For nearly a decade, our annual Engaging Asia study tour has provided second-year Oregon MBA students with an illuminating view of the region's business practices and daily life. This year—thanks to a new stop in Mumbai, India—the panorama became even broader.
After alighting in Mumbai, students and accompanying faculty members had a day to see the sights of India's largest city—including the world's most expensive apartment home. They spent the next two days visiting a variety of organizations, including Tata Consultancy Group, Intel Capital Group, Silicon Valley Bank, and Khaitan & Co, one of India's only full-service law firms.
Shanghai, China, was the next stop on the itinerary. A visit to the Wieden+Kennedy offices and a three-hour lunch with Rob Schmitz, China correspondent for National Public Radio's Marketplace show, were two of the many highlights of that leg of the trip.
Zooming along at 300 kilometers per hour, China's high-speed train whisked the group from Shanghai to Beijing. Liwei “Dupree" Zong, MBA '15, grew up in the city and generously shared his expertise—including tips for navigating the Beijing food scene—with his fellow students.
Several days of unusually good air quality provided clear views of the city's skyline and made for perfect weather for the group's trek to the Great Wall, as well as meetings with representatives from the United States Embassy in Beijing and visits to such organizations as Deutsche Bank and the Bank of Tokyo.
After their time in Beijing, the students split into two groups. Students associated with the program's entrepreneurship, sustainability, and finance tracks headed to Hong Kong, and sports business track peers journeyed even further south to Singapore. There, Char Zoller, MBA '15, and Lena Macomson, MBA '15, had the opportunity to give their fellow students a taste of the city-state where they had spent the summer working as interns at Sport Singapore.
“I felt very lucky that we got to share the Singapore experience with the rest of our cohort. To have them meet our coworkers and see the new sports hub—and get a feel for a lot of things that we had talked about but they didn't get to experience until we got there—it was just terrific," said Zoller.
Want a deeper dive into the Engaging Asia experience? View photos from Mumbai, Shanghai and Beijing, and Singapore, and then head on over to our student written blogs, where many MBAs shared their experiences and reflections on the study tour.