Going Global - Fall 2012

Greetings!

At Carlson School's 1st Tuesday luncheon series last month, Bill George, former chairman and CEO of Medtronic, shared the concept of "Global Intelligence" and how integral it is to successful leadership in our ever changing and increasingly global economy. He described seven characteristics or qualities that differentiate successful leaders:

Worldview -- understanding interactions and dynamics between geographies and the ability to adapt to changing contexts
Self-awareness -- the ability to understand yourself in a different context while avoiding dominant paradigms
Empathy-- the ability to identify with another's feelings
Cultural curiosity-- an openness to exploring new cultures and geographies, without fear or prejudice
Alignment -- ensuring all employees are aligned with a company's mission and values regardless of its geographic location
Collaboration -- creating a spirit of collaboration across physical and cultural spans
Capacity for integration -- the significance of integrating complex local and global needs and opportunities into the corporate strategy

The following issue of our Going Global newsletter demonstrates how the Carlson Global Institute works with various stakeholders -- students, faculty, alumni, corporate and organizational leaders, and other friends of the Carlson School -- to enhance our global intelligence -- global competence -- global mindfulness -- so that we are evolving as more effective, adaptive, and successful global leaders.

One article describes how a student's overseas experience over a year ago continues to impact her in her work today. Another highlights the research that Carlson School Associate Professor Mary Zellmer-Bruhn is conducting related to effective cross-cultural teams. And if you enjoy this newsletter and would like to connect with other leaders who are interested in and/or work in global business and management, read how you can join our Carlson Global LinkedIn group, a newly created subgroup of the Carlson School LinkedIn group that launched in September.

We hope this issue encourages you to take time out of your busy day and ask yourself -- how globally mindful and engaged are you?

Sincerely,

Michael J. Houston                                                                                          Anne M. D'Angelo
Associate Dean, Global Initiatives                                                                       Assistant Dean, Global Initiatives 

China Executive MBA Program Continues to Evolve

The Minnesota and China delegation visited Midea, a Chinese company that employs many current and former CHEMBA students. The Carlson School delegation met with top executives and toured the company's manufacturing facilities.

Each October represents the beginning of a rewarding educational adventure for a select group of Chinese executives who have been accepted into the Carlson School's China Executive MBA (CHEMBA) program, the executive MBA program offered in Guangzhou in partnership with Lingnan (University) College of Sun Yat-sen University. Associate Dean Michael Houston, Assistant Dean Anne D'Angelo, and Director Matthew Goode recently returned from Guangzhou where they welcomed the incoming class, introduced 2nd year students to their capstone project, and connected with leadership, staff, and stakeholders on the ground.

The visit began with an introduction of 2nd year CHEMBA students to the Virtual Team Project (VTP), an innovative, experiential learning initiative of the EMBA curriculum. The VTP is a unique seventh-month experience that brings together students from the Carlson School's Chinese, Austrian, and U.S. EMBA programs into cross-national, cross-cultural teams to develop a global business plan. The VTP experience culminates each year when students from all three continents gather at the Carlson School to finalize and present their projects to a multi-national faculty panel before participating in the Carlson School graduation ceremony. Students describe this experience as the most difficult but also the most meaningful.

New-student orientation for the incoming cohort of 28 students followed the next day. The group represents a mix of multinational and Chinese companies including Colgate-Palmolive, Hewlett-Packard, Syngenta, BASF, China Resources Bank, and Midea. During orientation, students were introduced to the Carlson School and academic expectations. Later, a formal inauguration of the new class was held with dignitaries from Sun Yat-sen University, the U.S. Consul General in Guangzhou, the head of the American Chamber of Commerce in Guangzhou, and other corporate leaders in attendance.

New initiatives also were launched during the visit, including a faculty advisory board made up of Carlson School and Lingnan faculty. Joining Professor Houston on the faculty advisory committee are Carlson School Professors Michelle Duffy and William Li, a veteran teacher in CHEMBA. The committee will meet twice per year and is tasked with overseeing curricular modifications among other program-related items. The administrative team also met with key companies in the region to learn more about their organizations and workforce development activities. It is expected that this will become a regular component of the fall visit to Guangzhou.

