International Business Institute »- 2021 Newsletter »
- 2021 Newsletter
International Business Institute
Strategic flexibility is one of the most important firm capabilities in international business operations. Facing the unprecedented interruption created by the global pandemic, it is imperative for us to follow this fundamental principle of being flexible and adaptive. In the past year, the International Business Institute at University of Missouri-St. Louis has been implementing the virtual transition and all other necessary changes in order to continuously deliver valuable programs and activities to our students.
In this newsletter, we are also excited to share a number of important IB achievements at UMSL:
The dedication and resilience exhibited by our world-class faculty and staff, the highly engaged Advisory Board members, and our talented students enabled us to navigate through the challenging time. While we look forward and prepare the post-pandemic strategies, we will stay firmly with our central tasks to delivering International Business education and offering valuable cultural exposure to students, enhancing internationally-oriented research, and strengthening the linkage with the St. Louis business community. Together we will further our mission to prepare future global business leaders!
The University of Missouri–St. Louis has tapped Joan Phillips to become dean of the College of Business Administration through a national search launched late last summer. Phillips has been serving as the dean of the Andreas School of Business at Barry University in Miami since 2018 and has nearly 25 years experience working in higher education. She is a widely published marketing scholar with expertise in research methods, consumer behavior and political marketing.
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Today’s college students are facing an uncertain business environment created by the COVID-19 pandemic as they finish their studies and get set to launch their careers. NBCUniversal executive Yvette M. Miley believes it will be possible to survive and even thrive during these conditions, as she told the virtual audience that logged into her speech earlier this during International Business Appreciation Month at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. But successful students will have to “adjust, make changes (and) find a way forward.”
For more than 15 years, the University of Missouri–St. Louis and Nanjing University have been training American and Chinese students together, instilling in them the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in global business. MBA China and Manager Magazine recently recognized the success of the innovative partnership, naming it to its list of Best Chinese-Foreign Cooperative MBA Programs for the second straight year. The UMSL-Nanjing program ranked 11th among 30 programs recognized.
The University of Missouri–St. Louis was established in 1963 to educate a diverse group of students in the state’s largest and most economically important region, and it is constantly working to improve at fulfilling that mission. The latest U.S. News & World Report “Best Colleges Rankings,” unveiled on Monday, are a testament to that continued growth. UMSL, which continues to be ranked in the Tier 1 research university category, received its highest-ever total score in the 17 measures used to inform the magazine’s 2021 rankings. UMSL climbed 14 spots to rank No. 126 nationally among public universities.
Janet Y. Murray, the E. Desmond Lee Professor for Developing Women Leaders and Entrepreneurs in International Business, received the 2020 Woman of the Year Award from Women in the Academy of International Business. The award honors her research on gender and international business as well as her commitment to supporting women in academia.
For many women throughout the world, the barriers to pursuing a career in business are immense. Even those who earn a business degree face societal norms and laws that discourage them from entering the workforce.
Perry Drake, co-chair and assistant teaching professor of marketing; Michael Elliott, associate dean of the College of Business Administration; and Dan Lauer, director of UMSL Accelerate, led an effort to add an entrepreneurship requirement for all incoming freshman and transfer students pursuing a BS in business administration or a BS in accounting. The new three-credit-hour course in entrepreneurship will teach students about launching and scaling a new venture by focusing on a single, topical entrepreneurial opportunity.
Beginning next school year, all incoming freshman and transfer students pursuing a BS in business administration or a BS in accounting will be required to take a new three-credit-hour course in entrepreneurship. The class, ENT 3100: Applications of Entrepreneurship, will teach students about launching and scaling a new venture by focusing on a single, topical entrepreneurial opportunity.
Carmen Palencia graduated summa cum laude with a 4.0 GPA from the College of Business Administration with BSBA in management and a certificate from the Pierre Laclede Honors College.
Carmen Palencia admits she’s not easily satisfied.
She is always looking for new opportunities and striving for new accomplishments. It’s one of the main reasons Palencia left her native Colombia for the United States eight years ago.
“Carmen always wants more,” she said matter-of-factly recently.
This weekend was a testament to that drive and determination. Palencia, who knew very little English when she first arrived in St. Louis and spent years taking ESL classes to prepare herself to start college, graduated summa cum laude with a 4.0 GPA from the University of Missouri–St. Louis College of Business Administration with BSBA in management and a certificate from the Pierre Laclede Honors College.
