Global
Exploring Economics in the Middle East
- ExCEL students examine a model of the Al Raha Beach Development.
By Anne Bergman on June 19, 2009 8:14 AM
One of the issues explored by the USC Marshall School of Business students who headed to the United Arab Emirates this past spring was whether the economic difficulties in the United States also were affecting people in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
Traveling as part of the International ExCEL Program (The International Experiential Corporate Environment Learning Program), 40 participants spent almost 10 days exploring Abu Dhabi and its more glamorous cousin, the gulf coast city of Dubai.
For the United Emirates trip, participants met with officials from companies “shaping economic life in Abu Dhabi and Dubai,” said Sean O’Connell, director of the Undergraduate International Business Program at USC Marshall, who led the trip.
ExCEL is a program created and organized by USC Marshall to help undergraduate students view business practices outside of the United States. According to O’Connell, the trip included the companies that planned and built the Palm Islands, the World Islands and Dubailand, as well as several other $100-plus billion developments.
“Many students came back believing that the gulf coast countries aren’t immune from the effects of the economic downturn,” O’Connell said. “This is a global problem, with the UAE facing many of the same problems as (we) do here, such as job layoffs, a decline in real estate prices and a lack of liquidity.”
Stanley Lam, a junior majoring in business administration with a double concentration in corporate finance and global management, came away from the trip impressed with the country’s ambitions.
“Like it or not, Dubai stands as a prime example of what one city can accomplish with enough vision,” Lam said. “They have built the tallest building [the Burj Dubai], created several islands and multiple industries from scratch and are in the process of building the largest collection of theme parks in the world [Dubailand].”
“Upon arriving in Dubai, I saw on every street corner why the UAE was still called a ‘developing country,’ ” Lam said. “We saw enough five-star hotels and resorts to rival any major tourist destination, yet right next door to each one of these resorts would be undeveloped plots of dirt.”
The ExCEL group also met with executives from McKinsey Consulting and Nomura, the Japanese investment bank, who gave students an overview of their experiences in the region.
For Lam — who also traveled with USC Marshall to Thailand last year and Shanghai in 2007—meeting with these business professionals broadened his worldview and made him realize “what living in a global economy” really means.
“After this trip, I am much more open to working in another part of the world after I graduate because I know that there will be fewer opportunities available to me if I narrow my focus around only working in the United States.”
TAGS: globalization
Latest Global stories
- USC Team Mends Discord in Mexico January 30, 2012 1:55 PM
- Ostrow School Resident Provides Care in Thailand January 27, 2012 8:17 AM
- Perfecting a Romantic Language January 13, 2012 8:57 AM
-
For Journalists »
-
USC in the News
for 2/8/2012 »-
The Chronicle of Higher Education mentioned USC’s $6 billion fundraising campaign. The story noted that USC had already raised $1 billion in a “quiet phase,” including the $200 million naming gift from USC Trustee and alumnus David Dornsife and wife Dana Dornsife to the USC Dornsife College.
The Guardian (U.K.) highlighted two major gifts to USC in a list of the 10 biggest philanthropic benefactors in America. The list included the $200 million naming gift from USC Trustee and alumnus David Dornsife and wife Dana Dornsife to the USC Dornsife College, and the $110 million gift from USC Trustee and USC Viterbi School alumnus John Mork and wife Julie to create the USC Mork Family Scholars Program.
The New York Times featured the USC U.S.-China Institute documentary “Assignment: China — The Week that Changed the World.” The documentary, part of a series, examines media coverage of the 1972 Nixon trip that reshaped U.S.-China relations after a quarter century of isolation and hostility. “People look back now and take it for granted that the outcome was preordained,” said the institute’s Mike Chinoy, who produced the documentary. Voice of America also featured the story.
Los Angeles Times featured the Oscar Senti-meter, a tool developed by the USC Annenberg School, Los Angeles Times and IBM that analyzes thousands of tweets about the Academy Awards nominees. The story noted that Mexican actor Demian Bechir received an enormous boost on Twitter the day of the nominations, with a total of 6,893 tweets mentioning him, a 47-fold increase from the day before. The story noted the tool uses language-recognition technology developed in collaboration with USC Viterbi School’s Signal Analysis and Interpretation Lab.
The Times of India (India) featured a three-day medical emergency training workshop organized in association with USC. At the workshop, held at GCS Medical College in India, 50 doctors and more than 100 paramedics learned how to improve emergency support systems. William Mallon of the Keck School of USC said that discussion topics included the use of portable ultrasonic devices to scan patients. “The ultrasound applications help physicians make accurate and timely decisions,” he noted. Daily News & Analysis (India) also featured the workshop.
-
-
Campus News
- Capital Connections
- USC faculty, staff and alumni in Washington, D.C., and Sacramento
- In Print
- New and recent books written or edited by USC faculty and staff
- Family Matters
- Achievements and awards
- Obituaries