COURSE NUMBER: MBA298A.3B
Please note that there is no drop/add period for this course.

COURSE TITLE: International Business Development: Technology

UNITS OF CREDIT: 2 units (in the fall students will also receive 1 additional unit of credit)

FACULTY MENTOR:  Whitney Hischier

E-MAIL ADDRESSES: hischier@haas.berkeley.edu

CLASS WEB PAGE LOCATION: http://bcourses.berkeley.edu

MEETING DAY(S)/TIME: Thursdays, 8:00 – 11:00 AM – Spring B (March 15 to end of semester)

PREREQUISITE(S): First-year full-time MBA students only.
Students must be available from May 12 - June 1, 2018 to travel for work in the field. No exceptions will be granted.|
There are no regular class meetings in the fall. However, students must participate in the day-long IBD Conference on Friday, September 14, 2018. The only exception for missing the fall IBD Conference is for those students going on exchange.

CLASS FORMAT: Mix of lectures, exercises, and group work

BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE: Assignments, participation, and final project

ABSTRACT OF COURSE'S CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES:
The purpose of this course is to provide students with a cutting-edge experiential learning course that prepares them to solve real-world business problems and emphasizes innovative leader skills in international settings. This course fulfills the applied innovation requirement for the MBA.

By the end of the course, students will have:

·         learned and refined consulting skills;

·         developed insights into another culture;

·         applied the business principles learned in core classes to a real-world global setting;

·         developed industry knowledge in a focused area;

·         worked in a dynamic team environment.

The IBD course is divided into four sections. The “Technology” section will consist of four projects from a variety of business sectors, companies/organizations, and geographies around the world – all addressing an issue related to technology. All four IBD sections will meet together during the same class period.

 

Before being assigned to a project, students will be asked to rank four IBD projects included in the “Technology” section. Project assignments will be based on student preferences, project needs, and client wishes. Every effort will be made to balance these (sometimes) competing priorities.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH:
Whitney Hischier has spent most of her career in change management and system implementation consulting, primarily on international assignments. She has worked for KPMG in the Netherlands and UK, ABN Amro Bank in Portugal and Spain and the Endeavor Initiative, on projects in Chile and Argentina. Following an undergrad degree focused on security and arms control, she worked with NATO for ten summers to run presidential-level conferences on European security issues in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Germany, and Russia. Whitney was the Berkeley-Haas Assistant Dean in charge of the Center for Executive Education for eight years. She now spends much of her time consulting to domestic and international clients on human capital challenges and designing educational programs to help solve them. Major international clients include Statoil and DNV (Norwegian), the Panama Canal, and universities in Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and China. Whitney serves as a faculty mentor in the IBD program. She holds a BA in International Relations from Stanford University and an MBA from Haas with a Certificate in Healthcare Management.