Life at the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business

In a nation centered around business and marketing, schools of business are very competitive. Among the elite is the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University. Located atop a hill in Logan, Utah, the Huntsman school of business stands as one of the oldest schools of business in the United States and the oldest in the West (Parson). What is greatest about the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business, however, is the quality of experiences it provides to its students. This quality experience is created by the wide variety of students attending, the entrepreneurial atmosphere, and the school’s global vision.

The school of business is made up of students from many different backgrounds. This variety is perhaps due to the 14 undergraduate degrees and 5 graduate degrees that lure students from all parts of the planet. In fact, 47 different languages are spoken by students attending the Huntsman School.

Because many students of the Huntsman School come from different backgrounds and long distances, there is a feeling of eagerness to succeed that the school refers to as the entrepreneurial spirit. To spur the students motivations as entrepreneurs, new programs have been launched including the New Venture Development Group (NVDP), which began in 2010. This group, constituted of about 20 students, reviews ideas submitted by students around campus to decide which ideas have the most potential at success. Once decided, the group works with the submitter of the idea to provide initial funding and form teams for management in order to “get the idea off the ground.” ("Entrepreneurial spirit," 2011)

This entrepreneurial spirit is not limited to ideas in Utah or the United States. The Jon M. Huntsman School of Business has the vision to “Go Global.” As stated on the school webpage, “Students at the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business are developing a global mindset as they take advantage of international academic experiences that immerse them in new cultures.” ("Global vision," 2011) Despite the efforts of the school, many of the students are already globally oriented. Sixty percent of the students at the Huntsman School of Business speak a second language, and 46 percent have lived in a country other than their own for six months or longer. This advantage motivates many students to study abroad and make plans to enter the global market ("About the school," 2011).

As graduates from the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business enter the global market, they provide evidence of their quality education. These businesspeople show that because of their wide variety of student peers, the spirit of entrepreneurship they harnessed, and the global focus they were offered by the school, they have become better businessmen and women.

References

About the school. (2011). Retrieved from http://huntsman.usu.edu/about/

Entrepreneurial spirit. (2011). Retrieved from https://huntsman.usu.edu/about/htm/entrepreneurial-spirit

Global vision. (2011). Retrieved from http://huntsman.usu.edu/about/htm/global-vision

Parson, R. (n.d.). An encyclopedic history of utah state university. Retrieved from http://library.usu.edu/specol/usuarchives/universityhistory.html

Germany Reaches to Struggling European Union

Recently the Associated Press published an article that included a pleaful message from Berlin to Greece: “Help wanted!” According to the article, Germany quickly emerged from the financial crisis, which started in 2008. Because the German unemployment rate is at its 20 year low of 6.6 percent, organizations are reaching out to skilled workers in struggling countries of the European Union. This bold move by Germany poses many risks that may have both positive and negative consequences. However, I feel as though this outreach will have a positive overall impact on Germany and her EU counterparts because it will boost the economy of Germany and the workers’ home countries.

On a two-year service exhibition for my church, I saw this mingling of economies first-hand in Latvia. A majority of the people I contacted either had a parent or sibling working abroad or so planned to themselves. In the beginning I was slightly infuriated by this mass exodus because it caused the country to lose many of her skilled workers. I perceived the situation as bad because I felt as though only the elderly and the drunks were being left behind. However, as I continued my stay, I realized that fathers and siblings were sacrificing time with their families in order to support them. Countries including England, France, Germany, and Scottland made this possible.

So how can importing Greek workers improve the state of both Germany’s and Greece’s economies? First, we must understand that many of the jobs being offered are important to Germany. As estimated by the Association of German Engineers, Germany has around 80,000 engineering jobs available, and the nation estimates that it’s hospitals need around 12,000 doctors. As these jobs are filled, Germany will be able to increase productivity and the national state of well-being will improve. When people are happy and well, they buy more, and the economy is thrust into motion.

While German companies are improved by increased productivity, the Greek workers are rewarded for their work with a much higher wage than would have been possible in Greece. Much of this wage is sent to the workers’ families, who then spend the money and increase circulation in Greece’s economy.

Although many factors beside jobs contribute to complicating a nation’s economy, importing jobs is one way for Germany, an EU powerhouse, to extend a helping hand to her struggling neighbors. By so doing, Germany strengthens her own economy while lifting that of another.

Works Cited

Grieshaber, K. (2011, November). Germany invites skilled greeks to pursue jobs. USA Today. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/USCP/PNI/NEWS/2011-11-14-PNI1114wir-germany-hiring_ST_U.htm

Effective Classroom Presentations

You look out across a large auditorium full of people. The lights are shinning on your face. All seems to be going just fine. Then the audience begins to laugh hysterically. Within moments you feel cold and alone; you realize you’re naked.

Most, if not all, of us have had dreams like this. A very similar feeling plagues many students while presenting in front of a classroom of peers. So what can you do to feel confident and comfortable while presenting? Although it is important to retain a small level of fear to avoid behaving nonchalantly, precautions can be taken to ensure a positive experience. A couple of precautions are mentally rehearsing your presentation and keeping your eyes on your audience.

