Spring 2008 Issue - NIU College of Business - Northern Illinois ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Navigating a Flattened WorldTh e c o l l e ge’s s t r a t e g i c directioni n c l u d e s a f o c u s o n g l o b a l i z at i o nby Michelle De JeanThe Far East of Asia and Europe, the Middle East, and the Heartland…there might have beena time when this combination seemed unlikely, but not anymore. In the best-selling book TheWorld is Flat, author Thomas L. Friedman describeshow numerous technological and social shifts haveleveled economies, creating a flattened world. Aflat world, according to Friedman, is characterizedby “a global, web-enabled platform for multipleforms of sharing knowledge and work” that isunrestricted by time, geography, distance, and evenlanguage. He goes further to say that the flattenedworld has “accidentally made Beijing, Bangaloreand Bethesda next-door neighbors.”Now, a new “neighborhood” – one that is notaccidental – is in development. Scouted outthrough the college’s strategic planning effort,this neighborhood includes the Far East of China,Eastern Europe’s Serbia, Egypt in the Middle East,and the Northern Illinois University College of Business in the Midwest.“NIU, with its proximityto Chicago, is a logicaldestination for thesestudents because it putsthem on the doorstepof one of the few trulyinternational hotspots in theU.S.,” NIU Provost RaymondAlden said, referring toChicago’s status as a globalcrossroads, home to manyglobal corporations.4 | NIU College of Business www.cob.niu.edu Where the Classroom Meets the Business World
Cover Focus | The World According to...Inroads into the Far EastNIU’s venture into Asia began insummer 2007, when a contingentof university administratorstraveled to China to explorethe creation of graduate-levelprograms at NIU for Chinesebusiness and engineeringstudents. The NIU delegation– Provost Raymond Alden,College of Business Dean DeniseSchoenbachler, and College ofEngineering Dean Promod Vohra– visited some of the country’stop universities: Shanghai JiaoTong University, Nanjing Universityof Finance and Economics (inNanjing), and Hohai University(in Chanzhou). These, and otheruniversities across China, arecommitted to providing theirstudents with internationalexposure and have activelyrecruited educational partners inAmerica, the United Kingdom, Australia,and elsewhere.For China, a large portfolioof international partnerships is just oneaspect of a higher education systemgrowing at an explosive rate. The otheraspect involves a rapidly expanding physicalinfrastructure to accommodate one of theworld’s largest markets. Consider ShanghaiJiao Tong University, where more than 9million square feet of new buildings hasbeen built since 2000. Put another way,that’s the equivalent of building MIT inseven years.“China is a market that cannot beignored. It would be very positive forus to have Chinese students enrolled inour programs,” College of Business DeanDenise Schoenbachler said. “Not onlywould they gain valuable experience andknowledge, but our students would havean opportunity to be exposed to, andlearn from, a different culture and differentways of doing business.”Schoenbachler adds that over the pastdecade the NIU College of Business hasworked to extend its reach beyond theUnited States. These efforts range fromdiscipline-specific exchange programs(with schools in Ireland and, previously, inRussia) and annually-conducted Europeanbusiness seminars, to the increasedinternationalization of the college’sstudent and faculty bodies. “The issuehas always been one of finding the bestfit between our college and the globalbusiness experience in terms of focus,resources, strengths, opportunities, andinfrastructure,” said Schoenbachler.During the 2007 China visit, a best fitmaterialized quickly with the BeijingTechnology and Business University andresulted in a study abroad program jointlycoordinated by the Beijing university andNIU’s business college. In May 2008, 14NIU business undergraduates traveled toChina with Chang Liu, associate professorin the Department of OperationsManagement and Information Systems(OM&IS). For the NIU students, thethree-week study abroad programincluded visits to four companies, one ofwhich is a global corporation with Beijingoperations; additionally, an NIU alumnuswas instrumental in helping to set up thevisit. Inside the Beijing university classroom,the students studied information systemsapplication and practice in China throughcourse work that was taught by the NIUOM&IS professor.China’s PreferredEducational PartnerHistorically, the college’s informationsystems curriculum has consistentlyattracted interest from a large contingentof students in Asia and the Middle East.But recently, other college programs haveexperienced movement in the numbersof overseas students. Through the college’sstrategic planning process, the schoolarticulated a plan to create the necessaryinfrastructure to allow for globalizing thelearning experience on a formal, collegewidebasis. As currently envisioned by thecollege’s Strategic Planning Council, theinfrastructure may take the shape of aCenter for Global Business Education. Thecenter would foster learning opportunitiesNIU Business 2008 | 5
Page 1 and 2: Annual Magazine Summer 2008NIU BUSI
Page 3: NIU Business2008 College MagazinePu
Page 7 and 8: Cover Focus | The World According t
Page 9: Cover Focus | The World According t
Page 14 and 15: this transformation. “They sacrif
Page 16 and 17: HeadlinersNIU College of Business20
Page 18 and 19: The World According To . . .Student
Page 20 and 21: “The real pressing solution must
Page 22 and 23: The World According To . . .An Alum
Page 24 and 25: The World According To…An Undergr
Page 26 and 27: Briefly Noted (continued)B-Schools
Page 28 and 29: Persons, PlacesViews from the Top -
Page 30 and 31: Faculty and Staff AchievementsDoug
Page 32 and 33: Faculty and Staff Achievements (con
Page 34 and 35: On the Move (continued)Department o
Page 36 and 37: 2007 NIU Executive ClubEndowed Scho
Page 38 and 39: Headliners (continued)NIU Executive
Page 40 and 41: Alumni NewsmakersFeature NewsNicole
Page 42 and 43: New Alumni Club -The Young Professi
Page 44 and 45: In Me m o r i amWilma D. Stricklin(
Page 46 and 47: Huskie-bred For SuccessJeffrey Yord
Page 48: NIU BusinessCollege of Business Mag

Spring 2008 Issue - NIU College of Business - Northern Illinois ...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?