The visiting MBA students are participating in a study tour of the United States Feb. 12-26 which is designed to broaden the students’ international horizons and “unscramble” the western managerial experience and thought through a combination of company tours and training sessions with U.S. faculty.  In addition to visiting the Western MBA Program the students will be visiting with MBA programs and participating companies in Portland, Ore., Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Washington D.C., and New York City.

“We are delighted to host senior executives from the Lanzhou University School of Management,” said Craig Dunn, associate dean and MBA program director, “The visit will allow us to highlight Western MBA’s distinctive competencies in the twin areas of responsible business practices and supply chain management.”

Western’s College of Business and Economics (CBE) and the Western MBA Program will host three training sessions and two company tours for the visiting students.

On Feb. 17, 2012 the visiting MBA students will travel to Everett where they will tour Boeing’s Everett plant and the Fluke Corporation.

The Western MBA Program has been offering graduate business education in the Pacific Northwest for 30 years.  The program offers a part-time evening track, part-time weekend track, traditional two-year track, and accelerated one-year track to serve the needs of the increasingly diverse student population of Washington state.

The Western MBA Program is ranked among the Top 100 MBA Programs in the world by the Aspen Institute and is number one in the state of Washington. Fully accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) as one of the top five percent of business schools globally, the Western MBA Program seeks to provide a high quality, personal, and flexible experience for its students.

Information, about the Western MBA program can be found at: www.cbe.wwu.edu/mba. To learn more about the Western MBA program, please contact Dan Purdy by e-mail at daniel.purdy@wwu.edu.

Executive Certificate Option (For current EMBA students and alumni) In addition to the academic degree requirements and required international capstone trip, Fordham Executive MBA students and alumni have the option of participating in The Executive Certificate Program .

The Executive Certificate Program is a one (1) week international “Gateway” program that has a focus on strategy, business development, and social responsibility within a specific region of the world in the context of the Jesuit Tradition.

Each “Gateway” will incorporate class sessions, corporate visits, government appointments and a cultural component.

In order to qualify and obtain an Executive Certificate, current Fordham Executive MBA students and alumni must participate and complete one (1) international Gateway Program.

Below please find upcoming trip options for The Executive Certificate Program.

London , England – March 2012
Fordham London Centre, Heythrop College, Kensington Square

Course — Doing Business in Europe

LOCATION
Fordham London Centre, 23 Kensington Square, Housed on the campus of Heythrop College

INSTRUCTORJonathan Story, Emeritus Professor, INSEAD

COURSE DESCRIPTIONAs every issue of the Financial Times illustrates, doing business in and with Europe is a sizeable part of the world economy and, represented by the European Union (EU) and/or its members, is an important player in international trade, monetary, regulatory, environmental and security politics. Europe also is the prime home of multi-nationals in the world, with a foreign direct investment footprint around the world twice that of the United States. In fact, Europe is a region which shares its key characteristic of diversity with the rest of the world. Learning how to do business in Europe is therefore of interest to business people originating from the region, as well as from elsewhere.

COURSE TAKEAWAYS
Develop clearer understanding of how the EU and its major member states ‘function’, how they make key decisions, how significant home and host countries are for corporate operations there, and not least, what an extraordinary wealth part of the world Europe is.
Understand the political, market and business environment of Europe in which commercial decisions take place.
Course attendees will include current students in the EMBA Program and MS in Investor Relations Program as well as EMBA Alumni.

LOGISTICSParticipants are expected to arrive at the St. Giles Hotel in London on Sunday, March 11, 2012. The course will begin on Monday, March 12 and will conclude on Friday, March 16 by lunchtime. Participants are expected to check out of hotel on Friday, March 16.

PRICE $2,250 (alumni)
The price includes academic materials, breakfast/lunch (Monday-Friday), overnight accommodations and transportation during the week (hotel to campus to site visits). The price does not include airfare and travel expenses to / from airport to hotel and dinners throughout the week.

For additional information, please contact Francis Petit, Associate Dean (petit@fordham.edu).

