Doing business in Australia 2010
Jan, 2010
Students from New York University (NYU) Stern, one of the top-ten ranked business schools in the world, rate Melbourne Business School as the best place in the world to study "business".
After a jam-packed two-weeks, MBS has just waved goodbye to 38 students from NYU Stern who were studying here as part of Stern's global cultural immersion program, "Doing Business In...".
As part of the program students attended lectures and case studies, participated in cultural events at the Australian Open Tennis Tournament and Melbourne Museum, and spent an afternoon in the sun at a vineyard studying the art of wine tasting and the wine industry.
MBS Professor Lester Johnson says, "The course, 'Doing Business in Australia' provides students with an introduction to the Australian economy, history and culture. It uses a combination of lectures, case studies, guest lectures, company visits, projects and cultural events to highlight wine, sports and finance industries and to draw out differences between doing business in South East Asia and other regions, particularly North America."
Amy Doughney, Stern program coordinator claimed a major difference between the two schools was that the Australian lecturers tended to be business practitioners who were actively involved in the workforce, while at Stern many lecturers are theorists and academics.
Stern offers the same program in Hong Kong (China), Hyderabad (India), Singapore, Milan, (Italy), Dublin (Ireland), Buenos Aires, (Argentina), Beijing (China) and Budapest, (Hungary).
As part of this partnership, eight MBS students are invited to spend a semester studying at NYU Stern each year.
Go here for a student perspective on the program....
Pictured above: Professor Lester Johnson
 | Amy Doughney, Stern program coordinator |
 | Deepak Sethi"The biggest difference is the change in pace when you walk out into the street. It is not so fast. The faculty member we had yesterday for innovation is very different to what we get at Stern. He was very dynamic." |
 | Maneet Singh"Obviously you have some strong professors. For example, I came out of one lecture thinking that was one of the best hour and a half of any education that I've ever had. The topic was interesting and the delivery method was spot on." |
 | Eric Goldman"The quality and teaching styles of the professors at MBS match the quality and teaching styles of professors at Stern. It's a little tough to follow the lectures or some of the famous professors at Stern. They are brilliant but scatterbrained. It's the same here. Jason Clark was fantastic. He is above and beyond the standard of professor we get at Stern. Very rarely do you get a professor like that." |
 | Brenda Dietz"The biggest difference in business culture is [the focus on] open disclosure, which is unusual in the US. Another big difference is [how students address] faculty. Here everyone calls them by their first names. That's rare in the US. We would always call them Professor or Doctor. It's so laid back here." |
 | Marisa Colaneri"A noticeable cultural difference between the US and Australia is Australia's egalitarian nature. For example, our speakers cited the use of first names within schools and companies, as well as everyone in the company socialising as though they were on the same level. It's not as hierarchical." |
 | Rob Cohen"We've met a really diverse group of professors so far. Each professor provides a different source of knowledge and different field of study. We've been exposed to broader aspects of business here, than we would at Stern." |
 | Asif Halim"MBS classes have a distinctly different style. Out of the four classes we've had so far two of them have been fairly introspective. That's something we see at Stern but not to the same degree. I came here expecting to learn more about a different way of thinking or the Australian way of thinking, hoping it was something I would use when doing business in Australia or in NY. These classes address that expectation." |
 | Damion Egerton"The Australian business school environment is a lot less formal. Learning is more of a partnership here. As a student I feel a certain kinship with the faculty members, as if we are taking a journey together. Here we are exposed to a collection of thoughts in the classroom and the group searches for answers together. Stern has that to some degree but in general, it seems a more collaborative environment at MBS and not as regimented." |
 | Cory Epstein"The program has been great. It's hit all the right subjects and given us good breadth. It will be extremely beneficial. What we've learned about Australia applies to doing business internationally." |
 | Oliver Brassard"It's good to immerse yourself in another culture. Australia is an important world economy with important relationships with Asia so I was keen to learn about the issues associated with that." |
