MBA get world 'tour' from the comfort of campus

Wharton MBA students have been on a whirlwind trip around the globe this year -- without even leaving the confines of Vance Hall. With the new "Wharton World Tour" program, MBA students have had the chance to learn about the academic, cultural and professional aspects of doing business in five different geographic regions in preparation for similarly-themed business conferences scheduled throughout the year. Sponsored by the Wharton Graduate Association, the academic and cultural tour has currently "stopped off" this week to celebrate Latin American culture in advance of that region's business conference this weekend. "We wanted to give more of an international feeling to the Wharton School," second-year MBA and Wharton Graduate Association President Cesar Conde said, noting that more than 34 percent of Wharton graduate students are foreign-born. "The conference aims to expose, educate and leverage the resources we have right here on campus," he added. At each stop of the tour, students are immersed in the professional, academic, athletic and cultural events of a specific region through both in-class and outside activities, said Wharton Graduate Association International Activities co-coordinator Badar Kahn, a second-year MBA student. Kahn noted that Wharton professors have integrated the cultural themes into the lesson plans of core classes. For example, some students analyzed case studies that dealt with Latin American firms while others heard lecture topics presented in a Latin American context. In addition, MBA students who had previously lived in Latin America led career workshops and economic briefing sessions this week to inform their classmates about doing business in the region. Corporate presentations -- such as a workshop this week on the privatization of Telebras by Solomon Smith Barney -- provided other educational opportunities outside the classroom. Latin American culture was demonstrated this week through a "fiesta" complete with salsa dancing lessons, a soccer tournament, a film festival and a Chilean wine-tasting on Friday night. Previous "tour stops" included cooking demonstrations such as a sushi-tasting night during Asian week, musical shows, art displays and African dance classes by Wharton graduate students who are native to the regions. But for most MBAs, the highlight of the events has been the chance to sample their classmates' native cultures. "It was really cool. They have all the food, culture and dancing," said first-year MBA student Audrey Greenberg, who has attended many of the tour's events. "It's about cultural cross-differentiation," she added. MBA students have already had weeks where they experienced the cultures of Asia, Europe and Africa. The final stop on the MBAs' tour will be a celebration of Indian culture with a week of events in early April before the Wharton India conference Although the interdisciplinary "tour" concept is new this year, a global focus has always been at the core of Wharton's curriculum and activities. "In the past, we had a number of different international clubs do events throughout the year. All we did was package them into a week? to get a bigger impact and focus people on the conference [region]," Kahn said. Conde added that he hopes to see the program expanded in upcoming years.