Earn an Executive Certificate from Fordham University

This forms of professional management education aims to deliver materials in a concentrated manner to business leaders within a short span. The degreed Program is designed for working professionals like executives, managers and people with at least seven years work experience in a company or leading a business and are meant to fulfill their educational thirst. An expansion has been noted throughout the globe. A huge number of universities have already embraced the course and opened opportunities for tens of thousands of working professionals to further enhance their skills and talents in the field of management.

EMBA courses provide EMBA candidates with the opportunity to sharpen their management and leadership skills through assignments and systematic educational classes. This actually results in enhancing their level of proficiency in the field. Considered as one of the most popular courses available on the net, EMBA programs have developed to motivate professionals. Executive MBA courses are based on curriculums which are structured to help professionals get in touch with the top-notch strategies in management; they also help in honing the skills you have developed so far.

The Online EMBA courses are developed for professionals who are eager to pursue a higher level of specialization in fields like management, chain management, hospitality management, operations management, finance management, marketing, global business and more. EMBA opens a wider scope in front of aspiring candidates who dream big. Students get to choose from a myriad of options available to them however getting through the right B-school in town is important. Nowadays B-schools are ranked making it easier for applicants to decide over their choice. Amidst all that noise created while making a choice there are also some positive points for the best selection, firstly you get enrolled under a prestigious institution, secondly you get all benefits of acquiring a degree from an accredited business school, and thirdly your way to achieve higher ranks in the company you work for.

The Executive MBA programs are directly ranked considering the following factors:
• Academic body involved
• Course structure
• Infrastructure
• Principles
• Learning processes
• Placement opportunities

Executive MBA is one of the most sought-after courses by candidates hailing from a professional background.
EMBA courses have developed over the years to make way for management professionals to hone their leadership and working skills. It is branch of MBA and has become quite popular nowadays.

A note from the contributing author: Robert Williams is a pioneer in delivering knowledge about EMBA programs. He offers an insightful approach at MBA programs that have seen a new light under the influence of online education.

But for those with families or who have full-time jobs, the possibility to return to school may seem unlikely.  But you just may be able to pursue your career aspirations and take care of your current duties by enrolling in an online EMBA program. But before you jump on the bandwagon or dismiss the idea entirely, it important that you forget about what you think you know about online education. That said, below are the most common online education myths debunked.

Myth #1.  Earning an Online EMBA is Easier. Earning an online EMBA provides tons of flexibility since you are able to “attend classes” at your up most convenience—let’s say during your lunch break, while the kids are asleep, or when you return home from a full-time work day.  While yes it’s true you can tune-in to pre-recorded audio and video lectures on “your” time by accessing an online course management system like Blackboard, that doesn’t suggest that the coursework is an easier. In fact, it’s just as intense. You’re still required to take notes, read assigned textbook pages, compose essays, complete projects and prepare for exams all on the given deadlines. Also depending on which program you enroll in, you may need to prepare a thesis. Not to mention that the online format may prove difficult for those who are accustomed to working in large groups, receiving feedback from peers, or who are used to having immediate access to professors. That’s not to say that online students are completely isolated—communication is conducted via chat rooms, videoconferencing and email. But the response rate can be quite slow. That said, online classes are really designed for the independent-type. Note that depending on which program you enroll in you may very well need to go to a special designated facility so that you can take proctored exams to ensure there is no cheating.

Myth #2. Earning an Online EMBA is Cheaper and Faster to Earn. This is completely false. Online EMBAs cost about the same per credit. Some online EMBA programs, like Texas Southern University may offer “tuition packages” that include the cost of yearly tuition, books and extra course materials but when calculated, it costs about the same as attending a traditional school plus expenses. While tuition is the same, you may very well end up saving a substantial amount of more money taking the online route however. This is because you won’t be forced to waste gas money traveling to and from campus, you won’t have to purchase parking passes, expensive meal plans or pay for room and board. And since online professors tend to compile their own studying material into PDFs, etc you may get away with buying fewer textbooks—which as you may already know can run up to $200 per book.  As far as length goes, on average each online EMBA program requires about 36 credit hours for completion. That said, it should take you roughly two years to complete your program if enrolled as a fulltime student. While there are a few accelerated online programs offered, if you come across a program that promises an EMBA in only a short year or so, you could be getting scammed by a fraudulent school which leads us to our last myth buster—

