A semester in China opens the eyes of business students
Thirteen PLU students, including nine from the School of Business,
spent last fall semester 2006 studying at Sichuan University in
Chengdu, Sichuan, a province of China.
School of Business
professor Thad Barnowe served as the PLU Site Director for the semester
program. This was the first time that a School of Business faculty
member had been the on-site faculty leader, resulting in the
recruitment of business students to participate. Prior to the trip, all students were required to take Chinese language
courses, as well as courses on Chinese Culture and Western China. Once
in Chengdu, students could take electives taught in English by Sichuan
University faculty in the subjects of history or political science, or
one or both of the 3-credit courses taught by Barnowe – BUSA 352 Global
Management, or a special course on China’s Business Environment.
Throughout
the trip, Barnowe emphasized the importance of cultural exploration
outside of the classroom. “Managing the novel complexities of day to
day living in a new culture—getting around, exploring the city,
visiting parks and museums, finding places to eat, walking along the
river, shopping, bargaining, surviving street crossings and taxi rides,
taking traditional Chinese medicines if needed, coping with computer
problems, so many moments large and small —is a great source of
learning and satisfaction,” Barnowe said. “Meeting new people and
making new friends, dealing with homesickness and distance from loved
ones, getting along with new and old classmates, figuring out the
nuances of nonverbal as well as the verbal communications we are trying
to study—all of these are experiences (sometimes crucibles) which help
us to grow, develop new skills, appreciate diversity, communicate in
new ways, and acquire the courage simply to interact with strangers.”
 Brian
Curtis, pictured left in Tiananmen Square outside the Forbidden Palace, is a junior business major with a concentration in international
business. During his time in China, Curtis took courses in Chinese Business Environment, Global
Management, Chinese, and Chinese Culture and Society (Modern Tibet).
Chinese
Business Environment involved meeting with Chinese companies and
talking about the ups and downs of the Chinese economy and plans for
the future. “The class ended with a company analysis. We made teams,
chose a company, and talked with them about everything from the birth
of the company to their future goals. It was very rewarding,” Curtis
said.
Curtis found that meeting with the companies was the
most beneficial part of his time in China. “It’s amazing to see
companies that we use daily, like IBM and HP, profiting in China. I
felt it was good insight into the global world and how important it is
to treat your host country well,” he said.
Belinda Ho (pictured above), a
junior business major with a concentration in international business,
also enjoyed speaking with Chinese companies. “On one occasion, we
visited a business that ended up using our advice about how to improve
their company.”
Ho plans to spend more time in China next
summer. “I'm going with some friends from Boston on a month long
backpacking trip with plans to return to Chengdu to see some of the
friends I made while I was there last year. Afterwards, I am planning
on doing a service-learning program through the Wang Foundation and
Tsinghua University. The program centers on poverty alleviation through
teaching English in rural areas of China.”
Curtis found his time
in China so rewarding that he is going back this coming J-Term 2008
with Barnowe to take a Business Culture of China course. The future of the School of Business
The arrival of Interim Dean Dr. Bill Frame this fall 2007 marks the launch of the permanent dean search for the School
of Business. The faculty and staff have been working hard over the last few months to
define the School’s vision, articulating what they want both in a dean and an
academic program.
Dean Frame has been integral
in the process of molding and refining this vision in order to find a dean who
will take the School
of Business where it
wants to go. “The vision needs to belong to the School of Business
itself,” Frame said.
Frame plans to form this
vision through conversations and writings from School of Business
faculty and staff. So far a common theme is that the PLU School of Business
should be distinctive among the competition through serious use of the concepts
that are important to the university as a whole. This includes exploring the
topic of vocation and its broader meaning, as well as emphasizing a dedication
to improving the world.
“In order to strive to
improve the world, one must understand where it comes from,” Frame said. “To
gain this understanding, one must explore the history of the modern business
enterprise and the current conditions of capitalism.” Frame hopes to have these
components added to the business education students receive at PLU. He also
hopes to extend the general university education in business courses. “We need
to strive for an integration of liberal and professional education.”
Once the new vision is in
place, the search for a dean will begin. “We want to be able to tell the new
dean where we want to go. The goal will be to find one that wants to go with
us,” Frame said. Specifically, Frame is looking for someone with a “flash of
passion” regarding the School
of Business’s vision. “This
person must be accomplished in both the business and educational worlds, be
enthusiastic, aggressive, and an analytical thinker,” Frame said.
The goal is that a new dean will be named by April 15, 2008.
NEWS
Latvian Fulbright scholar explores US business
world
The School
of Business welcomes Ieva
Kalve to campus as a visiting Fulbright Scholar. Kalve comes to PLU from Riga,
Latvia where she is a doctoral student, studying education management at the
University of Latvia. Kalve hopes to gain theoretical and practical knowledge
through her research and interactions with PLU faculty to be used as a basis
for writing a graduate level modern management book in Latvian. She will
research literature, engage with faculty members and explore the business
environment in the United States during her nine months here. Part of this
exploration will include visiting small and family-owned businesses in order to
more fully understand the way they operate. She hopes to bring knowledge of
small and family-owned businesses to Latvia, as it is a somewhat unexplored
topic there. Kalve’s husband, Andris Kalve, and their 16-year-old son
Voldemars accompanied her to the states. Kalve is glad her family is able to
share this experience with her. “It brings my time in the US closer to
reality and makes it feel more like home,” Kalve said.
