Mission

The CGBE leverages the diversity of the GSB community and delivers academic and immersive experiences to educate leaders who change the world. Our initiatives and partnerships support the GSB's mission and enhance the GSB's reputation globally.

We seek to:

• Provide transformative, academic, and immersive experiences that educate
• Advance and enrich the global learning environment at the Knight Management Center
• Inform the marketing of the GSB to an international audience

We achieve these goals through offering immersive learning opportunities outside the classroom as well as providing support for rigorous global research and increased global course content.

History

The GSB has been developing students’ global mindset for decades, but in 1994 a formal program was established by a group of students and faculty who recognized the growing complexities of managing in a global environment. Leo Linbeck MBA ’94 and Professor John Roberts, John H. Scully Professor of Economics, Strategic Management, and International Business, championed the creation of The Global Management Program (GMP). From 1994 until 2010, GMP certificates were granted at commencement to those students who completed a set of international courses.

In 2004 The Center for Global Business and the Economy (CGBE) was founded thanks to the generous leadership of the BP Foundation, Steve and Roberta Denning, S.A. de C.V., John A. and Cynthia Fry Gunn and Cemex. The CGBE, informally referred to as the Global Center, facilitates the development and dissemination of global curriculum materials, encourages research on global issues and sponsors relevant academic conferences. The original CGBE co-directors were John Roberts and John McMillan.

The GSB MBA curriculum was substantially redesigned in 2007 with the objective to develop in students the capabilities necessary to lead, to achieve, and to change the world.  As part of this newly designed curriculum a new Global Experience Requirement (GER) was instituted. These immersive global experiences ensure that every student broaden his/her understanding of the global context of business.

In 2010 the Global Management Certificate was sunset in acknowledgement that the new curriculum provides a holistic exposure to global management for all MBA students.  The Global Management Program, including the Global Experience Requirement, was merged with the Center for Global Business and the Economy, creating a centralized point for global initiatives across the Stanford GSB community.