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Dean's Column

On the Road to a Globalized Curriculum

IN SOME WAY, most of us have probably had a "road to Damascus" experience: a realization that prompted fundamental change. In the biblical story, Saul was on his way to Damascus to persecute Christians when he said he saw a flash of light and heard the voice of God. He converted and eventually became St. Paul.

When it comes to global programming, we've been on our own road to seminal change at the Business School. There hasn't been a single revelatory moment, but a variety of efforts and our new curriculum have dramatically increased global content and activities.

First, the faculty has become more diverse. For a time, economist John Roberts, a Canadian, was a self-described voice in the wilderness for teaching global content. When he arrived at the Business School in 1980, there were a handful of non-U.S. professors. Now 40 percent of our full-time faculty were born abroad or took their first degree outside the United States. Thanks to Roberts' persistence, urging from our Advisory Council members experiencing the complexity of global management firsthand, and growing faculty interest, we took important steps.

In 2002, we set up the Global Center for Business and the Economy, which created a critical mass of activity. From 2006 to mid-2008 the number of global cases increased 100 percent with 46 published last year, including 6 new China cases. Another 23 global cases are in the pipeline.

Then came the MBA curriculum, launched in 2007. We integrated global content through cases and the required course The Global Context of Business. Putting it in the first quarter says right up front to students: This is one of the things we think is most important. Students told us our first run at the global course needed work, so Professor Bill Barnett led the retooling to help students understand the opportunities and challenges involved in global business. The course also includes more operations content and new cases like Hyundai, the globalization of NetApp, and Taobao vs. eBay China.

Increasing numbers of study trips have had a more personal "road to Damascus" effect on faculty and students. Professor Garth Saloner has said that his passion for global issues was reawakened after he led a student trip to India in 2005. A native of South Africa, he was so energized by the experience that he championed the global experience requirement in the new curriculum. It drove the number of student study or service learning trips from 11 in 2006 to 22 this year. Students research and travel to a country they have not lived in with a diverse group of classmates—about 35 percent of our MBAs hold non-U.S. passports. Students from Brazil and Bulgaria shared their different perceptions of a common experience in China, for example.

The exploding number of faculty trip opportunities is fueling interest in and providing new avenues to sources of global datasets, a critical ingredient for quality research. As Barnett has said, "You end up with relationships that become the basis of case development, curriculum development, data acquisition, and an understanding of the business context." After leading two other trips to East Africa, Saloner returned with plans for a course on entrepreneurship in developing economies. And in the Strategic Leadership course, he replaced an old Bic Pen case with an Equity Bank case on microfinance in Kenya.

Interest is surging in study trips just for faculty. Signups for our second one, to India this December, were well ahead of enrollment for the 2007 China trip that led to cases on Lenovo and Baidu.

Research is always important. Roberts, with faculty from the University economics department and the Law School, received $250,000 from Stanford's Presidential Fund to examine why, on average, poor management persists in Indian companies compared to those in China. If India is going to grow, it needs competitive manufacturing. This sort of research can make a difference to real people in real economies. Going global may not be a singular event like St. Paul's conversion, but I have faith that we are on the road to a globalized curriculum.