The value of investing in the UW Global Executive MBA program for sponsoring companies

Many of the students in the Global Executive MBA (GEMBA) Program are carefully selected and nominated by organizations that recognize the importance of investing in developing their company’s human capital.

Two of the sponsoring companies (Mizuho Financial Group in Japan and GS Engineering & Construction in Korea) share why they value the UW Foster GEMBA program.

How has your organization benefitted from investing in sponsoring individuals to join the UW Foster GEMBA program?

Mizuho Financial Group

• Mizuho Financial Group has transformed to strengthen our ability to provide highest quality services that closely match client needs. We need strong and innovative leaders to deepen and capitalize on collaboration across the multiple entities in our group. Through participation in the GEMBA program, we could further enhance leadership skills and innovative thinking, so it is valuable for us to invest in select individuals.

GS Engineering and Construction

• In the early 2000’s when GS E&C began to expand our business from domestic to overseas, it created a need for employees with overseas business experience especially in SE Asia and the Middle East. Rather than recruiting external employees, GS E&C employed a strategy to train and develop our internal workforce to serve as leaders for overseas business expansion. As a result, GS E&C sent people to business schools including the Foster School of Business, and they discovered that GEMBA program was the best suited program for GS E&C’s strategy. The well-structured GEMBA curriculum has led to GS employees’ academic growth, while the exposure to the global business environment and diverse cultures have given them skill sets necessary to grow into global leaders.

What aspect of the UW Foster GEMBA program is important to you compared to other MBA programs?

Mizuho Financial Group

• UW Foster GEMBA program has high international mix, so our participants can learn with global classmates, and they can keep global network after graduating.

GS Engineering and Construction

• For GS E&C, the GEMBA program has set itself apart from the other MBA programs by their student body from diverse nationalities and career paths and a robust global alumni network. Furthermore, the geographical advantage of UW has attracted many students and alumni from Asia, and many companies in the region engaged in business with Asian countries, which allowed GS E&C to understand the business practices of the region. For this reason, GS E&C has dispatched the largest number of employees to GEMBA than to any other MBA programs. GS E&C’s employees who graduated from GEMBA have become excellent pioneers and leaders in the company’s overseas businesses in many industries such as architecture, housing, civil engineering, and plants. Many of them have even grown be successful executives conducting businesses not only in Asia and the Middle East, but also in Europe and the Americas.

How are candidate(s) selected to be able to receive company support and endorsement?

Mizuho Financial Group

• Our candidates are able to have connections with alumni and receive support from them when needed. After completion of the program, the participants are assigned to appropriate departments where they can demonstrate leadership.

GS Engineering and Construction

• GS E&C selects employees with the potential to grow into future leaders by identifying them as High Potential Individuals. These employees with promising potential are managed in a pool, which gets updated every year. The candidates who will be sponsored by the company to study at GEMBA are selected from this HPI pool. The final selection will be decided by GS E&C Top Management Committee.