Research
CIBER Funding Supports Carlson School Faculty Exploration of Effective Cross-Cultural Teams

Associate Professor Mary Zellmer-Bruhn.

A visit to Carlson School Associate Professor Mary Zellmer-Bruhn's office is an excellent reminder of the relevant research being conducted at the school. Zellmer-Bruhn, who has been a Carlson School faculty member since 1999, researches teams and collaboration, including how teams are formed, led, and the factors that make them more, or less, effective. She has a special interest in diversity within teams, both knowledge diversity and cultural diversity, and is widely published on the subject.

In a recent interview, Zellmer-Bruhn shared her belief that much of the current research misses the context and dynamic nature of diverse teams. She feels that there is value in examining the subjective experiences of teams because it can reveal the relationship between diversity and team outcomes. For example, some of her research suggests that occasional cross-cultural interactions may lead individuals to assume similarity or difference on an unobservable work-related diversity based on things like nationality or location. She seeks to investigate such issues.

With research funding support from the Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER), she is pursuing the question further and has recently developed the idea of intercultural interaction spaces; that is, that the context of intercultural interaction is important and it may influence the extent to which team members feel that they are able to adapt their behavior to match the situation. She is collaborating with other leading academics in the field at partner schools in Switzerland and Singapore on this important work.

"My research interests lie in not only understanding the challenges of diverse teams but also in how we might reduce barriers to collaboration," she said. "Barriers to collaboration include geography and language as well psychological distance. For example, people around the world have different ideas of what it means to work on a team." Zellmer-Bruhn also has recently started exploring the role of culture and language in team dynamics; specifically, how such differences in a team support or interfere with information sharing, knowledge integration, and learning.

We'll look forward to learning more!

Researching the Impacts of Education Abroad on MBA Students

“This research clearly demonstrates the impact of education abroad on MBA students in increasing their global mindset. “
-Michael Houston, Associate Dean of Global Initiatives

Anecdotally, we know that education abroad impacts students but little research has been done that identifies in what specific ways MBA students are impacted by these types of courses and global initiatives. The Carlson Global Institute is working to answer that question with a research study led by Assistant Dean Anne D'Angelo and Associate Dean Michael Houston that looks more closely at the impacts of education abroad on part-time MBA students in particular.

The study surveyed 322 students during the summer of 2012 to assess their global mindset (a set of characteristics used to measure individual global fluency). D'Angelo and Houston designed a survey related to Carlson School student experience and employed the Global Mindset Inventory (GMI) to measure survey respondents' ability to influence individuals, groups, and organizations that are different. The inventory consists of three components called "capitals" - intellectual capital, psychological capital, and social capital - and nine unique dimensions.

Intellectual capital consists of (1) global business savvy - exploring an individual's knowledge of global industry, global business and strategies, and how to transact business, assess risks, and supplier options; (2) cosmopolitan outlook - knowledge of different cultures, geography and history, economic and political issues, and world events; and (3) cognitive complexity - the ability to grasp complex concepts, utilize analytical skills, understand abstract ideas, and break down complex issues. Psychological capital consists of (4) passion for diversity which seeks to understand to what extent the individuals have a passion for diversity as evidenced by enjoyment of exploring other parts of the world, getting to know people from other parts of the world, living in another country, and traveling; (5) quest for adventure - taking on challenging situations, risk, and dealing with uncertainty; and (6) self-assurance - instilling self confidence and becoming more comfortable in uncomfortable situations. Social capital consists of (7) intercultural empathy - the ability to work with people from other cultures; (8) interpersonal impact - negotiating skills in other cultures, global networks, and leadership; and (9) diplomacy - ease of conversation, listening to others, and collaboration.

The study identified three groups for comparison: Those who have participated in an education abroad experience, those who have not but plan to, and those who have not and do not plan to study abroad. The research findings revealed that students who had participated in an education abroad experience had a GMI score that was statistically significantly higher that others taking the survey. Impacts were particularly strong in passion for diversity, intercultural empathy, and self assurance.

