the back of a scooter driven by our personal driver/guide to explore the bustling streets of Saigon while making food stops at local eateries. It was exhilarating to go with the traffic flow with no clear driving lanes and directions. We ate like the locals on low tables and low stools in a crouch position. We were on the streets with Back of the Bike Tours for most of the evening, and we ventured from District 1 to District 3 and 10. I thought it was the best way to live like a local for one night. My driver Phuong was very helpful in answering questions about her country and what it was like for her—as a recent a college graduate—to live in Saigon.
Metro: What surprised you the most about your trip?
AM: Coming into Vietnam, I thought they were a strict Communist country like China. However, I was surprised to find out that the government has done a lot of things to improve capitalism by encouraging privatization. Small- and mid-size businesses are indeed thriving in Saigon.
Metro: Why did you decide to go on the Global Study Tour to Vietnam?
AM: As part of the NYU Executive MBA program, we had an option to go to a global study tour (GST) in Vietnam or Greece. I thought a GST in Vietnam is more of an educational experience for me since I had lived in Southeast Asia when I was younger. I think Vietnam has its own charm and interesting history—so much so that I was inclined to travel more than 20 hours one-way to experience what it had to offer.
Metro: How did the trip enhance or change your view of international business?
AM: Seeing is believing. Aside from Doan Potters, we also visited Esquel Group, a global textile and apparel manufacturing company that boasts clients such as Nike, Ralph Lauren, and Tommy Hilfiger. We witnessed how shirts and pants were made from scratch from cutting, sewing, embroidery, silkscreen, laundering, and packaging. Now, when I go for a run and put on Nike apparel, I think of Esquel’s manufacturing facility and how the world is a smaller place. The East has really met the West. International business can flourish by establishing global partnerships that create win-win situations for both companies.
Metro: Why would you recommend that an MBA student travel abroad during their program?
AM: My global study tour was an eye-opening, educational experience that cannot be matched by lectures, course readings, or videos. Students must immerse themselves in the culture, language, customs and thus, business opportunities. The academic structure of the global study tour optimized the learning.
Southeast Asian Nations to Gather at NYU Stern for Leadership Program
New York University’s Stern School of Business will be hosting executives from the ASEAN region next year in April.
The executives will be arriving from regional management consulting firm SRW&Co. for their ASEAN Global Leadership Program (AGLP) from April 16 to 20, 2018, according to a press release. It takes its program to different leading business universities every year. Some have been in China, U.S., and in the U.K. This year, it’ll be coming to New York City for the first time.
“New York City is an epicenter of global business and a thriving hub of innovation that companies from multinationals to technology firms to startups call home,” NYU Stern Dean Peter Henry said in the press release. “Given our proximity, our faculty are in constant conversation with the business community and will bring the latest insights around global business leadership and innovation to this year’s course for AGLP participants.”
The AGLP is going to center four themes: globalization, innovation, entrepreneurship, and leadership. Organizations in the corporate or public sector have something to learn from the program—even if they aren’t conducting business in the ASEAN region, which includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. These themes are valuable across industries and throughout the world.
Why not host the AGLP at NYU Stern? The business school is the perfect place for the global program as it prioritizes a global approach to education, says Eitan Zemel, Vice Dean of Global and Executive Education, in the press release.
“We are honored to work with SRW&Co. and to welcome AGLP participants to our campus, where they will have access to some of our most celebrated faculty and participate in stimulating conversation on key topics for both the ASEAN region and the global economy,” Zemel would go on to say.
Adventure in Vietnam in the Cass Business MBA Program
A few weeks ago, a number of MBA alumni and current students from City University London’s Cass Business School took a trip to Southeast Asia. The trip was to celebrate the end of the MBA International Consulting Week and was part of a pilot Leadership Expedition. It’s all part of Cass Business’ plan to develop a more adventurous MBA program that encourages students to build an explorer mindset—able to read and respond to rapidly changing business environments. Continue reading…
$2 Mil. Endowment Will Fund Scholarships for Robert H. Smith School Business
The Kimmy Foundation Inc. has announced it will allocate a $2 million endowment for undergraduate scholarships in the University of Maryland (UMD)’s A. James Clark School of Engineering and the Robert H. Smith School of Business. Continue reading…
Rutgers Sets Up Mentoring Program in Vietnam
Rutgers Business School recently published an article by Susan Todd about Assistant Dean Sangeeta Rao’s June visit to the Ho Chi Minh National Academy in Hanoi, Vietnam, where she ran an intensive three-day training program on mentoring.
