Thu Apr 30 10:24:58 2009 Pacific Time
Study Tours Open Up International Doors for Rotman MBAs
TORONTO, April 30 (AScribe Newswire) -- Since 2007 MBA students at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management have enjoyed the opportunity to participate in study tours to countries across the globe which gives them an opportunity to experience the business and cultural lives of each country.
For the third year in a row, MBA students will visit some of India's leading corporations and social organizations during a two week study tour in May. Students will visit firms in a range of sectors from finance to technology to social services including Tata Motors, ICICI Bank, Indian Railways, and the Self-Employed Women's Association. Anil Verma, a professor of industrial relations and human resource management at the Rotman School, will lead the tour. Students will visit Delhi, Ahmedabad, Pune, and Mumbai.
"We are excited about fast-developing opportunities that await us on the Canada-India interface. We want our MBAs to connect with these possibilities not only in economic and business terms but also in the terms that these countries view their own challenges of social development," says Prof. Verma. "The tour is an excellent opportunity for our students to rub shoulders with people on the street whose lives can be improved by combining the ingenuity of both Canadians and Indians. We will visit large Indian and multinational businesses but we will spend a significant portion of our time visiting social enterprises and government operations to better understand their needs."
In 2007, the Rotman International Study Tour program first offered trips to China and India and in 2008 a third trip was added to South Africa.
"The International Study Tours have become an integral part of the Rotman experience as they allow students to study in the emerging economies of the world and experience, first-hand, the differences in business practices as compared with Canada," says Richard Powers, Associate Dean and Executive Director, MBA Programs. "The countries chosen to visit, such as India and China, reflect the increasing importance that these emerging economies will have on the global business patterns."
This past January, while one group was visiting China, a second group travelled to Dubai and Turkey. One of the many highlights for this group was a visit to the Ismaili Centre in Dubai. The centre was officially opened in March 2008 by His Highness the Aga Khan, the Spiritual Leader of the Shia Ismaili Muslims. The centre, a domed structure inspired by traditional architecture in Egypt and Syria, is the only one of its kind in the Middle East.
After a tour of the centre, students heard about the work of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED), which is an international development agency dedicated to promoting entrepreneurship and building economically sound enterprises in the developing world. Karim Khoja, a Canadian, explained his responsibilities with Industrial Promotion Services Asia which manages the Fund's industrial and infrastructure projects in Central Asia including Pakistan and Afghanistan.
"Students were very inspired by the work of Mr. Khoja and his colleagues and how they use entrepreneurial and business solutions to create economic opportunities for some of the world's poorest people," says Rotman Professor Walid Hejazi, who led the study tour. "While most MBA students are focused on pursuing careers in the private sector, many who participated on the trip have now expressed an interest in exploring other options."
''We are glad to learn that the trip to the Ismaili Centre and the presentation of the work of His Highness the Aga Khan / Aga Khan Development Network enabled in inculcating a new paradigm towards selection of career options in the minds of the of the students. One of the objective of the Centre is to lend itself to expand the intellectual, cultural and moral horizons of the society and it has succeeded to achieve exactly the same with the students'' says Aziz Merchant, member of Ismaili Centre Management Board.
During the tour, students visited over 20 companies and organizations in the financial, technology, marketing, engineering, manufacturing, natural resources, media and educational sectors. Photos of the Dubai portion of the tour, including from the Ismaili Centre, are online at http://www.rotman.utoronto.ca/galleries/dubaitour09 .
The Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto is redesigning business education for the 21st century with a curriculum based on Integrative Thinking. Located in the world's most diverse city, the Rotman School fosters a new way to think that enables the design of creative business solutions. The School is currently raising $200 million to ensure Canada has the world-class business school it deserves. For more information, visit http://www.rotman.utoronto.ca/ .
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CONTACT: Ken McGuffin, Rotman School of Management Media Relations, 416-946-3818, [email protected]
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