photo credit: Jordi Payà

In my opinion, the best MBA programs are the ones that allow you to explore the world. An excellent MBA is a person who can apply his or her skills internationally, in a variety of settings, and really flex his or her intellectual muscles and business acumen from coast to coast and sea to shining sea. A really well-educated masters of business administration should be able to work in California and Costa Rica, in Michigan and Montenegro, in Greece, Ghana, and Guam. Why? Because the principles of business, of markets, of sales and service, are universal, and because a truly educated person should never be parochial in his or her approach.

There’s no such thing as a local market anymore, and a top-flight MBA should know that. Global is local and local is global. An excellent MBA program would teach the graduate student something about world cultures and the ways in which cultural differences can have an impact on negotiations and business best practices and decision-making.

photo credit: raymond_zoller
Montenegro tourism benefited from its exotic and glamorous depiction in that film. Unfortunately, it was not, in fact, Montenegro. The entire Montenegro portion of the movie was actually filmed in Prague and elsewhere in the Czech Republic. The Hotel Splendide, where Bond and his companion, Vesper Lynde, stay, is not the same as the actual Hotel Splendide located in Montenegro. In fact, it is the famous Grandhotel Pupp, located in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. This hotel was also featured in the Queen Latifah vehicle last holiday, in which it was not “”dressed”" as another hotel but played itself.

In Casino Royale, James Bond and Vesper Lynde traveled by train from London to Montenegro. This is easily accomplished, although you must change trains in Belgrade.

Montenegro’s beauty as a tourist destination cannot be denied, even if the James Bond film people didn’t appreciate the real thing! It features lakes a beaches, spectacular views of the Adriatic Sea, and magnificent mountains.

Although Montenegro has fewer than 700,000 inhabitants, there are famous citizens who are known to the world. Great Montenegrin athletes include Dejan Savicevic, the great football (soccer) player. Other great footballers include Stevan Jovetic and Mirko Vucinic. Famous Montenegrin artists include Marino Abramovic, an award-winning performance artist, and Miodrag Dado Djuric, an influential painter. There is also the noted musician Milos Karadaglic.

Famous musicians from all over the world perform in Montenegro, including Andrea Bocelli (2010), Beyonce (2009), Lenny Kravitz, Madonna, and the Rolling Stones (all in 2008).