Carlson Global Now on LinkedIn

The Carlson School of Management is a pioneer in international management and business education and research. Carlson Global, a newly created subgroup of the Carlson School LinkedIn group, launched in September to connect and engage on this important topic and has already attracted almost 500 members.

It was envisioned as a community of Carlson School affiliates interested in all things related to global management and business by creator Jennifer Hawkins, program director for Global Corporate and Alumni Relations at the Carlson Global Institute. According to Hawkins, "Carlson's global community includes alumni in over 70 countries and thousands working or interested in global business and management. We saw LinkedIn as a very powerful tool for easily connecting with one another across the school, the region, and the world on opportunities and issues related to global business."

Carlson Global is intended to be a forum for creating connections, discussing global business topics, and learning about opportunities to engage in Carlson School's global initiatives.

Group membership is open to all Carlson School students, faculty, staff, alumni, and other friends of the school who are members of the Carlson School of Management group. If you are on LinkedIn and currently a member of the Carlson group, please consider joining Carlson Global. If you are not yet a member of the Carlson group and interested in becoming a part of Carlson Global, simply request to join on LinkedIn referencing this newsletter posting!

CIBER Co-Hosts Great Decisions Conference on Global Health Priorities with Minnesota International Center

The Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) regularly partners with organizations in the community to explore critical global topics. On October 13, 2012, CIBER co-hosted a dynamic Great Decisions conference on global health priorities with the Minnesota International Center.

This year's event focused on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. The incidence of these conditions is increasing around the world as populations live longer. Such diseases pose huge social and economic challenges for both mature and developing markets. The conference addressed how each sector of society can take action to address them.

Lois Quam, formerly a senior executive at UnitedHealth Group and now executive director of the Global Health Initiative at the U.S. Department of State, provided the keynote address, framing global health as a diplomatic priority for the United States. The Global Health Initiative focuses on increasing the impact and better coordinating U.S. investments in global health. Quam spoke about the importance of health as a foundation for civil societies and a basis for economic development in countries around the world.

Michael Finch, an instructor with the Carlson School's Medical Industry Leadership Institute (MILI), moderated a panel representing business, non-profit, academic, philanthropic, and media sectors. Panel member Simon Stevens, executive vice president and president of Global Health at UnitedHealth, proposed that there are "false dichotomies" about chronic disease. "It's a myth that NCDs are diseases of affluence, and that emerging markets' bigger issue is infectious disease," he said. Prevention and treatment are both needed. And the extent to which action is a responsibility of the healthcare sector versus other sectors of society is a false choice. Bottom line? "We can't let healthcare sectors off the hook," he said. Another panel member, Jacob Gayle, executive director of the Medtronic Foundation, further reinforced the idea that a healthy population is a shared responsibility by sharing a visual depiction of how a patient with chronic disease moves through the health system. He articulated key points in the cycle at which business investment is most effective, and others where philanthropy is most critical.

Other panelists provided insights into the role that media and academic communities play in supporting global health. John Finnegan, Dean of the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota, defined health as the "outcome of inter-connected systems." The nature of the global health challenge means that a university must integrate research, education, and public engagement activities to effect significant change. He called for a "global land grant cooperative" structure to support such multi-disciplinary initiatives. Dean Finnegan cited as an example the university's RESPOND project, a capacity-building effort focused on combating animal diseases that can spread to humans. Fred de Sam Lazaro, correspondent for the PBS News Hour and fellow at the Hendrickson Institute for Ethical Leadership, summed up a task for the media: "It's the challenge of making the foreign less foreign...of making global health stories relevant...and of maintaining a solutions-oriented approach," he said.

At the end of the day, the conference focused on solutions - and a call to action for students, businesses, and community members in attendance.

There are many ways to stay informed and engaged in this topic. Want to...

