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Institute of
International Education
809 United Nations Plaza
7th Floor
New York, NY 10017
USA
Tel: +1 (212) 984 5367
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Global Language Partnerships: Preparing Mobile, Multilingual International Business Managers |
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By Martin S. Roth
Evolution of an Innovative Idea
The University of South Carolina’s (USC) Moore School of Business began its foray into international business specialization in the early 1970s. The School believed that fluency in a second language was critical for success in what they saw as an increasingly global economy and decided to include an innovative foreign language component to its full-time graduate business degree program.
While subtle changes to language delivery were made over the years, in 2006 the International MBA Program substantially changed the architecture of language training. The crux of the change is providing students with intense in-country experiences. Led by the IMBA Faculty Executive Committee’s recommendations, which were based on language learning research, virtually all classroom time is delivered via overseas language immersion programs. “Environment is critically important to gaining insight into the nuance and convention of language. It’s also a vehicle to greater cultural insight into a community,” said Dr. David Hudgens, IMBA Associate Director and Track Manager for the Chinese, Japanese, Italian and Arabic Tracks.
The new architecture entails 16-weeks of full-immersion language training (35 hours per-week) for most tracks (novices of Arabic, Chinese and Japanese study language full-time for one year). Language Track managers and a supportive administration have negotiated full-time, in-country language and cultural instruction. Many of the previous summer language partners transitioned to language immersion partners. For those that did not, the track managers were responsible for establishing new partnerships. Steven J. Sacco, Language Education Consultant and Chair of the International Business Program and Professor of French at San Diego State University, describes the new language instruction architecture as “bold and forward thinking. It establishes USC as the leader in language instruction for IMBA programs, setting the bar higher for language proficiency than any other MBA or IMBA programs in the U.S.”
Today, students who select the Language Tracks combine their business education with intensive language training, as well as cultural training, in one of eight languages – Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese or Spanish. The school also offers Global and European Tracks for those already fluent in a second language or who choose to focus on business in English-speaking countries. In addition to language and cultural training, students have an internship in a country where the people speak the language they have studied. All told, IMBA students spend at least seven months living, studying, and working—immersed—in foreign culture, language and organizational environments.
Pursuing and Selecting Partners
In large part, the partnerships have been successful because of the dedication of the track managers: Louis Dessau, David Hudgens, Yoshi Sakakibara, and Cynthia Wharton. All multilingual, they are passionate and committed to the students, the partner schools and the internship employers. Their ability to speak other languages goes a long way toward fostering mutually beneficial, congenial and productive relationships. In some instances, partner schools have agreed to create customized courses to teach Moore students about doing business in their countries. Moore School advisors review the curriculum to ensure that it achieves pedagogical objectives and is AACSB compliant.
When Louis Dessau was hired in 1995 as an IMBA track manager, there was a language instruction school in Paris, but no partner university. His goal was to create a partnership with an institution of higher education, so he approached his MBA alma mater, the European School of Management (ESCP-EAP) Paris campus, a ‘Grande Ecole.’ “ESCP-EAP accommodated us by developing courses about doing business in France that also allowed the students to refresh their French and become familiar with being in Paris” said Dessau.
Under the auspices of the Paris Chamber of Commerce, ESCP-EAP has many business resources at hand. This has been particularly valuable in the post-9/11 world of restricted international travel. “They also agreed to help us with visa applications for internships. Labor laws in France require an agreement. We have an agreement where our partner signs with the student and the host company so we are legally compliant in France with labor laws and immigration requirements,” said Dessau. In January 2007, IMBA French Track students studied in a language program in Paris managed by the Paris Chamber of Commerce. The students will also take the “Doing Business in France” courses at ESCP-EAP. The two schools also have developed an exchange agreement that allows French students to take graduate business electives at the Moore School and IMBA students to take business courses at ESCP-EAP after they have completed their internships.
