The Fletcher School will challenge traditional education with the launch next fall of its Master of International Business (MIB) program.
Charles Bralver, the executive director of Fletcher's International Business Center, will head the two-year degree program, which will combine the study of international business and diplomacy.
According to Kristen Zecchi, Fletcher's associate director of admissions and financial aid, the new degree program will work off of an already-strong foundation.
"The business program at Fletcher has been combining international affairs and international business for the past thirty years, so we are building on a strength we already have," she said. "We have a track record of success."
Bralver said that Fletcher's choice to formally merge international business and relations into a single degree program will make a positive impression on employers.
"Part of what we are trying to create is a program that will convince an employer that a person is comfortable working in a foreign business environment, in a foreign business culture," he said. "In deepening some of the business courses by mixing in the international relations courses we offer, [we can provide] an effective and in some ways clearer signal to potential employers about the business capabilities of students."
He said that sending these signals is becoming increasingly important as companies start to expect more from applicants.
"Companies want people who are comfortable in multinational [settings]," he said.
Zecchi agreed, noting that previously, simply being multilingual was sufficient. "Twenty years ago, if you wanted to work in China and spoke Chinese, you were an expert," she said. "Today, you have to understand something about the culture [and] have a much more nuanced understanding. It's not just about the language anymore."
The MIB curriculum will offer students the opportunity to spend time abroad during the first semester of their second academic year. Zecchi said that they can choose to study at approved business schools in France, China, Spain or India and gain internship experience in their areas of interest.
The hope is that students will immerse themselves in a foreign culture and gain new perspectives that will help them during their professional lives.
"You look at private sectors getting involved with public sectors, globalization, the impact of politics on business, particular issues like climate change and human rights [and see that] these all involve more than just a business perspective. They involve an international perspective," Zecchi said.
To that end, students pursuing the degree will select two areas of focus, one in international business and one in international affairs.
Within the business track, students can specialize in areas including strategic management and international finance; options for the international affairs track include security studies and international organizations.
The Center for Emerging Market Enterprises (CEME), also directed by Bralver, will help MIB students tackle business issues from an international standpoint.
The center focuses on understanding how globalization has affected emerging markets in foreign countries and illustrating the roles these economies play.
"The rise of India and China as global business leaders, which is part of what we're teaching, is a key element of international business today," Bralver said. "By being a center for scholarship, research and education, [the CEME] will provide students with the advantage of understanding these emerging markets."
Applications for the MIB program have already starting coming in, and Zecchi said that her team will look for people who have significant work and research experience, demonstrate proficiency in a foreign language, and have spent time abroad.
Bralver said this means that only a small number of students coming right from an undergraduate school will be accepted.
"We will take truly extraordinary undergraduates," he said. "What we mean by this is people who are the top of their class, have very high Graduate Management Assessment Test scores, have done international research and significant internships, and have high recommendations," he said.
The MIB program is not the only new initiative set to kick off at Fletcher next fall; the school has also unveiled a Master of Laws (LL.M.).
As the Daily reported last month, the program will offer legal professionals the chance to further specialize and to view their work in a broader social context.
