4 months
Applied Learning Inside Global Companies
10
ICBC
months
The Challenge
Twenty-four managers participated in the 10-month custom program
As one of the largest banks in the world, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China provides a wide range of financial products and services to more than four million corporate clients and 259 million individual customers through more than 16,200 outlets across China. But ICBC faced a challenge: How could it accelerate its international growth plans, including in the United States? ICBC determined it had to make a significant investment in its future
6 months
Academic Instruction
leaders—not just a three- or four-week introductory course, but an immersive program in which executives both study and experience global business. To help meet this need, ICBC sought out Georgetown’s team, citing our academic reputation and access to decision makers, as well as our global approach to business education. The Program
When the program launched in 2011, 24 managers were selected for 10 months of immersive training on the Georgetown campus and across Washington, D.C. During the course of academic instruction, participants met between three and four days each week and for an additional day of site visits to organizations such as the American Bankers Association, the Federal Reserve, and NASDAQ HQ in New York City. The classes covered many of the core elements of an MBA program but were customized to the needs of ICBC. Following the academic instructional portion of the program, ICBC executives took part in four months of applied learning that blended short special-topic seminars, executive dialogues and panels, and work experience inside companies and organizations.
The Impact
ICBC’s participants gained unique understanding of and access to global financial institutions and decision makers. We aligned classroom instruction, site visits, and applied learning opportunities with the needs of the bank. Before the program’s inception, ICBC had negotiated a number of foreign acquisitions, which subsequently were approved by regulators. As a result of the Georgetown-ICBC program, ICBC has a core group of managers prepared to lead the bank’s growth in the United States and other key international markets and manage the challenges of global business, regulatory structures, potential partnerships, and complex industry landscapes.