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Journal of Education for Business

ISSN: 0883-2323 (Print) 1940-3356 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vjeb20

Internationalizing the Business Program—A
Perspective of a Small School
Anand Shetty & Fredrica Rudell
To cite this article: Anand Shetty & Fredrica Rudell (2002) Internationalizing the Business
Program—A Perspective of a Small School, Journal of Education for Business, 78:2, 103-110,
DOI: 10.1080/08832320209599706
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08832320209599706

Published online: 31 Mar 2010.

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Internationalizing
the Business ProgramA Perspective of a Small School

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ANAND SHElTY
FREDRICA RUDELL
Iona College
New Rochelle, New York

B

usiness is being rapidly globalized
because extending business abroad
has become both desirable and feasible
in today’s world. To succeed in this
endeavor, businesses need more than
well-made products and well-designed
services. Among other things, their success depends on market selection and
understanding the business environment
in these markets. Successful globalization requires skills in managing functional areas such as marketing and
finance as well as awareness of international differences in the way business is
managed and how people interact. It
also calls for skills to deal with three
distinct types of risks: currency risk,
market risk, and political risk. We have
seen these risks tested during the recent
financial crises in Asia and elsewhere.
Businesses depend on business

schools to meet their need for managers
with global business skills. Past surveys
of employers indicate that they continue
to expect academic institutions to provide basic training and their graduates
to have expertise in international business issues in spite of the fact that most
academic institutions have always
believed in on-the-job training for business students (Ball & McCulloch, 1993;
Nehrt, 1977; Reynolds & Rice, 1988;
Ricks & Czinkota, 1979). Therefore, the
role of business schools in supplying
majors with international expertise and

ABSTRACT. The internationalization of the business curriculum is a
strategic change that business schools
must embrace if they are to prepare
students for careers in a global business environment.Various approaches
to internationalization exist, but they
depend on the availability of
resources, administrative commitment, and the level of internationalization that the school wants to achieve.
In this article, the authors review various aspects of internationalizing a

business program and describe the
experience of a small private college.

the ability to deal with the complexity
of the changing business environment
has become ever more important.
The internationalization of business
education is an obligation that business
schools cannot afford to ignore. It is a
strategic change for the future wellbeing of business schools, and it also
has implications for the competitive
advantage of the United States in the
21st century. Since 1974, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of
Business (AACSB) International has
required its member business schools to
increase international business content
and address global issues in their curricula. Over the years, numerous authors
have emphasized in academic journals
the importance of internationalizing
business education at all levels and for

all students (see Aranda, Golen, &
Brennenstuhl, 1991; Boatler, 1992;

Efendioglu, 1989; Fleming, Shooshtari,
& Wallwork, 1993).
In spite of the recognition of the need
to internationalize, surveys and studies
indicate that the progress of internationalization in U.S. business schools has
been slow both in terms of curricula
available to students and in comparison
with European business schools (Kedia,
1993; Kwok & Arpan, 1994; Nehrt,
1987; Porter & McKibbin, 1988). White
and Griffith (1998) stated that the
majority of the schools that have internationalized their programs have done
so to only a small extent, and the course
content lacks the practical orientation
needed to produce high quality global
managers. On the basis of the responses
to a more recent survey of multinational

employers (both U.S. and non-U.S.),
Webb, Mayer, Pioche, and Allen (1999)
concluded that business schools do not
currently graduate an adequate number
of students who are capable of handling
entry-level and mid-level international
business responsibilities.
A 2001 AACSB survey of member
colleges and universities showed differences in diffusion and method of internationalization between large and small
schools. Of the 379 usable responses to
the survey, 198 could be classified as
coming from small schools (fewer than
50 full-time faculty members), and 18 1
from large schools (50 or more full-time

