by M. C. Jennings | Sep 14, 2018 | Academics, COBA Faculty, Current Students, Faith Infusion, Social Entrepreneurship, Student Spotlights, Uncategorized
COBA professors and students were world travelers this summer, as we have covered in parts 1 and 2 of our blog series on our study abroad trips. This July, professors Laura and Mark Phillips took students to Central America where they received course credit in MGMT 419 (Global Entrepreneurship) and MGMT 340 (Fundamentals of Life Design). We asked Dr. Laura Phillips to tell us about their experience. We hope you enjoy the third installment of our four part blog series on the 2018 travels of the COBA Study Abroad program.
What made Central America a unique place to study?
Central America is a unique place to study Global Entrepreneurship because while the culture, laws, and economic environment are different from the United States, Central America is a place with lots of start-up businesses. Also, the people are very hospitable which makes visiting start-ups easier. In addition, Central America is small geographically but the different countries are unique. Some of the challenges of starting a business in Costa Rica are different from the challenges of starting a business in Honduras. Finally, we were able to see first hand how the government can drastically alter the business environment; the recent unrest in Nicaragua is an unfortunate example of the instability inherent in emerging economies.
What businesses were you able to visit?
I’m not even sure where to start here. I guess I’ll just make a list.
San Jose, Costa Rica
- Yuxta Energy–solar energy
- e.e.d.–legal services for social ventures
- VivaIdea–a think tank for increasing the impact of entrepreneurship in Latin America
Guanacaste region
- Vida Adventura–adventure camp
- Hotel Las Tortugas–small private hotel in Playa Grande
- Taco Star–taco shop on the beach
Sarapiqui region
- Chilamate Rainforest Eco Retreat
Turrialba region
- CATIE University and the Sustainability House
- butterfly farm
- dairy/cheese making business
- beneficial plants business (medicinal, herbs, etc.)
- pueblo tourism business
Honduras
- Mission Lazarus–here we also
- made organic fertilizer
- conducted a half day training session for the students and teachers at the vocational schools on basic business topics
- hardware store
- bootmaker
- trash collector/recycler
- restaurant owner
- coffee farm/barber shop/tienda owner
For the most part we visited with the entrepreneur (or an employee for the larger organizations) to learn about what they do, what the biggest challenges are, how/if they plan to grow, etc.
Did you take the students on any sight seeing tours?
- Walking tour of San Jose
- Ziplining at Vida Adventura
- Horseback riding at Vida Adventura
- Surfing lessons at Playa Grande or
- Canoeing on the estuary at Playa Grande
- Birdfinding nature walk
- Hike to waterfall and swimming
- Cultural scavenger hunt (milking cows, Latin dancing, making tortillas, etc.
- Archaeological tour
The students enjoyed the sightseeing activities. They were a lot of fun.
What is it like to be able to spend so much time with students in another country? How does it differ than being in a classroom setting in Abilene?
This particular study abroad is different from going to Oxford or Leipzig because we really are all together most of the time. There were even a couple of places where we stayed in one big house. It’s very different because in Abilene you are with your students in class and then they do their own thing the rest of the time. On this study abroad we usually eat together, we travel together, we spend much of our free time together, plus we have class together. You really get to know each other and, as the students said, you become more like family.
What were your favorite moments/experiences of the trip?
Well, I love the fact that we are outside so much and that even when you are “inside” you are usually outside. In many ways life is harder but in many ways it’s simpler. The pace of life is slower and the people put more emphasis on relationships than on to-do lists. Most of our students found the Latin pace therapeutic. There were many great experiences but one of my favorites was going in the butterfly house. The house was full of flowers and the butterflies seemed like flying flowers. It was beautiful.
I also loved watching our students conduct the business training for the people at Mission Lazarus. That activity was a real challenge and stretch for our students, especially since we were having to work through a translator. They students rose to the challenge and did a fantastic job!
