Graduate Students Study Global Business First-Hand

Sixteen Concordia graduate students recently toured Shanghai, China to learn about international business practices. The trip wrapped up the students’ Master of Arts degree in Organizational Management (MAOM). The trip was assisted, in part, by Rick Gabrielson ’04 with Target Corporation.

Dr. Richard Brynteson, professor of organizational management and his students toured Chinese businesses, distribution centers and factories such as Sunjoy Industries, a company that manufactures gazebos for various retailers. “Workers make about $3,000 a year, which makes them wealthy in the outlying provinces they return to,” said Brynteson. “After seeing how they were manufactured I’ll never look at a gazebo in a store the same way. Workers work straight to lunch—no break—where they bring a bowl to get their rice and pork and then go on working into the evening.”

The group also spent time taking in the sights and sounds of Shanghai. Their hotel overlooked People’s Square—a Central Park of sorts in Shanghai. They also spent time visiting the Urban Planning Museum and the Shanghai Museum.

Brynteson noted the challenges facing the Chinese people in the midst of their industrial revolution. The Concordia group said they fought their way through crowded subways, witnessed abject poverty, and experienced the hazards of unregulated development. “The air quality was awful,” said Brynteson. “You could see the smog hanging in the air. China is going through its own industrial revolution and there’s almost no government controls on pollution.”

Despite the crowds and pollution, students and Brynteson described the trip as invaluable to their educational experiences. “The purpose of the trip was to give the MAOM students an exceptional business experience in China,” said Brynteson.

Sue Battles, a graduation specialist in the Concordia registrar’s office, saw many benefits to the Shanghai trip. “The planned events engaged our group in the cycle of business from marketing, retail strategy, and legal issues, to manufacturing and import and export processes,” she said. “Understanding how culture ties to business relationships is a must in our global economy.” Erin Perrault, a MAOM student appreciated the experience. “This trip has truly been the highlight of my educational experience,” she said.

The College of Business and Organizational Leadership is planning another trip to Shanghai with a new cohort in late March. This trip will have a similar itinerary and will also be the capstone course for the MAOM degree.

For more information on the MAOM degree,
visit www.csp.edu/academics/graduate/om