Myth #3. All Online Schools/Programs Are the Same. Not all programs should be viewed equally. To identify the prestigious schools from the fraudulent ones, you need to first check the school’s accreditation. Accreditation ensures that the online program meets a particular educational standard. While accreditation is not determined by the U.S. Department of Education, it does provide a handy tool that allows users to search a particular schools accrediting stance. Note that not all schools will be available on the U.S. Department’s Web site. If it is not, you can also use College Navigator to check for accreditation. College Navigator is also an excellent way to investigate a particular school’s statistics, including retention rate, tuition costs, student-teacher ratio etc. Note that while there a multiple accrediting agencies, they are divided into two groups: national and regional accreditation. Both are legitimate, however employers sometimes favor graduates of regionally accredited schools. This is because typically regionally accredited programs are offered through easily recognizable brick-and-mortar graduate schools and thus employers trust that you have a solid education. Of course, if you enroll in a national accredited program/school your education can be just a solid, but you might have to use a tad bit more of your persuasive skills to impress employers during the interview process.

That said, online education can be a lucrative option for those who feel as those their current obligations restrict them from attending a traditional EMBA program.

Author Bio:

This is a guest post by Nadia Jones who blogs at online colleges about education, college, student, teacher, money saving, movie related topics. You can reach her at nadia.jones5 @ gmail.com.

Executive MBA consulting projects show long-term value in a highly dynamic and competitive global economy.  Schools require students to consult on a wide array of practical and relevant business cases and students use these projects to hone skills, enhance existing job roles, and better yet, for the displaced worker a leg up in the competition for new jobs. In a shrinking hiring environment such EMBA consulting projects are making all the difference to secure the coveted job or continue up the corporate ladder.

The Middle Manager Squeeze, a term coined by EMBA World in 2005, describes the challenges facing a white-collar workforce prior to the 2008 financial crisis. Workers
face longer work hours and increased demand in output coupled with a plateaued
salary after adjusted for inflation and a higher cost of living, health care, education and the rest. The middle manager squeeze runs parallel to the squeeze on the middle class.  Now with nothing more to squeeze, industry has begun to shrink the middle manager. Larry Katz, an economist at Harvard recently reported in MarketWatch that even well-paid positions in the U.S. over the next decade will shift to countries where labor is cheaper. If manufacturing can move to Mexico, South America and Asia, who says a CEO can’t be outsourced next? In the future lots of middle and upper middle class jobs will be in decline, Katz explains.

The job market is changing and on fast track since the 2008 financial crisis. Even some highly paid workers find retooling a necessity to maintain job security. Job changers and those seeking reemployment have more to battle to get even a foothold back into the career track.  Companies are finding ways to simplify roles to reduce the need to pay higher wages says Jeffrey Joerres , CEO of Manpower Group, a Milwaukee-based staffing service firm. No position is untouchable and even Wall Street firms announced job reductions in the upcoming third and fourth quarter of 2011.

Faced with uncertain job prospects in an already crowded unemployment line, what is a
worker to do? The academic route is one of the first to consider and the Executive MBA has shown to hold its value long term. The 2010 EMBA survey by EMBA World showed that most Executive MBA graduates remain employed and 40% surveyed of those surveyed were still with the same employer. This bodes well for EMBA graduates and for prospects thinking of attending business school and deciding between the traditional MBA, part time MBA, or the Executive MBA. The EMBA is designed for people who wish to secure the degree within two years and not drop out of the workforce. The EMBA typically includes one or more consulting projects with practical application either at the sponsoring company or organized through the university. Either way, students are using the EMBA consulting project to further enhance their skills and draw upon the projects
as strategies to secure new jobs or reinforce their current place of employment.

The EMBA consulting project is a win-win-win. Employers embrace highly intelligent
and motivated students, problem solvers to costly problems, and at a price that a McKinsey consultant or Boston Consulting Group specialist could not entertain. Universities build bridges with corporation, provide memorable experiences and
skills to students, and fill the semester with a practicum. Students garner real life experiences, network with hiring professionals, and leverage the project to their own needs whether applying the findings to their own employer or when securing a new job.

