Business opportunities today are inherently global, so traveling to get an MBA in a foreign environment is an advantage, according to Judy D. Olian, dean of the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

Because market competition today is just as likely to come from around the globe as from around the corner, future leaders, regardless of nationality, must deliberately expose themselves to global thinking, global opportunities and global cultures, Olian said.

"In the workplace today, you are likely to have a mixture of people from all over. So to be a leader, you need to know how to function in that environment," Olian said during a recent interview in Tokyo with The Japan Times.