Spring Study Abroad in Paris

Join the next study abroad course “European Business Operations” in late November.  Open to students. alumni and supporters of the Raj Soin College of Business and Wright State University.  Contact Dr. Riad Ajami at riad.ajami@wright.edu or 937-775-2290 to get on the list.  Further details in the next issue of eConnections.

When I first heard about the opportunity to spend Spring Break in Paris, I jumped on it. Attend lectures for a week, in Paris of all places, then write a paper afterward about my experiences; sounded like a pretty good deal.

But it wasn't just a vacation. In my studies, I've found that the best way to learn is by experience and experiencing Europe first-hand couldn't have been more valuable to my business education.

Having grown up in Ohio, going to Paris was kind of like landing on Mars and finding water. The more we explore other cultures, the more opportunities we have.

"In a sense, the managers of tomorrow are going to require cross-cultural skills. So, wanting to be a viable business school, being in Ohio, cross-cultural and international education is central and important to a business education," said Riad Ajami, professor and chair of the management department and International Business and the executive director for Center for Global Business Education and Research (CGBER).

In a Spring Break cultural immersion, nine Masters of Business Administration (MBA) students and I took the course European Business Operations in Paris, France. We met world experts like Karel Cool, from the Kellog School of Management and the Insead Business School for the World, and Frederic Herlin, from the Center for Creative Leadership in Brussels, in an experience another student described as a great opportunity for students who can't often travel internationally.

"In my opinion, I feel like it would be a great course to be required for completion of the MBA program at The Mound. I would be more than willing to sit down with the Dean and discuss my experiences and tell him how important the trip was for me to develop as a student, an employee and as a person," said Josh Brown, MBA and LexisNexis Senior Pricing Analyst.

MBAs Rachael Barnum, Kelly Tran, Caroline Hillman, Jennifer Glenn, Mandy Morrell, Megan Oyler, Josh Brown, Jeffrey Kenny and Dan Worsham studied the steel industry, global oil industry and European life and visited highly rated institutions like OECD and HEC Graduate School of Management, the number one business school in Europe.

Because many U.S. based corporations are global giants, cross-cultural immersion is required for the largest and most dominant economy, said Ajami. He added that the best place to get exposed to these skills is while getting a business education. Of the ten of us who went, many of us felt we wouldn't get another opportunity like this after school.

While China may soon be the "elephant in the room," the European Union is still our largest trading partner with a 13 trillion gross domestic product that is equivalent to the U.S., Ajami said. One of the largest countries in the European Union, France is often characterized as having the best of the European tradition and the vitality of America.

With global companies like Procter & Gamble nearby, who help make Ohio the seventh largest exporter to the European Union, classes like this are practical to WSU students. For example, I found learning about the history of the Euro and how the economies in the European Union function the most practical information on the trip.

Ajami would like to have more programs like this in the future and they will be open to MBA's, select undergraduates, alumni, friends and supporters of the university. He has previously taught this course at Ohio State University, Wharton and Berkeley.

The aim of CGBER is to gain local and national recognition for Raj Soin's MBA program's international emphasis. International courses began last quarter.

by Chelsey Levingston   Wright State University student, double major in Accountancy and Journalism

Photos by Jennifer French, MBA student