EAMDC Newsletter - April 2008

April 21, 2008

Class of 2009 in Japan

TOKYO, Japan - Ross students readily agree that one does not need to be in a classroom to learn. Consistent with that belief, the Global MBA program offers corporate and cultural tours during each session in Asia. The tours are designed to give students an opportunity to deepen their understanding of the history and culture in each area. In March, the Class of 2009 completed their session in Japan. Core courses taught by Professor's Pris Rogers and Hyun Soo Ahn were held at the Sumitomo Metal Training Center in Kashima, Japan. In addition to their coursework, while in Japan, the class enjoyed a trip to Ricoh Printing Systems and to the culturally significant city of Nikko.

On Friday, March 14, the class traveled to Hitachinaka City, about 110 km northeast of Tokyo, to visit Ricoh Printing Systems, a subsidiary of Ricoh Corporation. Ricoh Corporation is one of the largest copying machine manufacturers in the world. President of Ricoh Printing Systems, Mr. Toshiaki Katayama, welcomed the students upon arrival and provided an overview of the company. Formed in 2004, Ricoh Printing Systems was organized to meet the rapidly changing needs of Ricoh's customers by utilizing technologies accumulated through various printing systems and their years of experience in the industry. Mr. Katayama then took time to answer the student's questions regarding Ricoh. After the discussion, students toured the factory to see the assembly first hand. Following the tour, the students were treated to a wonderful dinner, pictured top left, and then returned to the training center.

On Friday, March 21, the class visited Nikko National Park. They arrived that afternoon just in time for lunch and enjoyed a specialty of the area made from soybeans called yuba. A tour of the Toshogu Shrine followed. The Toshogu Shrine is one of Japan's most lavishly decorated shrines and contains the mausoleum of the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate. Toshogu was built in 1634 and is located in a beautiful forest. The shrine is now on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Following the tour, the class checked into a traditional Japanese ryokan with its own private hot spring and enjoyed a farewell party for their last night of the session in Japan. The next morning, the class visited Kegon Falls and the beautiful Lake Chuzenji. At more than 95 meters high, Kegon Falls is considered one of the three greatest waterfalls in Japan. After viewing the falls, the students departed for their homes via Tokyo Station to begin a one week break.

Currently, students of the Class of 2009 are completing courses in Beijing, China. The session in China will conclude at the end of April, after which, students will travel to Korea for the last segment of our three-month Asia term.

Global MBA Academic Honors

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Six students from the Ross Global MBA Class of 2008 were invited to join Beta Gamma Sigma, the international honorary business administration society. The outstanding academic performance of these six students while at Ross made them eligible for membership. Membership in Beta Gamma Sigma represents the highest scholastic honor conferred by the school.

All Beta Gamma Sigma members are invited to a reception with the Dean on commencement day. At the reception, attendees will receive their membership certificate and a keepsake sash to proudly display over their graduation attire that evening at the commencement ceremony. Election to the University of Michigan Chapter of Beta Gamma Sigma within the MBA program is limited to the top 20 percent of graduates.

Congratulations to the Global MBA recipients below for their hard work and dedication to their studies while at Ross.


Takao Ito Fujiwork Co., Ltd.	Yu-Mei Kao Zippy Technology Corp.	Hyun Bae Kim Hana Bank

Won Joon Park Korea Investment & Securities	Jihoon Ryu Industrial Bank of Korea	Teppei Yamaga Mitsubishi UFJ Securities

Global Projects - STRATEGY 659

	ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The Global MBA Program offers instruction in 3 Asian countries and the US. Through participation in the Global Projects elective course, several Global MBA students took advantage of an opportunity to enhance their Ross experience even more and add another country to their repertoire, the Netherlands. Global Projects is an elective course that Ross' second year MBA students may choose to take in the winter term. In line with the Ross philosophy of action-based learning, the Global Projects course allows student teams to undertake specific projects for real-world sponsors. In the course, teams of MBAs apply their knowledge to international projects addressing topics such as market entry, joint ventures, and strategic alliances. Student teams spend their spring break week on location at the corporate sponsor, where they work to produce valuable results for the sponsor, while meeting high academic standards with respect to data and knowledge acquisition, performance standards, and analysis. After returning to Ann Arbor, teams continue project related activities, generating and evaluating alternative solutions to the issues they have identified in order to provide informed, actionable recommendations to the sponsor. Throughout the 14-week course, students are challenged to apply their critical thinking skills to the application of core concepts and tools while improving their communication and project management skills. Class of 2008 Global MBA students participated in two of the Global Projects offered in Amsterdam. In the top photo, a team is shown enjoying dinner with their project sponsors; from left to right, Kei Ito of Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp., Yung Moo Kwon of POSCO, Jai Hyun Kim of Hynix Semiconductor, Toshiaki Kono of Nomura Research Institute, Yuichiro Tsunashima of Denso, 2 of the sponsor liaisons, and Kelly Wang of Taishin International Bank. Eddie Lee of Cradle Technology, shown in the bottom picture, took advantage of the time in Amsterdam to learn about the local culture while visiting some of the popular tourist destinations.

Global MBA MAP 2008

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The Global MBA Class of 2008 has begun to gear up for their final academic requirement - the Multidisciplinary Action Project. In the final seven weeks of the program, students work together in teams of four or five to collaborate in on-site business settings to provide real solutions to real business challenges. Student's bid for projects in early March based on proposals received from interested companies. Teams were determined from the results of that bidding and announced to the class in March. Six projects, sponsored by the companies shown below, were formed from the class of 30 students. The projects officially begin on May 7, 2008 and even though students are now busy completing the winter term, several teams have already begun to meet, plan and organize their efforts to provide a successful outcome for their project sponsor.

We were fortunate enough to partner with three previous MAP partners, as well as, a few new companies who will soon experience the benefit a team of dedicated Ross students can bring to their organization. We are happy to report that four of the six projects are supported by University of Michigan alumni and we thank them for giving back to the University through MAP.

Project Sponsor	Project Location	Project Focus
Conergy	Denver/Ann Arbor	Marketing
Ford Motor Company	Dearborn, MI	Strategy
Hyundai Translead	San Diego/Ann Arbor	Strategy/Marketing
MPS Group	Detroit/Ann Arbor	Marketing
TRW Automotive	Farmington Hills, MI	Strategy
Valspar Packaging	Pittsburgh/Ann Arbor	Strategy

Alumni News

Junji Mori of the Norinchukin Bank and the Global MBA Class of 2009 announced the birth of his third child. On break from class for the entire week, one might say that timing is everything as Junji was able to be there with his wife, Yoko, for the birth of their son. The Mori's third child was born on March 27, 2008 in Japan. The Mori's named their son Haruki. The first part of the name, Haru, refers to the spring season and the later part, Ki, refers to young trees. By combining the two, the Mori's blessed their child with a name that means he will grow quickly and be healthy like young trees in spring. All three of Junji and Yoko's children are pictured here, from left to right, 7 year old son Koyo, baby Haruki, and three year old daughter, Suzuha.

Jin Chol Nam of Kyobo Securities and the Global MBA Class of 2008 and his wife, Suk Jin, welcomed their second child on March 12, 2008 in Ann Arbor. The Nam's had a baby girl who they named Kahyun. In anticipation of this wonderful event, the name Kahyun was specially chosen by the family monk well before she was born. The proud father, Jin Chol, is shown here with Kahyun and his 2 year old son, Jiwon. Jin Chol was happy to report that everyone is doing well.

For questions or concerns regarding this newsletter, contact:

The Global MBA Program

Editor, EAMDC Newsletter

GMBA@umich.edu