Bangkok, Dubai Programs Highlight Growing Global Reach Of Penn State Executive Programs

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA (March 13, 2008) – With recent programs and planning meetings held in China, Dubai, and Thailand, Penn State Executive Programs is expanding its international reach, bringing its top-rated leadership, executive development, and supply chain executive education programs to companies around the world.

Creating partnerships with international universities and expanding the reach of Penn State Executive Programs overseas is a key strategic initiative for the organization, according to Patrick Cataldo, associate dean for executive education at Penn State's Smeal College of Business.

"We've always had a level of international presence," Cataldo says, "but in the past year or so we've been focusing on expanding our role overseas and bringing our executive development programs to more companies outside of North America. We're currently developing partnerships with multiple companies in Asia and the Middle East and I see our international presence growing as the world’s economy continues to go more and more global."

Dan Evak, director of business development for Penn State Executive Programs, recently returned from a trip to Thailand and China, where he led an executive education program in conjunction with the Thai National Shippers' Council (TNSC) and met with corporate and academic officials in Shanghai about partnering on executive education there.

In Bangkok, Evak and Alan Stenger, professor of supply chain management at Smeal, led a program for 50 participants from TNSC, the Royal Thai Government, and the Thai public. This custom executive education program was developed specifically for TNSC and was co-sponsored by the Department of American and South Pacific Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the Kingdom of Thailand.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs initiated the program with Penn State Executive Programs and sent a contingent from Thailand to Penn State in June to finalize the details. While on campus, the Thai contingent met with Smeal faculty and socialized with students from Penn State's Thai Student Association.

They were seeking an executive education program in supply chain management that would support the TNSC (Thailand’s leading organization of Thai exporters with 2,500 members) mission of providing education and human resources programs in logistics and supply chain management. The January program provided a platform for further partnering with TNSC. (Photos from the program are currently featured on the TNSC Web site at www.tnsc.com/html/content/view/1067/227.)

From Bangkok, Evak flew to Shanghai, China, to meet with government officials, corporate executives, and representatives of the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) to explore ways in which Penn State Executive Programs can help fulfill the expanding executive development needs in China's largest city. The economy in Shanghai, like in the rest of China, creates numerous challenges for managers who must deal with rapid change on a daily basis. Developing leadership talent to keep up with the booming demand is one of the biggest issues for companies in Shanghai and one that Penn State Executive Programs has had to confront in other rapidly expanding economies like Dubai.

In December 2006, Penn State Executive Programs partnered with Abu Dhabi University to host a weeklong program on "Managing Effective Supply Chains" in Dubai. The collaboration between Penn State Executive Programs and the Institute for Enterprise Development (IED) at Abu Dhabi University is a strategic alliance designed to combine the experience, energy, and talent of both universities to accelerate executive education and leadership development in the Gulf Region.

After conferences with the chairman and the chancellor of Abu Dhabi University, an expanded collaboration between the university and Penn State Executive Programs is currently in development. Penn State Executive Programs will align with the economic and planning needs of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Gulf Coordination Council to help public and private organizations maximize performance that will increase national capacity. This collaboration will expand IED’s capability to create the future for the Gulf Region that is envisioned by the leaders of the UAE.

"All of these efforts and initiatives are part of extending our global reach and presence," Cataldo says. "We have world-class business programs in a variety of disciplines and we work closely with our partners to customize individual programs that meet their specific needs, whether they're in the Midwest or the Middle East."

About Penn State Executive Programs
Penn State Executive Programs, the executive education division of Penn State's Smeal College of Business, has been serving the development needs of the world's business leaders since 1954, providing both open-enrollment and custom programs. Nearly 36,000 executives from 43 different nations have participated in programs on topics ranging from strategic leadership to supply chain management.

Penn State Executive Programs was recently ranked as the No. 1 provider in the world of customized executive education programs by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), the research arm of The Economist magazine publisher. The EIU also awarded Penn State Executive Programs its Award of Excellence for open-enrollment programs, making Smeal the only U.S. provider to be rated excellent in both categories.

For more on all the offerings of Penn State Executive Programs, visit www.smeal.psu.edu/psep.

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REPORTERS & EDITORS: For more information, please contact Wyatt DuBois in the Smeal College of Business Media Relations Office at 814-863-3798 or wed112@psu.edu.

Penn State's Smeal College of Business offers highly ranked undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, Ph.D., and executive education opportunities to more than 5,500 students at all levels. Featuring academic departments of accounting, finance, marketing, insurance and real estate, management, and supply chain and information systems, the college is also home to major research centers such as the Center for Supply Chain Research, the Institute for the Study of Business Markets, the Center for Digital Transformation, the Farrell Center for Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the Center for Global Business Studies, and the Center for the Management of Technological and Organizational Change.

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