The International Residency

During the spring of the second year of the program, each Executive MBA class participates in a group immersion experience outside the United States. This week-long International Residency is an integral and final part of the three-part Global Enterprise sequence and ensures that classroom discussions and theory are brought to life in an effective and compelling manner.

Typically, the International Residency consists of visits to ten corporations in one or two host countries; these may be satellite offices of companies that are headquartered in the U.S., or local, regional or international companies that are based in these countries. Regardless of city or country, the purpose of these extended, in-depth corporate visits is to understand and discuss the differences and complexities inherent in doing business in the global marketplace, including such things as staffing; financial, legal and political structures; economics and social customs.

The International Residency location is determined by the Executive Programs team at the beginning of Year 2. In selecting the country each year we look for two critical things: relevance to the students in the class and the work challenges they face and the availability and access to Vanderbilt alumni and corporate executives. We also take into consideration current political and economic events that might help or hinder our visit. Prior Executive MBA classes have traveled to Europe (Budapest, Vienna, Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam), Latin America (Santiago and Sao Paulo) and Asia (Shanghai, Hangzhou, Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai and Seoul).