DOING BUSINESS AROUND THE GLOBE: Internationalising the curriculum
Internationalising a curriculum takes on many forms. At the Graduate School this occurs through the pedagogical approaches and curriculum content used by lecturers on all programmes (PDBA and MBA). According to the Higher Education Academy, these types of approaches “are key vehicles for improving teaching and learning for all students”.
“Internationalising the curriculum involves providing students with global perspectives of their discipline and giving them a broader knowledge base for their future careers. Students can also be helped to develop a set of values and skills to operate in diverse cultural environments” (Higher Education Academy, 2016).
In 2016, the Graduate School again facilitated their annual international tours for second- and third-year MBA students.
Students could apply for the International Business Tour to Germany or the Leadership Tour to the Czech Republic and Germany.
Both tours focused on providing an academic and cultural experience for students, as well as offering them an understanding of how business is done in other countries through the facilitation of industry visits.
The 2016 International Business Tour students and Prof Margie Cullen visited Nurnberg and Munich in Germany. They not only experienced the German MBA programme approach, but visited the following companies: BMW in Munich, Faber Castell and Siemens.
The Leadership Tour students and Prof Paul Poisat visited Prague in the Czech Republic as they kicked off the first leg of their tour. In Prague, the group saw examples of bad leadership which led to the annulation of an entire town and its people at Lidice; good leadership found at a glass factory, Ruckl Crystal, which exports internationally; and met with a leadership specialist, Mr Pavel Rehak, who inspired all the students during his exclusive sharing of his leadership brand.
The group ended their first leg on a high note with dinner at the South African Ambassador, Ms Franki Verwey’s, residence. Thereafter the group joined the International Business Tour in Germany.
Over the last two years the School has been privileged to receive three spaces for NMMU MBA students on the Technische Hochschule Nürnberg’s ‘Doing Business in China’ tour. This year Robert Vermeulen, Cuan Lippert and Aron Rondganger represented the NMMU on the tour that visited Zhejiang University.
These three students were treated to industry visits found in some of the country’s oldest sectors – a rice factory and a silk factory; they also dined at the Germany Embassy in Hangzhou. They ended their tour with a cultural visit to Shanghai.
“The China Tour was a great experience. It has provided me with significant learning about myself; and the experience has already positively changed the outcome of my future,” commented Aron Rondganger, a third-year MBA Block Release student.
After Dr Jessica Fraser’s visit to China this year, one of our students, Mrs Nomkhitha Sinuka, was afforded the opportunity to attend a Summer School at the Shanghai Maritime University’s (SMU). Currently employed at Transnet National Ports Authority, Mrs Sinuka was able to contrast South Africa’s approach to port management with that of the Chinese ports.
The Graduate School concluded its year with an Entrepreneur-ship and Innovation Tour to the USA for the senior students enrolled in the Entrepreneurship Elective on the MBA. The Tour visited St Cloud State University in November 2016.
