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"It's one thing to hear about Westerners doing business in Asia during a class and another thing to hear from the people themselves," said James Picou, an Executive MBA student who participated in the first-ever mandatory international trip, now part of the program in the Chapman Graduate School . Picou was one of twenty students and two program alumni who traveled to Beijing , Shanghai , and Hong Kong in January 2005. The annual trip is scheduled to follow the fourth or "international quarter," during which the cohort studies international business and global finance.
The Pembroke Pines '05 cohort visited Chinese corporations, foreign companies doing business there, and Chinese government organizations. Sumit Kundu, professor of international business, and Sarah Perez, director of the program, accompanied the group. "It was a wonderful learning experience for everyone," Perez said. "The students were exposed to a number of different industries and types of companies, which gave them a good understanding of business in the region." Among their stops: HLT Special Converters Co., Ltd, Legend Computers, Beijing CLTC, and Zhen Property Management in Beijing; Shanghai Qin Xu Plastics, Unilever Shanghai, and Heraeus Kulzer Dental Ltd in Shanghai; and HKNET and HK Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Hong Kong.
In addition, networking took place across the cultures. For example, Picou, a project manager at Ryder Systems, Inc., identified several potential business opportunities in logistics and EDI. The participants also took in many cultural and historic sites, including the Great Wall of China, the Summer Palace, Tiananmen Square, and the Forbidden City. And there was another valuable result. "Traveling is a bonding experience," Picou said. "For starters, when you're on a plane for sixteen hours, you do get closer as a group."
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