Learn more about the University of Minnesota's initiatives with global health? Visit http://globalhealthcenter.umn.edu/
Stay up to date on global health issues and stories? Visit http://www.pbs.org/newshour/topic/globalhealth/
Discuss global health and other foreign policy topics with a Great Decisions group? Visit http://www.micglobe.org/program_great_decisions/index.php

Michael Houston, Associate Dean of Global Initiatives, Recognized by University for Internationalization Efforts

 

Associate Dean of Global Initiatives,
Dr. Michael Houston

Michael Houston, Associate Dean of Global Initiatives, has been named a recipient of the University of Minnesota's Award for Global Engagement. This award is given to select faculty and staff members in recognition of their outstanding contributions to global education and international programs at the University.

In announcing Houston, the Global Programs and Strategy Alliance cited his exceptional leadership of the Carlson School's increasing global engagement, his innovation in international education and institutional development, and his teaching and research.

"Mike has been responsible for taking the school's international involvement to a whole new level - creating the Carlson Global Institute, making the school one of the Centers for International Business Education and Research (CIBER), and going far beyond just delivering 'international programs' to making the Carlson School an internationally respected resource and leading player in global business education," adds Dean Sri Zaheer. Houston will be presented with the award at a special ceremony held during International Education Week, November 12 to 16.

Other recipients of the 2012 Award for Global Engagement include Kevin Dostal Dauer, coordinator of residential life in the Department of Housing and Residential Life; and Paul Glewwe, professor of applied economics in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Natural Resource Sciences.

Corporate Visit Abroad Provides Insights for Recent Graduate on the Job

Students visiting Infosys in India in January 2011, from left to right: Danielle Strand, Jess Bauer, Professor Ravi Bapna, Will Dickson, Emilie Sieker, and Kirsten Ryan

Each year, Carlson School students participating in education abroad programs visit over 100 companies around the world. The visits provide students with insights into how the concepts they are studying in class play out in the "real world." The impact of these visits on students extends beyond the end of the program, and even after graduation.

Emilie Sieker, a 2012 BSB alumna who now works as an associate at KPMG in the internal audit advisory department, participated in IDSC 3001 studying Information Systems for Business Processes and Management in India in January 2011. While they were abroad, students in the class visited Infosys, an Indian multinational that provides business consulting, technology, and outsourcing services. Today, Emilie works on a team that includes several conference calls weekly with her banking industry client and their vendor Infosys. She describes that her participation in the IDSC program in India and her visit to Infosys equipped her with unique insights and appreciation for the approaches of her Indian team members.

Emilie also credited her participation in the program with helping her secure an internship with KPMG before graduation where she spent two months in Minnesota and one month in South Africa. She hopes to do more global work in her future and feels that companies like KPMG, which are operating around the world, are particularly interested in employees who have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to effectively collaborate across cultures and time zones.

Upcoming Events

There are no upcoming events.

Other Ways to Engage with Us

The Carlson Global Institute provides a variety of opportunities for organizations and individuals to engage with us. Opportunities include hosting site visits here and abroad, Global Business Practicum (live case) sponsorships, guest speakers, and financial support for student scholarships, research, and program development. If you are interested in learning more, contact Jennifer Hawkins at 612-624-4334 or hawki044@umn.edu.

China Executive MBA Program Continues to Evolve

The Minnesota and China delegation visited Midea, a Chinese company that employs many current and former CHEMBA students. The Carlson School delegation met with top executives and toured the company's manufacturing facilities.

Each October represents the beginning of a rewarding educational adventure for a select group of Chinese executives who have been accepted into the Carlson School's China Executive MBA (CHEMBA) program, the executive MBA program offered in Guangzhou in partnership with Lingnan (University) College of Sun Yat-sen University. Associate Dean Michael Houston, Assistant Dean Anne D'Angelo, and Director Matthew Goode recently returned from Guangzhou where they welcomed the incoming class, introduced 2nd year students to their capstone project, and connected with leadership, staff, and stakeholders on the ground.

The visit began with an introduction of 2nd year CHEMBA students to the Virtual Team Project (VTP), an innovative, experiential learning initiative of the EMBA curriculum. The VTP is a unique seventh-month experience that brings together students from the Carlson School's Chinese, Austrian, and U.S. EMBA programs into cross-national, cross-cultural teams to develop a global business plan. The VTP experience culminates each year when students from all three continents gather at the Carlson School to finalize and present their projects to a multi-national faculty panel before participating in the Carlson School graduation ceremony. Students describe this experience as the most difficult but also the most meaningful.

