The Graduate School of Business at CU-Boulder has been selected to join a group of colleges and universities, including Stanford and Yale, that participate in the MBA Enterprise Corps, which provides long-term assistance to companies in developing economies.
Through the MBA Enterprise Corps, graduates of the University of Colorado at Boulder MBA program will have the opportunity to apply their business knowledge while helping to improve the economic condition of companies in developing countries such as Bulgaria or Kazakhstan.
"We accepted CU's Graduate School of Business because of the interest of its students in international affairs, the programs in the school related to international activities and the reputation of the school," said Jack Behrman, chairman and chief executive officer of the Consortium for the MBA Enterprise Corps. "We expect to have more volunteers from the CU business school in the future, as we enter new countries."
According to Behrman, 550 volunteers have worked in more than 650 enterprises and organizations over the past decade. Volunteers for the corps broaden their cultural business skills by working with foreign managers and companies experiencing the unique transition from a struggling to a stable economic environment.
During the 12-month program, they assist with various business functions including formulating new business plans, establishing modern accounting systems, rationalizing product lines, creating quality control systems and developing other elements of a company. Other projects include building renovations, seminars for women entrepreneurs and assisting foreign businesspeople with English skills.
Applicants must be second-year or recently graduated MBA students from the corp's list of participating schools and must have several years of work experience. Volunteers receive language training, local expense support and a furnished apartment.
Host companies are locally owned or foreign affiliates of United States companies. Projected destinations for the 2001 program are Bulgaria, Croatia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Thailand and Ukraine.
The MBA Enterprise Corps was founded in 1990 by the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise and the Consortium for the MBA Enterprise Corps. Funding for the program is provided by corporate and government sponsors.