Kelley School to help establish MBA program in Croatia

U.S. State Department awards $320,000 grant

By George Vlahakis

The U.S. State Department has awarded a $320,000 grant to the Kelley School, which will assist the Republic of Croatia’s four universities in establishing an English-language MBA program. The Consortium of Faculties of Economics in Croatia (CFEC), which includes the University of Zagreb, the University of Split, the University of Rijecka and the University of Osijek, will work with faculty from the Kelley School to design and implement a viable, sustainable two-year MBA program that will serve the needs of Croatia and the wider region.

One of the main problems facing Croatian enterprises is the serious lack of qualified managers, including practitioners and policymakers who are able to diagnose and solve current problems, and also to plan strategically for the future. In order to grow, Croatia’s businesses must participate more actively and effectively in international markets, and expertise for doing so must be developed more broadly and at a higher level.

In the last decade, more than 140,000 young, college-educated Croatians have left the country, a trend that has severely impacted the nation’s economic growth. In mid-October, Croatian President Stjepan Mesic called together representatives of the government and the business community to discuss the need to establish a stronger link between the country’s educational institutions and the pressing needs of the labor market.

This new centralized, English-language MBA program should contribute significantly to meeting these needs. Regionally based, it also will play a central role in educating generations of business professionals who will form a strong network of personal and business relations. This network will be very important in building stronger economic ties among the countries of the former Yugoslavia and elsewhere. In doing so, it also will make a significant contribution to stability in the region.