On June 19, 2012, thirty-two MBA students from Alfaisal University went to USA for an educational seminar designed specifically for them — “Business Startups: Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship” at Boise State University.
The session was organized by Dr. William Lathen, Acting Dean of College of Business at Alfaisal University. He recommended that the MBA students make Boise State the destination for their international trip.
The program emphasis was on the early stage of business formation including conception; initial funding, getting customers and making changes to a business plan along the way.
Instructors and guest speakers were selected to give the optimum blend of academic and business experience. All of the instructors have many years of experience teaching in Boise State’s MBA programs—both traditional and executive—and many of them also lead executive education programs.
Guest speakers Clay Young, CEO, Inovus and George Mulhern, CEO, CradlePoint gave students a glimpse into well-run, Western start-ups. David Light, CEO, PakSense and Tony Olbrich, CEO, US Bank also spoke to the students.
Classroom instruction topics and professors were Presentation Strategies, Pat Delana; Design Thinking, Roy Glen; Personal Selling, Cheryl Larabee; Initial Revenue Generation Including Social Media, Jason MacDonald; Jobs Based Segmentation and Targeting Jobs Based Segmentation and Targeting, Jason MacDonald; Scanning the Periphery and The Hambrick Model, Nancy Napier; Marketing Opportunity and Early Stage Financing, Kent Neupert; and Turnarounds and Dramatic Repositioning, Courtney White.
The 10-day event wasn’t all in the classroom. Recreational activities for the group included a covered wagon ride and western dinner, rafting the Payette river, tour of Boise, Thunder Mountain Train ride, and an American Thanksgiving dinner at the Lathen residence.
The Alfaisal University MBA students highly appreciated the trip and the organizers. Thanks also go to Saudi Arabia Airlines for sponsoring students’ tickets to USA for free.
Dr. William Lathen stated “The Idaho MBA education conference included excellent executive education from world-class professors, talks with four American CEOs, and tours of three US businesses. Boise State University officials told me that the Alfaisal University MBA Students performed at a world-class level, equal to their best MBAs”.
