USA Grad School News - March Update

On March 13, fifteen MBA students from Pace University's Lubin School of Business will forego the traditional spring semester break and embark for Tanzania on an intense 10-day international field study course. They are being led by Professor Bruce Bachenheimer, an entrepreneur himself, who is the director of Lubin's growing entrepreneurship program and a Faculty Fellow at the University's Wilson Center for Social Entrepreneurship. Pace selected Tanzania for its African program launch, Bachenheimer says, because of "the country's unique and successful move to free capital markets, its stable government and its World Bank reputation as a success in implementing a free market economy." Added Bachenheimer, "While this initial trip is only 10 days in length, it is also designed to serve as a foundation for a long-term relationship between the University of Dar es Salaam and Pace, one which will be truly meaningful and mutually beneficial." According to Lubin Dean Joseph R. Baczko, an international business figure himself as the former President and COO of Blockbuster Entertainment Corporation and founder and President of the international division of Toys R. Us., Inc. "Our students know a year abroad, semester or even a spring break is excellent preparation for professional careers that are in demand." Development strategies. Directly experiencing many of the concepts they have studied in the classroom, the Pace graduate students, based in Dar es Salaam, will: Meet with political, business, academic and community leaders; participate in an intense two-day workshop on March 18 and 19 in conjunction with the University of Dar es Salaam Entrepreneurship Centre (UDEC); visit social ventures and commercial enterprises; be challenged to examine and assess what they observe in the context of the eight U.N. Millennium Development Goals, which have galvanized unprecedented efforts to meet the needs of the worlds-poorest, evaluate business strategies and make recommendations for short-to-long-term marketing plans after listening to a presentation by local CEOs about the "Challenges of Running a Business in Tanzania." The group is scheduled to meet with several of Tanzania's most prominent leaders, including: David Robinson, the son of U.S. baseball legend and civil-rights hero Jackie Robinson, who is using the coffee grown on his 280-acre farmers' cooperative Sweet Unity Farms to encourage social change; Reginald Mengi, an industrialist and media tycoon. The former Chairman and Managing Partner of Coopers & Lybrand (now PricewaterhouseCoopers) in Tanzania, Mengi is the founder and Executive Chairman of the IPP business conglomerate; Ambassador Daudi N. Mwakawago, who served as Tanzania's Permanent Representative to the United Nations and was in charge of UN peacekeeping forces in Sierra Leone; Alex Mkindi, Deputy Country Director of TechnoServe, one of the world's most successful social entrepreneurial organizations. TechnoServe recently received a $46.9 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help small-scale farmers in East Africa improve coffee quality, increase production and link to markets. A meeting at the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Marketing will provide insight into the role the government plays in supporting small and medium enterprises. The session will give particular attention to the structure of financial systems and the impact of global business on local development, including how foreign investors and multinational firms are embracing entrepreneurs to produce successful ventures and partnerships. Speeches and spices. Pace will also have its turn at the podium as Bachenheimer and his students speak to University of Dar es Salaam faculty members and students about "The Changing Role and Increasing Importance of Entrepreneurship in the United States" and "The Recent and Dramatic Growth of Social Entrepreneurism in the United States." Not all of the trip will be academically-focused. The group will also be visiting the island of Zanzibar, known for its exotic spices, sandy beaches and historic Stone Town, said to be the only functioning ancient town in East Africa. An overnight safari will take place at Mikumi National Park, a favorite venue of wildlife photographers because of its population of elephants, giraffes, buffaloes, zebras, antelopes and tree-climbing lions. Professor Bachenheimer has been enamored of Tanzania since childhood, when he was captivated by stories in National Geographic about Louis Leakey's discoveries near Olduvai Gorge and Jane Goodall's work with the chimpanzees of Gombe National Park. "But this study group will focus on the new economic dynamism of Africa," he says. About Tanzania: Tanzania, the largest country in East Africa, is focused on wildlife conservation and sustainable tourism, with approximately 25 % of the land protected by the Government. It is the home of the tallest mountain in Africa, the legendary Mt. Kilimanjaro; the Serengeti, named in October, 2006, as the New 7th Wonder of the World by USA Today and Good Morning America; the Selous, the world's largest game reserve; Olduvai Gorge, "the cradle of mankind;" and seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites.