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Duke: New global focus
Business Schools Bärbel Schwertfeger - 09.16.2008
Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business wants to build a worldwide campus network. In addition to the main campus in the US, the centers for research and teaching will also be located in India, Russia, Dubai, China and the UK. The Goethe Business School, the current German partner, was not mentioned at all.
Partnerships with individuals, municipalities and organizations will facilitate the simultaneous launch of the business school's campuses in each of these five regions. In addition to establishing the business school in each of these regions, the expansion plan includes participation from other parts of Duke University, including the Nicholas School of the Environment, the Duke Global Health Institute and the Sanford Institute for Public Policy.
"With the simultaneous launch of our new international locations, Fuqua will be the first truly global business school, shaped and driven by the fundamental issues of our time," said Blair Sheppard, Fuqua Dean. "The depth of our activities in each location ensures we will become truly embedded in each region. By engaging with these regions through education and research, we will be able to examine the world's opportunities and problems, explore interdependencies between regions, create solutions to address world issues, and prepare practitioners to be change agents and informed leaders."
Fuqua's new global plans call for a significant presence in each location rather than the casual affiliations that define the international programs of most US business schools. Each of Fuqua's regional campuses will support all Duke MBA programs, including the Executive MBA programs. Each will also include an Executive Education department as well as at least two research centers.
The leading activity in Fuqua's global expansion will be the "Duke MBA - Cross Continent program," which begins in August 2009 and will be held in each of the five regions as well as in the US.
The school's first regional partnership, with the Graduate School of Management in St. Petersburg, was announced at the launch event. Fuqua will communicate its plans for the India location in October.
Germany is no longer playing a role in Duke's global plans. Not a single word was mentioned about the joint Duke-Goethe Executive MBA that was started in 2005 together with the Goethe Business School. At the end of last year Fuqua Dean Sheppard still emphasized the cooperation. Additional partner schools may come, but Duke will stay in continental Europe and consequently remain in Frankfurt, Sheppard told MBA Channel. But now the Americans are looking to London and St. Petersburg instead.
Whether there is more behind the multi-campus project than just a new marketing strategy for the Duke MBA program remains to be seen. How the business school wants to extend its worldwide presence and assert itself over the local competition is also unclear. Ultimately, the US university has now failed for the second time to establish itself in the finance city of Frankfurt. And in London the international MBA competition is even greater with the London Business School and the University of Chicago. But perhaps there will be another new plan next year.