What kinds of business school consulting projects exist and how applicable could
they possibly be to the real world? They range from marketing to finance and typically incorporate a broad range of coursework and interpersonal skills. They typically are part of the capstone, which is a final project or exam representative of the two year EMBA program. Going into the project the EMBA students are unfamiliar with the company. They must conduct an in-depth analysis, synthesize and distill their findings, develop a strategy and recommendations for the client, and present those recommendations to the
client. It may sound cliché but this truly is a hands-on experience.

Here are just a few examples:

• London, England’s prestigious Thurleigh Investment Managers needed a model to measure at which points markets reach unsustainable levels.  Other projects have included
  studying market penetration strategies of western companies into the Chinese market, reports Erin Ericsson, graduate of the Said Business School, Oxford University.
• Lucent China wanted to move from a product organization to a service/solution organization.  What are the steps and what is the strategy to achieve this goal?   Another project was BMW Financial Services in Beijing who not only wanted to grow the financial services products for automobiles in Asia but beyond.  What is the strategy asks Dr. Francis Petit, Associate Dean for Executive MBA Programs, Fordham University.
• Our EMBA program includes the Business Practicum course, in which students complete a 3-month consulting project for a real client who would otherwise have to hire professional consultants. The projects are very high level, the list of
  companies is quite impressive– including NASA, the Cleveland Indians, the
  Cleveland Clinic describes Ann Csongei, Communications Coordinator, Nance
  College of Business Administrations, Cleveland State University.

Social responsibility and green jobs are increasingly finding their way into class consulting. As Francis Petit of Fordham University describes, more organizations are interested in corporate social responsibility (CSR) as well as “green” and “global”
strategies for competitive advantage. Said Business School offers a business consulting project that focuses on social entrepreneurship in the Australian outback. If you interview for an EMBA be sure to inquire where the business consulting project will take place and the business case for study.

There is mixed reviews in terms of corporate participation and this may be due more to local industries than anything else. The retraction in financial services in New York City puts the burden on JP Morgan Chase to find resources to manage and facilitate their business school consulting project. “It is not easy to find managers willing to take on another responsibility given their increasingly heavy work load or decimation of
certain departments,” describes A J Blake, vice president of Corporate Communications. Other tactics that schools employ is to build stronger connections with local companies and build the plans for a master project that may entail several phases each carried out by subsequent classes. This way the school stays connected long term and so do the alumni in helping prepare the next class for their project.  “Some companies who sponsor students each year roll out a sequence of projects that build on each other; that is, in Year 1, the first class does one phase, in Year 2, the next class undertakes a new phase that builds on class 1’s capstone, and so on.

For EMBA students what does this mean and how can the experience be leveraged upon graduation?  Consulting projects are a highlight of the EMBA experience. It reinforces the materials taught in class and brought relevance to classwork never experienced in the
outside world.  From my own experience, it can be a thrill to hear my host company in publications. My EMBA class at Fordham University ’00 helped Lenovo, the largest computer manufacturer in China devise, a strategy to become a major computer manufacturer worldwide.

When they reached global Fortune 500 status two years after our presentation in Beijing it was like a page right out of our project. The Lenovo board apparently took our acquisition strategy to heart.

“I take pride in the accomplishments and personalities I encountered while on the job. I
was thrilling to dig deep into the change management and new product
development case study at Texas Instruments, says Casey Wildeham, of the
McCombs School of Business, University of Texas in Austin. “I developed great
team leadership skills and referenced the results of my project during my
interviews. Now I am applying similar skills at Dell Computers.”

Such successful examples in the classroom are drawn out in job interviews, resumes,
cover letters and with employment agencies. These highly practical experiences
separate candidates into an entirely different class. During interviews students
draw experience from the consulting project to the prospective position. Such
parallels will make all the difference between two candidates – one with real
world experience and one out from the cold.

“Whether you are on the job or looking, the business school consulting project is an
asset that needs to be highlighted at every possible opportunity. It is unique,
practical, hopefully still relevant, and the one aspect on your record that
separates you from the next candidate”, says Marjorie Perlmutter, senior
director of Employment Enterprises, a private hiring consultant firm in New
York City for top 100 public companies.

