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FROM Fuqua Current Student Blogs: Highlights from the 2015 Duke Asia Business Conference |
The Duke University Asia Business Conference is a university-wide conference held at Fuqua that aims to educate participating students and professionals on the evolving business opportunities in Asian markets. Distinguished business leaders from finance, consulting, technology, healthcare, and other sectors joined us as panelists and presenters at this year’s fifth annual conference titled “Unveiling Asia: the Secrets of Success and the Next Growth Frontier,” which was attended by over 100 students and business professionals. Differences in institutions, policies, and culture often present the biggest obstacles to conducting business in Asia. Asian business trade organizations such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and the Association of Southeast Nations (ASEAN) have a powerful impact in shaping the business relations between Asian countries and the United States. Our speakers provided a comprehensive overview on how these policies affect day-to-day business in Asia and their relevance to multinational corporations when conducting global commerce. Here are some of the highlights: First Keynote Address: “ASEAN: Another BRIC in the Wall” Papkoom Valliusuta Presented by Pakpoom Vallisuta, Global Executive MBA ’98, member of Fuqua’s Board of Visitors and East Asia Regional Advisory Board, and co-founder and chairman of The Quant Group—an investment banking firm in Thailand. Mr. Vallisuta introduced the formation of major Asia trade organizations, specifically ASEAN, and how they will be the major drivers in Southeast Asia’s economy. He identified that although China had been the largest manufacturing nation in Asia for the last decade, issues such as rapidly increasing labor cost and reliance on export-led growth hinder China’s future growth. Vallisuta argues that ASEAN countries, if capitalized and focused on their resources and ability strategically, will be able to avoid China’s fate. ASEAN should focus on evolving toward brand equity, resolute toward free flows of trade, services, labor, capital, and investments, and capitalize on their abundance agricultural and resources bases. Second Keynote Address: “Economic Prospects for Southeast Asia” Presented by Adam Schwarz, BA ‘83 and founder and CEO of the Asia Group Advisors—a strategy and capital advisory firm in Singapore. Mr. Schwarz presented the four major goals of ASEAN which include becoming a highly-integrated global business unit, forming a single market and production base, creating equitable economic development, and evolving to be a competitive economic region. He pointed out the real challenge behind the organization is its lack of involvement with private sectors. “Three out of four ASEAN citizens have no real understanding of the organization’s goal and function,” he said. To more effectively achieve its goal and move this large economic unit that combines $2.4 trillion GDP and a population of 633 million, ASEAN should be focusing on combating the political tensions and attracting involvement from private business units. Schwarz used Indonesia’s recent business reform success as an example to demonstrate the possibility to unite fragmented sectors in achieving greater business opportunities and foreign investments in Southeast Asia. Special Guest Speaker: Thai Ambassador Ambassador Pisan Manawapat As part of the conference, Ambassador Pisan Manawapat delivered his first speech in the United States as Thai Ambassador to the U.S. He presented several major accomplishments by Thai corporations and the country’s role in ASEAN. Manawapat explained Thailand’s advantageous business offerings to foreign investment, including a high degree of freedom monetarily and in business and labor. As one of the dominate members of ASEAN, the Thai government and major corporations anticipate that business trends will evolve from original equipment manufacturing to global brand building. Discussion Panel 1: Innovation in Asia The growth of business in Asia has evolved beyond operations and manufacturing. Countless innovative businesses have been started in Asia in recent years, but many fail to persist. How are innovation processes formed differently in Asia, and how can these ideas be scaled to make worldwide impact? The panel focused on discussing the different innovative methods multi-national companies—including GSK, McKinsey, IBM, and John Deere—apply in Asia and how their U.S. counter parts collaborate and learn from their Asia experience. Discussion Panel 2: Globalization in Asia Echoing the keynote discussions, this panel dove deeply into explaining Asia’s role in forming a globalized economy. Speakers from PwC, Apple, Kimberly Clark and the North Carolina Chinese Business Association talked about the different challenges in addressing globalization issues from cultural, professional and personal aspects, and customized solutions for them. Takeaways from Attendees Conference attendees look on From speakers:
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FROM Fuqua Current Student Blogs: My First Year at Fuqua |
We are three weeks away from finishing the academic year, and I have a lot of mixed feelings about what my first year at Fuqua has been. In my first day at business school, one of the things most people repeated to me was “the two years are going to pass so quickly,” and I always thought they were exaggerating. The other common phrase was “these are going to be the best two years of your life.” After a year has passed, now I know they couldn’t be more right about both. Coming to business school was a big decision. As an international student, for me it represented leaving behind my country, my family, my friends—everything I loved and knew. I had to be sure that if I was leaving all that behind, it was to go to the best place possible for my MBA journey. Now, after almost a year, and reflecting on what this experience has been for me, I cannot be more confident that it was. Summer Term The first day of school was part of orientation and I remember it as if it were yesterday. During orientation I started to meet my new classmates, my section mates, and my Consequential Leadership (C-Lead) team. Everything was new, and sometimes a little confusing. Why do we have lunch at 11:15 a.m., what is a course pack, and why do table bangers never get tired of banging the tables? You’ll get that last reference once you’re in the program. Soon everything started to clear up, and I realized how lucky I was to be surrounded by such