The following is a guest post by Gilles Bousquet, the dean of the Division of International Studies and vice provost for globalization at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. He is also chair of the Statewide International Education Council and co-chair of the University of Wisconsin System Task Force on Economic Development and Globalization.
At a roundtable discussion last spring in Milwaukee hosted by the Wisconsin International Education Council, the vice president of global human resources at Johnson Controls told educators: ?Our talent development and acquisition activities across the organization are the most critical factors for us as a company to grow and to thrive. So, it is all about people.? At a series of meetings I had with business officials in Beijing, Hong Kong, and Shanghai in November, executives at several American companies ? including giants like 3M and Caterpillar in addition to up-and-coming ones like Madison-based Promega and TrafficCast ? vigorously repeated that same message.