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Global success with online learning
“I now consider standard education a total waste of time,” says Anna. “The school is here for me 24 hours a day, and I can study day or night, as I wish. I also believe that with online education everyone has a chance to participateand speak freely. People are not judged by their appearance and this really helps. Everyone is treated equally, without discrimination.”
EXCLUSIVE PROGRAM, HAND-PICKED FACULTY
The MMI remains the university’s leading program for at the global business community. Exclusively for international students, the MMI is offered only to those individuals in multicultural environments outside the US, and is taught by a faculty hand picked by the Dean of the Graduate School of Business.
“The MMI classroom is a totally safe environment in that no one judges another based on stereotypes that some may have acquired in their own culture about other cultures,” says Ethel R Vesper, PhD, Lead Faculty, Area Chair – MMI, Graduate Business and Management. “Every culture is looked upon as an equal to any others and is valued. All courses in the Program stress that each culture needs to be evaluated in terms of its own norms, through the eyes of those in the culture, and not through eyes that look into the culture.”
All work place experience is valued, that is, students and facilitators alike share their knowledge and experiences from the workplace in the classroom. The MMI classroom provides opportunities to learn about business processes in other cultures. Students in the classroom find that their ideas are valued by everyone, regardless of the culture they come from. These ideas are posted in the classroom.
Working together, the students give input on global business issues. Students who have never talked to, or worked with, some cultures because of political differences sometimes find themselves on the same teams, and learn about each other and from each other, thus fostering respect for one another regardless of their political differences at home.
“Since I am in the middle of a very interesting mix of cultures (my company has Chinese origins, but North American influence and I am managing the Central American group), this program has been of a great help understanding these different cultures,” says Jesus Reyes Duarte, system engineer manager for Mexico and Central America.
PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING
A continuous theme runs through all MMI courses: Ethical Behavior and Business and Personal Accountability, with an emphasis on understanding and eliminating ethnocentric attitudes.
“Most students are surprised at how much such an open environment allows them to learn about themselves, their countries, the way the world envisions them and the mistakes we all make in not seeing the complete picture of any given culture,” says Vespers.
All MMI courses incorporate a methodology, problembased learning format, which emphasizes and utilizes critical thinking skills to prepare students for the role managers play in defining business problems, assessing the information, considering alternatives, and choosing the best solution.
“The MMI is by far the most comprehensive international business postgraduate program that I know of,” says Gerald Lopez, Attorney at Law, Venezuela. “By completing the MMI, I expect to be prepared to advise my clients on other important issues beyond Law, like sales and marketing, supply chain, import/export policies, country risk analysis, human resources, labor issues and others.”
The six-week courses within the 30-credit hour MMI program have been designed in trios. The first trio of courses addresses how organizations succeed by recognizing cultural diversity and the challenges of communication and management. The second trio sets up the context (e.g. political, economic, and legal) for doing business across borders. The third trio prepares students for the decision-making role by introducing problems or issues in each course.
