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January 2009
New MBA Program Infuses Ethics, Globalization Across Curriculum
By Jamie Freedman “We believe that being a great business leader isn’t just about knowledge; it’s about character, and our new MBA program builds both,” says Susan M. Phillips, dean and professor of finance. “We spent the past year revamping the entire curriculum from the bottom up, weaving ethical decision-making, leadership, and globalization into every course.” An outgrowth of the business school’s strategic plan, the Global MBA was fashioned by a 26-member faculty task force led by Murat Tarimcilar, associate dean for graduate programs and associate professor of decision sciences. “In the early stages, we talked to a lot of stakeholders—current students, alumni, corporate executives, recruiters, and others—to see what the market was looking for in an MBA candidate, and we consistently heard personal integrity and ethical behavior,” Dr. Tarimcilar recalls. “It came across clearly to us that the bottom line was no longer the only important thing. As a university, we felt obliged to step up and deliver a new kind of MBA emphasizing these core values.” The roots of the program were planted in 2006 with the establishment of GW’s Institute for Corporate Responsibility directed by Timothy L. Fort, the Lindner-Gambal Professor of Business Ethics and a pioneer in the field. “When Tim arrived at GW three years ago, he began working with our business faculty on ethics-based curriculum development,” says Dr. Phillips, a leading voice on business ethics who chaired the 2004 ethics education task force for the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. Dr. Fort and his team of professional business ethicists are closely involved with Global MBA students and professors, regularly visiting classes to discuss ethical issues and creating course-related, custom-designed videos detailing how to deal with ethical dilemmas. “Our students are constantly pushed to think about ethics,” says Dr. Tarimcilar. “For example, when we teach supply chain management, we include a case study on a supplier using child labor in a foreign country. The program is dedicated to training ethical leaders who will design organizations that bring out the best in people, not the worst.” Like ethics, globalization spans the curriculum. A unique feature of the program is a mandatory, project-based, international residency under the guidance of faculty experts. “This year, we have groups going to El Salvador to work on a microfinance project, Vietnam for a manufacturing project, Spain for a strategy and marketing case, Turkey for a textile industry project, and India for a logistics project,” says Dr. Tarimcilar. “By working on real-world problems at overseas firms, our students will acquire a true understanding of the complex global marketplace.” GW’s privileged location in the heart of Washington makes it a natural home for the Global MBA, Dr. Tarimcilar adds. “We are surrounded by the World Bank, the IMF, the State Department, and many other powerful international organizations, giving our students access to the world’s best pool of global experts,” he states. “The World Bank Group has some 3,500 Ph.D.s working on global issues, and we’ve already tapped a few of them to teach some of our 150 specialized electives.” Market response to the Global MBA has been over¬whelmingly positive, says Dr. Tarimcilar. “E-mails have been flowing in from around the world expressing excitement about what we are doing, inquiries are up 400 percent compared to last year, and average GMATs for our first-year MBA students rose to an all-time high,” he says. “It’s been a real blue-sky scenario, and it’s only up from here.”
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