If students could only learn one thing, what do you hope they learned?
I would want our students to learn that people are people everywhere; we are more similar than we are different. I would want them to learn that there are business opportunities everywhere but that to be successful you MUST know the culture and context of the place in which you are operating. I would want them to know that the fast-paced, individualistic, climb to the top American business style is not the only way to live. I would want them to know that being happy and being successful are not directly tied to a salary amount or prestige. (So…that’s four things, but they are kind of related.)
by M. C. Jennings | Jun 28, 2018 | Academics, Current Students, Faith Infusion, Social Entrepreneurship, Uncategorized
Students often take advantage of summer courses to receive credit in a compressed amount of time and effectively use block tuition. Those summer courses can sometimes be a little more creative in the way they are taught – even in deciding the location for the class. MGMT 320: Social Entrepreneurship is no exception to that rule. Social Entrepreneurship is taught at City Square in downtown Dallas by Dr. Laura Phillips over the course of five days. Business students are not the only students who take the class. Phillips says, “The social entrepreneurship course is appropriate for business majors and non-business majors alike. We’ve had students in the class who are studying art, English, architecture and political science – just to name a few. It’s also relevant for students at different points in their academic career. I’ve had students who just finished their first year of college in the class as well as students who are taking it as their very last class. It may seem overwhelming to squeeze an entire class into a week, but it’s an engaging and inspiring week!” We asked a couple of the students who completed the course to tell us a little about why they chose to take the class and what they took away from the week.
Ashleigh Price (’18) management major from Sunnyvale, Texas said, “I had one more class I needed to take to complete my degree and was really looking for classes in that last semester that focused on the field I wanted to go in to – poverty and development. It was convenient since I lived in Dallas and I had heard so many great things about it, so I jumped on it!” Jordan Eason, senior accounting major from Keller, Texas said, “I had always wanted to take this class, because I had heard from others that it was a great class. I am also very interested in social entrepreneurship from my time volunteering with various non-profit organizations.”
Tell us a little bit about the format of the class. What was a typical day like?
Jordan: “In the class, we had a lot of guest speakers come to us but we also went on field trips to businesses, too. A typical day included hearing from guests and then engaging in a lot of discussion to process what we were learning.”
Ashleigh: “There is no such thing as a typical day! Every day is special in its own way. The first and last days included a few speakers but we were also taking care of administrative tasks and assignments including group work. On Tuesday through Thursday, however, we had a networking lunch (Tuesday) and breakfasts (Wednesday and Thursday). We were able to sit down with the guest speakers and talk about our passions. We were also able to hear the coolest testimonies of business owners and people who are in prominent positions in large companies like Southwest Airlines and HKS. Every day, we had additional speakers along with the networking. In those sessions, we heard about real life situations and learned applicable skills to apply to our potential business models.”
Cafe Momentum
Tell us about some of the speakers and/or experiences that stood out to you?
Jordan: “We visited a restaurant in Dallas called Café Momentum and heard from the entrepreneur that started it, Chad Houser. At his café, he employs and trains teens that have been in juvenile detention. His hope is for them to be placed in a job and leave the café once they finish the program. We actually were able to eat at the restaurant, which was named one of the top restaurants in Dallas. It was great to hear him talk about his mission and the passion he had for what he was doing.”
Ashleigh: “One of my favorite speakers was Todd Spinks who works for Southwest and possessed a love for people, wanting to unite them to work for good. Another was Chad Houser who runs Cafe Momentum which helps to rehabs kids, get them jobs, and gets them off the streets. There were others that I loved (and honestly all of them were really great) but these two people had a lot of impact on me.”
What was your favorite thing about the class?
Jordan: “My favorite thing about the class was getting to have conversations with the guest speakers. On two of the days of class, we were able to have breakfast with them. There was one guest to a table of 3-4 students, so we were able to have great conversations and ask them questions. The guests were all so kind to take that time out of their day to talk with us.”