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faculty members). Table 1 contains data
showing the percentage of small and
large schools that have put a major (or
minor) emphasis on the internationalization of their undergraduate and graduate programs.
As expected, large colleges and universities are much more likely than small
schools to offer students the choice of a
major or minor in international business.
They are twice as likely to offer an
undergraduate major in international
business, and four times more likely to
offer a graduate major. Clearly, there is a
gap that needs to be filled if small
schools are to catch up to their larger
counterparts in providing international
business preparation to their students.
The purpose of our research was to
review various aspects of internationalizing a business program and to relate

these aspects to the experience of a small
school with limited resources. In the
past, literature on this subject has mostly focused on how internationalization
issues have been addressed by large
business schools that often have access
to substantial resources. We believe a
review of the internationalization experience of a small school will add to the
existing literature. In this article, we
review the essentials of a comprehensive
internationalization plan, including the
issues that need to be addressed for each
component, and we detail the experience
of Iona College in its implementation of
an internationalization program. Finally,
we provide suggestions for other small
schools moving toward the internationalization of their business program.

ness and acknowledgement by the manager/organization/country of the impact
of non-domestic forces on its economic
future and the translation of the latter

into new attitudes and behavior regarding the establishment and conduct of
transactions with those in, and from
other countries.” In the context of business schools, this means a necessary
evolution of awareness and an acknowledgement by the faculty, and ultimately
by students, of that impact, followed by
the building of an education program
that trains people to manage business in
the changing environment. Internationalization is not an end in itself, but a
means to an end. The purpose of internationalizing business education is to
increase the competence of the managers trained by business schools for
doing business globally. This goal has
been widely recognized, and there is no
debate about whether or not to internationalize. The real issue, however, has
been what is the best strategy for internationalizing business education.
A number of researchers have examined the whys and hows of internationalizing business education (see Aggarwal,
1989; Anderson & Priovolos, 1996;
&an, Folks, & Kwok, 1993; Contractor, 1997; Daniels, 1993; Johnson &
Mader, 1992; Kedia & Cornwall, 1994;
Rugman, 1992/1993). It is the question
of how that has preoccupied the thinking

at the majority of business schools in the
United States, evident from the variety of
approaches that have been tried. Kwok
and Arpan (1994) pointed out that no single approach has proven optimal for all
schools, and internationalization efforts
continue to fall short of fulfilling the
need for business personnel who can
understand and deal with the global context of doing business.
Given the complexity of the issue,

each school has to decide its own strategy, depending on the availability of
resources and other inputs needed for its
implementation. The internationalization of business education in the past
has occurred at four levels. One group
of schools has settled for infusing international dimensions into their business
program at the minimal level. A second
group has required specialized courses
in international business either in the
core or in the functional area, with or
without infusion. A third group has

invested a large amount of resources in
the internationalization program and
created an elaborate structure to offer
degrees in international business at the
undergraduate or graduate level or both.
A fourth group, small in number, has
established comprehensive internationalization programs with overseas linkages and joint degree offerings.
Past internationalization efforts and
the literature on the subject suggest that a
typical plan for the internationalization
of business education should include

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Internationalizationof Business
Curriculum

Beamish (1993, p. 153) defined internationalization as “the evolving aware-

Small schools
Major
Minor

Undergraduate
Graduate

16.2%
5.1%

13.1%
6.1%

Note. Percentages based on data provided by AACSB.

104

Journal of Education for Business

Mission and Objectives

The mission statement must identify
and state goals for internationalization.
Arpan (1993) identified three primary
goals: awareness, understanding, and
competency. The first refers to the development of faculty and student awareness
of how the economies of the world are
interconnected and of the business
opportunities such interconnectedness
offers. The second goes beyond awareness to understanding international business issues. The third goal is the most
ambitious one. It involves building necessary skills and competencies to manage international business. The achievement of these goals differs in terms of
the amount of resources required and the
degree of commitment by the school
administration.

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TABLE 1. Internationalization Emphasis by Size of School

Program

1. a mission statement and identification of internationalization goals;
2. an organizational structure for
internationalizing the business education;
3. the internationalization of faculty
and administration;
4. the internationalization of curriculum; and
5. the internationalization of students.

