Forty-eight second-year Regional and North America students participated in the 2006 International Study Seminar in Beijing and Shanghai, China March 11-19. Also in attendance were EMBA Director, Louise Kapustka, Professors Bob Bowen, Jane Kennedy and Suresh Kotha, Assistant Professor Shuping Chen and Assistant Director Belina Makonnen. This year’s International Study Seminar was a great success. We were impressed with the fast (and accelerating) pace of development, especially in Beijing which will host the 2008 Olympics and the hospitality of the Chinese people. The busy eight-day schedule included guided city tours of Beijing and Shanghai, presentations by the U.S.-China Business Council, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) and an ex-pat panel of: Jim Rice, Vice President and Country Manager (China), Tyson Foods Inc., Michael Zhang, Engineering Manager, Intel Corporation (EMBA Alum 2003), and Mike McCollum, Managing Director, Weyerhaeuser China Limited. We also enjoyed interesting company visits at: Schenker Logistics; NetBrain Technologies; Coca Cola; Baoshan Iron & Steel; and General Motors China Investment Co. Ltd.
Marissa Nolen, Class of 2006, kept a travel journal.
Beijing - Monday, March 13, 2006
After 24+ hours of being awake, and a long trip with flights from Seattle to Tokyo and then Tokyo to Beijing, jet lag got the best of me and I was awake with the sun after only 4.5 hours of sleep. Hard to believe that I was just in class all day yesterday—or two days ago, since we’re now on the other side of the international dateline.
Read more of Marissa's posts on the 2006 International Study
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In a global marketplace executives need firsthand knowledge about operational innovations, new business practices, and critical economic issues affecting businesses in other countries. To emphasize this global outlook the Executive MBA Program offers a culminating international study seminar. The valuable connections, insights and inside information students bring back from the study tour makes this feature a high-return investment for them and their sponsoring organizations. 