Ashleigh: “The connections made and the subjects talked about – any and all things having to do with social enterprise.”
What surprised you the most about the class or any of your experiences in the class?
Jordan: “I learned a lot in this class, specifically of ways to help people without hurting them. It was surprising that different ways of poverty alleviation were useful in certain areas but not in others. We really learned how there is not a one size fits all solution and that was echoed by speakers through the week.”
Ashleigh: “I was expecting it to be a lot of work but it wasn’t like that at all. It was constructive and thought provoking. It reminded me a lot of Leadership Summit. It was basically a mini LS but it focused on doing good rather than leadership.”
Ashleigh went on to say that the class has, “Changed how I view poverty and what people in those situations need versus what I think they need. They know what they need better than I ever could. It showed me how much more diverse I need to make my friend circle. The class also confirms my love of this career path and it has given me tools to use in the future at either my own business or in a position with a company or organization.”
Social Entrepreneurship at CitySquare is pushing students to think outside the box and time again, they state how much they love the class. How about the professor? We asked Dr. Phillips a few questions about the course as well.
What is your favorite thing about teaching the class?
Dr. Phillips: “Almost every day one of the students makes a comment to me about how a particular speaker or a field trip has ‘blown their mind’. I think that’s my favorite thing about teaching the class. Some students are blown away by the inequalities that exist around them that they’ve never noticed before. For some students what blows their mind is the variety of creative ways people are using their business to achieve social impact in their community. For other students the most eye-opening aspect of class is the wide variety of backgrounds our speakers come from – the fact that there’s not a prescribed path to social entrepreneurship. I love being able to sit back and watch their eyes open up to a whole new world of possibilities.”
I know you have many speakers that come in to talk to the students. Who are some that have made a big impact on the students?
Dr. Phillips: “This question is hard to answer because the students have different favorite speakers. That’s one of the nice things about bringing in a wide variety. While they may appreciate and learn from all of the speakers, students typically really connect with a handful of our guests and who that is varies from student to student. A couple of speakers who are perennial favorites are John Siburt, President and COO of CitySquare, and Chad Houser, CEO and Executive Chef at Cafe Momentum. Both are charismatic, innovative, and inspiring and they motivate the students to have big dreams.”
What do you hope students will take away from the class?
Dr. Phillips: “I hope that students will leave class with the understanding that they can choose to do good through their business regardless of what that business is. I also hope they leave class with a set of tools and contacts that make them feel empowered and capable of launching a social enterprise – maybe soon, maybe not for 20 years.”
The College of Business seeks to inspire, equip, and connect students to honor God and bless others. We can’t wait to see what these students do to change the world. Any student wanting to learn more about the next offering for MGMT 320: Social Entrepreneurship can contact their academic advisor or Dr. Laura Phillips.
by M. C. Jennings | May 10, 2018 | Academics, COBA Events, COBA Faculty, COBA Staff, College Decisions, Current Students, Faith Infusion, Outcomes, Social Entrepreneurship, Uncategorized
Graduation is only a few days away and it’s the time of year we sadly say goodbye to our graduating seniors. We are proud of our students and we’d like to introduce you to a few of them on this blog, letting you know how their time at ACU has molded them, where they are headed after graduation, and what advice they have for the new freshmen class coming in the fall.
Allie Cawyer, Marketing major from Plano, Texas
After graduation, I will be moving back to Dallas and hoping to work in the corporate event industry.
For the last year, I have been working with University Events here at ACU and it has only made me more excited to pursue events full time. So, getting to actually do events all the time and working in that position is making me excited for graduation. Plus, no event is the same so I will not have to worry about doing the same thing every day.
Allie Cawyer
My favorite ACU memory was probably when I studied abroad two summers ago. The experience was unlike any other and I not only learned about all of the other cultures but also about myself.