Andris Kalve is also a visiting scholar. He is currently a
doctoral student in Riga
with experience in occupational safety and health. He intends to broaden his
understanding of the occupational safety industry by linking with general
management topics, including quality systems.
Alumna finds success in the medical world
School
of Business alumna Emma
Coulson `07 found quick success after graduation. Coulson works for a private
medical clinic in Kirkland,
Longevity Development, as the internal marketing representative. The company
manages three clinics in the area, Lynnwood, Kirkland, and Tacoma,
by the name of Longevity Medical Clinic.
“Our program is medically based, the patients see
doctors with experience in longevity and wellness medicine,” Coulson said. Each
patient is given a personalized medical program that has the goal of helping
the patient feel healthier and younger using bio-identical hormone replacement
and evaluating overall lifestyle issues including diet, exercise, and
supplementation. “Think scientifically-based lifestyle coaching,” Coulson said.
Because the company is still small, Coulson has gained
experience in a variety of areas in the business. “I have the opportunity to
dabble in a lot of different areas,” Coulson said, “including event planning, advertising,
customer service, patient advocacy, and get to give my input on operational
changes in our clinics. I work directly with the CEO, who has already been a
great mentor in introducing me to the advertising world most notably in radio,
print and television.” Coulson’s involvement in PLU’s chapter of the American
Marketing Association and her dedication to her marketing concentration has
proved beneficial in her new job. “My position is the only one dedicated to
marketing (besides the CEO) so as our company grows, I will be heading up the
marketing department. Our company goal is to expand across the country in the
next five years, so this is a very exciting time, as there are many changes
about to take place.”
Mariam Anderson joins School
of Business
Mariam Anderson, BBA `03,
recently joined the PLU School of Business in August 2007. She is job-sharing as
the assistant to the Director of Graduate Programs while Abby Wigstrom-Carlson is on
maternity leave. Mariam received her BBA from PLU in 2003 with a concentration in
international business and minor in Spanish. During her time at PLU, Mariam was
a board member of PLUS Business and president of the Young Entrepreneurs Club.
After graduation, Mariam was employed by A/D Electronics Inc. as a
Business/Market Research Specialist. Since the company sold its operations in
2006, Mariam joined the World Trade Center Tacoma as an event coordinator. She
is actively involved with the Sister Cities International and Tacoma Rotary Club
International.
School of Business welcomes
new marketing professor
 The School
of Business welcomes Dr. Sven
Tuzovic, Assistant Professor of Marketing, to PLU. Tuzovic was born in Velbert, Germany.
He holds a BBA degree from Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, GA,
a Diplom Kaufmann (German MBA equivalent) degree from the Catholic University
of Eichstaett-Ingolstadt and a doctoral degree in marketing from the University
of Basel, Switzerland. After receiving his doctorate in October 2003 he
joined a management consultant company in Munich,
Germany. In
2005 Tuzovic decided to go back into academia, and was offered a position as
a visiting professor at the University of New Orleans (UNO). However, after
just settling in, he had to evacuate the city due to hurricane Katrina. After
ending his visiting position at UNO, Tuzovic started another visiting position
with Murray State
University in Murray, KY.
Joining PLU for a tenure-track position, he is teaching Principles
of Marketing and Services Marketing this fall. His research, which has been published in
several conference proceedings and the International Journal of Business
Performance Management, focuses on areas such as service quality, customer
satisfaction, customer loyalty and relationship marketing.
Professor publications
Chung-Shing Lee
attended and presented two research papers which he co-authored with Professor
Grace Chen of Yuan Ze University and Professor Pi-Feng Hsieh of Takming Science
& Technology University in Taiwan at the 2007 Portland International
Conference on Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET) in Portland,
Oregon on August 5-9, 2007. PICMET is one of the two top annual conferences on
management of technology and innovation. Lee’s papers are entitled, “An
Integrated Framework for Managing Service Innovation” and “Strategies for
Developing Deep Ocean Water Industry: Cluster and Value Network Views.”
In addition, Lee’s research paper, “Strategic Development of
Network of Clusters: A Study of High-Technology Regional Development and Global
Competitiveness,” co-authored with Jeff K.H. Niu and Grant Miles, has been
accepted for publishing in the upcoming issue of the Competitiveness Review
Journal.
Glenn Van Wyhe had a pair of invited articles
published in the leading accounting education journal over the summer. After
reading his book The Struggle for Status: A History of Accounting Education,
the editor of the American Accounting Association’s journal Issues in
Accounting Education asked professor Van Wyhe to write one or two articles on
that history, updating it to the present. “A History of U.S. Higher Education in Accounting, Part I: Situating Accounting within
the Academy” appeared in the May Issues, and “A History of U.S. Higher
Education in Accounting, Part II: Reforming Accounting within the Academy”
appeared in the August Issues.
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