Large schools
Major
Minor
32.0%
2 1 .O%

19.3%
24.9%

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The goals, therefore, can range from
increasing student awareness and understanding of differences in international
cultures and the way these differences
affect business practices, at the minimum, to providing training and developing expertise for handling international
operations. Faculty involvement in international research should also be pursued
if the goal is more ambitious than awareness and understanding. According to
Kwok and Arpan (1994), the response of
most schools in their sample indicated
that they sought little more than to create
in their students a general awareness of
the global business environment. The
percentage of schools seeking to achieve
understanding and expertise in international business was generally lower in
the United States than in Europe.
Organizational Structure

responding to a survey by Webb et al.
(1 999) ranked “first-hand experience”
over “matching research efforts to the
needs of international business” and
“faculty and international executives
should exchange place temporarily.”

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The internationalization of a business
program requires an administrative structure. Someone must be placed in charge
of implementing, monitoring, and evaluating the program. The school’s goal, the
size of the program, and the availability
of resources influence the organizational
structure. The structure issue is also
related to the controversy about the status
of international business as a separate
discipline. The structure could take the
form of a director of international programs, an international program committee, an international institute/center, or a
full-fledged international department.
Initially, a committee structure in which
business faculty formed a think tank
seemed to work well for most institutions
(Arpan, 1993).
Kwok and Arpan (1994) reported
that the majority of respondents to
their survey did not believe that international business was a separate academic discipline. Most business schools
preferred to provide recognition to
international specialists within a functional academic field, and almost half
the respondents would charge a specific person or group with the responsibility for internationalization.

Faculty and Administration

and the direction of movement toward
internationalization and must build a
greater depth of knowledge of the
changing business environment, its
consequences, and potential remedies.
To do this, they must overcome a number of obstacles such as inertia, behavioral resistance, the lack of capacity,
and the lack of support and incentives
(Beamish, 1993).
No one doubts the importance of faculty involvement in the internationalization of business education. Unless
the faculty are retrained or retooled it
will not happen, because most business
school faculty are not in a position to
impart international knowledge and
vision if they do not possess it. Faculty
are frequently torn between the need to
focus on the functional field in which
they tend to be evaluated for tenure and
promotion and the need to focus on
international dimensions of their functional field to which they may be
expected to devote more of their attention under the increasing internationalization program. This dilemma must be
addressed. Cavusgil(1993) outlines the
following strategies for involving the
faculty:

identifying key people in each
functional area to get involved in international business education and
research;
providing the faculty with international experience through travel, training programs, and faculty exchange
programs;
receiving the dean’s support at all
levels;
recognizing achievement in the
international area in tenure and promotion consideration; and
enlisting local business support for
research and other collaborative work.
Kwok and Arpan (1994) report that
insufficient faculty interest ranked as
the second most important obstacle to
internationalization in the United
States. European schools were more
likely to pay special attention to internationalization activities as a formal
component in faculty performance
evaluations and in promotion and
tenure decisions. When asked about
avenues for internationalizing business
faculty, multinational employers

Internationalization of Curriculum

The Center for International Business
Education and Research (CIBER) agenda has emphasized the need to include
two foci in the teaching and training of
students: (a) the functional areas of
business in a global context and (b) the
environment (culture, customs, and languages) in which international business
is transacted. A balanced training mix of
this sort will allow students to acquire
analytical skills as well as cultural sensitivity. Real-world projects, especially
involving another country, and international case studies would further
enhance students’ preparedness.
The method a school adopts to
achieve curriculum internationalization
would depend on the school’s goal.
Arpan (1993) discusses four major
methods-infusion, international courses, concentration (majors), and specialized degree programs-that
schools
may consider for curriculum internationalization. Greater resources and
commitments are required to move from
the infusion method to the specialized
degree program. According to Kwok
and Arpan (1994), most schools
responding to their survey had adopted
one of the following approaches: (a)
infusing international dimensions in
existing courses, (b) making all business
majors take one general international
business course, (c) requiring that all
students take one international specialization course in their major field, and
(d) requiring students to take one internationally oriented course outside the
business school.
The results of the survey by Webb et
al. (1999) indicate that multinational
employers consider a diverse educational background (language skills, foreign
culture, foreign history, international
aspects of various functional areas of
business, etc.) such as the one provided
by an interdisciplinary program important for functioning effectively in international business.