Another long-standing Moore School relationship is with Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan, due primarily to both school’s willingness to adapt and work to create mutually beneficial situations. Dr. Yoshi Sakakibara, Japanese Program Director and the Japanese Track Manager, knew a professor at the Waseda University Center for Japanese Language Studies and was able to establish a working partnership in 1984. Waseda has been a willing partner through every change that the Moore School has made. Sakakibara stressed the importance of personal visits. Email and phone conversations are just not enough to maintain a solid relationship. That is why he visits Waseda at least once a year. “They appreciate the face-to-face contact,” said Sakakibara. “Other schools do not visit.”
David Hudgens and Louis Dessau concur with Sakakibara that visits are vital to maintaining a successful partnership. They also make annual trips to their respective partner schools. “And our partner schools, at our request, have come here for recruiting events without any remuneration,” said Dessau. “It’s an opportunity for them to promote their language, school and partnership with us.”
“Continuity is critical to successful partner school relations,” explain Hudgens. “Location is important, history in relationships is important, but it is also important to understand each other’s philosophies so that we are collaborating and complementing each other’s strengths.” Relationships are more likely to achieve this continuity if there is a single point of contact at each institution.
Risk Versus Return
The decision to outsource the majority of our language training was indeed a difficult one. The language instruction offered here at USC is excellent. Located in close proximity on campus, the IMBA Program director could easily meet with the language faculty and administration to customize delivery times, content, and so forth. Moving the language training off-shore, therefore, had many inherent risks that had to be managed and minimized, to not outweigh the benefits of greater immersion.
It is important for the partnerships to be mutually beneficial. Representatives at the partner schools say they appreciate the high quality and passion of the Moore School students. Others value the opportunity to have their students interact with American business students. They say the program adds diversity and new perspectives to their classrooms. These schools also open their doors because they see it as an opportunity to promote economic growth in their own country.
“Moore School sends us good and reliable students every year for over 20 years,” said Naomi Hoka of the Center for Japanese Language at Waseda University. “Students who have learned in our program and have taken internship programs may come back to Japan in the future in order to continue their studies or find their job in Japan, which will lead to the progress of Japanese society.”
“One of the reasons we selected EAP, is that it is a business school that specializes in international business,” said Dessau. “They had a focus that was similar to ours on international business, versus the typical French school that would focus only on doing business in France.” Josiene O’Biren, Manager of Visiting Programs at ESCP-EAP emphasizes that having Moore School IMBA students at their school “adds significantly to the international student body and environment that we want all of our students to experience.”
Adaptability is another critical success factor. The Moore School and each partner institution must be adaptable to the ever-changing global business environment. Organizations that want to stay ahead of the game must learn to be versatile and open to change. Again, frequent communications—electronic and face-to-face—allow for dynamic rather than static relationships.
Our network of global language partnerships has created a win-win situation for all involved—the schools, the students and the employers. The Moore School’s objective with language and cultural immersion is to create a better product: road-ready, international business professionals. A mobile manager, well-versed in a country’s language and culture, is better prepared to contribute in the day-to-day activities of for-profit and non-profit entities. The Moore School’s unique learning experience teaches students to live and work in the ever-changing global environment—to become adaptable, mobile managers.
Moore School Language Track Partners
- Arabic:
Arabic Language Institute in Fez, Morocco
- Chinese:
University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) in Beijing, China
- French:
The European School of Management (ESCP-EAP) in Paris, France
- German:
Sprachinstitut (SIT) in Tübingen, Germany
Carl Duisberg Centren (CDC) in Cologne, Germany
- Italian:
Centro Studi Italiani in Varese-Milano, Italy (language instruction)
Bocconi University in Milan, Italy (culture and business instruction)
- Japanese:
Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan
- Portuguese:
Fundacao Getulio Vargas ISAE (FGV) in Curitiba, Brazil
- Spanish: (Spain and Latin America)
Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios superior de Monterrey ITESM in Guadalajara, Mexico
Universidad de Salamanca in Salamanca, Spain
Martin S. Roth, Ph.D., is Executive Director of the IMBA Program and Professor of International Business and at the Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina.
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