New-student orientation for the incoming cohort of 28 students followed the next day. The group represents a mix of multinational and Chinese companies including Colgate-Palmolive, Hewlett-Packard, Syngenta, BASF, China Resources Bank, and Midea. During orientation, students were introduced to the Carlson School and academic expectations. Later, a formal inauguration of the new class was held with dignitaries from Sun Yat-sen University, the U.S. Consul General in Guangzhou, the head of the American Chamber of Commerce in Guangzhou, and other corporate leaders in attendance.

New initiatives also were launched during the visit, including a faculty advisory board made up of Carlson School and Lingnan faculty. Joining Professor Houston on the faculty advisory committee are Carlson School Professors Michelle Duffy and William Li, a veteran teacher in CHEMBA. The committee will meet twice per year and is tasked with overseeing curricular modifications among other program-related items. The administrative team also met with key companies in the region to learn more about their organizations and workforce development activities. It is expected that this will become a regular component of the fall visit to Guangzhou.

Research
CIBER Funding Supports Carlson School Faculty Exploration of Effective Cross-Cultural Teams

Associate Professor Mary Zellmer-Bruhn.

A visit to Carlson School Associate Professor Mary Zellmer-Bruhn's office is an excellent reminder of the relevant research being conducted at the school. Zellmer-Bruhn, who has been a Carlson School faculty member since 1999, researches teams and collaboration, including how teams are formed, led, and the factors that make them more, or less, effective. She has a special interest in diversity within teams, both knowledge diversity and cultural diversity, and is widely published on the subject.

In a recent interview, Zellmer-Bruhn shared her belief that much of the current research misses the context and dynamic nature of diverse teams. She feels that there is value in examining the subjective experiences of teams because it can reveal the relationship between diversity and team outcomes. For example, some of her research suggests that occasional cross-cultural interactions may lead individuals to assume similarity or difference on an unobservable work-related diversity based on things like nationality or location. She seeks to investigate such issues.

With research funding support from the Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER), she is pursuing the question further and has recently developed the idea of intercultural interaction spaces; that is, that the context of intercultural interaction is important and it may influence the extent to which team members feel that they are able to adapt their behavior to match the situation. She is collaborating with other leading academics in the field at partner schools in Switzerland and Singapore on this important work.

"My research interests lie in not only understanding the challenges of diverse teams but also in how we might reduce barriers to collaboration," she said. "Barriers to collaboration include geography and language as well psychological distance. For example, people around the world have different ideas of what it means to work on a team." Zellmer-Bruhn also has recently started exploring the role of culture and language in team dynamics; specifically, how such differences in a team support or interfere with information sharing, knowledge integration, and learning.

We'll look forward to learning more!

Researching the Impacts of Education Abroad on MBA Students

“This research clearly demonstrates the impact of education abroad on MBA students in increasing their global mindset. “
-Michael Houston, Associate Dean of Global Initiatives

Anecdotally, we know that education abroad impacts students but little research has been done that identifies in what specific ways MBA students are impacted by these types of courses and global initiatives. The Carlson Global Institute is working to answer that question with a research study led by Assistant Dean Anne D'Angelo and Associate Dean Michael Houston that looks more closely at the impacts of education abroad on part-time MBA students in particular.

The study surveyed 322 students during the summer of 2012 to assess their global mindset (a set of characteristics used to measure individual global fluency). D'Angelo and Houston designed a survey related to Carlson School student experience and employed the Global Mindset Inventory (GMI) to measure survey respondents' ability to influence individuals, groups, and organizations that are different. The inventory consists of three components called "capitals" - intellectual capital, psychological capital, and social capital - and nine unique dimensions.

