This time, the Virginia Commonwealth University business professor was headed to China.
Although the frequent flyer miles add up, Wood's travels aren't for
personal enrichment. It is part of his effort to teach business school
students how to deal in the global economy.
"If you want to compete in the 21st century, you need to think globally," said Wood, who holds the Philip Morris Chair in International Business at VCU. "We need to (teach students) to be fully engaged in the international community."
VCU and the University of Richmond are among universities in Virginia
that prepare undergraduate and M.B.A. students to deal in the rapidly
changing world economy, where doing business with companies in China is
as commonplace as doing business with a neighboring shopkeeper.
Teaching students about how to work in a global marketplace is key if
they want to have a legitimate future in business, said Paul H.
Grossman Jr., director of international trade and investment for the Virginia Economic Development Partnership.
"For me, it's so obvious that people not engaged in the global economy will be left out," he said.
Thomas J. Cossé, a professor of marketing and international business as well as associate dean for international programs at the University of Richmond, agreed.
"Look at how the world has changed," he said. "This is a global economy, and they need to be prepared for it."
The schools teach students a wide variety of topics, from languages
to international finance standards. They also explain how the wrong gift
can offend a culture and blow a deal.
Learning how to deal in international markets is essential for future
businesspeople who are going to deal in an increasingly smaller world,
professors say.
The issue is so important that UR requires its M.B.A. students to participate in an international residency program.
The M.B.A. students are broken into teams and assigned a company to work with on an international business issue.
As part of the program, the students spend up to 10 days in the
country they're working with. They have gone to places such as
Argentina, Brazil, China, Czech Republic, France and Mexico.
UR's Robins School of Business
has exchange partnerships with universities in 26 countries. Last
semester, 97 undergraduate students went to 28 schools in 17 countries.
Cossé said at least 50 percent of undergraduate business school students have spent at least a semester studying overseas.
Educating students about the world isn't just about sending them
overseas. While its students were abroad last semester, UR brought 51
students from 22 schools in 16 countries to study here.
Area universities also have arrangements with sister schools
overseas, sending students abroad to study or bringing in visiting
professors.
Longwood University in Farmville has a partnership with Qinzhou University and Anhui University of Technology in China.
Virginia State University works with Cross Cultural Solutions, a nonprofit international volunteer service provider that operates in 12 countries throughout Asia, Africa, and Central and South America. Through the partnership, four VSU students spent last summer in Morocco.
At VCU, Wood and finance professor Nanda Rangan will travel with five professors to India in June to teach courses on international finance and marketing. The professors will stay for three months. A group of professors from India will come to VCU later this year.
Globalization is major driver for the U.S. and Virginia economies, Grossman said.
In the U.S. last year, 26 percent of economic activity was driven by global business activity, he said.
"It affects everything, from the clothes we wear to the cars we drive to the computers we use," he said.
But U.S. businesses need to be aware of the culture of individual countries.
"Just because your product sells in Europe doesn't mean that it'll sell in Japan," he said, adding that something as subtle as the color of a product can turn off buyers.
In order to sell in both countries, businesses need to understand
what packaging, pricing and messaging work in each individual market.
The better someone is prepared to identify those differences, the better their chances of success are, Grossman said.
The education isn't limited to the next generation of business managers.
Universities in Virginia offer programs designed for those already in the work force.
VCU has an 11-week International Business Certificate Program that
teaches business managers and executives how to deal with subjects such
as international trade, foreign markets and overseas legal issues.
At UR, the executive education program offers classes that teach managers skills for dealing in a global marketplace.
"You have to get people prepared," Grossman said, "because tomorrow we'll be more international than today."
LLLovio@timesdispatch.com
(804) 649-6348
Thank you to the two dozen economic development professionals from across the commonwealth who attended Economic Developers Day at VCU on May 14, 2010. The theme of the event was "The Value of Partnering with VCU." Corporate partners from MeadWestvaco, Tredegar, the Science Museum of Virginia and more discussed the benefits they've received from partnerships with the VCU Schools of Business and Engineering, as well as the Center for Corporate Education and the VCU da Vinci Center for Innovation. 
Playing a gorgeous, globe-trotting secret agent with an array of CIA gadgetry at your disposal, a sexy co-star at your side and 
"I think one thing that some actors fail to understand is how important it is -- in my opinion -- to familiarize yourself with the process of being in the movies and TV," Kodjoe shared when we caught up by phone Tuesday morning. "It's a business, and a lot of people forget that, and that's when they get their heart broken, because they don't understand how random this all is. When you get rejected all the time, after a while you go 'is there something wrong with me?' That's why you run into so many neurotic actors!" he laughed. 
November 10, 2010
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(photo credit: startupamerica)