Of course you are worried about the outcome of your presentation, but if you focus too much on the outcome, you are not focusing enough on the actual presenting. Before you present review the presentation. If you feel you are less confident during a particular portion of your presentation, practice and re-practice it. If you are worried about yourself freezing, visualize yourself giving the presentation, imagine that you are calm, and proceed. Imagine successful presentation, and when you actually present you will be much more likely to do so confidently and successfully.

Another part of a successful presentation is interaction with your audience. If you are like me and many others, facing classmates is often the most heart-wrenching. Look individuals in the eyes. When you look specific people in the eyes, it seems as though you are presenting to one person at a time. The audience will become much less menacing. Also, as members of the audience make eye contact with you, they will listen to and participate in your presentation much more actively.

When your audience becomes involved in your presentation, they better retain the material you present. What more can you ask? Next time you present, remember these two precautions. If you will mentally rehearse your presentation beforehand and make eye contact with your classmates during the actual presentation, you will be a confident, effective classroom presenter.

http://www.speakingaboutpresenting.com/nervousness/fear-public-speaking-review/

http://www.aresearchguide.com/3tips.html

Collaboration Technology: Transforming the Classroom

How difficult is it to imagine life without the internet? Just over 20 years ago, having a desktop computer in your home was phathomable only to the middle- and upper-classes of society. As technologies revolving around the internet continue to develop, the world is thrust into an upward-spiraling era known as the information age. When teachers use these rapidly advancing information technologies to increase collaboration among students, the roles of both teacher and student are changed in the learning process, classroom materials and discussions reach a much larger audience, and students can more effectively learn and retain information.

Before delving into how collaborative information technologies affect student and teacher roles, we must understand that collaboration should not be confused with concensus or teamwork. In fact collaboration is often based on disagreement or uncertainty in another’s assertions in order to uncover a more probable solution.

Students are using technology more and more as a means of communication. As a result, students have much less of a passive role in the reception of information (often referred to as spoon-feeding) from the teacher. Instead the responsibility for the students to receive information becomes a more active process; they become the authors of their own education. The transformation from pacificity to activity occurs as students are required to make choices concerning the generation, obtaining, manipulation, and displaying of information.

Because the use of technology in collaborative processes requires students to think more actively and make more choices concerning the content of their information than a regular classroom discussion, the positive effects of collaborative technology reach out to a much larger portion of the class than the select few who regularly comment and take notes.. Through collaboration technology a teacher may be the instructor of more than one class at a time. Technology also eliminates geographical barriers, making education much easier for students who are called away from the classroom for one reason or another.

Not only does technology eliminate physical barriers such as terrain, but it also potentially eliminates mental barriers. Teachers often attempt to cater their teaching style to their students. However, because students learn in such an array of ways, one teacher is incapable of meeting the expectations of all. Also, some people may argue that changing the style of teaching to match a student’s style of learning can stunt the student's mental growth by not requiring them to adjust. Because collaboration technologies require a student to actively participate in his/her education, the teacher simply becomes a guide, and the students learn and retain the material better because they become both the teacher and the recipient.

Collaboration technologies are changing the world as we know it, especially in education. As discussed, it is through these technological developments that the role of students and teachers change, virtual classrooms are created for those learning behind geographical barriers, and the effectivity of student learning and information retention are increased.

Sources

http://blogs.cisco.com/news/the_next_generation_collaborative_enterprise/

http://chronicle.com/article/Matching-Teaching-Style-to/49497/

http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/EdReformStudies/EdTech/effectsstudents.html

http://www.forbes.com/2010/01/19/collaboration-cisco-software-technology-cio-network-schaffner.html

What can a professional blog do for a business or organization?

Businesses and organizations, both small and large in scale, have begun using professional blogs. These blogs can be very beneficial to the company. When a business or organization utilizes a blog, it can increase its interaction with customers, connect with potential customers, establish itself as a reliable source of information, and create a community following for a product, service, or organization.

Because of the simple nature of blogging, a business may either use a blog as its internet home or to create a more accessible path to its company website. A blog may be filled with links to the business’s own website and other related sites. This capability helps current customers become more familiar with the business or organization and may also serve to establish connections with potential customers. Businesses have begun using blogs at an increasing rate because it allows them to establish themselves as experts and reliable sources of information in their particular industry. As people post questions on the organization’s blog and receive replies that are reliable and consistent, their confidence in the organization grows. As consumers’ confidence grows, they continually refer back to the blog for information and may potentially create a community following for the organization.

A professional blog can benefit a business or organization in each of these ways. As a company takes advantage of blogging to increase customer interaction, it builds its relationships with customers, establishes contact with potential customers, gains customer confidence in information queries, and can create a following on its products and services. In each of these ways, the business or organization may build its credibility.

http://sbinformation.about.com/od/ecommerce/a/Top-5-Reasons-You-Should-Start-A-Business-Blog.htm

http://www.orangesoda.com/blog/11-reasons-your-small-business/should-blog/

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