Exchange Magazine, Fall 2003 - Duke University's Fuqua School of ...

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NEWS 8 FUQUA EXCHANGE The Fuqua School of Business From Building Bikes to Building Futures STUDENTS HELPING STUDENTS AT THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA Chris Ringlstetter came to China as a member of The Duke MBA–Global Executive class of 2003 for an intensive study of global marketing, economics and finance. He left two weeks later as an educational benefactor for a class of children. While on the Asian residency in February 2003, Ringlstetter, an executive with Ingersoll-Rand in Italy, and his Global Executive colleagues created an education fund for a group of children they met during a team-building exercise on the Great Wall of China. Team-Building on Wheels Every Global Executive class has a two-week residency in Asia, where students combine intense classroom learning with company site visits, guest speakers and team-building exercises. For the Global Executive classes that have studied in Beijing, a memorable cultural, team-building exercise has been the side trip to the Great Wall of China, where the executive students, equipped with ropes and harnesses, work in teams to repel down the side of the world famous landmark. This year, the Global Executive administrative staff added an additional team-building activity on the wall. This activity included assembling 20 bicycles with a group of local children from the He Deng Hao school. The Global Executive program would then donate the finished bicycles to the children. Quick Thinking During the bicycle building activity, Ringlstetter became interested in the children and wanted to learn other ways the Global Executive class might be able to help them. In his investigation, he discovered the heartbreaking fact that financial hardships would soon cause many of the children to drop out of school and discontinue their education. Since the Global Executive students were bound for a busy week of study in Hong Kong, followed by a return to their homes across the globe, Ringlstetter knew he had to act fast if he wanted to help these kids. Ringlstetter and fellow students Heidi Miller and Evandro Reis spoke to the rest of their class and decided to establish the Duke-Great Wall Education Fund. This meant taking time out of their full schedules to organize the program and taking money out of their own pockets to fund it. The entire Global Executive class contributed, and by the end of the residency the fund reached its goal of $2,500. Team Fuqua From the initial bicycle donation to Chris Ringlstetter’s organizational initiative to the generosity of the class as a whole, the team-building activities of the 2003 Global Executive residency in Asia did a lot more than just strengthen the bonds of the student teams. It gave a group of executives the unforgettable experience of brightening the lives of a less privileged, but no less deserving, group of students. The hard work and the charitable actions of the Global Executive students and staff are the embodiment of Fuqua’s pledge to “Educate Thoughtful Business Leaders Worldwide.” Fuqua is proud to be represented by the Global Executive class of 2003.
IMPACT: Jordan and QIZs over Fall Break: Eye-Opening for Fuquans BY NICK FELTEN, CLASS OF 2003 AND JON BOCK, CLASS OF 2004 With instability, suicide bombers and fighting in Iraq, the Middle East is a great place to visit now—or so must have been the logic of the International Marketing PrACTicum (IMPACT). During this last year’s fall break, our group headed to Amman, Jordan, as part of our IMPACT project. IMPACT is a for-credit program in which teams of Fuqua students work with a foreign company on a consulting engagement related to entering or expanding in the U.S. market. Our client company was Resources Company for Development and Investment, part of a conglomerate controlled by the Muasher family of Jordan. Our assignment was to market Qualified Industrial Zones (QIZs). After the 1994 Jordan-Israel peace treaty, the United States made Jordan one of four countries (Canada, Mexico and Israel are the others) in which companies in QIZs, whose products have a minimum percentage of local content, can export to the U.S. tariff and quota-free. While visiting our client, we also had the opportunity to see and do some incredible things. Some highlights: Dinner the first night. Our host took us to a popular Amman restaurant. We started with mezze, roughly 20 bowls of different substances —the standard hummus and couscous as well as other things I’d never seen before—plus large helpings of pita-like bread. There were also foods reminiscent of Spanish-style tapas. We stuffed ourselves silly, only to find out that the main course still awaited us. So we stuffed ourselves even sillier with large amounts of lamb and chicken. Then came dessert, an excellent cross between baklava and an éclair. We also tried the local specialty liquor, a licoriceflavored beverage called araq. The Dead Sea. At about 400 meters below sea level, the Dead Sea’s shoreline is the lowest point in the world. Its water is about 30 percent salt, giving it many interesting properties. Most famously, it is impossible to sink. As you walk out into deeper water your feet are eventually The Fuqua School of Business IMPACT team members pose with the Bedouin guards inside the Treasury forced up and you start to float completely effortlessly. However, the flotation has its downside: instant awareness of every scratch on your body, no matter how microscopic. Petra. Petra is an ancient city and capital of a former trade empire founded by the Nabateans, a people first mentioned in the seventh century B.C. Petra had fresh water and occupied a strategic spot which allowed the Nabateans to control trade patterns, making Petra a place of great wealth in its day. It is best known as the setting of the final scenes of “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.” Remember that stone building carved into a cliff? That’s the Treasury in Petra. Jordan was a great place to visit. It’s been a safe and stable country for years and should not be confused with the less stable countries it borders. For an experience off the beaten path, don’t be too quick to write it off. IMPACT (http://mbaa.fuqua.duke.edu/ibc/IMPACT/ Impact_Navigation.htm) is currently seeking companies interested in consulting engagements during the upcoming academic year. If you know of any that might be interested, please contact Jon Bock at jon.bock@duke.edu. NEWS FALL 2003 9
Page 1 and 2: Exchange The Fuqua School of Busine
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Page 7 and 8: FINANCE (CONTINUED) Ron Kaniel Titl
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Page 13 and 14: Companies in Classrooms FUQUA TAILO
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Page 19 and 20: and is now working in Baku, Azerbai
Page 21 and 22: Lynch believes our increasing empha
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Page 25 and 26: A message from the Director of Alum
Page 27 and 28: opening party for her salon,” Dan
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