Front row, from left: Yesim Cil and Brigitte Platzer; Back row, from left: Linda Block, president of Industrial Staffing Services Inc., Shannon Block, Blanka Balazs, Alexandra Pleier, Andrew Fanelli, Christopher Ball, Joel Bartolome, Keith Levine, Melanie McAvoy and Mary Coan.

The students met with the former Hungarian ambassador to the United States, several other Hungarian political and business leaders, and the Central European director of the Boston Consulting Group. They also visited 12 companies, including GE Hungary, Morgan Stanley and Bausch & Lomb and attended Quinnipiac's international networking event.

"It was especially valuable for me to get the perspectives of many different types of companies, from small and medium-sized enterprises up to huge multinationals like GE and Deloitte & Touche," said Brigitte Platzer, a senior who is majoring in marketing. "We learned a great deal about their corporate cultures and all the unique customs, styles or policies they put to practical use. In our current economic times and especially in a country like Hungary, each of these firms handles the everyday challenges in a very distinct and unique way."

Christopher Ball, the István Széchenyi Chair in International Economics in the School of Business, led the trip. Ball lived in Budapest from 1994 to 1998, working at the Hungarian-Atlantic Council and then the Institute of Current World Affairs.

"This trip offers the students an extremely unique insight into the highest levels of business," Ball said. "It opens their eyes to international business and the issues involved in dealing with a foreign country. They learn that most of the basic business issues are the same worldwide and that there is a common language for discussing and solving such problems. In this regard, I think they realize that the models and theories, as well as the practice, they learn in the Quinnipiac University MBA program are part of a modern approach to running a business."

Ball said the students see how their academic learning is applied in the real world. "They also learn, and I think this is a little surprising to them, that culture and other intangibles matter a lot when working in international business," he said. "It's important to understand these cultural differences if one wants to work successfully with global companies."

The trip, which took place June 1-15, marked the second time the school has arranged an overseas event for MBA students, and Ball said it will continue to be an annual event. On the undergraduate level, Quinnipiac currently sends students to France, Germany, Ireland and Nicaragua.

Starting this fall, the University's five-year MBA program will require international studies.

"We compete in a global market today," Ball said. "When students interview at companies, they are repeatedly asked if they can work in an international group, if they would mind going abroad."

Keith Levine, who is currently in the graduate MBA program with a concentration in finance, said he learned how a volatile political environment can harm a country's economy.

"In order to attract more business and investment to Hungary, the first thing that needs to occur is the stabilization of the government's policies, followed by a reform of the country's tax code to make it less oppressive toward domestic medium- and small-size businesses, particularly a reduction in the employers' labor costs," Levine said. "In conjunction with this, I strongly believe that the government should begin to leave the private sector and begin to deregulate many industries and embrace a more free market."

Levine said he was also impressed by the high level of hospitality shown the students by the Hungarian people, and the beauty of the country. "This trip has increased my breadth of understanding about business, while providing an in-depth view into the intricacies of how business is conducted in Central Europe," Levine said.

Yesim Cil, a graduate MBA student, said the trip combined academic and practical information in an effective format. "Visiting companies and understanding business models helped us to understand the bigger picture in the current business environment," Cil said.