Intellectual capital consists of (1) global business savvy - exploring an individual's knowledge of global industry, global business and strategies, and how to transact business, assess risks, and supplier options; (2) cosmopolitan outlook - knowledge of different cultures, geography and history, economic and political issues, and world events; and (3) cognitive complexity - the ability to grasp complex concepts, utilize analytical skills, understand abstract ideas, and break down complex issues. Psychological capital consists of (4) passion for diversity which seeks to understand to what extent the individuals have a passion for diversity as evidenced by enjoyment of exploring other parts of the world, getting to know people from other parts of the world, living in another country, and traveling; (5) quest for adventure - taking on challenging situations, risk, and dealing with uncertainty; and (6) self-assurance - instilling self confidence and becoming more comfortable in uncomfortable situations. Social capital consists of (7) intercultural empathy - the ability to work with people from other cultures; (8) interpersonal impact - negotiating skills in other cultures, global networks, and leadership; and (9) diplomacy - ease of conversation, listening to others, and collaboration.

The study identified three groups for comparison: Those who have participated in an education abroad experience, those who have not but plan to, and those who have not and do not plan to study abroad. The research findings revealed that students who had participated in an education abroad experience had a GMI score that was statistically significantly higher that others taking the survey. Impacts were particularly strong in passion for diversity, intercultural empathy, and self assurance.

Carlson Global Now on LinkedIn

The Carlson School of Management is a pioneer in international management and business education and research. Carlson Global, a newly created subgroup of the Carlson School LinkedIn group, launched in September to connect and engage on this important topic and has already attracted almost 500 members.

It was envisioned as a community of Carlson School affiliates interested in all things related to global management and business by creator Jennifer Hawkins, program director for Global Corporate and Alumni Relations at the Carlson Global Institute. According to Hawkins, "Carlson's global community includes alumni in over 70 countries and thousands working or interested in global business and management. We saw LinkedIn as a very powerful tool for easily connecting with one another across the school, the region, and the world on opportunities and issues related to global business."

Carlson Global is intended to be a forum for creating connections, discussing global business topics, and learning about opportunities to engage in Carlson School's global initiatives.

Group membership is open to all Carlson School students, faculty, staff, alumni, and other friends of the school who are members of the Carlson School of Management group. If you are on LinkedIn and currently a member of the Carlson group, please consider joining Carlson Global. If you are not yet a member of the Carlson group and interested in becoming a part of Carlson Global, simply request to join on LinkedIn referencing this newsletter posting!

CIBER Co-Hosts Great Decisions Conference on Global Health Priorities with Minnesota International Center

The Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) regularly partners with organizations in the community to explore critical global topics. On October 13, 2012, CIBER co-hosted a dynamic Great Decisions conference on global health priorities with the Minnesota International Center.

This year's event focused on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. The incidence of these conditions is increasing around the world as populations live longer. Such diseases pose huge social and economic challenges for both mature and developing markets. The conference addressed how each sector of society can take action to address them.

Lois Quam, formerly a senior executive at UnitedHealth Group and now executive director of the Global Health Initiative at the U.S. Department of State, provided the keynote address, framing global health as a diplomatic priority for the United States. The Global Health Initiative focuses on increasing the impact and better coordinating U.S. investments in global health. Quam spoke about the importance of health as a foundation for civil societies and a basis for economic development in countries around the world.

Michael Finch, an instructor with the Carlson School's Medical Industry Leadership Institute (MILI), moderated a panel representing business, non-profit, academic, philanthropic, and media sectors. Panel member Simon Stevens, executive vice president and president of Global Health at UnitedHealth, proposed that there are "false dichotomies" about chronic disease. "It's a myth that NCDs are diseases of affluence, and that emerging markets' bigger issue is infectious disease," he said. Prevention and treatment are both needed. And the extent to which action is a responsibility of the healthcare sector versus other sectors of society is a false choice. Bottom line? "We can't let healthcare sectors off the hook," he said. Another panel member, Jacob Gayle, executive director of the Medtronic Foundation, further reinforced the idea that a healthy population is a shared responsibility by sharing a visual depiction of how a patient with chronic disease moves through the health system. He articulated key points in the cycle at which business investment is most effective, and others where philanthropy is most critical.