My favorite class was Leadership Summit because I got credit for taking a class in the mountains of Colorado, but the takeaway was much more than just the credit hours. So many people poured into us during that week with life lessons, truth and God’s word that nothing can compare to it.
My advice would be to be as involved as you can within your department, no matter what it may be. Get to know not only your classmates but also your professors because they truly care about you and your life. Start it early on, so that you get the full experience all four years.
Steven Yang, English major and COBA Student Worker from Chiang Rai, Thailand
After graduation, I am going to Regent University of Law in Virginia Beach, Virginia. I am excited to be done with my undergrad and be able to travel home and see my family in Thailand.
Steven (tan jacket in the middle) and friends hiking over Spring Break.
My favorite memory at ACU is climbing different buildings, having game nights, and biking around Abilene.
My favorite class was Literature for Young Adults because reading stories from this class connects me to my past and helps me find my identity.
I would tell incoming freshmen to work hard
but never lose the ability to see the silver-lining in life. Life is too short and too hard to not be happy.
Katie Isham, Accounting major from Decatur, Texas
After graduation, I plan to work at PwC in Dallas as an Audit Associate. I’m most excited to go out and use the skills and knowledge I’ve learned throughout college to bless others. I’m not sure what that will look like, but I know that God has big plans- I’m just glad to be a part of them!
Katie Isham
My favorite ACU memory…. hmmm. There’s not a certain memory that sticks out to me, rather my favorite thing about ACU is the people. Finding and creating friendships with diverse people who have the same aim, to love the Lord by loving others, has been instrumental in making me who I am.
My advice to incoming freshmen is don’t be afraid to step outside of your comfort zone. You’ll regret the opportunities you didn’t take and the friends you didn’t make. Keep your relationship with the Lord your main priority and join a church and Bible study right away! Regardless of what happens in your next four years, know that God so loved you that he sent his son to die for you as an atonement for your sins, so that through GRACE you are saved, not by your own works. Give all the glory to God!
Jack Oduro, Accounting major from Garland, Texas
After graduation, I am going to take a missional focused trip to Ghana for
Jack Oduro
the summer. Then, I begin getting ready for my full time job with Weaver & Tidwell LLP in Dallas. I am excited about graduation and grateful that all of my family is in one place for the first time in two years.
My favorite ACU memory is…truly, any time I got to spend time with the people at this school was inspiring. Some of my best moments may include late night strolls around campus and potential trespassing with life-long friends, friendships which began here.
My favorite classes were Social Entrepreneurship with Laura Philips and Leadership Summit with the Lytle Center for Faith and Leadership. They are both up there in the extraordinary classes category. They both live up to ACU’s commitment of creating leaders for Christian service around the world.
My advice for the fishy is to seek to genuinely serve others because big changes start with the little acts of service.
Congratulations to the class of 2018! As Minor Meyers said, “Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.”
by Hanna Roberts | Feb 23, 2018 | Academics, COBA Faculty, Poverty and Development, Research, Social Entrepreneurship, Uncategorized
Dr. Sarah Easter is a professor in the College of Business Administration and teaches classes like Strategic Management, Business and Sustainability, and International Business.
Over the summer, Dr. Sarah Easter attended the Academy of Management (AOM) Annual Meeting: a professional association for over 10,000 management and organization scholars whose mission is to build a vibrant and supportive community of scholars by markedly expanding opportunities to connect and explore ideas. The theme of this year’s AOM Annual Meeting was ‘Improving Lives’ and specifically focused on how organizations can contribute to the betterment of society through elevating the health and well-being of those who live in it. In her dissertation research, Dr. Easter conducted a sixteen-month ethnographic study of a coalition to end homelessness in Western Canada. The coalition involved over forty different governmental, business and nonprofit players and she examined how they worked together toward common goals while considering many different perspectives. Dr. Easter presented a paper over one of the key findings of this research and received the Best Paper Award based on a Dissertation from the Managerial and Organizational Cognition Division of the Academy of Management.
