Labels: Duke MBA , MBA

Global Institute at Fuqua

The Global Institute (GI) was a 4-week long experience back in August, sandwiched between the HSM Bootcamp and Fall term 1. While HSM students have had one-week of classes before GI, this is the first time that the entire first year class gets together in our sections for classes. At this point we were also divided into our 5 to 6-student C-LEAD teams to work on cases and group projects.

This will be my last bi-weekly post on the Duke MBA before the round 2 deadline (Jan 6) due to classes starting again soon. I'll continue publishing 1 post per week, still on the topics of the Duke MBA and biopharma. Hope that this information has helped those applying for round 2, and good luck!


The courses:

Here's the course description for Leadership, Ethics and Organizations (link).
Here's the course description for Global Institutes and Environments (link).


A couple of highlights:

Learning about our C-LEAD teammates and developing our team culture

GI was the first time we work with our C-LEAD teammates. For those who are new to the concept, in most MBA programs students are first divided into sections (~70 students at Duke) and then into individual teams (called C-LEAD teams at Fuqua and are made up of 5-6 students). Everyone has a different background and offers a unique perspective. Students from different cultures, geographies and work experiences are put on to the same team, creating a multidisciplinary work environment.


Lots of reading and interesting class discussions

For each class there was a lot of assigned reading. Something like 2-3 papers and 1 case per class. As a team, we also met before class to prepare for the cases. It was a great chance to get back in shape for school, especially as clubs, core classes, and recruiting were still weeks away. We had class twice a week.


Triangle Training Day

Each week we had an event that brought students together that gave us an opportunity to know each other better. It was also a way to reflect on our teamwork and leadership skills. One example was the day we spent at the Triangle Training Center. In our C-LEAD teams we were assigned tasks that required physical skills and were pushed out of our comfort zones. As a section, we also had to work together to get everyone over the "wall".


Getting ready for recruiting

During GI we also had various seminars with Fuqua's Career Management Center (CMC) and learned how to manage on- and off-campus recruiting.