The knowledge to handle global business
Preparing students for a business world without borders
“The material was great and the professors were awesome, but getting to participate in a class with peers who were in various industries added an extra dimension of learning” – Leon Walsh
As the global senior director (oil and gas) for AECOM, a multinational engineering firm, Leon Walsh often leads virtual meetings with people across Canada, the United States and Mexico — some of whom he has never met in person. Globalization has made Walsh’s reality commonplace in today’s business world.
A few years ago, when Walsh — who at the time was AECOM’s senior director of safety, health and environment (oil and gas) — decided to supplement his technical expertise with a deeper understanding of business, he wanted an executive master of business administration (EMBA) program that provided the know-how to handle globalization. He says he found just that at the University of Fredericton (UFred), which, in its capacity as an accredited, fully online university, is uniquely positioned to prepare students for a business world without borders.
“Not only did UFred’s EMBA build on my education and experience, and ensure I gained fundamental management skills and knowledge of an organization’s core functions, it also helped me become an effective global leader,” says Walsh, who was promoted twice during his time in the program. “That happened through course materials but also through learning in a collaborative online environment.”
While online learning is often lauded for the flexibility and independence it provides, UFred’s MBA and EMBA programs — which consist of 10 foundation courses, three specialization courses that make up a student’s chosen specialty stream and one capstone integration project course during which students work with industry — offer a balance through a host of interactive features. Among these are a weekly live virtual class in every course, discussion forums, presentations and group projects. Students also participate in live seminars and/or conferences with experienced leaders from global organizations.
“The material was great and the professors were awesome, but getting to participate in a class with peers who were in various industries added an extra dimension of learning,” says Walsh. “It also helped me gain an appreciation of the flexibility and accountability needed in a global environment because there were people from Vancouver Island all the way to the east coast of Canada and even some from Europe. We were all navigating the challenges of different time zones and schedules, which is just like the business world.”
Sheri McKillop is the associate dean at UFred’s Sandermoen School of Business. She says the university’s online environment and program delivery also lend themselves to teaching students the soft skills required to successfully lead organizations with customers or colleagues in other countries.
“Successful people need great communication skills but aside from oral and listening skills, they need writing skills,” says McKillop. “Our discussion boards and the amount of e-mail communication that occurs between students and their peers and professors, for example, help students to be reflective of tone and word choice, which are crucial in business.”
Walsh says, by engaging people through various platforms, he learned about useful leadership qualities such as identifying team members’ strengths and weaknesses to remove barriers to success by filling the gaps and supporting the strengths. “I also gained an understanding of the importance things such as tone and cultural differences, which if you are not in tune with, could cause you to make mistakes that, in business, could be costly.”
To maximize the program’s global elements, UFred offers its MBA and EMBA students the option to venture off line with an in-person international learning experience. The trip is designed to help students gain a deeper understanding of the dimensions of doing business in a global market, while providing them with the skills to apply the concepts and theories learned in real-world business scenarios. During their trip, students participate in a number of lectures that include guest speakers from both industry and academia, visit various sites and complete a project.
“This is certainly a sign of our ability to react to the requests and needs of both students and industry,” says McKillop of the experiential learning opportunity. “You can’t pick up a paper without reading about globalization. And a lot of corporations and businesses like the idea of students having some sort of global experience.”
Walsh says the trip not only gave him a chance to meet the people with whom he had been interacting in his courses and gain insight into the global market, but it also served as a culmination of the entire program, which he credits with his career advancement.
“My performance reviews went from speaking of me as a safety professional to the kind of leader I was becoming. I was literally applying concepts and theories in real-time and seeing the positive impact my education was having,” he says. “The big piece that the EMBA offered was business acumen and the ability to lead effectively, even when the people you are leading are half way around the world.”