Global Perspective

USF Business School Goes Global

by Edward Carpenter

The University of San Francisco’s School of Business and Management has introduced an ambitious joint program on three continents designed to immerse students in the real-world issues of globalization, international entrepreneurship, and management.

The 12-month joint Master of Global Entrepreneurship and Management (jMGEM) – comprised of classes at USF, Instituto Químico de Sarriá (IQS) of Barcelona, and Fu Jen Catholic University of Taipei, Taiwan – is designed for students who recently earned an undergraduate business degree, or the equivalent.

Students attend courses in Barcelona from September to December, Taipei from January to April 2010, and San Francisco from May to August 2010.

“The program provides unparalleled education through classroom and firsthand experience,” said Mike Duffy, dean of USF’s School of Business and Management. “Globalization and diversity are real, integral, and substantive parts of this program.”

While classes are to be taught in English, one-third of the program’s students will come from each of the three partner universities. Students spend a year together attending classes, working in teams, socializing, traveling, and visiting model businesses.

Whether students intend to start their own businesses or work for other organizations upon graduation, the accelerated one-year program is designed to provide multi-national knowledge from three prominent universities, said Shenzhao Fu, jMGEM director and chair of  USF’s marketing, globalization, and strategy department.

Aside from studying and living in North America, Europe, and Asia, students meet and mingle with business professionals and venture capitalists, travel to nearby countries, tour research centers and start-up firms, and learn the regional culture through day-to-day living.

The program is designed to benefit from each partner university’s strengths, leveraging the latest developments in science and technology at IQS, observing global outsourcing at work in Taipei, and speaking face-to-face with venture capitalists and entrepreneurs in San Francisco.

In today’s global business world, with its outsourcing and global networking, the jMGEM offers students with an interest in international business a leg up, Fu said.

Students will attend courses on cross-cultural management, global competitiveness, and venture capital, among others. Graduates earn a jMGEM degree with certificates from each of the three universities, plus access to each school’s alumni network.

Tuition for the yearlong master’s degree program is $36,000, plus travel, room and board, and supplies. Applications are now being accepted for September.