Bringing the World to Our Students

The 21st century has brought a new reality to American business. In any number of arenas, U.S. firms are no longer the most efficient or innovative players. While this may be old news to some, the reality is that Main Street America (to borrow a political cliché) is only now coming to this realization. We are challenged at all levels to learn to be globally competitive. 

Business schools in general and Miller College specifically must be on the front lines of meeting these new challenges. As you browse our new online version of Ball State Business, you can read some of the efforts of the college in raising the global awareness of our students.

As with any significant change, Miller College must be strategic in our thinking about how to continue to globalize our academic curriculum. We must start with a vision of what we want for our students. We want our graduates to be able to understand the dimensions of global competition and have the skills to assist businesses in surpassing that competition.

Ray Montagno is the chair of the Department of Marketing and Management and a professor of management.

Assessing our strengths and developing realistic and achievable goals must also happen. Our goals must center on the needs of our students. We have created a mix of opportunities that bring this new global perspective to as many of our students as possible.

Semester-long study abroad is the most powerful experience for changing a student’s world-view. Focused short-term study trips can significantly influence the attitudes of a student toward business in foreign countries.

Vital to this effort is the faculty member in the classroom. Our faculty recognizes the impact of globalization and continually stresses the need for this understanding through real-world international problems and cases. The classroom experience is reinforced through our Distinguished Speaker Series, which brings in internationally experienced executives who reinforce the value of global thinking.

A relatively new phenomenon, especially in our undergraduate classes, is the presence of a large number of international students. Meet some of our students from Turkey.

Ball State has been very active in global recruiting, and Miller College has been the fortunate recipient of many of these students. Our students now have the chance to interact and work with very bright students from many countries, providing them first-hand experience with new cultural values and work patterns.

Creating a culture of global awareness is a challenge we have accepted. While we are doing many good things, we want to continually improve. We invite your suggestions and help in this process. Better global business graduates will make us all better.