CommerceUVA Fall 2007 (Investors' Report) - McIntire School of ...

Beautiful, Innovative
CoPenHagen
McIntire off ers executive education in one of the
world’s centers of IT creativity, innovation, and design
WhAT DOeS THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH have to do
with business innovation? According to Jeffrey Mangis (A&S
’87, M.S. in Architecture ’92, M.S. in MIT ’06), an awful lot.
“Th e combination of Gilgamesh with business was so insightful
to me that I’m still researching it on my own,” says Mangis, an
IT Program Manager with San Diego–based Science Applications
International Corporation (SAIC). Indeed, he says, understanding
Gilgamesh’s “hero’s Journey” as a metaphor for the
steps in the creative process “helped me to see that the route to
business innovation is a journey, rather than an end unto itself.”
Mangis’ Gilgamesh insight came as part of his own journey—to
Copenhagen, Denmark, for McIntire’s 2007 International
executive education Program. Th e program, which
ran March 11-16, 2007, was carefully planned to provide its 19
executive participants a wide range of educational experiences
in one of the most exciting regions in the world for IT innovation,
creativity, and design.
“Th ere’s no question that issues of globalization, innovation,
and technology management are becoming integrated in
profound ways,” says Program Director Ryan Nelson. “Managers
must capture an entirely new set of knowledge and skills
in order to thrive in today’s business environment.” Nelson is
Director of McIntire’s M.S. in the Management of Information
Technology 12-Month Program and also heads the School’s
Center for the Management of Information Technology.
Broad Curriculum, Broadening Minds
Refl ecting the realities of this new business environment, the
Copenhagen program’s curriculum included the opportunity to
interact with european IT professionals, leaders, and students,
as well as site visits to the Danish Design Centre, the Zentropa
Movie Production Company (where Mangis was introduced
to the “hero’s Journey”), the Carlsberg Brewery, and the IT
10 • CommerceUVa
University of Copenhagen,
along with a number
of other networking and
cultural events.
Nelson notes that
Denmark is one of the
world’s leaders in IT innovation.
Th e Oresund region
(the area of Scandinavia
surrounding Copenhagen)
is home to more than 10,000 IT-related companies and some
100,000 IT employees; Microsoft’s largest development group
outside of the United States is located in the region, as are such
IT heavyweights as erickson and Nokia.
“Th e program really changed everyone’s approach to doing
business—not only in the eU, but also at home,” says Nelson.
“It was eye-opening for people to gain exposure to european
attitudes toward business innovation and technology management,
as well as to see very diff erent approaches to problem
solving and decision making.”
Fruitful Partnership
Nelson also notes that the program benefi ted enormously from
the fantastic support it received from the Denmark International
Studies Program (DIS). “DIS was a fabulous partner
and the critical factor in the program’s success,” he says. DIS,
which is affi liated with both the University of Copenhagen and
Copenhagen Business School, provided six outstanding faculty
members from its own highly respected business program. In
addition, state-of-the-art classroom space was provided by the
Danish Society for the Advancement of Business education.
“Th e combination of both Danish and American instructors
helped give a diversity of opinion to the subjects we cov-