Olin School of Business involves the region's community in discussions on the global business climate

April 3, 2006 -- In its fourth annual International Business Outlook Conference (IBOC), the Olin School of Business will once again provide the St. Louis business community with a chance to explore the most pressing challenges to conducting international business. The MBA students who organized the conference chose to highlight intellectual property rights and international finance — some of the hot button issues facing global businesses today.

IBOC takes place Friday, April 7 from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Charles F. Knight Center on Washington University's Hilltop Campus. For a look at the conference's schedule click here: http://www.olin.wustl.edu/IBOC/events.cfm#43

The conference's theme this year is "Keys to Expanding Globally: Strategies and Implementation Tactics." Its objective is to provide the St. Louis and Midwest business communities with practical, leading edge information on successfully positioning a company to operate in the complex international environment.

This year's attendees will learn about Emerson's key strategies to serving the global marketplace from David N. Farr, Chairman, CEO & President of Emerson. Sir Tom McKillop, Former CEO of AstraZeneca and current Chairman (Designate) of The Royal Bank of Scotland will discuss AstraZeneca's transformation from a chemical conglomerate to a pure play pharmaceutical major. Jai Nagarkatti, President & CEO of Sigma-Aldrich Corporation, will close the day with a speech titled "From Zero to 60 in 30" covering the approach Sigma-Aldrich Corporation used to accelerate growth in international markets, which now account for 60% of world-wide revenues.

The conference's breakout sessions also reflect the main themes and will be moderated by noted leaders in their fields. For example, Michael Weinstein, Managing Director and Head of U.S. Research for Calyon Securities will moderate a session explaining Wall Street's perspective on international business. Andrew Mertha, Assistant Professor in Washington University's Department of Political Science will lead a session called, "Thinking Outside the Box: Creative Strategies to Enforce Intellectual Property Rights in China."

Kurt Hosna, a Product Manager at Maritz Incentives and regular IBOC attendant, finds the breakout sessions to be particularly valuable. "The breakout sessions allow me to ask pointed questions about issues I'm facing and learn how others have managed similar challenges," Hosna explains. "For example, last year I was working on a specific client need in Asia and was able to learn how another company successfully marketed their product to consumers in India."

This year's sponsors include Emerson, Monsanto, AIG, The Boeing Center for Technology, Information and Manufacturing, Bunge, Edward Jones and the World Trade Center of St. Louis. Organizers include Kelly Ainsworth, Laura Hosteny, Marla Rappaport, Allen Chiu, Peter Chin, Rob Cox, Brian Hack, Tim McCauley and Mark Vance.