In the years to come as the middle manager market shrinks and the skill set of the
white-collar employee changes, practical and unique experience will become even
more important to maintain employment. With a consulting project that shows
real bottom line value measured in real savings or real income growth gained
from an impressive business school consulting project may make all the
difference between you and the other candidate fighting for that one position.

By Jason Price, Director, EMBA World (2011)

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch July 26, 2011) — Big business and the Obama administration are teaming up to better target the $3.5 billion corporations invest in the U.S. education system each year, with a focus on fixing lagging skills in science, technology, engineering and math.

President Barack Obama and representatives from education advocacy groups met July 18 to discuss ways to make sure corporate investment is money well spent. Right now, businesses are struggling with how to coordinate corporate giving and education in a way that gets more money to programs with effective track records.

“A world-class education is the single most important factor in determining not just whether our kids can compete for the best jobs but whether America can out-compete countries around the world,” Obama said in remarks before the meeting. “America’s business leaders understand that when it comes to education, we need to up our game.”

Education helps drive the economy

Corporate leaders must act decisively to spread awareness to the public that a broken education system has direct economic implications, participants said.

“We know for sure that there is a direct economic impact when kids become engaged and drop out of school,” said a representative from Microsoft, which announced plans to invest $15 million to develop immersive game-based instruction technologies and to train educators through its Partners in Learning network.

Bank of America pledged $50 million to help more Americans finish college, with the first batch of that money — $4.5 million — headed to Boston-area nonprofits.

Nike made a $9 million, five-year commitment in 2007 — that amount was then upped to $10 million. The company already has spent $7 million of that on grants, and announced plans to spend the remaining $3 million to provide funding for a pilot program in Oregon that encourages innovation among high-school students.

Marguerite Kondracke, chief executive of America’s Promise Alliance, which pledged to raise $50 million through its “Grad Nation” campaign to reduce high-school dropout rates, said the public generally isn’t aware that the nation’s economic prosperity is directly linked to a strong education system. America’s Promise Alliance was founded by former Secretary of State Colin Powell and his wife, Alma, who attended the meeting.

“We’ve got to be better at [making] the connection between education, the workforce, and the economy,” Kondracke said. “We are falling further and further behind in global competition.”

Fewer grads, less tax revenue
Kondracke estimated there are 3 million unfilled jobs in the U.S. because employers cannot find qualified employees.

According to an Alliance for Excellent Education report on the economic impact of steep high-school dropout rates, more than 30% of students — and nearly half of students of color — in 2007 failed to graduate after four years of high school. The report estimates that even halving that number would generate an additional $42 trillion in tax revenue over 20 years.

“The best economic stimulus package is a diploma,” said Bob Wise, former governor of West Virginia and president of the Alliance for Excellent Education.

Rather than shying away from investing in education, participants at the meeting said the country’s debt crisis demonstrated the need to do more.

“We need to be much more vocal and much more visible so the states don’t see that, in this time of budget cuts, [education] is something that can be taken off the table,” said Kathy Havens-Payne, the director of education initiatives for State Farm, the insurance company.

“When a governor is willing to stand up and say ‘we’re going to raise our standards,’ we as a business community need to be standing side-by-side with our governor,” she said.

But executives that took part in the conversation expressed some hesitation in spending yet more money on education without ensuring the efficacy of the programs and some return — financial or otherwise — on their investment.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, public dollars spent per student more than doubled since 1971, from $4,500 to $10,500, while assessment scores have not appreciably risen over the same span.

“We’re still a nation that’s focused on putting money on a problem before really understanding it,” said Richard Stephens, a founding member of the Business Industry STEM Education Coalition and a senior vice president at Boeing Co. (NYSE:BA) .

“Community leaders need to come together to understand that sometimes it does take money, but more often than not, money is not the issue,” he said.

State Farm’s Havens-Payne sees a need for business investment in education to pay off for the companies, something that does not always happen now.

“We’re investing a lot in education but we’re not really seeing any improvement,” she said. “We need to bring the [programs] that work to scale, rather than just creating another new program.”