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The faculty and administration must
develop an appreciation of the need for

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Internationalization of Students

Mission and Objectives

The combination of academic programs and exposure to foreign cultures
enhances student awareness and sensitivity to crosscultural differences and
their managerial implications. Culture
has an impact on how people think,
work, solve problems, respond to
authority, value work, and set norms. A
large number of foreign students on
campus exposes U.S. students to foreign people and culture. A potentially
important component of internationalizing students could be a well-organized program for studying abroad.
The provision of opportunities for
overseas internship or study is a very
effective way of broadening and deepening students’ understanding of the
nature and significance of international
business.
The establishment of partnerships
with overseas business schools is another powerful tool to increase the global
orientation of business education. Overseas linkages can take several forms,
from student exchange programs to
common business education and degree
programs. Which form a school should
adopt depends on its need, size, mission, and aspiration. A second issue
associated with overseas linkages is
location, which may be guided by such
considerations as the importance of the
country to local business. A third issue
is the cost. Kwok and Arpan (1994)
reported that a substantial number of
business schools belonged to one or
more consortia for the conduct of international business education and that at
least one third of respondent institutions
offered internships to their students.

In 1987, a core group of faculty of the
Hagan School of Business formed a
committee to spearhead and promote
internationalization efforts. Most of
these faculty members were themselves
from other countries, and they recognized the need to prepare students for
careers in an increasingly global marketplace. In the early years, they
focused on developing awareness of and
appreciation for the need for internationalization of business curriculum and
to enlist broader faculty support. Their
efforts eventually led to the introduction
of an interdisciplinary undergraduate
international business (IB) major in
1989 to allow selected students to
achieve competency in international
business. The degree program quickly
became very popular, primarily among
international students. The continued
efforts of this group also led to the
inclusion of an international business
concentration in the school’s MBA program in 1993.
The internationalization efforts took
on new urgency when Iona entered candidacy for AACSB accreditation in
1994 under the new standards, because
globalization was one of the perspectives expected to enhance the business
curriculum. In support of a new college
mission statement adopted in May,
1995, the Hagan School of Business
sought to produce “graduates and future
leaders who understand business and its
social responsibilities, work productively in a high technology and culturally
diverse society, demonstrate awareness
of the global character of business, and
subscribe to high ethical standards”
(emphasis ours).
As expressed in the brochure for IB
majors, the objectives of the IB program
have been to provide a rigorous, pragmatic course of study in international
business; to develop knowledgeable,
highly skilled, and well-rounded individuals who will become leaders in the
emerging global business environment;
and to promote better understanding of
the interdependencies that exist in
today’s global marketplace.
The program was designed as an
interdisciplinary major taught by faculty from different departments. The

school was able to commandeer additional resources for training and intensifying its efforts in this direction.

Organizational Structure

The International Business Committee, formed in 1987 with voluntary
members from different disciplines and
one of them acting as the director, took
responsibility for overseeing and coordinating internationalization efforts,
including the IB major. In 1997, as part
of restructuring of the Business School,
the committee’s membership and
processes were formalized. The International Business Program Coordination
Committee was created to replace the
old committee, and it currently consists
of two members from each of four
departments. The International Business
Club advisor is an ex officio member of
the committee, and all faculty engaged
in teaching and researching in international subjects are invited to sit in on
meetings.
As a result of the 1997 restructuring,
the undergraduate IB major is formally
housed in the marketing department,
which became the Department of Marketing and International Business. In
theory, responsibility for the interdisciplinary IB major continues to rotate
among departments, with one of the
department members acting as the coordinator, as it had since 1987. However,
largely for reasons of convenience,
since 1998 the coordinator has been a
member of the marketing faculty. This
person has the primary (but not exclusive) responsibility for advising IB
majors and coordinating IB course
scheduling (to avoid conflicts); he or
she also represents the IB major at college open houses and information sessions and chairs committee meetings.
The committee, which meets at least
once per semester, serves as an advisory
board. It oversees and makes recommendations regarding major requirements; monitors student enrollment,
advisement, and performance; promotes
creation of IB courses and recommends
modifications of existing ones; encourages international faculty development
and training; and serves as a forum for
the exchange of information related to
international teaching and research.

