As part of a collaborative exchange program between the University of Vermont's (UVM) School of Business Administration and the Haute École de Gestion de Fribourg (Executive Masters in Business Administrations Program) in Fribourg Switzerland, twenty Swiss MBA students recently toured BioTek Instruments. During their visit, they engaged in discussions with BioTek's senior management on topics ranging from best-in-class business processes to changing strategic planning methodologies.
"I always find it valuable to share our insight into business, and to hear from others on what they have found to be successful," noted Briar Alpert, President and CEO of BioTek. "Furthermore, as a U.S. headquartered supplier to the global marketplace, it is so critical for us to hear from voices outside of the United States. In this way, we can make far better resource allocation decisions to meet the needs of our worldwide customer base."
According to Michael Gurdon, PhD. Professor of Management & Associate Dean for the University of Vermont Graduate Program, "BioTek has been very successful within its high technology sector, and also represents some of the best Vermont values in practice. The company's treatment of its workforce and the obvious centrality of those human assets has always impressed me." He continues, "The Swiss students were likewise impressed, and were most appreciative of the warm welcome they received as well as with the openness of Briar Alpert and Peter Weith [BioTek VP of Marketing, Sales & Service] in providing information about the company's domestic and international operations and in responding to their questions."
The UVM relationship with the Fribourg Business School is designed to enhance the global mindset of visiting MBA class members. This is affected through intermingling with UVM graduate students on common case projects as well as gaining an insight into local business operations.
BioTek Instruments, Inc., headquartered in Winooski, VT, USA, is a worldwide leader in the design, manufacture, and sale of microplate instrumentation and software. BioTek instrumentation is used to aid in the advancement of life science research, facilitate the drug discovery process and to enable cost-effective quantification of disease relevant molecules in the clinic.
