Power of One

It really IS a small world. And it’s getting smaller - and flatter - by the minute. The flattening of the world, said Thomas L. Friedman, author of The World Is Flat, means that the global competitive playing field is being leveled.

This new era in globalization represents a shift in power from the corporation to the individual. A shift from companies competing on a global level, Friedman said, to “the newfound power for individuals [emphasis added] to collaborate and compete globally.”

Working successfully in the Flat New World means exhibiting leadership, whether it’s in the mail room or the board room or somewhere in between. Leadership in the Flat New World means not just managing others, but managing oneself; not just having great skills, but knowing how to provide added value to an employer.

“With the pace of change today, facts become obsolete too quickly,” said vice president for Academic Affairs Dr. Robert DeWerff. “Instead, we have to teach people to think and to lead, to manage both themselves and others, and to manage change and innovation.”

Forward-thinking colleges and universities understand the imperative to prepare students to work in the Flat New World. These changing needs - for business and for individuals - are an important factor in Concordia University’s decision to form the College of Business and Organizational Leadership, launched in July 2006.

The new College of Business and Organizational Leadership brings together for the first time all of the university’s business degree programs into a single unit - both the traditional bachelor of business administration programs and the accelerated cohort-delivered bachelor’s and master’s programs pioneered at Concordia in the mid-1980s.

The formation of the College of Business and Organizational Leadership makes Concordia University the second-largest business college among the state’s private colleges and universities based on the number of bachelor’s and master’s degrees awarded, according to the most recent report available from the Minnesota Office of Higher Education .

“The new business college brings Concordia’s strong ethical values, business expertise, technology advancements and a global perspective to our students and the greater business community,” said university president Dr. Robert Holst. “We are blessed to have this opportunity to continue educating future business leaders.”

The new college serves nearly 900 students, including more than 170 master’s degree candidates. It draws on the collective knowledge and experience of 35 full-time faculty and a strong group of more than 75 adjunct faculty comprised of business professionals with experience in education, criminal justice, law, finance, economics, management, human resources, information technology, marketing, divinity and more.

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