GLENDALE, Ariz.--(BUSINESS WIRE via COLLEGIATE PRESSWIRE)--Feb. 6, 2006--The Board of Trustees at Thunderbird, the world's leading school of global management, today announced a bold strategic initiative designed to realize opportunities in a dynamic marketplace and firmly establish the School as the world's foremost learning community for global managers and global enterprises.
The plan, Thunderbird 2010 -- A Truly Global Vision, was approved by the Thunderbird Trustees following a two-day board meeting on the School's Glendale campus.
"More flexible learning opportunities and enhanced instruction in cross-cultural leadership, problem-solving, and teamwork are what companies and managers need most in today's global economy," said Thunderbird President Angel Cabrera. "Our new structure, combined with our leadership in global management education, will allow us to aggressively capitalize on this market trend."
Under Thunderbird 2010, the School will create separate business operations to deliver Thunderbird's top-rated expertise in global management across three main areas -- degree programs, corporate learning, and research and development. This new structure will allow flexible delivery of Thunderbird's unique global education to full and part-time students, enterprises, executives, and the global management community. An integrated corporate learning operation will provide corporate customers tailored global business solutions by leveraging a combination of Thunderbird's own activities and close strategic partnerships that address the full range of clients' management education need. The graduate school will offer an expanded range of degree programs that provide flexible learning options for global managers at any stage of their careers and in any country of the world. A new research and knowledge network will leverage the School's research activities in order to fully harness the School's thought leadership on global management topics and serve as a source of cutting-edge management thinking that can be applied in the classroom, the boardroom, and among the general management community.
"This is a bold, yet strategic move for Thunderbird," said Chairman of the Thunderbird Board of Trustees, John Berndt. "Under Thunderbird 2010, the School is poised to assert its heritage as the world's first and best school of global management."
The plan also strongly affirms the School's guiding mission: to educate global leaders who create sustainable prosperity worldwide. Unique among management schools, Thunderbird sets forth "sustainable prosperity" as the ultimate goal of its educational offerings. Thunderbird 2010 establishes the development of a Global Mindset (i.e. the ability to work with individuals, cultures, and systems different from one's own), as the principal learning outcome for all School programs. "It is the Global Mindset that sets our graduates apart and allows T-Birds to have a powerful and positive impact in leadership positions throughout the globe," said Dr. Mansour Javidan, the Director of Thunderbird's Garvin Center for Cultures and Languages of International Management.
The new plan also includes approval to: make investments in the current Glendale facility; pursue the sale of unused real estate holdings; and seek select partnerships that enhance student exchanges or provide dual degree opportunities.
The School plans to hold a formal ceremony in early Spring, 2006 to publicly launch Thunderbird 2010.
About Thunderbird
Thunderbird is the oldest graduate management school in the United States focused solely on preparing graduates and executives for global leadership. Ranked among the best in the world by Financial Times, U.S. News & World Report, The Wall Street Journal and BusinessWeek, the School's unique curriculum is based on the principle that to do business on a global scale, executives must not only know the intricacies of business, but also understand the customs of other countries and be able to communicate with different cultures. More than 35,000 men and women in 138 different countries have graduated from Thunderbird since 1946. Thunderbird is accredited by AACSB International -- The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, the North Central Association for Colleges and Schools, and the European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS). To learn more, visit: https://www.thunderbird.edu.
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