amazing and accomplished people. This time of the school year before the Fall 1 term started was my favorite, because we were all starting to get to know each other and making new friends, there were many social events, and classes were not that intense yet. Fall 1 Term End of term party After an awesome pool party to close out the summer term, Fall 1 started and with it the core classes with my section and my C-Lead team. Everything in Fuqua is done in teams, and I am confident that is the best way to learn about collaboration and leadership. This Fall 1 term was very quantitative and a bit challenging for me, but with the help of my C-Lead team and my classmates, everything turned out great. During Fall 1, one of my favorite activities was Campout—the annual event where you hope to secure season basketball tickets. Even though I was stung by a bee and I didn’t win tickets, the experience was totally worth it and I recommend that all students do it at least once. At the end of Fall 1, I traveled with 90 classmates to Seattle and San Francisco as part of the Week-in-Cities trip. We visited Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, Google and eBay, among other companies. Fuqua is becoming one of the top business schools for technology so this ‘Tech Trek’ is becoming increasingly popular every year. Fall 2 Term Our winning team at the J&J Case Competition Looking back now, if I thought Fall 1 was hard, I was very innocent then. Fall 2 was at times overwhelming: classes, recruiting, club activities, and social events. This is the time when my multitasking and organizational skills were tested. Also, my classmates were very supportive with everyone, and Team Fuqua stood out. Some of the best moments of Fall 2 for me were when Fuqua was announced as the #1 school in Businessweek’s MBA rankings, the J&J Marketing Case Competition at the nearby University of North Carolina (which my awesome team and I won), the auction date night, and the Fuqua Prom. Winter Break During winter break I travelled home to Peru for Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Even though I was on “vacation,” recruiting was one of my main concerns, so I had to conduct some mock interviews for practice. I am so thankful to all of the people that paused their vacations to help me with mock interviews virtually. Believe it or not, there were people in other continents scheduling mock interviews with me with a time zone difference of 12 hours. More proof of what Team Fuqua really is. Spring 1 Term Fuqua Prom When Spring 1 started, with it came the joys of first-year students getting their initial internship offers. Seeing everyone helping each other and motivating classmates to achieve their goals or to overcome the failure of a rejection was very inspiring. I loved Spring 1 because it made me realize again that I had made the right decision to come here. Some of my favorite moments during this term were when I got my first internship offer, the snowy days in Durham, and the end of term party. Spring 2 Term So now we have reached Spring 2, and it came faster than expected. Classes are great because we are taking only electives now, so everyone can concentrate on what they really want. However, it is sad to not have class with your section anymore. This term is going away very fast, and as it marks the end of the academic year, there are many social events. The best experiences I have had during this term have been the Leadership Cohort Experience (LCE) and when Duke won the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship! I am also looking forward to my trip to China in May as part of GATE. These are some of the things that have made my first year an awesome experience at Fuqua, and even though I am happy to be here, I can’t help but feel sad that I have only one year left. To all of the newly admitted Fuquans: You are so lucky!! Get ready for the best two years of your life, but beware, they are going to pass very very quickly. |
FROM Fuqua Current Student Blogs: Team Fuqua Embraces Inclusion |
On April 1, like so many in our community, I woke to news of what I hoped was just a cruel April Fools’ Day joke: a noose found hanging from a tree in the Bryan Center Plaza, the very heart of Duke’s campus. However, given our nation’s history, this provocative act was not a simple joke. I understood the symbolic meaning. And while a noose is symbolic of race-based prejudice and bigotry, particularly against African-Americans, this act spoke to intolerance and hatred in all its forms. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” So the very same day the entire Duke community, which Fuquans lovingly refer to as ‘Big Duke,’ came together in a rally organized by President Brodhead, standing together in love against this hate-filled act, driving out the fear that the incident instilled in many. The message was clear: Our community does not stand for this. While Big Duke does not stand for this, neither does Fuqua—so our business school came together too. One of Fuqua’s core values is collective diversity: we are stronger because we are together, and we are better because we are different. Dean Boulding explained it simply in a message to Fuqua, “this act of hatred strikes at the very foundation of our community.” As consequential leaders we took action, recognizing the opportunity to reinforce Fuqua values, educate our international community members about the significance of the incident, and spark a conversation around race and the campus climate. Dean Boulding speaking at the diversity forum The Black & Latino MBA Organization (BLMBAO) and the MBA Association (MBAA) organized a ‘Day of Solidarity’ against hatred and bigotry, in which community members wore Duke blue to express their disdain for prejudice, and show their commitment to diversity. The Day of Solidarity was capped by a forum, “Dialogues on Diversity,” in which students, faculty and staff discussed diversity issues in small groups after hearing presentations from Daytime MBA students about recent national events and their own experiences. These conversations are the beginning of a continuing dialogue between students and school leadership about how to emphasize our strong belief that our differences make us stronger and environments that truly embrace inclusion are critical to our school, our nation and ultimately the world. Team Fuqua is a supportive and action-oriented community! I am happy to belong to a community of consequential leaders that follow words with actions, using a hate-filled act to spark meaningful and lasting change. |
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