Speaking of IBMP's discipline-based design, Kellogg School dean, Dipak Jain, stated that this latest initiative will bolster the school's already strong international business curriculum. "The International Business & Markets Program should enable us to reach the top echelon by offering our students access to leading-edge faculty and research in the arena of international business," said Dean Jain, who explained that one-third of Kellogg's enrollment today is comprised of students from countries outside the United States. "Clearly, this new program is one of the ways Kellogg is reaching out to better serve all our students," he said.

2001 GIM Trip to India

Professor Spulber, who is the Elinor Hobbs Distinguished Professor of International Business and editor of the Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, expressed his enthusiasm for the International Business & Markets Program, stating that it will represent one high-profile effort by Kellogg to expand the school's brand globally. "Dean Jain feels that it is important to promote the Kellogg brand around the world," said Spulber. "We believe that a strong, discipline-based international business program is an important part of bringing the Kellogg name to the attention of the business community everywhere. This scenario will offer great benefits to our MBA students, as well as our school's faculty that is conducting top-notch research in any number of areas, including international business."

The centerpiece of IBMP will be its International Business Major that will provide students with the specialized tools in accounting, finance, marketing, organizations management, and management strategy necessary to understand the international dimension of business. The major also will allow students to combine a grounding in international business strategy with real-world research experience abroad through the popular Global Initiatives in Management (GIM) course. For more than a decade, GIM has enabled more than 350 Kellogg students each year to put 10 weeks of classroom study into practice by traveling to one of more than a dozen countries where they engage in intensive two-week field investigations. Professor Mark Finn, director of the GIM program, expressed optimism that the new umbrella organization will augment the resources available to GIM students. "Global Initiatives in Management was the first program of its kind in the country. Since its inception, students have successfully used it to undertake relevant and creative independent research projects on a wide array of international topics," said Professor Finn. "The next step in the program's evolution is for our student project teams to better utilize Kellogg's tremendous international resources, particularly its faculty expertise." According to Finn, "The International Business and Markets Program will help to channel these resources to our students." Another key strength of IBMP will be its dynamic relationship with Kellogg's many international student clubs and conferences. "There is a groundswell of interest in international business," said Professor Spulber, who indicated that Kellogg, by providing more structure to its international curriculum, will respond to the needs of its students in "a clear and powerful way." Spulber noted that the international program will work closely with students and clubs to design an annual conference that will bring leading international business scholars to Kellogg to disseminate the latest research on the subject. IBMP will also serve as the home for another important Kellogg global initiative: the International Exchange Program. The exchange program began in 1980 and has, since then, continued its mission of preparing Kellogg students to lead the global business environment through engendering an appreciation for cross-cultural trade practices and strategies.

	2001 GIM Trip to Japan

But the most distinguishing aspect of Kellogg's new international program will be its intellectual rigor, emphasized Professor Spulber. By structuring IBMP along discipline-based lines, the international program will draw the most powerful contributions from Kellogg School faculty. "We are putting forth our best discipline-based courses for this program, and we are looking for our faculty to contribute research that flows from their areas of expertise," Spulber said. "We are not asking professors to jump out of their disciplines into some middle ground where they end up compromising the quality of their research. We are instead targeting the great strengths of the various Kellogg disciplines, and it is this that will distinguish us from peer institutions."

Spulber added that, while international business and trade have always been important, current market conditions make this an extraordinarily good time for growing trade around the world. As a consequence, student demand for an increasingly robust international business program helped determine Kellogg's decision to expand its curriculum in ways that best serve its student and faculty interests.