Global MIT Sloan

Initiatives

Like MIT, MIT Sloan has a rich array of internationally focused initiatives aimed at giving people and organizations the knowledge to conduct business productively in every corner of the global marketplace. Examples of our primary initiatives in this arena are the Sabanci University Collaboration, the MIT-China Management Education Project, China Leaders for Global Operations, Sungkyunkwan University Graduate School of Business (SKK GSB), the International Faculty Fellows Program, the Lisbon MBA, and the SKOLKOVO Project. In addition to these programs, the School is also engaged in educational and research initiatives over five continents.

In a speech that explored how universities can best meet the challenges of this global age, MIT President Susan Hockfield stressed the importance of global institutional collaborations. She cited MIT Sloan's MIT-China Management Project as exemplary, stating, “Rather than produce a ‘cookie-cutter’ replica of MIT Sloan, the MIT-China Management Education Project encourages Chinese management faculty to develop MIT Sloan's knowledge base responsively to local context and opportunity.”

As pioneers of global management education, MIT Sloan is committed to establishing business practices that strengthen local economies and, ultimately, help shape the future of global business.

For more information on MIT Sloan's international initiatives, please see below. (You may also browse initiatives by location.)

Our primary initiatives are:

Sabanci University Collaboration
The school of management at Sabanci University (SU) in Istanbul, Turkey and the MIT Sloan School of Management have engaged in a collaboration to strengthen the academic cooperation and educational exchanges between Turkey and the United States, build the capability of the management school faculty at SU, increase MIT Sloan's knowledge of Turkey and the region, enhance the educational quality of relevant fields of study at SU and MIT Sloan, and increase the sustainability of enterprises in Turkey.

The MIT-China Management Education Project
This project is a collaboration of MIT Sloan and three distinguished universities in China to strengthen graduate management education at the Chinese schools. Chinese faculty come to MIT Sloan for training in teaching and course development and to develop research projects. MIT Sloan faculty visit the Chinese campuses, and MBA students on all four campuses work together on China Lab, featuring team-based projects that include visits to MIT and China. English is the Chinese program's official language.

China Leaders for Global Operations
The China Leaders for Global Operations (CLGO) program, a collaboration between Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) and MIT’s interdisciplinary Leaders for Global Operations program, is China’s only dual-degree, graduate-level program in engineering and management. Established in 2005 to assist global companies in strategically building and retaining a team of leadership talent, CLGO focuses on developing leaders who can apply both managerial and engineering expertise to global manufacturing and operations.

MIT Sloan SKK GSB
MIT Sloan and the Sungkyunkwan University Graduate School of Business (SKK GSB) in Seoul are working together to develop a world-class MBA program at SKK GSB. SKK GSB faculty spend time at MIT Sloan developing research projects, MIT Sloan Faculty teach short courses at SKK GSB, and many SKK GSB MBA students spend a semester at MIT Sloan as Visiting Fellows. English is the program's official language.

The Lisbon MBA
MIT Sloan has partnered with two premier business schools in Portugal to help those schools merge their MBA programs into an internationally competitive MBA program known as the Lisbon MBA. Students receive degrees from both schools as well as a certificate from MIT. Portuguese faculty come to MIT Sloan each year to develop MBA courses and conduct research, and Portuguese students will come for coursework. MIT Sloan is also giving both schools advice on designing, marketing, and operating their global MBA program.

The International Faculty Fellows Program
Every semester, faculty from Chinese, Korean, and Portuguese universities come to MIT Sloan to immerse themselves in the core subjects and electives they teach at their respective schools, and to develop research projects. They return home with advanced information and best practices that they can share with students and faculty. The philosophy of this program is that by teaching the teachers, knowledge spreads further.

The China Center for Financial Research
The CCFR is a collaboration of the MIT Sloan School and Tsinghua University in Beijing. The director is MIT Sloan Professor Jiang Wang. The CCFR supports and promotes research on China's financial system, sponsors annual international conferences, and offers advanced training programs and workshops for Chinese faculty in finance.

Epoch Foundation
The Epoch Foundation is an organization of leading industrial companies in Taiwan that supports research, teaching, and program development in the Asia/Pacific region at MIT Sloan and across MIT. Members of Epoch companies participate in MIT Sloan Executive Education programs, attend seminars, meet with faculty and staff to discuss specific projects and ideas, and visit MIT-based startups that may offer opportunities for investment.

Executive Education Programs
MIT Sloan Executive Education offers a portfolio of open enrollment and custom designed programs to mid- to senior-level executives from around the world. The programs range from two days to one month. Most take place at MIT but some are held in offshore locations such as Mexico, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and Brazil.

Master of Science in Management Studies
This program offers qualified students and graduates of top business schools outside the U.S. the opportunity to supplement their learning at MIT Sloan by earning a MS degree at MIT in two semesters. Participants enroll in MIT Sloan elective classes, choose a concentration, and complete a Master's thesis.

The Nanyang Fellows
Every summer, Nanyang Technological University (NTU) sends approximately 20 men and women with demonstrated leadership potential to MIT Sloan for four weeks of study. NTU Fellows come from ASEAN countries, including Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Vietnam, as well as other countries such as Bangladesh, China, Namibia, Sri Lanka, and Taiwan. During this four-week learning experience, the Nanyang Fellows have the opportunity to learn with other participants in this MIT Sloan international management program.

