International Opportunities

Q: Does Ross offer the opportunity to study abroad?

A: Ross has an unusually large number of partnerships with leading graduate schools of management outside the United States. These partnerships provide Ross MBAs with the opportunity to spend a semester studying, for Ross credit, outside the United States.

Ross MBAs who take advantage of these study-abroad opportunities typically do so in the fall semester of their second year. Participants are granted 15 credit hours toward their Ross MBA.

The exchange program also brings about 25 students from Ross partner schools to Ann Arbor, as full participants in the Ross MBA Program each year.

Ross MBAs have the following options for study abroad:

	University of New South Wales, Australia
	Wirtschaftsuniversitaet Wien, Austria
	INCAE, Costa Rica
	Copenhagen Business School, Denmark
	Helsinki School of Economics and Business Administration, Finland
	Hochschule St. Gallen, Switzerland
	Hong Kong  University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong
	Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales, France
	Wissenschaftliche Hochschule fur Unternehmensfuhrung, Germany
	Universitia Commerciale Luigi Bocconi, Italy
	Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands
	National University of Singapore, Singapore
	Escuela Superior de Administracion y Direccion de Empresas, Spain
	Stockholm School of Economics, Sweden
	London Business School, United Kingdom

Q: What international summer opportunities are available?

A: The William Davidson Institute, which was founded to assist emerging and transitional economies, offers an array of electives and serves as the hub for international student study assignments, administering the International MAP (also known as Global Projects I) as well as Global Projects II, a 14-week elective for second-year MBA students, and Global Projects III, an international summer internship for second-year students and recent graduates. These in-country engagements are a distinguishing feature of the Ross MBA Program, taking student teams on problem-solving missions to Eastern and Western Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Latin America. Each program is described in more detail below:

International MAP

International Multidisciplinary Action Projects are in-company learning experiences that integrate Ross and the business world, knowledge development and professional development. These projects are the centerpiece of Michigan’s bold and innovative curriculum, which is designed to develop advanced capabilities for results-producing leadership, personal effectiveness and adaptability.

International MAP is a 7-week, fully engaging full-time experience spent primarily inside one of the businesses or other organizations that serve as Ross' educational partners. Partners range from major multinationals to small manufacturing, service and high-technology firms. Ross works with these partners to identify areas of need that yield education-enhancing assignments surrounding important business processes—from launching e-business initiatives and strategic planning to product development, and from manufacturing to administration. Students work on these assignments as part of a cross-functional, six-member team and ultimately present findings and recommendations to faculty and host-organization executives.

Global Project Courses

The Global Project Courses (GPC) have much more in common with a high-level consulting project than with lectures and case studies: Teams of MBA students tackle issues of major strategic importance to companies or business-related organizations around the world. Those teams apply the latest tools and knowledge. They dig into challenging issues. They produce cutting-edge results. And they get valuable professional development in the process.

GPC assignments have spanned Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe. Student teams have helped bring products to market for business incubators in Israel. Others have developed market-entry strategies for major multinationals in Africa, Asia, and Europe. Each student engagement includes work from both their Ann Arbor home base and on-site in the country or countries covered by the scope of their project.

Through these projects MBA students get first-hand experience on high-level international business issues. They develop a track record in addition to battle-tested knowledge and skills of very high value.

Three versions of the course are offered. 

	Global Projects I – Also known as International MAP, this course is similar to MAP in its focus and timing, with teams of four first-year MBA students working on-site in international locations for up to five weeks during March and April each year.
	Global Projects II – This course is a fourteen-week elective for second-year MBAs that involves travel to international project sites over students’ Spring Break in late February/early March.
	Global Projects III (Summer Internship Program) – MBA students - both upcoming second-year students, as well as recent graduates, work in international summer internships on-location for up to eleven weeks during the May-August timeframe.

In addition to in-company learning outside the United States, Ross supports individual students who wish to arrange internships abroad. The school's Center for International Business Education provides travel funds to support such internships for U.S. citizens. While CIBE generally funds internships with for-profit firms, students securing any meaningful management experience abroad are eligible. Internships must be at least two months in duration to qualify. Students may apply for financial support for travel to and from the site of the internship.

I'd like to know more about the William Davidson Institute

The William Davidson Institute is a non-profit, independent, research and educational institute dedicated to developing and disseminating expertise on issues affecting firms in transitional economies. Integrating research, executive education, and practical project-based assistance, the Institute generates knowledge and offers unique educational opportunities to individuals as well as indigenous and multinational companies operating in transitional economies. Since 1992, the William Davidson Institute’s Global Projects initiative has provided project-based assistance to firms operating in transitional and emerging markets. In cooperation with managers from local and multinational organizations, the Davidson Institute tailors projects to the needs of its partners in these regions by providing cross-functional teams of MBA students to analyze key strategic business issues and make recommendations for improvement. The Institute has completed 340 projects with more than 100 partner companies around the world.