Switzerland’s IMD Business School earlier this week announced the winners of its annual MBA Global Literacy Competition, a series of rigorous quizzes in which students are called upon to demonstrate their knowledge of worldwide politics, history and culture. Many of the winners credit the class diversity of IMD’s MBA program – some 40 nationalities are represented among 90 students – for helping them develop a more global mindset.
“I am absolutely fascinated with how things in the world are changing and why they are changing,” competition winner Cody Taylor said in a statement. Taylor, an American and former U.S. State Department diplomat, added that she benefits from the collective knowledge of her MBA classmates.
Among the questions posed to contestants were
• What is the title of the early 11th century work by Lady MURASAKI Shikibu reckoned to be one of the greatest literary achievements of all time, and
• What is the population of Cameroon and roughly how many ethnic and linguistic groups does it include*?
This year’s winners – which include first through fifth place and five runners-up – each will receive a year-long subscription to the Business Standard, India’s leading business newspaper, as well as a selection of books focused on globalization.
The varying nationalities of the contest’s top performers are a testament to IMD’s class diversity. Students holding this year’s top five positions were American, Colombian/American, British/Malaysian, Cameroonian and Romanian.
Professor Jean-Pierre Lehmann, who helps facilitate the competition, encouraged participants to pursue a deeper global literacy throughout their careers by embracing the Socratic method of dialogue. “It is better to have questions than it is to have answers,” he said. “In the quest for knowledge about the world, the listening part is especially important.”
To learn more about the IMD MBA Global Literacy Competition, click here.
*Answers: a) Tale of Genji and b) an estimated 18.5 million with over 200 ethnic groups
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