{"id":26122,"date":"2015-12-01T07:47:13","date_gmt":"2015-12-01T12:47:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/?p=26122"},"modified":"2015-12-09T16:01:36","modified_gmt":"2015-12-09T21:01:36","slug":"college-of-business-emba-consortium-zeroes-in-on-cultivating-innovation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/2015\/12\/college-of-business-emba-consortium-zeroes-in-on-cultivating-innovation\/","title":{"rendered":"College of Business\u2019 EMBA Consortium zeroes in on cultivating innovation."},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"FIU<\/p>\n

Innovation is key for business success. Where do you find it? How do you incorporate it into your organization?<\/p>\n

Nearly 30 graduate business students from around the world gathered in Miami at FIU College of Business\u2019 2015 Executive MBA (EMBA) Consortium for Global Business Innovation to address those issues.<\/p>\n

An innovative, weeklong study abroad program, the EMBA Consortium provides students with in-depth exposure to\u00a0global businesses plus the challenges these businesses face from local and international competition. The Consortium is a collaboration between nine business schools located in important world cities. FIU\u2019s Executive MBA is one of two programs in the U.S. selected for the Consortium, which allows participants to live in and learn in a new business environment, with different peers and cultures.<\/p>\n

The 2015 program, \u201cInnovative Companies: It\u2019s a Cultural Thing,\u201d focused on the relationship between leadership and organizational culture and innovation. The goal: to assist participants in learning practices they can implement at their companies to build stronger cultures of innovation.<\/p>\n

\u201cInnovation requires a culture that promotes the free exchange of ideas among all those who engage with a firm,\u201d said Stephen Barnett, faculty director of the EMBA Consortium.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s EMBA Consortium at FIU included students from South Africa, Italy, China, Brazil, United Kingdom, Russia and Turkey. As part of the program, 28 FIU EMBA students and alumni participated in the program, traveling to the College of Business\u2019 partner universities.<\/p>\n

Opening new doors for success.<\/em><\/p>\n

Athanasios Kolios, who traveled to FIU as part of this year\u2019s EMBA Consortium, is confident that the program will open new career opportunities for him. Kolios specializes in risk management and research & development.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have seen that the management style as well as the educational system in the U.S. are very different [more direct and open] and it is very useful to get this perspective,\u201d said Kolios, who graduated in 2014 from the Cranfield School of Management in the United Kingdom. \u201cIn the weeks after the program, I have already built a product for my employer and it\u2019s currently under consideration to proceed to implementation.\u201d<\/p>\n

FIU\u2019s 2015 EMBA Consortium included a live case study based on West Kendall Baptist Health\u2019s program to build an innovative culture. Lectures focused on self-awareness, human resource policies and information technology, and site visits to area businesses including the Adrienne Arsht Center and the Miami-Dade Department of Health.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe saw this strategic initiative as an opportunity to design an insightful and practical learning laboratory for those joining our 2015 program,\u201d said Barnett. \u201cThe purpose of our 2015 program is to establish the relationship between leadership and organizational culture and innovation, then assist each participant in learning a frame of reference that they can apply in their organizations to strengthen those relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n

FIU\u2019s partner universities in the EMBA Consortium<\/strong><\/p>\n