By Gabrielle Levy of Medill News Service

Stephanie Carlton, a health policy adviser for the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, travels 3,000 miles roundtrip to attend the University of Texas in Austin every other week.
You’re a piker next to Harsh Gupta, the quintessential “Up in the Air” road warrior (referring to the 2009 movie starring Clooney, who plays a consultant that travels over 300 days a year on business).

Every other weekend, Gupta flies 7,261 miles through 10 time zones from Dubai to Chicago simply to get an executive MBA degree from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management in Evanston, Ill. All told, the roundtrip travel costs $4,800 a pop, consumes 30 hours in the air, and adds 14,522 miles to his frequent flyer account.

“I meet people and they ask, ‘So, where do you come from?’ When I say, ‘Dubai,” I see their jaws drop to their chests,” says Gupta, the chief executive of his own consumer electronics company. “It’s an expression that’s impossible to describe, but it is worth seeing.”

By the time he graduates with his executive MBA at year-end, Gupta will have spent 1,140 hours in the air — not including the inevitable flight delays and cancellations –traveling a total of over 20 million miles just to get the degree. And he will have spent more money on business class airplane tickets — $182,400 — than the $153,900 cost of tuition. “But if I capitalize the expense over my life span,” he says, like a true MBA, “I am sure the returns will be far greater.”

An army of B-school globetrotters

Believe it or not, Gupta is hardly alone. Almost all of the premier business schools boast about full-time executives willing to endure the proverbial commute from hell to earn a prestige piece of parchment. These MBA road warriors make huge sacrifices in money and time to get an elite graduate business education, putting considerable strain on both their work lives and their families.

Indeed, even school administrators are bemused by these execs’ willingness to travel thousands of miles every other week to attend class. One executive MBA at IE Business School endures an eight-hour flight from his home country of India to the school in Madrid, Spain, every other week. “Can you imagine that?” says Dean Santiago Iniguez de Onzono. “It’s heroic.”

Consider Christopher Min, an American-born consultant for Accenture who lives in Seoul, South Korea: Every other Friday and Saturday, he sits in a San Francisco class, studying for an executive MBA at The Wharton School’s West Coast campus. Nearly one in every five students in the program comes from outside of California, but mostly from nearby states such as Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.

Min clearly has the longest commute in his class — a 12-hour flight. “On Thursday, I board a flight to San Francisco, study eight hours on the plane, and arrive in California early afternoon on Thursday, rest and prepare for classes on Friday morning,” he says. “I then fly back to Seoul on Monday and arrive there on Tuesday evening.”

The schedule eventually got so grueling that Min decided to rent an apartment next to the Wharton building in San Francisco so he could occasionally spend two weeks working from the U.S. “You learn to adjust and make time out of seemingly full schedules to get school work done,” says Min.

Why does Min spend an extra $3,000 a month on airfare and put himself through the extra pressure of travel when he could have gotten a degree closer to home?

“I would be lying if I said I didn’t choose Wharton for the influence and prestige that comes with the Wharton brand,” he says. “In Korea, the name of the school one attends is a big deal.”

Making time for class, work, and, err, family?

Executive MBA programs are highly challenging experiences. In addition to holding down demanding full-time jobs, students typically spend 20 hours a week studying, alternating weekends in class and occasional residential weeks in far flung locales. Tacking on hours navigating airports across multiple time zones onto an already frenetic schedule can take its toll — particularly on those who have families.

Arun Sasikumar Nair commutes from Singapore to Toronto’s Rotman global executive MBA program — along with immersion weeks in Brazil, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Budapest. He got engaged a year and a half ago. “This experience has definitely tested our relationship and the strength of it,” he says. “Traveling every two or three months for extended periods of time is not easy on your partner or your family, for sure. They don’t get to see you…I think it would be extremely hard if someone didn’t have their partner’s undying support like I have.”

Some even gain comfort from the compartmentalization the traveling provides. Stephanie Carlton, a health policy adviser for the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, doesn’t mind the 3,000-mile roundtrip commute to the University of Texas in Austin from Washington every other Thursday evening. “Traveling to Texas helps me separate work from school. When I’m in Washington, I focus on reforming Medicare and Medicaid. When I’m in Austin, I focus on Dr. Rao’s next corporate finance exam.”