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Internationalizationat
lona College
Iona College, located in New
Rochelle, New York, is a college in the
tradition of the Christian Brothers and
American Catholic Higher Education
offering undergraduate and graduate
degrees in liberal arts and business.
The AACSB-accredited Hagan School
of Business currently serves about
1,000 undergraduate and 325 MBA
students drawn mostly from the surrounding region.
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Faculty and Administration

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The experience of Iona in getting faculty involved in the internationalization
efforts is no different from that facing
other schools. Iona was subject to the
same forces of inertia and fears of cannibalization by the introduction of a
competing IB major that other schools
have faced. Until the time Hagan
entered AACSB candidacy, internationalization efforts remained confined to
the core group. Following Iona’s candidacy, all faculty were encouraged to
seek additional international training
and to participate in foreign travel
opportunities and exchange programs.
With the full support of the dean and
administration, 10 faculty members
have been sent to training programs, and
2 went abroad to teach with Fulbright
fellowships. Hagan faculty research
seminars have been used for sharing
their experiences, which has further
helped to spread awareness of these initiatives and opportunities to the rest of
the faculty.
The training also resulted in the development of additional courses to address
the international dimensions of each discipline, from international advertising to
international business law, and to promote international-based research and
publishing initiatives. The infusion of
international perspectives through the
entire curriculum expected by AACSB
required that all faculty find ways to
address the international aspects of their
own disciplines through lectures, cases,
readings, and assignments. Aside from
those receiving formal training, for the
most part this was accomplished by individual self-education. Faculty members
relied on materials supplied by publishers, who were already integrating global
perspectives into all textbooks and Internet resources.

uate courses. Though available to all
undergraduates, a general introductory
international business course (BEC325)
is required only for IB (and business
administration) majors. An international
course in each discipline is now part of
the requirement for students majoring in
finance, management, and marketing.
The requirement for the interdisciplinary undergraduate IB major has
evolved over the years, initially requiring one area-study course from the
International Studies Department of the
School of Arts and Science and an international business policy course. At present, majors must take the introductory
IB course as well as the core international courses in marketing, management, and finance, and three additional
upper-level IB electives from a list of
departmental offerings, which has now
grown to include topics such as international human resource management and
international accounting. Any of these
can also be taken by non-IB majors to
satisfy their own major or business elective requirements. Semester-long internships can be taken for IB elective credit
in the finance, management, or marketing departments if the positions are sufficiently international in nature ( e g ,
working in an export department of a
firm). IB majors are encouraged to
develop fluency in one or two foreign
languages and to participate in a study
abroad program, but neither is a requirement for graduation.
Infusion of international perspectives
is the main method of building international awareness and understanding in
the Hagan graduate program. Although
a major concentration in international
business was introduced in 1993, this
was replaced by a certificate program in
1998 as part of a revamping of the MBA
program. At the present time, MBA students may only choose concentrations
(four courses above the core course) in
the traditional business disciplines of
finance, human resource management,
information and decision technology
management (IDTM), management, or
marketing. A student seeking international business competency may take
four international courses in any discipline and earn a separate international
business certificate, either in cornbination with the MBA or as a five-course

post-master’s certificate. This has
become a popular option for students,
and approximately 20% of the most
recent graduating class of MBAs have
earned the IB certificate. It also eliminates the potential for cannibalization of
traditional majors by a separate IB
major that sometimes presents a dilemma for faculty and administrators.
Students

