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Showing posts from July, 2013

Does Thunderbird-Laureate partnership indicate the future of higher education?

In March 2013, Thunderbird School of Global Management announced "strategic alliance" with Laureate Education Inc. The school had been under fiscal strains, as the number of applications to Thunderbird's two-year, full-time M.B.A. have declined by nearly 75% in the past 15 years and the school ended 2012 with $4 million loss, according to the Wall Street Journal. It adds "Thunderbird's woes reflect the existential crises that many business schools now face as demand softens for full-time, two-year M.B.A.s."

Despite the "existential crisis", the announcement of strategic alliance did not go well with the school's alumni. They interpreted it to be a sellout of the brand to the for-profit world with concerns of potential brand dilution. However, the perspectives seemed to be more emotional than rational.

Compelled by the barrage of questions from media and alumni, the Thunderbird leadership came forward to explain the nature of the partnership …
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Chris Boehner of Vericant shares his entrepreneurial journey

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Chris Boehner, Executive Director, Vericant
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After graduating from the College of Charleston with a degree in Corporate and Organizational Communications, Chris decided to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps and move to China. During his seven years in China, Chris’s background can best be described as eclectic.  He was a corporate trainer for Microsoft, then decided to cycle across Asia and Africa working as a translator (you wouldn’t believe how useful Mandarin is in Sudan). Afterward, he managed Omega’s transportation logistics during the Beijing Olympics then spent two years intensively studying Mandarin. His proudest achievement is being a founding member of Beijing’s first bluegrass band–The Redbucks. During Chris’s ever-dwindling free time, you can find him in Beijing’s historic hutongs, playing mandolin or practicing Mandarin.

Rahul- What are the key services your organization provides? How would you describe your target customer and the unmet needs you are ser…
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international education as a pathway for immigrant entrepreneurs

While the immigration reform in the US is overcast with uncertainty, I came across a very interesting blog in the New York Times by Catherine Rampell asking "is it true that immigrants are unusually entrepreneurial?" And the data suggests, yes. The highlights are:
Business ownership rate is higher for immigrants than the native-born. In 2010, 10.5 percent of the immigrant work force owned a business compared with 9.3 percent of the native-born work force.Immigrants are also more likely to start a business in any given month. In 2010, 620 out of every 100,000 non-business-owning immigrants started a business each month as compared to 280 for nonimmigrants. "Immigrants’ entrepreneurship rates are especially high in the engineering and technology sector. About a quarter of engineering and technology companies founded between 2006 and 2012 had at least one founder who was born abroad, according to a 2012 Kauffman Foundation study. In Silicon Valley, the share was 43.9 perce…
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