Global Thinkers Lead the Future of Business

In an interconnected world governed by intricate geopolitics and economic uncertainties, and fueled by technologies developing at lightspeed, today’s leaders of business organizations or those applying business innovations need to understand how business intersects with global forces. This holds true across the public, private or nonprofit sectors. 

Consider the role of technology alone. “The digital economy is the fastest-growing part of most societies and economies worldwide,” said Bhaskar Chakravorti, Dean of Global Business at The Fletcher School at Tufts University. 

“Our research at Digital Planet shows that ‘digital GDP’ grows at three times the rate of growth of overall GDP. We also get a daily barrage of news about the developments associated with artificial intelligence (AI). We hear about trillions of dollars that are being poured into building up AI and energy infrastructure,” continued Chakravorti, who also directs Fletcher’s Institute for Business in the Global Context. 

Further, according to a 2024 McKinsey study, electric vehicles, semiconductors and robotics count among the industries with the greatest potential for global impact. The way technology shapes the future of global business is tied to the evolving geopolitical realities. The United States and China dominate both the digital and the geopolitical landscape, but there are many other key actors to keep in sight — from the European Union, to India to smaller countries such as the UAE or Singapore that could act as lynchpins or tilt the balance of political and business power.

Business leaders need to understand these powerful contextual factors to make an impact and create long term value. Those who operate in narrow silos will fall behind. 

Leading Global Business in an Era of Uncertainty

“Absent the global context, there is really no business,” said Chakravorti. “Even the most local  businesses quite often leave an imprint in a distant part of the world or rely on supplies from elsewhere. We are reminded of this every time a tariff sets in, a conflict breaks out in a critical region or when we are simply buying goods off of the internet.”

“The moment you start bringing goods and services across borders, you are working at the intersection of business and a slew of factors that are beyond the realm of business, including local and international politics, concerns about sustainability and questions about the human condition, whether about talent or the movement of migrants,” he added. “All these factors become enormously important to making business decisions.” 

This means that organizations need leaders and problem-solvers with expertise in international business infused with “contextual intelligence” — all the non-business factors in the global context that have a profound impact on businesses. 

“Businesses haven't quite been able to figure out how to get better than the competition at spotting broader macro uncertainties,” Chakravorti added. “Geopolitical, geoeconomic and geotechnological uncertainties pose risks and create opportunities to innovate and build advantage; if you can do that better than your competitors, you will be successful in growing your business.”

At Fletcher, students don’t just study international business — they practice it too, through rigorous, experiential learning opportunities and the resources to build a global network. Graduates of the school’s global business programs put this mission into action, launching businesses, developing businesses that embrace sustainability as a means to sustainable profit growth, shaping innovative policy at major companies and more. 

Below are a few highlights about Fletcher’s suite of international business degrees and Field of Study.

Master of International Business — A Comprehensive Education 

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• Classes required: 16
• Time to complete: Two academic years
• In-person or online: In-person
• Full or part time: Both options available
• GRE/GMAT required: No
• To learn more and apply: MIB

Drawing on the foundations of sustainability — environmental, social and financial — Fletcher’s Master of International Business (MIB) prepares aspiring leaders to address the world's biggest challenges through business innovations. The MIB combines the rigors of an MBA education with breadth in global affairs, training interdisciplinary problem-solvers who seek long-term, sustainable solutions beyond solely chasing near-term goals of quarterly results.

Named as one of 20 leading quality programs globally by the Hinrich Foundation’s 2025-2026 master’s program guide, the MIB is tailor-made for students passionate about mastering practical business skills combined with “big picture” contextual intelligence. Its core curriculum prepares graduates to drive change in international finance, impact investing, banking, or strategic management and consulting. 

For Ali Schmidt-Fellner F17, the program’s multidisciplinary outlook equipped her to question biases and assumptions, a skill she finds to be increasingly fundamental in an era dominated by AI. She regularly draws upon this way of thinking in her work today as executive director of community and local impact on the consumer and business intelligence team at JPMorganChase. 

“We're tasked with managing the narrative on financial health for the firm and understanding how consumers are doing in the face of uncertain economic times, how small businesses are doing and using data to unlock insights,” said Schmidt-Fellner. “I'm trying to speak the language of data and translate that down to the local level for stakeholders such as policymakers, journalists and bankers, who can use it for local decision-making.”

Throughout her career, Schmidt-Fellner has returned to the business fundamentals and global context she studied at Fletcher, which unlocked a more rewarding career for her. 

“I want to work across sectors and in between disciplines, because that's what I think is the most interesting,” Schmidt-Fellner said. 