The SKOLKOVO Project
The Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO is a joint project backed by major Russian and international business leaders who have pooled their efforts to establish an innovative management school from scratch. A world-class business school is housed in a spacious new campus in SKOLKOVO on the outskirts of Moscow. MIT Sloan is working with SKOLKOVO in a pilot program focused on facilitating SKOLKOVO's Executive MBA program, developing a research-oriented faculty, and designing a Global MBA program. MIT Sloan will also provide short courses at MIT for SKOLKOVO MBA students.

Other initiatives include:

Global Business School Network (GBSN)
The GBSN links teams of top business schools, including MIT Sloan, with their counterparts in the developing world. The initiative aims to enhance the institutional capacity of business schools in emerging markets so that they can provide a stronger pool of management talent to local, regional, and multinational firms and organizations. The end result is to help developing countries grow their economies and reduce poverty.

Global Dialogue Project
MIT Sloan faculty members Otto Scharmer, Tom Malone, and Peter Senge are collaborating with companies to interview leaders around the world. The object: getting to the bottom of leadership — what works and what doesn't. The project is cosponsored by McKinsey & Company and the Society for Organizational Learning.

Global Entrepreneurship Lab (G-Lab)
G-Lab is the flagship international internship course offered at MIT Sloan. The course links teams of MIT Sloan MBA students with entrepreneurs in emerging markets from Colombia to India, from Uruguay to Vietnam. The students share their knowledge, experience, and research with these business owners, helping them solve such immediate, urgent challenges as internationalization, commercialization, financing, and strategic marketing. Meanwhile, the students get intensive training in challenging global environments, working with exceptional young firms ranging from a digital content company in Brazil to an IT outsourcing firm in Bangalore, from a vegetable oil producer in the Philippines to a venture capital firm in Vietnam. Currently G-Lab focuses on developing markets in Latin America, China, India, and Southeast Asia, and on global health delivery in Africa.

In recent years G-Lab has focused increasingly on developing markets in China, India, and Southeast Asia. Students work in teams with an exceptional variety of high-potential firms in an array of industries, ranging from an online video portal in Shanghai to an IT outsourcing firm in Bangalore, a vegetable oil producer in the Philippines, and a venture capital firm in Vietnam. Host companies praise the professionalism, commitment, and analytical skill of the G-Lab students. In the words of one CEO, “How do I feel about G-Lab? Very simple: I want another team.”

Global Scholars Fund

The MIT Sloan Fellows Program in Innovation and Global Leadership plans to launch a Global Scholars Fund to help organizations in underdeveloped nations prepare their most promising leaders for the challenges ahead. The fund will provide candidates with the financial assistance to attend this intense one-year degree program, the world's oldest program dedicated to educating global leaders. As a proven training ground for outstanding individuals from around the world, the MIT Sloan Fellows Program in Innovation and Global Leadership is in a unique position to help emerging nations build leadership and professional infrastructure necessary to actively participate in the global economy.

MIT Global Startup Workshop
The MIT Global Startup Workshop is the world's first conference on fostering entrepreneurship through supportive and catalytic infrastructure that epitomizes MIT's entrepreneurial ecosystem. Each year, about 30 MIT students organize the three-day conference in collaboration with partners from a different host country in order to discuss practical steps that can be taken by students, academic faculty, venture capitalists, government leaders, entrepreneurs, and top business leaders can take.

MIT Entrepreneurship Center: Global Programs
The MIT Entrepreneurship Center trains and develops leaders who will make high-tech ventures successful. MIT Sloan MBA students regularly join center projects with institutions, organizations, and individuals in regions of the world that are committed to high-tech entrepreneurship, including the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Taiwan.

CyberSpace & the Politics of Globalization
This initiative features a cluster of research projects focusing on the virtual dimensions of globalization. It explores the implications for national and international politics and knowledge networking in the domain of sustainable development. It is a collaborative project between MIT faculty in management, political science, engineering, and artificial intelligence.

Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change
MIT Sloan is part of the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change, an interdisciplinary organization that conducts research, independent policy analysis, and public communication on issues of global environmental change. This initiative is dedicated to developing interdisciplinary research that focuses on the interactions among physical, chemical, and biological processes and their global ramifications.

China Leaders for Global Operations
Developed in 2005 at the request of a group of US industrial partners as a collaboration of Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the MIT Leaders for Global Operations (LGO) program, the China Leaders for Global Operations (CLGO) program is China’s only dual-degree, graduate-level program in engineering and management. The contents and materials for the CLGO curriculum are provided by MIT, and core SJTU faculty teaching in the CLGO program are mentored during semester-long fellowships at MIT. CLGO was created in order to strengthen the global content of the MIT Leaders for Global Operations program for MIT faculty and students, to help partner companies’ operations in Greater China, and to promote global manufacturing. CLGO seeks to strengthen its partners by developing leaders who apply both managerial and engineering expertise to global manufacturing and operations. Through this partnership, joint student groups from the two programs have conducted plant tours in China and in the US, executed “Lion Team” projects for industry partners in China, and collaborated in case studies and ethics classes at MIT.