
The objective of the Italian Track is to prepare students to work and do business successfully in Italy and the related region of Europe. A student in the Italian Track has the opportunity to experience and examine a business culture that strongly influences international and EU business practices. As a force for European cultural identity, Italy has a strong impact on the economics, business and politics within the EU and worldwide. The Italian Track offers an IMBA student the opportunity gain experience in business practices in this vital economy while gaining insight into the richness and diversity of Italian traditions.
Before the student actually enters the workplace as an intern, he or she will have had about 500 hours of classroom language training and instruction, all of which takes place in Italy. The 20-22 month Italian Track option consists of four phases, and students are responsible for their living and travel expenses during all four phases.
Italian Track students start their program in July on the USC campus, joining students from other tracks to begin the first-year International MBA business management curriculum. This constitutes internationalized core courses covering leadership, globalization, entrepreneurship, economics, accounting, quantitative methods, finance, management, marketing, operations management, and information technology.
Moore provides an intensive Italian language training program that consists of 34 unit hours per week for 3 months, in small classes in our language partner school in Varese-Milano, coordinated through our partnerhship with Centro Studi Italiani. http://www.centrostuditaliani.org/moore.htm Italian instruction emphasizes realistic communication and intercultural interaction in four language skill areas: listening, speaking, reading and writing. Students will be tested upon arrival and assigned to the appropriate class level of language training - beginning, intermediate or advanced. A special business curriculum has been created for Moore students, and instruction methods include a well-equipped interactive language lab. Field trips, weekly excursions, sporting activities and cultural events round out the Italian experience during Part One.
The second part of the overseas training program takes place at highly prominent Bocconi University where the focus of study is Italian economy and the European Union. The seminar format of this short course is three weeks in duration and continues to integrate Italian language studies while offering lectures in English where appropriate. Interactive experiences allow students to further their language capabilities and help prepare the students for their internships that immediately follow upon completion of the course. During the course, students reside in apartments around the university.
Milan is the major commercial, industrial, educational and cultural center in northern Italy. For more information on Bocconi University and Milan, please visit: http://md.sdabocconi.it
Students pursue internship assignments based on their functional area of interest such as finance, marketing, operations management and others. Most Italian Track internships take place in Italy, primarily in Milan or Rome. Occasionally students will opt to pursue internships in other locations throughout Europe. Internships can be with large companies, small entities, for-profit, not-for-profit or government organizations.
Upon completion of the internship, students return to USC to focus on their second year business concentration courses, and at this time, they also initiate a fulltime job search. Many students opt to take one semester of the second year at a business school where Moore has established an IMBA exchange agreement. For a current list of these schools, see Moore's Business School Exchange Programs.
For more information on the Moore School and opportunities in Italy contact the Moore School Recruiting Office at 803-777-1244 or bcollins@ moore.sc.edu.