Management Study Abroad: South Africa 2009

May 9, 2009 – May 24, 2009

Management & Finance Program Highlights:

6 credit hours in International Business
or
3 credit hours in International Business and 3 credit hours in Finance

Business class hotels in:
Cape Town, Johannesburg, Kruger National Park

Meet with leading business leaders, academics, and government officials

We have developed an exciting study abroad program to South Africa for the PMBA program.  The trip will take place during Maymester 2009 and will combine academic rigor and professional development with the fun, sunshine and wilderness of a trip to South Africa.

The itinerary will keep us busy and we will work hard.  But, we will play and enjoy some of the most beautiful scenery in the world.  We will look for elephants, lions, cheetah, giraffe and listen to hyena and hippos at night at the campfire.   We will walk in some of Nelson Mandela’s footsteps while he was in prison and visit the Apartheid museum to remember a troubled history of oppression.  We will witness the invigorating growth that the economy promises and the opportunities that the FIFA World Cup 2010 offers.  We will see the challenges that HIV/AIDS poses in the workplace.

The academic portion of the program will focus on the international elements of business while covering several disciplines including marketing, finance, logistics, business administration and entrepreneurship.  The program will cover a broad scope of industries including hospitality (tourism & restaurant), the extractive industries (since South Africa is rich in minerals), energy, manufacturing, banking & finance (corporate and retail), telecommunications, and distribution.   We will spend some time learning about the diverse cultural environment of South Africa, black economic empowerment (BEE), the role of South Africa as a commercial hub in sub-Saharan Africa and witness the increasing role globalization plays in the lives of its people.

We continue to finalize some of the company visits and build some of the program details.  We have preliminary agreement to meet with some exciting companies and organizations, including:

• Sanlam Insurance
• ABSA Commercial Bank
• ABSA Capital Bank
• South African Stock Exchange
• Nelson CreekVineyards
• Spier Vineyards
• Ron Brown Institute
• University of Pretoria
• University of Cape Town Business School
• South African Parks
• SASOL
• ESCOM
• Several small businesses