Other panelists provided insights into the role that media and academic communities play in supporting global health. John Finnegan, Dean of the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota, defined health as the "outcome of inter-connected systems." The nature of the global health challenge means that a university must integrate research, education, and public engagement activities to effect significant change. He called for a "global land grant cooperative" structure to support such multi-disciplinary initiatives. Dean Finnegan cited as an example the university's RESPOND project, a capacity-building effort focused on combating animal diseases that can spread to humans. Fred de Sam Lazaro, correspondent for the PBS News Hour and fellow at the Hendrickson Institute for Ethical Leadership, summed up a task for the media: "It's the challenge of making the foreign less foreign...of making global health stories relevant...and of maintaining a solutions-oriented approach," he said.

At the end of the day, the conference focused on solutions - and a call to action for students, businesses, and community members in attendance.

There are many ways to stay informed and engaged in this topic. Want to...

Learn more about the University of Minnesota's initiatives with global health? Visit http://globalhealthcenter.umn.edu/
Stay up to date on global health issues and stories? Visit http://www.pbs.org/newshour/topic/globalhealth/
Discuss global health and other foreign policy topics with a Great Decisions group? Visit http://www.micglobe.org/program_great_decisions/index.php

Michael Houston, Associate Dean of Global Initiatives, Recognized by University for Internationalization Efforts

 

Associate Dean of Global Initiatives,
Dr. Michael Houston

Michael Houston, Associate Dean of Global Initiatives, has been named a recipient of the University of Minnesota's Award for Global Engagement. This award is given to select faculty and staff members in recognition of their outstanding contributions to global education and international programs at the University.

In announcing Houston, the Global Programs and Strategy Alliance cited his exceptional leadership of the Carlson School's increasing global engagement, his innovation in international education and institutional development, and his teaching and research.

"Mike has been responsible for taking the school's international involvement to a whole new level - creating the Carlson Global Institute, making the school one of the Centers for International Business Education and Research (CIBER), and going far beyond just delivering 'international programs' to making the Carlson School an internationally respected resource and leading player in global business education," adds Dean Sri Zaheer. Houston will be presented with the award at a special ceremony held during International Education Week, November 12 to 16.

Other recipients of the 2012 Award for Global Engagement include Kevin Dostal Dauer, coordinator of residential life in the Department of Housing and Residential Life; and Paul Glewwe, professor of applied economics in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Natural Resource Sciences.

Corporate Visit Abroad Provides Insights for Recent Graduate on the Job

Students visiting Infosys in India in January 2011, from left to right: Danielle Strand, Jess Bauer, Professor Ravi Bapna, Will Dickson, Emilie Sieker, and Kirsten Ryan

Each year, Carlson School students participating in education abroad programs visit over 100 companies around the world. The visits provide students with insights into how the concepts they are studying in class play out in the "real world." The impact of these visits on students extends beyond the end of the program, and even after graduation.

Emilie Sieker, a 2012 BSB alumna who now works as an associate at KPMG in the internal audit advisory department, participated in IDSC 3001 studying Information Systems for Business Processes and Management in India in January 2011. While they were abroad, students in the class visited Infosys, an Indian multinational that provides business consulting, technology, and outsourcing services. Today, Emilie works on a team that includes several conference calls weekly with her banking industry client and their vendor Infosys. She describes that her participation in the IDSC program in India and her visit to Infosys equipped her with unique insights and appreciation for the approaches of her Indian team members.

Emilie also credited her participation in the program with helping her secure an internship with KPMG before graduation where she spent two months in Minnesota and one month in South Africa. She hopes to do more global work in her future and feels that companies like KPMG, which are operating around the world, are particularly interested in employees who have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to effectively collaborate across cultures and time zones.

Upcoming Events

There are no upcoming events.

Other Ways to Engage with Us

The Carlson Global Institute provides a variety of opportunities for organizations and individuals to engage with us. Opportunities include hosting site visits here and abroad, Global Business Practicum (live case) sponsorships, guest speakers, and financial support for student scholarships, research, and program development. If you are interested in learning more, contact Jennifer Hawkins at 612-624-4334 or hawki044@umn.edu.