Carlton is also going to Texas in part because the program is about $20,000 less expensive than Georgetown University’s offering, even after accounting for the travel costs. “There’s some economic logic to my commuting decision,” she says.

Recession makes a harsh commute even harsher

These already hellish commutes have grown even more tortuous because of cutbacks in both flight schedules and corporate support for executive education.

When Christopher Bouck initially signed up for Cornell University’s executive MBA program, airlines offered many direct flights to New York from the Cayman Islands, where he lives and works as an accounting manager for ABN AMRO. The Dutch bank also had a tuition reimbursement program.

“I thought I’d have it relatively easy,” Bouck says. “But as the economy unraveled, many airlines cut down the flights so now I have to fly using connections.” His job also closed the window on tuition reimbursement, forcing him to foot the entire $145,380 cost of the 22-month program. “A number of my classmates had their anticipated corporate funding dry up during this time as well,” he adds.

Despite the setbacks, Bouck went ahead, making the 3,000-mile roundtrip nearly every other weekend. Typically, he’ll work half a day on Friday and head to the airport for a 2 p.m. flight to Miami and arriving at Cornell by midnight for Saturday morning class. By Sunday afternoon, he’s heading home.

The experience has made him a “very efficient traveler, sort of like George Clooney in ‘Up in the Air,’” he says. “I travel in economy, but I get the best seats (reclining exit row window seats), go through the shortest lines, and I have everything ready ahead of time. I can move through an airport with lightning efficiency. That is a skill which will be with me for life.”

Those skills will be further tested when Bouck and his wife have their first child at the end of this month. “Having gone through this hectic schedule for about 20 months now, I feel a bit shell-shocked,” he admits. “Once it’s all over with, I’m sure I will look back and realize that all the travel, expense, and time away from home was a small price to pay for the experience, the friends that I have made, and my Ivy League degree.”

“Is it worth it?” he asks aloud. “Absolutely.”

This article is by Andrea Carter of poetsandquants.com and seen on CNN Fortune page: http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2011/03/15/meet-the-mba-road-warriors/

An interesting consumer trend researched in-depth by Harvard Business School professors demonstrates that American buyers overall tend to favor what are perceived as "underdog"brands. A recent Miller-McCune article explained the research, showing how products thatportray themselves as having overcome odds despite initial setback appeal to consumers on avery deep level.

The researchers–Neeru Paharia of Harvard University, Anat Keinan of Harvard BusinessSchool, and Jill Avery of the Simmons School of Management–found that Americans in particular are drawn to such legends of small beginnings. These legends tend to predominate in more individualistic societies like the United States precisely because people are often judged onindividual merit.

Some examples cited in the article are Nantucket Nectars, whose bottles say, "We started Nantucket Nectars with only a bottle and a dream", as well as Clif Bars, which claim that "In 1990, I lived in a garage with my dog, skis, climbing gear, bicycle, and two trumpets."

Even big name brands proffer versions of these underdog myths when alluding to their beginnings, like Apple. Why, some would ask, is this consumer preference so strong? The researchers suggested that despite realities, a very large portion of consumers self-identified as "underdogs" among their groups, whether such groupings were based on financial status,ethnicity, friends, or others of their native country.

And because consumers tend to buy products that are aligned with their perceived identities, and they will avoid products which they feel do not accurately portray who they or who they would like to become in the future, the "underdog" status carries much currency. Interestingly, this empathy with underdog brands is not as successful in Asian societies, and the researchers speculated that this is so because such societies construct identity based on collectivity, in which a sense of self is not as strongly developed.

The latest trends are remarkable in that they somewhat contradict previous research asserting that consumers will purchase products in an effort to enhance their perceived status. In short, there was a tendency to assume that consumers would go for the "top dog" and not the "underdog".

For those currently completing a business degree, especially an executive one, it is critical to remain on top of such consumer trends. This is so simply because when founding or leading any company, success is often dependent on carefully constructing and guiding consumers'perceptions of your business. With this latest research, it's probably best to stick with age-oldsaying–less is more.

I want to thank our guest post contributed by Angelita Williams, who writes on the topics of online college courses at: http://www.onlinecollegecourses.com/. She welcomes your comments at her email Id: angelita.williams7@gmail.com. For more information on the Executive MBA please visit www.EMBAWorld.com.

