Media Releases

International study tours help Rotman MBAs gain insight into the global economy

December 19, 2011

TORONTO, ON – Two groups of MBA stu­dents from the Rot­man School of Man­age­ment at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Toron­to will be kick­ing off the New Year by explor­ing the oppor­tu­ni­ties and chal­lenges of doing busi­ness in the glob­al econ­o­my. One group will be explor­ing the still emerg­ing econ­o­my of Chi­na while the sec­ond will be explor­ing the estab­lished economies of Europe. The tours come at an inter­est­ing time as the glob­al econ­o­my con­tin­ues to search for a way for­ward from the eco­nom­ic down­turn of recent years.

Since 2007, the Rot­man School has offered study tours to its MBA stu­dents includ­ing annu­al tours to India and Chi­na plus addi­tion­al tours to the Mid­dle East, Africa and Latin Amer­i­ca. The trips include stopovers in major cities where stu­dents vis­it to local, Cana­di­an and inter­na­tion­al com­pa­nies, orga­ni­za­tions and gov­ern­ment agen­cies. Par­tic­i­pat­ing stu­dents are able to devel­op their knowl­edge of each coun­try or region and expand both domes­tic and inter­na­tion­al career oppor­tu­ni­ties.

“Even as it is affect­ed by the glob­al eco­nom­ic down­turn, the tour will empha­size the impor­tant of China’s rise to glob­al eco­nom­ic and polit­i­cal pow­er,” says Rot­man Prof. Don Bre­an who is also co-direc­tor of the University’s G20 Research Group, who will lead a group of fif­teen stu­dents to Hong Kong, Dong­guan, Shang­hai and Bei­jing. Site vis­its include Ocean Park, Hutchi­son Group, Mis­sion Hills, Crys­tal Group, Ogilvy & Math­er, Frog Design and Leno­vo.

Tom Sears, a Rot­man MBA grad­u­ate and for­mer man­ag­ing direc­tor with RBC Insur­ance, will lead the tour to Europe which will include stops in Lon­don, Munich and Zurich. Site vis­its include Amer­i­can Express, BBC, BP, Nes­tle, World Trade Orga­ni­za­tion, BMW and Siemens.

Fur­ther infor­ma­tion on inter­na­tion­al oppor­tu­ni­ties at the Rot­man School is avail­able at www.rotman.utoronto.ca/intlExperience/.

The Rot­man School of Man­age­ment at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Toron­to is redesign­ing busi­ness edu­ca­tion for the 21st cen­tu­ry with a cur­ricu­lum based on Inte­gra­tive Think­ing. Locat­ed in the world’s most diverse city, the Rot­man School fos­ters a new way to think that enables the design of cre­ative busi­ness solu­tions. The School is cur­rent­ly rais­ing $200 mil­lion to ensure Cana­da has the world-class busi­ness school it deserves. For more infor­ma­tion, vis­it www.rotman.utoronto.ca.

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For more infor­ma­tion, please con­tact:

Ken McGuf­fin
Man­ag­er, Media Rela­tions
Rot­man School of Man­age­ment
Uni­ver­si­ty of Toron­to
Office: 416–946-3818
E:mail: mcguffin@rotman.utoronto.ca
Fol­low Rot­man on Twit­ter — www.twitter.com/rotmanschool