After leading the expansion strategy for a tech startup, she pivoted to the World Bank, where she worked in the disruptive technology for development group, which investigated technologies that could improve development outcomes and how to scale them. She moved to the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, where she served as head of research. The MIB has helped her orchestrate each step of her career path, in moving from using catalytic philanthropic capital and corporate assets for good to leveraging data for good in her current role at JPMorganChase. 

“The world is changing so quickly that the tools you have at your disposal and the ways of building things are going to continue to change,” she said. “Getting into spaces where I can be at the frontier of that has been meaningful and purposeful for me.”

MIB: Quantitative Methods — STEM-Designated Degree

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• Classes required: 16
• Time to complete: Two academic years
• In-person or online: In-person
• Full or part time: Both options available
• GRE/GMAT required: No
• To learn more and apply: MIB:QM 

The world requires leaders to operate at the intersection of quantitative and contextual intelligence, rewarding those who can synthesize solutions in the overlap between business, politics, economics, the law, technology and data. 

Fletcher’s Master of International Business: Quantitative Methods program (MIB:QM) builds on the MIB’s rigorous foundation in global business and equips students with a powerful STEM skillset — including data analytics, development economics, artificial intelligence, and global investment management and private equity — to navigate and lead in this evolving landscape. This appealed to Nathaniel A. Buckman F26 while he was working in private banking.

“Back in Ghana, those who have little or no education are being left behind, yet they make up the majority of the business sector,” Buckman said. 

Passionate about expanding inclusive banking in Africa, Buckman found that the MIB:QM degree could allow him to explore how a career in humanitarian services and international development could amplify his impact. 

“I want to do something to help people who are unbanked, and one of the best ways to do that is to go into international organizations and influence policies,” he said. 

With guidance from his professors, Buckman is culminating his coursework in a capstone project that will prepare him to advocate for the needs of unbanked individuals across Africa.

“I’m learning about global finance while thinking about how to merge traditional ways of banking with the technologies that can advance it,” Buckman explained.

“I’ve been closely studying the Digital Transformation Strategy for Africa, a project for 2030,” Buckman added. “I am choosing my courses to fit into that goal so that by the time I’m done at Fletcher, I’ll be able to contribute to the digital transformation agenda with my niche research on financial inclusion.”

Master of Global Business Administration — Online Flexibility 

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• Classes required: 12
• Time to complete: 16-24 months
• In-person or online: Online, with two field immersions (one local, one abroad)
• Full or part time: Both options available
• GRE/GMAT required: No
• To learn more and apply: GBA

Fletcher’s online Master of Global Business Administration (GBA) is a business degree with a multidisciplinary, international outlook designed to help students with six or more years of professional experience pivot or accelerate towards their career goals. The GBA takes the core of a global MBA and adds critical contextual intelligence — legal, social, political and other factors — needed to be successful in today’s fast-changing and volatile global business landscape. 

In once-weekly, synchronous online classes, students learn from faculty and peers — other mid-career professionals who bring their own unique perspectives to the business of global affairs. Students convene in-person for two immersions, one on Fletcher’s Boston-area campus and another at an international destination at the forefront of contemporary global business matters. 

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The flexible program allows students to complete coursework on their own time. This was essential for Evan Thomas F23, who completed the program while in his role on the faculty at the University of Colorado Boulder. The flexibility also allowed him to apply what he learned in his classes directly to his daily business operations at Virridy, a company he founded to implement research and training programs in 20 countries around the world focused on food security, water security, sanitation and infrastructure. 

“For my capstone, I did an independent study with Professor Josephine Wolff, which helped me with my business and allowed me to tailor the program to what I needed,” said Thomas. “The GBA wasn't just the credential — it helped me advance in my business goals.”

Thomas’s capstone was adapted into a Deloitte-sponsored article in the Wall Street Journal. The cohort model was particularly invaluable to Thomas, introducing him to Elise Zoli F22, a partner at a leading environmental law firm in Boston who now represents Virridy.

“Elise helped me get introduced to major banks and investors,” said Thomas. “She and her firm have added a lot of credibility to our company and to our board, and it's a huge asset to have her on our team.” 

Thomas started seeing the returns on his investment in his business education soon after graduating. Virridy has brought in $15 million in grant funding and private sector investment, which they’ve used to scale their programs and develop more powerful sensor technologies.  

“The GBA taught me the vocabulary and skills that could back up what I had learned autodidactically,” he said. “That let me speak a language with other people in the sector that demonstrated my credibility.”

Master’s in International Relations with a Focus in International Business