TOKYO, Japan — Twenty-two faculty, staff and students from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville's Aerospace & Defense MBA program went to Japan for their international nine-day study of global business. Their experiences are documented at http://ADMBA.utk.edu.

This international experience exposed students to the world of global business, emphasizing aerospace and defense business activities and issues. The group spent four days in Tokyo and five days in Nagoya, Japan.

”Today’s marketplace is international,” said Andy White, program director. “To excel as a leader in the aerospace and defense industry, you have to understand global business issues. Nothing compares to the perspective gained and learning achieved when you go abroad to study global business.”

This unique trip and its study of international business principles comprise almost 15 percent of the Aerospace & Defense MBA curriculum.
 
“By designing the curriculum around the unique development needs and business issues of this industry, we provide students and their organizational sponsors a very valuable educational experience,” White said.

This year’s trip highlights included:

• Visits to historical and cultural sites across Japan
• Meetings with U.S. Embassy leaders representing commerce and defense
• Briefings on Japan’s unique and highly successful public education programs and the country’s contributions to economic success in high-tech industries
• Industry visits to Japan Air Lines, Toyota, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, including aviation and rocket propulsion system operations
• A visit to Nagoya University to better understand how Japanese higher education institutions support Japan’s strength in aerospace programs

“The international residence periods are a very important element in all of UT’s executive MBA programs,” said Carolyn Cuddy, executive director of UT’s College of Business Administration’s Center for Executive Education. “We posted student and faculty observations and images to provide alumni, students, and friends a real-time impression of the tremendous learning experience this trip provided.”
 
The Aerospace & Defense MBA (http://ADMBA.utk.edu) is an MBA program for working professionals across the country in diverse organizational roles and sectors of aerospace and defense. Students sponsored by both government and commercial organizations complete the program in a year while continuing to work. 

 
About The University of Tennessee College of Business Administration
The mission of the University of Tennessee College of Business Administration in Knoxville, Tennessee, is to provide innovative leadership in management research education and practice. The College consistently breaks new ground with both its scholarship and award-winning, integrated curriculum that is taught within its undergraduate, graduate and nationally recognized executive education programs. The College is fully accredited by AACSB International - The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. For more information about the University of Tennessee College of Business Administration, visit http://bus.utk.edu.