Greetings to All List Members

I am from the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago in the Caribbean, and have 
recently joined the list. I am attached to the University of the West Indies 
- Institute of Business which provides post graduate business education, as 
well as management consultancy services to individuals and organisations in 
the region.

The Caribbean is perhaps best known as a vacation destination.  However, it 
also presents the very common Third World paradox of being well endowed with 
human and natural resources while struggling to achieve economic growth of 
any significance.

For the English-speaking Caribbean, there is a legacy of an education system 
which has not evolved significantly since the Independence movement of the 
1960s.  Our business communities have also not evolved at an acceptable 
rate, having depended on state protection and preferential market access for 
much of their success.  The globalisation of world markets and the 
liberalisation of regional economies have found them largely underprepared 
to compete in a global arena.

The challenge for business schools such as the UWI-IOB lies in creating a 
new breed of global thinkers while continuing to offer consulting support to 
the existing businesses.

Most of the texts used in our programmes focus on the North American 
environment.  While these have provided the basis for new thinking, the 
cultural context is obviously absent.

My focus, as a member of the list, will therefore be on the sharing of 
information to assist with the documentation of suitable local case 
histories for use in our classrooms.

I hope that the above would have provided a suitable introduction, and I 
look forward to engaging list members as we share our various experiences.

Best Regards

Curt P. Wellington


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