For creating an interest in an international business program, the Hagan
School of Business relies on a relatively
small population of foreign students and
its active and popular Study Abroad program, now ongoing for more than a
decade. In earlier years, students would
stay abroad for a semester, studying part
of the time in Ireland and the rest in
Brussels, Belgium. Currently, students
may choose to spend a semester in Ireland or Australia, 5 weeks in Italy, or a
1 -week intensive program on both sides
of the Mexican border, while earning
course credit toward their BBA degrees.
Or they may link up with a study abroad
program sponsored by another university. Members of the Iona faculty also
organize short noncredit foreign trips
that the students can join. An additional
method used for exposing students to the
international aspects of business outside
the traditional classroom environment is
through activities and guest speakers
sponsored by the International Business
Club. And proximity to New York City,
with 40% of its population foreign born,
offers many opportunities to learn about
other cultures and customs.
Summer session courses that include
a travel component are popular with
MBA students, and at least one is
offered each year. Students have combined study and first-hand experience of
international business in the Czech
Republic, Scandinavia, Japan, and Italy.
In the early 1990s, Iona was one of the
first U.S. business schools to have a joint
program in Russia, with the Plekhanov
Institute in Moscow as its partner. Hagan
faculty were sent to Moscow to teach for
2 weeks at a time, and Russian students
spent one semester at Iona completing
their MBA degrees. Financial problems
at Plekhanov and other resource constraints eventually ended that partner-

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Curriculum

The Hagan School adopted a broad
approach for internationalizing its curriculum. At the level of infusion, in the
years preceding and during the 5-year
period of its AACSB candidacy, steps
were taken to include relevant international business themes, concepts, and
examples in all graduate and undergrad-

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107

ship, and Hagan has been exploring
other opportunities to establishjoint programs and faculty and student exchange
with foreign institutions. At the time of
this writing, an agreement for a joint
program with Universidad Peruana de
Ciencias Aplicadas in Lima, Peru is
being completed. A summary of the
internationalization program is presented in Table 2.

foreign students on campus, the task of
initiating an internationalization program was not easy. The core group of
faculty, who acted as change agents in
the past, continue to spearhead
Hagan’s internationalization program.
Today, almost all Hagan faculty appear
to accept, reluctantly or otherwise, that
internationalization of the business
program is an important part of
AACSB guidelines for continuous
improvement and that a strategic
change must be embraced.
For a small school with limited
resources and without much experience
in internationalization,a first step would
be to identify a group of faculty who are
interested and willing to commit their
time and efforts in this direction. They
may need some incentive either in the
form of additional compensation or
recognition of their efforts at the time of
promotion or tenure consideration. One
way of getting the faculty motivated and
involved at the outset is to send some
faculty to attend development programs
for international business offered by universities with CIBER centers. It is not
excessively expensive, and it generally

has a positive impact on the faculty.
Periodic meetings of the committee in
charge of internationalization and presentations by invited speakers can also
help to enhance the cause of internationalization. Organizing an international
day celebration with ethnic food and displays brings faculty and students together and increases their interest.
It is also very important that the
administration, dean, and provost (or
chief academic officer) be interested
and committed to the cause of planning
for the internationalization of the business program. Over the years, much
support for internationalization at Iona
has been received from the dean and the
administration, and, of course, AACSB
candidacy helped to accelerate the
process and increase resource allocation. If the school is not currently an
AACSB accredited school, the internationalization of its business program
will help its future accreditation efforts,
as AACSB standards for accreditation
require undergraduate and graduate curricula to include international perspectives that form the context for business
(AACSB International, 2001).
On the curriculum side of internationalization, there are many approaches to choose from. A school’s choice
should be guided by such factors as its
mission, its resources, and its student
population. The easiest and least expensive option is the integration of international dimensions into the existing
fields of business studies. The fact that
an increased number of textbooks and
cases in all disciplines now include
international dimensions is of great help
for a faculty with little or no formal
training in this area.
If enough resources are available
both in terms of faculty and administration, offering degree programs may be
considered. Though offering a major
degree program in international business at the undergraduate level is not as
common for small colleges as it is for
large ones, continued student interest
has made it viable for Hagan. The
Hagan interdisciplinary IB major continues to draw some of the brightest students and to garner high levels of satisfaction, as demonstrated by outside
benchmarking studies (AACSBWBI,
2000). At the graduate level, the IB cer-

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Discussion and Implications for
Other Schools

