Denver Executive MBA – 2008 International Business Study Tour 

The Denver Executive MBA program organizes an annual international study tour of seven to ten days. Based on business value, current events and class course work, multi-company and institutional tours are arranged. The trip takes place during the first summer following the start of a new class. Whenever possible, the program faculty align case studies and best practices with firms to be visited on the international tours, allowing Executive MBA students the opportunity for hands-on review of domestic and international counterparts and partnerships.

In 2008, over the course of eight days, the Denver Executive MBA program class of 2007 and administrators visited the cities of Beijing and Shanghai in China for their annual international academic tour. The study group included 17 students who work for Denver area companies such as Merrill Lynch, Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, Wells Fargo, and Accenture; Dave Larsen, the director of the program; John Hoxmeier, associate dean for graduate programs; and John Olienyk, senior associate dean.

 

The international study tour began in Beijing with a sight-seeing day, allowing the class to visit cultural sites such as the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square and the Temple of Heaven. They visited a variety of other sites both in Beijing and Shanghai over the course of the trip. In succeeding days the itinerary included visits to the offices of Zhongzi Law Office where they learned about intellectual property and mergers and acquisitions in Asia, and Anadarko Petroleum China where they discussed oil production history, strategy and operations in China. They also visited the China Beijing Equity Exchange (CBEX), which is a comprehensive equity transaction institution authorized by the Beijing municipal government and an important platform for acquisition and reconstruction of enterprises. Finally, the class met with 2008 Beijing Olympics officials and was given the opportunity to tour areas of the site for the 2008 Olympics.

Continuing to Shanghai, the group toured the city’s new deep water port and met with representatives from ProLogis, where they discussed warehousing distribution and logistics in China; Coca-Cola, one of the top players in China’s beverage industry; and The Walt Disney Company China, where they learned about the magic behind Hong Kong Disney Media in China.

 

Said some of the student travelers, “the trip was absolutely amazing and will remain for a very long time as one of the most incredible things I have ever done or seen,” and, “the companies we visited were excellent. I really appreciated the chance to see the culture and visit some of the other [cultural] sites.”

 

For additional information on the Denver Executive MBA Program, please visit the website at www.DenverMBA.com.