Executive MBA students in Professors Aggarwal and Rahtz global strategy management class spent ten days in Southeast Asia during which they experienced firsthand the demands and opportunities in today’s global economy  The trip’s agenda included visits to a retailer, the port in Singapore (PSA), the stock exchange and a manufacturing facility in Ho Chi Minh City.

Of special note, was our visit to the Wat Bo primary school in Cambodia and, upon our arrival,  we were escorted into a meeting room by a student musical group to meet the principal and other officials associated with the school.  “It was clear, this is a special place. I was lucky enough to be able to present a donation to the principal on behalf of some of the employees from my former organization, Naviance,” said Greg Smith, MBA’10.  

This school is supported by the Ponheary Ly Foundation, a registered non-profit organization in the US, and it was no surprise when we learned that Ponheary Ly, former teacher and founder, had been nominated for the CNN Heroes of the Year award for 2010.  A CNN news team arrived in Cambodia just two weeks after our visit to the Wat Bo primary school to capture the story of her and the work the foundation is doing to educate the children of Cambodia.  Truly a memorable, albeit extremely hot, experience!

Another class favorite was visiting Tang’s, a prominent leader in Singapore’s retail scene, courtesy of Professor Ring.    Marketing from strategy to implementation. This is what it it’s all about. Real world experiences taught by world class professors.

Worldwide connections with universities around the globe enable the Executive MBA Program at William & Mary to set up seminars and business contacts covering topics such as cultural differences, financing, and trade opportunities.  This international trip experience augments the global perspectives explored in the classroom and exposes students to unique cultures.

“We sat there talking about creating an import/export business while enjoying a late night dessert. It was not hypothetical or academic, but an earnest discussion of how to apply our experiences and contacts to make it a reality. That’s the beauty of this program. We are able to combine a lifetime of experience with fresh perspectives gained through education,” said Joe Hertzler (MBA’10).

This article was contributed by Susan Hughes, Director, Executive MBA Program, Mason School of Business, College of William & Mary. Contact: susan.hughes@mason.wm.edu 

And this begs the question – why is such a valuable degree shunned by most women? According to recent statistics, only 20 percent of the nation’s EMBA students are women; the low number is an anomaly to the rest of the education spectrum where women are able to hold their own and even beat the male of the species in equal or higher numbers. Perhaps the reasons for this avoidance are:

• EMBA classes are held mostly over the weekend to accommodate most of the class who lead busy work lives throughout the week and so, are unable to spare time to attend lectures and discussions. This means that women who enroll must compromise on their family time in order to attend class. If you have kids at home who look forward to spending time with you and who seek your attention on the weekends, you’re probably going to wish your degree fast forwarded to its natural conclusion.
• The high and sometimes prohibitive cost of EMBA programs – if your employer is not too keen on shelling out money towards your degree, you may not be willing to secure a loan or spend your own money to earn an EMBA. You cannot justify the cost as an investment when the money could have been spent on countless other things. Besides, some employers may be prejudiced against spending money on women to take up EMBA programs.

But in spite of these hurdles, if you’re a woman, here’s why you must pursue an EMBA if you’re serious about your career:

• In today’s touch economy, it’s the values that matter – relationships and people – that are taking importance; women are becoming more valuable to corporations because they are perceived as more emotional and so, more human. They’re able to make a difference because of their softer approach to business interactions rather than the hard-boiled attitude that men tend to adopt. So if you’re really interested in an EMBA, your employer would most probably be willing to sponsor it for you.
• You’re bound to be up for a promotion and/or a salary increase if you add an EMBA to your arsenal of business tools.
• Many schools that offer EMBA programs now feature attractive scholarships for deserving women. So if you’re really passionate about the degree but are worried about the cost, look around for scholarships that could help you get ahead.

Remember, it’s now or never when it comes to getting ahead in your career. So while you may have to juggle work, family and an education for a few months, at the end of it all, you find that it’s worth every inch of the struggle.

This guest post is contributed by Anna Miller, who writes on the topic of degrees online. She welcomes your comments at her email id: anna.miller009@gmail.com