Although the external validity of this
illustration may be limited because of
the unique circumstances that exist for
each school, we feel that there are valuable lessons to be learned from our
experience at Iona.
The internationalization of the business program at Hagan is no small
achievement, given the environment
and constraints we had to deal with.
For a business school in a small private
college, with a limited pool of
resources, catering primarily to students drawn from neighboring areas,
and with an insignificant presence of

TABLE 2. Internationalization Program Summary

Internationalization
plan components

Issues/methods

HagadIona
implementation

Mission and
objectives

Global awareness,
understanding, or expertise

Awareness, understanding for
all; competency/expertise for
IB majors

Organizational
structure

Program director,
committee, institute, or

Interdisciplinary major housed
in marketing and IB department;
IB coordinator; interdisciplinary
“think-tank‘’committee
Faculty development through
formal training, travel,
self-education; international
course development, research
Infusion; general IB course;
IB courses in finance, management, and marketing majors;
interdisciplinary IB major for
undergrads; IB certificate for
MBAs; PMC
Semester, summer-term, or
1-week intensive study abroad;

department

Faculty and
administration

Faculty involvement,
training, incentives,
administrative support

Internationalization
of curriculum

Infusion, international
courses, major/
concentration, or
specialized degree
programs

Internationalization
of students

Awareness and sensitivity
to crosscultural
differences, foreign
students, study abroad
programs, partnerships
with overseas schools

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Journal of Education for Business

MBA courses with travel

component; IB Club; foreign
partnerships

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tificate program and PMC (postmaster’s
certificate) in international business
have been popular, and we expect them
to remain so. Setting up a separate MBA
in IB appears to be beyond our
resources and capabilities at this juncture, and there is also a question as to
whether it would have any advantage
over the current system, which offers
students an MBA in a discipline with an
IB certificate at no extra charge.
If staffing with qualified faculty is a
problem, a school can often get help
from experienced executives in the business community. If a school is located
near a metropolitan center, it is easy to
recruit adjunct faculty with rich international experience. There are at least one
or two faculty members in each Hagan
department with international expertise,
but adjuncts are sometimes used to
ensure coverage of international course
offerings.
Having a body of international students is always helpful. Foreign students
usually tend to major in international
business and provide good exposure to
other cultures for the local students. They
and the international faculty surely provide those informal interpersonal contacts needed to heighten awareness of
other cultures and deepen interest in the
global nature of business among faculty
and students alike. Because of its location in the New York metropolitan area,
Iona can expect its foreign student population to grow in the future.
A variety of study-abroad options
(semester, summer term, winter session) are available for students at Iona.
Schools that lack their own international study program now have the ability
to link their students with international
study programs of other colleges.
Active promotion and encouragement
helps to increase student participation
in the programs offered by their own or
other schools.

Summary

and available resources. The Hagan
School of Business wanted to internationalize its program although we were
well aware of our limitations. Internationalization was initiated by a core
group of faculty, and, consistent with the
college and school mission, its primary
focus has been on awareness and understanding. After trying different organizational structures over the years, the international business program is now
housed in the Marketing and International Business Department. It is overseen by a coordinator and an interdisciplinary “think tank” type committee.
Faculty development, predominantly
through formal training and travel, has
been one of the strong points of globalization efforts at Iona, thanks to the support of the college and business school
administration. The result has been an
increase in international course development and research. Internationalization
of the curriculum has been achieved at
two levels: an infusion in all courses to
facilitate awareness and understanding;
and the establishment of an international
business major and MBA certificate for
specialization and intensive study by a
selected group of students. Although we
have experimented with a joint program
in the past, at the present time opportunities for undergraduate study abroad
and MBA courses with travel components are the chief means of internationalizing the students.
Although there is always room for
improvement, and there are challenges
to be met, the experience with internationalization at Iona has been one of
persistence and perseverance, thanks to
the efforts of a dedicated group of faculty. Iona has achieved its objectives in a
manner that is satisfying to students and
faculty alike.

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The globalization of business
demands that business schools internationalize their curricula. Schools that
have internationalized their programs
have attempted to raise levels of awareness, understanding, or competency,
depending on institutional commitment

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