Student Testimonial
For me, the International Management Experience (IME) Asia was the defining experience of my MBA Program at Boston College. Not only did I get the chance to meet with VPs of MNCs (multinational corporations), respected economists and venture capitalists, but more importantly, I also had the opportunity to directly apply what I had learned from many of my core business school classes. For example, when we met with a major European bank in Hong Kong, I was able to understand their valuation methodologies at a high level—simply because I had elected to take a class on Corporate Finance. Thanks to Professor Stoller, the IME Asia trip was a perfect balance of corporate visits, alumni networking events, sightseeing excursions and the chance to explore the varied nightlives of Hong Kong, Shanghai and Seoul.
Of all of the corporate / business visits that we went on, the one that will remain ingrained in my mind forever is the full day of factory visits in Shenzhen and Dongguan, China. Taking multiple buses, making our way through various customs' lines at the border, and maneuvering Southern China’s chaotic traffic and poverty, we visited two factories: a watch-strap factory in Shenzhen and a female shoe factory in Dongguan. From that experience, there were two huge takeaways: firstly, these third-party manufacturers that sold to prominent, branded companies had conditions that, while not inhumane, were certainly not up to par with American Fortune 500 company-owned factories; and, secondly, these factories had such high product failure rates (sometimes as high as 5%), that, in the words of Boston College Professor Larry Meile, "Six sigma isn’t even a pipe dream for them!" It’s one thing to read about Chinese factories in the Financial Times—another to actually visit them and walk on the factory floors among the workers.
Of the plethora of sightseeing visits that we did, none was as mind-blowing than the De-Militarized Zone (DMZ) on the North Korea-South Korea Border. Starting off with a de-brief by the US Military in the Joint Security Area, we then went into a blue conference room used for negotiations that straddles the two Korea's. It is a surreal feeling to be standing next to a South Korean guard in the North Korean section of the conference room while having a gaunt North Korean guard stand directly outside of the room and stare back at you. In addition to spending time in the room, we were also able to eat lunch with American troops stationed at the base nearby, go to an underground tunnel that the North Koreans dug in case they ever invaded South Korea and visit the Dora Observatory—from which we were able to see for several miles into North Korean territory (including the North Korean ghost town of Kijŏngdong). Similar to the factory visits, it’s an incredible experience to actually stand in the middle of the DMZ. From the DMZ Visit, not only did I gain a deeper understanding of recent Korean history, but I also appreciated the threat that South Koreans face from their northern neighbors.
-- Samir Jaluria, Full Time MBA Program graduate
Of all of the corporate / business visits that we went on, the one that will remain ingrained in my mind forever is the full day of factory visits in Shenzhen and Dongguan, China. Taking multiple buses, making our way through various customs' lines at the border, and maneuvering Southern China’s chaotic traffic and poverty, we visited two factories: a watch-strap factory in Shenzhen and a female shoe factory in Dongguan. From that experience, there were two huge takeaways: firstly, these third-party manufacturers that sold to prominent, branded companies had conditions that, while not inhumane, were certainly not up to par with American Fortune 500 company-owned factories; and, secondly, these factories had such high product failure rates (sometimes as high as 5%), that, in the words of Boston College Professor Larry Meile, "Six sigma isn’t even a pipe dream for them!" It’s one thing to read about Chinese factories in the Financial Times—another to actually visit them and walk on the factory floors among the workers.
Of the plethora of sightseeing visits that we did, none was as mind-blowing than the De-Militarized Zone (DMZ) on the North Korea-South Korea Border. Starting off with a de-brief by the US Military in the Joint Security Area, we then went into a blue conference room used for negotiations that straddles the two Korea's. It is a surreal feeling to be standing next to a South Korean guard in the North Korean section of the conference room while having a gaunt North Korean guard stand directly outside of the room and stare back at you. In addition to spending time in the room, we were also able to eat lunch with American troops stationed at the base nearby, go to an underground tunnel that the North Koreans dug in case they ever invaded South Korea and visit the Dora Observatory—from which we were able to see for several miles into North Korean territory (including the North Korean ghost town of Kijŏngdong). Similar to the factory visits, it’s an incredible experience to actually stand in the middle of the DMZ. From the DMZ Visit, not only did I gain a deeper understanding of recent Korean history, but I also appreciated the threat that South Koreans face from their northern neighbors.
-- Samir Jaluria, Full Time MBA Program graduate