Spring Break
The Immersion Experience Program (IXP) maximizes participant-centered learning experiences by combining the School's distinctive case method of teaching with field-based learning activities that integrate first- and second-year students. The IXP model offers MBA students an opportunity to develop deeper relationships with faculty in a more personal, small-group learning environment. (0) comments
Three HBS students were sponsored by USAID during the winter break to participate in a three week consultancy project in the Jordanian water sector. With water supplied 2 days or fewer out of 7 to most Jordanians, the water sector is of huge importance and is in need of drastic steps. (1) comment
One view is that Western Europe is a high wage, high skilled economy, and that the former Eastern Europe is only good for low wage production. This was the intended exploratory question for the 2009 European Immersion. However, the fifty HBS students who arrived in London from around the globe on January 2nd had a different question in mind. (0) comments
When I asked several of my co-students how they experienced the China IXP and what they took away from it, I got very diverse answers. Next to "a daring food experience", "a love for Karaoke" and "new friends", a few themes seemed to be common. I will come back to these throughout my story. (0) comments
The Silicon Valley IXP, Led by Professors Tom Eisenmann and Mike Roberts, brought fifty students with entrepreneurial ambitions to the Bay Area for six days in early January, to meet with the people and institutions that have led to the emergence of the region as the global leader in technological innovation and entrepreneurial success. (0) comments
Three students volunteered on a service trip to the Philippines during the winter break. We recommended ways of using the country's hydropower efficiently to enhance rural electrification. One of our guides in the Philippines pulled me aside early on and said, "The Philippines is still a developing country with its flaws, but I wouldn't change a thing about my country". (0) comments
Nearly fifty HBS students spent ten days in New Orleans. They completed service projects for 9 different organizations while down there, doing everything from writing business plans to building houses to assessing the mortgage market. For those of you who don't know what a King Cake is, picture a cinnamon bun. (0) comments
"No, No , No" exclaimed Michael Porter, chastising the Associate Director of a major medical center in Israel, "You have to raise your hand." Such blatant breaches of HBS etiquette were relatively frequent over the course of the week long IXP, which drew a wide range of participants, many of whom were unfamiliar with the peculiarities of the typical HBS classroom. (0) comments
Five HBS students volunteered for two weeks over winter break to consult for the U.S. Agency for International Development in Morocco. Their project was to advise USAID on what policies the Moroccan government could adopt to encourage private sector development of domestic wind energy in a country that imports 93% of its electricity generation resources. (1) comment
Forty-two students converged in Israel on January 2, 2009 for the inaugural HBS Israel Immersion under the direction of Professor Dan Isenberg - uncertain of what to expect in the face of the ongoing Gaza operation. Perhaps because this conflict is decades-old, in this small country (approximately the size of New Jersey) day-to-day life continues unimpeded. (1) comment
Around 50 students escaped the harsh Boston winter for a week in sunny Mexico on HBS's first Latin American IXP. Under the guidance of Professor Michael Chu, the group visited a number of companies in Oaxaca, Mexico City and Monterrey learning about the challenges that come from doing business in emerging markets. (0) comments
The hills beckoned on the last morning of the Mexico IXP. Our Crowne Plaza hotel overlooked the city's central river, beyond which low hills rose to the Sierra Madre. We had been in Monterrey three days but I had not had time to jog through the city (a habit of mine when traveling). (0) comments
Hi Jimmy, I read with great interest your article in Harbus on the above mentioned topic. Wanted to thank you for writing on this topic as certainly this is a topic which I have been exploring in great detail as it would play an important role in my overall B school experience. (0) comments