Dr. Sarah Easter was presented with the Best Paper Award for processes of negotiating identity in a cross-sector partnership.
Dr. Easter’s dissertation research centered on the challenge of the coalition: developing a cohesive and unified identity (i.e., its focal purpose and goals) in the face of a variety of different perspectives. Those involved in the coalition had many different viewpoints on what the central issue they were working to address entailed, which was homelessness. Even though all participants talked about the notion that the overall vision to end homelessness was well understood by all involved, the result was that the partnership was often pulled in multiple directions simultaneously. The findings speak to the importance of such collaborative partnerships as being very explicit in terms of the vision they are working to achieve. This involves having ongoing discussions and check-in points to ensure that all players are able to clearly articulate the direction of the partnership, including underlying meanings of terms utilized, particularly as participants are continually cycling in and out. Dr. Easter was fascinated in learning how a diverse body of organizations and individuals from public, private and nonprofit sectors come together to address a significant societal issue over time and was able to develop a deep understanding as to how the coalition evolved over time in the presence of many and very different ways of working.
Dr. Easter took special notice of the pull between both opportunities and challenges that organizations face in carrying out their work while conducting her research. This is something she emphasizes while teaching classes like Strategic Management, Business and Sustainability, and International Business. “I believe strongly that it is important to consider both dimensions in order to develop a more holistic perspective of a given organization’s current situation,” Dr. Easter emphasized. “I bring up this example in my courses: an organization that has incredible potential to make an impact in addressing homelessness in the local region (opportunity). At the same time, though, there are incredible challenges associated with this complex structure.” Dr. Easter continues a passion for studying how people work across cultural and socioeconomic structures especially through addressing major societal challenges and looks for ways to connect with people and organizations as well as share this passion with her students in the classroom.
by Hanna Roberts | Sep 18, 2017 | Academics, COBA Events, Poverty and Development, Social Entrepreneurship, Student Spotlights, Uncategorized
Casey McMullin is a senior financial management major from Colorado Springs, Colorado. This summer, Casey traveled around the world interning and studying abroad. He visited countries in Africa and Asia. Casey returned to Abilene with a changed perspective, new skills, and many stories.
Q: Where did you go and what did you do in Africa?
A: I went to Arusha, Tanzania. It was two hours from Mt. Kilimanjaro, which was amazing to see every morning when we woke up. We were based at Neema Village, where they house 40 babies and at-risk or abandoned children. I helped start a microfinance program so that local mothers can start businesses for additional income.
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Casey with children in Neema Village
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Casey with a child in Tanzania.
Q: Did working with microfinance in Tanzania change your perspective on business?
A: I think that the most challenging part was the difference between Tanzanian and American business and legal environments. When we were building the microfinance program, we had to do everything in accordance with American not-for-profit laws and Tanzanian laws so that they could get loans. A better understanding of business law would have helped.
The nature of business was very different in Tanzania. It was very simple. I had to go back to the foundations and teach the locals so that they could understand what we were doing. At the same time, I had to maintain the financial complexities I had learned so as to ensure that the program would function properly and long past our departure.
Q: What was the most impactful interaction you had with a local?
A: I think that the coolest thing that happened to me happened at the very end of our time in Africa. We only did one test run of a business since it took a long time to set up. We were working with a woman who started a chicken business. We helped her get funding for a bigger coop, food, and medicine for the chickens. On our last day, we were saying goodbye and hugging her. She gave us eggs and then ran to chop down her whole sugar cane. We told her not to, but she cut it down regardless and gave it to us as a thank you.
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Casey and Lexi Koon, junior, with the woman who started a chicken business.
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Casey with the sugar cane that the woman gave in gratitude.
Q: Where did you go and what did you do in China?
A: We were based in Shanghai and also traveled to Beijing and Hong Kong on the weekends. I took a crash course in basic principles of entrepreneurship and Chinese principles of entrepreneurship. We examined
Casey sitting on the Great Wall of China.
the different opportunities to and ways of starting a company in China, visited start-ups, and talked with a number of entrepreneurs, both natives, and expatriates.
