A Global MBA is a program that provides management training aligned with the international activities of a given company. But how is it different from a regular MBA? This is a question that many people ask. Actually, aside from the so-called “MBA,” any program that is focused on a specific business scene or industry is called a “Specialized MBA.” In this article, I would like to give a detailed definition of a Global MBA, one of the Specialized MBAs.

In a Global MBA, the focus of the discussion is a decision-making task that the manager of a company is likely to face when it is expanding to (or establishing a partnership with) overseas markets such as Asia as part of an international marketing campaign, local subsidiary management, or international business alliance project. For example, “a situation that could not be anticipated in the preliminary investigation occurred” or “an unreasonable demand due to a divergence between the actual local situation and the perception of the headquarters management team” are quite common cases. Apart from that, in Japan, a task or subject that should have been solved smoothly through an unspoken understanding or by participants’ ability to read the situation eventually becomes a huge problem. This is only one example that shows how small errors of judgment or misinterpretations may lead to considerable losses in highly diverse local subsidiaries.

Naturally, similar discussions appear in a typical MBA as well, but in a Global MBA, the cases are discussed entirely in English, and the instructors hail from many different countries. There are also a few considerations that make the discussions even more diverse, such as the welcoming of international students in exchange programs and study tours. In addition to the kind of decision-making process involved in overseas expansion, a Global MBA is also aimed at improving the day-to-day communication abilities for negotiations and presentations, which is why many people seek it to prepare for future overseas expansion, international alliances, assignments abroad, overseas business trip, and international mergers & acquisitions.

A case discussion in a Global MBA class, therefore, has a wider range of elements that need to be taken into account than that of an MBA. Aside from the number of years of work experience, a few extra elements, such as language skills and work experience in a multinational company or as an expatriate, are considered in the selection process.