Bowling Green Daily News Features Department of Management
September 12, 2007
The
Bowling Green Daily News reports on two new
initiatives in its September 11 issue
The following is the
recent story that ran in the Bowling Green Daily News
on Sept. 21.
WKU major grows by two
By AMEERAH CETAWAYO, The Daily News, acetawayo@bgdailynews.com
The Department of Management at Western Kentucky University debuted two new concentrations for its management major this fall - entrepreneurship and international business, adding to its other options, human resources and business administration. Management Department head Zubair Mohamed said the new entrepreneurship track was mostly the brainwork of Leo Simpson, a faculty member who helped start the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, the Students Engaged in Free Enterprise chapter and the entrepreneurship minor within a 6-year span. The new concentration is designed for students who want to be business owners or for those who want to work to make businesses more profitable, according to Simpson. Students will take required courses in entrepreneurship, small business analysis and policy, finance, marketing and five entrepreneurial-related electives. “We develop entrepreneurism and passion and a desire to be successful,” said Simpson, who added that nationally, entrepreneurism majors have sprung up at many universities in recent years. Fourteen courses throughout the College of Business focus on entrepreneurship and more than 200 students currently have the entrepreneurship minor, Mohamed said. Simpson said universities are responding to the entrepreneurial movement within the United States, which helps maintain the nation's economy despite increased global competition. The Management Department's other new concentration in international business focuses on preparing students for the global economy through sound business skills, geo-political understanding, language skills and cultural and value sensitivity of specific geographic regions. Mohamed said in light of Kentucky's expanding global economic role, it's important to prepare students for new challenges. “What happens in the business world should be reflected in our curriculum,” Mohamed said. Last year, Kentucky's exports accounted for 1.7 percent of total U.S. exports, valued at $17.23 billion, which is an increase from 2005's 1.65 percent, valued at $14.9 billion, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Kentucky is one of the top 20 exporting states in the nation, according to the DOL. The Department of Management also received a Business Internationalization Education Grant for $185,000 over a two-year period that will reinforce the university's mission to be “a leading American university with an international reach,” Mohamed said. “I have supported the study abroad of over 40 students with scholarships ranging from $300 to $1,800 and the international travel of over 25 faculty in the last two years to present papers and conduct seminars at conferences and universities abroad,” Mohamed said. “The countries our students and faculty have visited include Malaysia, Mexico, India, Portugal, France, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, China and Singapore.” The trip to India was rewarding, Mohamed said. “Four students accompanied me and Doctor Doug Fugate from the Marketing Department to India on Destination India study abroad. We went to Mumbai and Goa and our students got exposed to the world's second most populous (country) and fastest growing economy,” he said. “This was an experience of their lifetime. They saw a wide range of diversity in the socio-economic status of people and how the latest technology is benefiting an illiterate man on the street. “India is a land of surprises and everywhere around you can find contradiction - an illiterate person peddling the latest technology, such as wireless Internet connection on push carts for people to make long-distance calls and use computers, for example.”
WKU major grows by two
By AMEERAH CETAWAYO, The Daily News, acetawayo@bgdailynews.com
The Department of Management at Western Kentucky University debuted two new concentrations for its management major this fall - entrepreneurship and international business, adding to its other options, human resources and business administration. Management Department head Zubair Mohamed said the new entrepreneurship track was mostly the brainwork of Leo Simpson, a faculty member who helped start the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, the Students Engaged in Free Enterprise chapter and the entrepreneurship minor within a 6-year span. The new concentration is designed for students who want to be business owners or for those who want to work to make businesses more profitable, according to Simpson. Students will take required courses in entrepreneurship, small business analysis and policy, finance, marketing and five entrepreneurial-related electives. “We develop entrepreneurism and passion and a desire to be successful,” said Simpson, who added that nationally, entrepreneurism majors have sprung up at many universities in recent years. Fourteen courses throughout the College of Business focus on entrepreneurship and more than 200 students currently have the entrepreneurship minor, Mohamed said. Simpson said universities are responding to the entrepreneurial movement within the United States, which helps maintain the nation's economy despite increased global competition. The Management Department's other new concentration in international business focuses on preparing students for the global economy through sound business skills, geo-political understanding, language skills and cultural and value sensitivity of specific geographic regions. Mohamed said in light of Kentucky's expanding global economic role, it's important to prepare students for new challenges. “What happens in the business world should be reflected in our curriculum,” Mohamed said. Last year, Kentucky's exports accounted for 1.7 percent of total U.S. exports, valued at $17.23 billion, which is an increase from 2005's 1.65 percent, valued at $14.9 billion, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Kentucky is one of the top 20 exporting states in the nation, according to the DOL. The Department of Management also received a Business Internationalization Education Grant for $185,000 over a two-year period that will reinforce the university's mission to be “a leading American university with an international reach,” Mohamed said. “I have supported the study abroad of over 40 students with scholarships ranging from $300 to $1,800 and the international travel of over 25 faculty in the last two years to present papers and conduct seminars at conferences and universities abroad,” Mohamed said. “The countries our students and faculty have visited include Malaysia, Mexico, India, Portugal, France, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, China and Singapore.” The trip to India was rewarding, Mohamed said. “Four students accompanied me and Doctor Doug Fugate from the Marketing Department to India on Destination India study abroad. We went to Mumbai and Goa and our students got exposed to the world's second most populous (country) and fastest growing economy,” he said. “This was an experience of their lifetime. They saw a wide range of diversity in the socio-economic status of people and how the latest technology is benefiting an illiterate man on the street. “India is a land of surprises and everywhere around you can find contradiction - an illiterate person peddling the latest technology, such as wireless Internet connection on push carts for people to make long-distance calls and use computers, for example.”