Innovative Business Degrees for Future Global Leaders What does it take to become a global business leader in the 21st century? Global Intelligence Imagine that you were the CEO of a multi-national corporation (MNC) like Apple, Wal-Mart, Google, SK-II or McDonalds, and wanted to expand your business globally. Would you know how to: • Outsource the production of your iPhones to emerging markets like Vietnam? • Set up Wal-Mart in Japan? • Turn Google into China’s top search engine? • Market SK-II cosmetics products in South Korea? • Create a McDonalds’ menu for India? Whether you want to enter a new market to bring down your production cost or increase sales, it is absolutely essential to understand the local business environment, culture and way of life. Truly Global Business Education: Tri-City Model How can you gain global intelligence as a business student? S P Jain School of Global Management has come up with a revolutionary way of learning. The Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) exposes you to the 32
business environment and culture of at least three different countries over four years: Singapore or Mumbai (1st year), Dubai (2nd year) and Sydney (3rd and 4th year). The entire cohort moves from country to country and graduates in Australia. Peer-to-Peer Learning Students come from all over the world, which creates exciting peer-to-peer learning. This year’s new cohort consists of students from 29 countries and six continents. The wealth of experience contributes tremendously to the discussions. In a recent debate on ISIS, we had one student who had fled to Iraq from Syria, a Palestinian student who had lived in Jordon and Pakistan, an American student whose father had been a US Air Force pilot in the Middle East, and an Indian student who had experienced the Arab Spring in Egypt. All had their own interpretations of the crisis. Insightful Out-of-Classroom Trips Global learning also takes place through weekly activities that complement what is being taught in the classroom and provide a unique immersion in the local culture or business environment. These activities include industry visits, guest speaker talks, competitions, trips to cultural attractions and celebrations of festivals.
Immersive Projects On each campus, you will gain new business insights through hands-on projects. In Singapore and Dubai, you will conduct “Regional Immersion Projects” that analyse an industry. For that, you have to interview business leaders. In Australia, you will solve a specific company problem as part of an “Action Learning Project” or come up with a new business idea for the “Entrepreneurship Project”. Pioneer Spirit Each cohort has to create its own student clubs in Singapore and Dubai, as there are no senior BBA students on campus. While this may seem challenging at first, it provides an outstanding opportunity to be creative and learn how to start a new venture. Initiative, teamwork and leadership automatically become part of your DNA. You will become a pioneer. Lessons in Humility But, ultimately, great business leaders need more than just excellent training and a global mindset. They need humility and empathy. Every year, we do an Overseas Community Service Project that is entirely organized by the students. We have helped communities in Cambodia, China and the Philippines. These trips can be life-changing. They can touch us in ways that few academic classes will. When somebody tells you that “You may forget my face in a few weeks, but, when I die, I will still remember yours”; life can never be the same. Are you ready to be challenged? Then, come to S P Jain. Prof. Golo Weber is the Assistant Dean (Undergraduate Programs) at S P Jain School of Global Management in Singapore. He teaches World Culture, Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility, and is a graduate of Oxford, Cambridge and Peking University.