When you choose the Nanyang Fellows MBA programme, you are in for a memorable journey that will take you to new places metaphorically and literally. While your professors and classmates teach you things that will help you succeed in the business world, the curriculum goes a step further with its one week long overseas business study mission component. This carefully planned programme aims to enrich your knowledge of global developments while you work on your dissertation. Instead of sitting in your classroom in Singapore and just reading or hearing about how things run abroad, you get to experience it yourself.
Locations
In the past, candidates have attended business study missions in the Silicon Valley, San Francisco, New York City, London, Toronto, Shenzhen, Tokyo, Athens, Brussels, Cambridge, Helsinki, Hong Kong, Sydney, Berlin, Bangalore, Dublin, Munich and Copenhagen. Every location has unique characteristics that can contribute to your research and lead to an in-depth dissertation based on life changing experiences. You’ll end up choosing the location that matches your selected topic best.
The Project
The business study mission gives you the opportunity to conduct a detailed case study in a country that will probably be completely new to you. Once you reach your destination, you will be studying a specific geographical area to recognise the nature of its business environment. You will also be studying a particular industry and organisation. Although independent research will be your primary activity, you will not have to worry about finding the right connections thanks to NBS’s extensive network with B-schools and companies across the globe. Combined with your own effort and the network’s resources, you’ll find yourself talking a lot with consumers/suppliers and managers. At the end of your one week, you present a final report to the company that gave you so much time and attention so that you could know so much more.
The Benefits
One week could seem too short to some of you, but the length of the programme has usually encouraged students to cram in as much as possible into those precious days. So be prepared to learn about the business and industry of whichever segment you are researching, in another country. You’ll develop better critical thinking skills as you’re thrown into a new space outside the safety of a classroom. You will also be exposed to a new culture and learn about how people behave, talk and work in it. For instance, a student in the past learned that even though Aussies were laidback people who enjoyed their lunch break and rugby games, they didn’t waste a minute during office hours and therefore never had to whine about working overtime. Insights like this supplement your business knowledge, adding to your overall growth as a future leader.
So the overseas business study mission is not just about spending time in an office. It is about immersing yourself in cultural, social, political and business dynamics that are a part of the larger regional or international stage for different players in the marketplace.