Q: What was different about studying business in another country?
A: One thing that struck me was the sheer size of China. The massive populations changed the way they did business in ways I didn’t think about. It was also interesting to see similar priorities between us as well as what each country values more. For example, the Chinese emphasize education starting at a young age and it was interesting to see how that affected business and the way people were.
Q: Did you have a big culture shock moment?
A: Oh yeah. After spending 8 weeks in Africa where there are no Chinese people, we were shocked as soon as we stepped off the plane. There were so many people walking around and they all seemed so busy. There was a class of 30 kids running around and yelling at each other in Chinese and the only thing we could think was “we are in China.”
Nicholas Weirzbach, Steven Yang, Dr. Andrew Little, Casey, and Jack Oduro smile in front of the Forbidden City.
Q: Compared to interning, how was study abroad different when it came to cultural immersion?
A: In Africa, I felt like I needed to immerse myself a lot more. I think that this was because I was there to help other people rather than studying for my own benefit. Being there for others drove me to learn the language and immerse myself more since I was not there for myself.
Q: Overall, what was your biggest takeaway from this summer?
A: Take any risk. This summer, I saw just how much people live with nothing. I think that the fear of losing something can hold people back, but that is a mindset that you just can’t live with. You should be doing what you love. Look for an outcome rather than a consequence.
by M. C. Jennings | Feb 1, 2017 | Academics, Current Students, Faith Infusion, Social Entrepreneurship, Uncategorized
written by guest blogger Rachael Kroeger and with permission from WorldWide Witness
This summer I served in a WorldWide Witness internship in Chiang Mai, Thailand, at Business as Mission (BAM). BAM is a network of global partners seeking to share resources to advance Christianity in the business world. The group wants to make business be an integral part of the church by creating companies built upon Christian principles that work to better the communities around them. It is a striving toward a “holistic gospel,” meaning that us as Christians should work to bring the kingdom of God not only spiritually, but also socially, mentally, and physically. My internship mainly consisted of working on the development and execution of their international conference that took place in LA September 15-18. I networked, networked, networked! During my time in Thailand, I sent out around 4,000 LinkedIn invites and conference invites combined, not to mention the research I did on different organizations that BAM plans to reach out to.
Rachael Kroeger, Senior Business Management major with a minor in Sociology was a BAM Intern and LA 2016 Conference Speaker.
Because I worked so much on the conference, the lead man of the project, Mark Plummer, asked that I would come facilitate the student sector of the event, as well as lead worship on Sunday morning and speak at one of the breakout sessions. My session was titled “Training, Consulting, and On Ramp Opportunities,” and it was a session I shared among three other speakers. I specifically spoke on my experiences in Thailand, what the program looks like, and what led me to take part in such an awesome project in the first place. It was incredible being a part of the conference (and BAM itself) because I was able to work with several diverse business men and women with hearts for God, and I was able to connect with different businesses and entrepreneurs from all around the world.
There were many contributing factors that prepared me to constructively participate in BAM. WorldWide Witness prepared me through my missions course with Larry Henderson and Gary Green. In it, I studied what it looked like to go abroad with one worldview and work with those from a completely different background and environment. COBA also prepared me by equipping me with adequate business knowledge and skills that was then put to use while working for BAM in Thailand. Through this internship experience, it was solidified in my mind and heart that we as Christians much approach business with a mission-minded viewpoint. I believe that mission in itself should encompass everything; in all that we do, we should be portraying Christ and His love. That being said, I believe as a society, we need to work to come out of our negative take on business. We see business as a necessary evil, where the Bible says that clearly isn’t the case. As business men and women, we must rid the world of the mindset that business is set apart outside of the church and reinstate what it means to be a Godly steward through business. I hope to be an example of this in the future through my own career path.
