San Diego State's Global Perspective

B-school Dean Gail Naughton talks about how her school's new global entrepreneurship program helps students prepare to take on the world

by Francesca Di Meglio

Dean Gail Naughton
San Diego State University

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Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that globalization is one of the major factors affecting businesses today. Leaders who can't quickly educate their employees and adapt their tactics to compete in emerging markets are already losing ground. With that in mind, San Diego State University's College of Business Administration is planning to launch an MBA program in global entrepreneurship next fall that officials say will offer immersion in several up-and-coming global regions.

The 12-month course of study—designed for a class of about 30 students—will begin in San Diego and then students will travel to partner schools in China, the Middle East (American University of Beirut and another school in Abu Dhabi), and India for 12-week periods. Corporate sponsors—Qualcomm (QCOM), Invitrogen (IVGN), Microsoft (MSFT), Intel (INTC), and KPMG—will be supporting the program by having executives in each of the regions provide lectures to participants about what they need to know to succeed. The program will be aimed at midlevel managers with about five years of work experience.

The ultimate goal is for participants to immerse themselves in these four distinct regions of the world to see how the history, traditions, and religions of a place influence its business practices. Raising awareness of other cultures should be the aim of B-schools, says Gail Naughton, dean of the College of Business Administration at San Diego State. "If you show students how it all translates to the bottom line, then they get it," she adds.

Recently, Naughton, an entrepreneur and pioneer in the field of tissue engineering, spoke with BusinessWeek.com B-schools reporter Francesca Di Meglio. Here's an edited transcript of their conversation:

How did the idea for an MBA in international entrepreneurship evolve?

I ran a biotech company from 1988 to 2002 and launched all of the products in the global realm. I learned firsthand the importance of understanding the cultures of the countries where you do business. When I joined San Diego State, we already had—and continue to have—a top program in international business, as well as accounting and governance (see BusinessWeek.com, 10/12/06, "Best Schools for Entrepreneurship").

What has made us different is that we've always focused on the importance of culture and language, not just business. We mandate that students study abroad. Our entrepreneurship program is a hands-on program, where the students actually write specific business plans. They have live case studies that they have to do. They have business competitions that they do with other colleges around the world, and they interact with executives and venture capital firms on an on-going basis. What we basically have done with this international entrepreneurship MBA is taken these proven programs to the next level.

Will there be mandated language requirements?

There will not be mandated language requirements in the graduate degree. All of the coursework in each of the countries will be taught in English. There will be mandated cultural courses and courses taught by our corporate partners in each country. They will talk about how the corporate culture and politics in that area influence growing a business there.