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Activities
Federal Reserve Trip
Chairman Ben Bernanke agreed to host a group of BSE students in the boardroom of
the Federal Reserve headquarters in Washington, DC in the winter of 20098. Prior
to the meeting, students were given copies of Ben Bernanke's Fed: The Federal Reserve
After Greenspan to familiarize themselves with Dr. Bernanke's academic research and
policy decisions. Students heard Dr. Bernanke speak of the operations of the Fed
and its role in the financial health of the United States. Students then had the
opportunity to ask questions, allowing further insight into the challenges facing
our country and its financial sector in these turbulent economic times. Students
received an unforgettable experience listening to a man who has such a great deal
of influence. PHOTO
Feedback concerning this trip was overwhelmingly positive.
“In preparation for meeting Dr. Bernanke, I studied for
two weeks, thoroughly reading a book on his work as Chairman of the Federal
Reserve. I was able to craft some real good questions, one of which I was
able to ask Dr. Bernanke to gain some knowledge that no book would be able
to describe to me. Although I was nervous in asking my question, I was
certainly glad I did! I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to sit in the
exact same spot where the Federal Open Market Committee convenes. Overall, I
would love to participate in more opportunities to meet distinguished people
in the future. I am really grateful to the University of Maryland and BSE
for giving me that opportunity.”
“Meeting Ben Bernanke in person and hearing him talk
about his job was incredible. He had a perfect answer for every one of the
students’ questions and seemed so calm and level-headed, when I was certain
that he was going to be the most stressed person I had ever met in my life.
I was honored to be able to sit at a table with Chairman Bernanke.”
“Definitely by the best experience I have ever had in BSE thus far was being
able to go down to the Federal Reserve and meet with Chairman Bernanke in
the boardroom itself. I never expected to have the meeting at the same table
where they meet every month to decide on what they can best do to help the
economy. Since he was previously an academic, he was very well spoken and
easy to talk and listen to, making the whole experience that much better. I
loved hearing how confident he was that the economy would rebound and that
we will never fall into the same type of depression as there was in the
1930s.”
“Having this opportunity as a freshman in the BSE
program was very beneficial. Not only was it an educational trip where I
learned much more about the Federal Reserve than I had previously known, but
it was also remarkable to go inside the board of directors room, decorated
with old currencies and a huge marble fireplace, and speak with one of the
most important people in the world.”
Berkshire Hathaway
Warren Buffet is highly regarded and recognized for his investing insights and expertise.
Students that had a strong interest in finance were given the opportunity to attend
the Berkshire Hathaway's 2008 shareholder meeting. Berkshire Hathaway's shareholder
meeting is a highly anticipated event by many professionals in the financial industry
and the event has been called the Woodstock for Capitalists. Many of the worlds
greatest investors travel from all corners of the earth to listen to the Oracle
of Omaha speak at the annual meeting. By attending the meeting students gained a
perspective about finance and investing that would not be possible strictly in the
classroom. The shareholder meeting provided a unique opportunity to see and study
Berkshire Hathaway's individual subsidiaries. Students were also given the opportunity
to learn about each of Berkshire Hathaway's subsidiaries and had the opportunity
to speak with company representatives and to sample their products.
United Arab Emirates
BSE began offering an international component to its studies in January 2009 and
has repeated the opportunity several times since. The United Arab Emirates global
immersion experience provided first-hand knowledge about the transformation of the
UAE from a tribal culture to a growing economic superpower that is an important
player in regional and international affairs. Students visiting the UAE were able
to experience a diverse region of the world, exposing them to business, cultural,
religious, economic, and social issues.
The student delegation toured several of the emirates including Abu Dhabi, Dubai,
Ajman, Fujayrah, and Sharjah. Some of the many sites and visits included: Abu Dhabi
Investment Authority, UAE Central Bank, Emirates Airlines, Nakheel, Northrop Grumman,
the Dubai Chamber of Commerce, Dubai International Financial Exchange, Dubai Ports
World, Dubai Media City, Jumeriah Mosque, Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Mosque,
Sheikh Mohammed Center for Cultural Understanding, and the Emirates Palace.
PHOTOS: 2009
| 2010
Feedback concerning this trip was overwhelmingly positive. Students commented:
“This United Arab Emirates international experience was an
absolutely great experience and probably the best trip I have ever taken
in my life. I found the experience highly educational as well as fun and
interesting. We were given the opportunity to learn about a culture that
we all knew very little about through a wide range of methods. I would
absolutely recommend this trip to anyone who is even remotely
considering it. This trip was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I am
so happy that I was able to be apart of this wonderful experience.”
“Overall, I am very pleased with our trip to Dubai. It greatly
surpassed all expectations I had of the trip. I now view the Middle East
with a completely different perspective as I have realized that
globalization has truly reached all parts of the world, and the Middle
East is taking off with its enormous wealth and power. I have been
humbled by adopting different customs and the local practices of the
Emirati people while in the UAE, and I am extremely grateful that I have
had this opportunity to experience the prosperous business, breathtaking
scenery, and remarkable life in Dubai.”
“The experience to study abroad in Dubai was unlike anything else I
ever experienced in college. It gave me the opportunity to put myself in
the environment and culture that was different from where I call home
and what I was used to. I saw how open-mindedness is key regarding
another culture, and how easy it is for misconceptions to be created
when that isn’t exercised. With the states being so diverse in religion
and ethnicity, I saw what it was like to be in a region that was
predominantly Muslim, and how that affected their way of life.”
In summary, students enjoyed a rich, memorable time in the UAE and returned home
inspired to learn more about the UAE and the Middle East. The participants enhanced
their cross-cultural leadership skills and are equipped with a new global perspective.
Studying Business & Culture in Australia
Americans frequently assume that doing business in Australia is no different
from doing business in the US. However, as the 44 students who accompanied
Dr. Mark Wellman learned from a visit to the Australian Embassy in
Washington, DC, followed by a 2-week trip in January, 2011, the two cultures
contrast greatly, despite a shared language. Even some common and business
terminologies have very different meanings.
MORE
Global Immersion Program in Singapore & Malaysia
Thirty-four students visited Singapore and Malaysia in January 2010 to gain
an appreciation for the culture, customs and practices of the region. An
important outcome was to develop an understanding for how Singapore has
emerged from a backwater third world economy into a world financial, urban
planning and educational leader. The global immersion experience included
organizational visits to Port of Singapore Authority, ExxonMobil, Discovery
Networks Asia-Pacific, Novartis, Hewlett Packard, the Housing Development
Board, Accenture, FedEx, Tiger Brewery, and Royal Selangor in Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia. The group also enjoyed wonderful dining and learned from
interesting guided walking and river boat tours.
PHOTOS
Disney Institute Program
The optional BSE Disney field trip allowed students to: 1) participate in an exclusive
onstage and backstage field experience to gain insight into all of the work required
to execute a memorable customer experience; 2) explore and validate the fundamental
business models that drive strategic decisions at the Walt Disney World Resort;
3) discover systems, people, and processes behind the scenes that work together
to produce a quality experience; 4) observe the application of systems and processes
within the Walt Disney World Resort in the achievement of service excellence; 5)
appreciate the importance of creating a positive culture that drives employee commitment;
6) interact with key Disney Leaders to gain a personal perspective on leadership
behaviors and their influence on culture and performance. As part of the Disney
experience, students participated in a Disney Institute program that covered topics
such as leadership, customer service, strategy, and corporate culture.
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Iliad Assessment Center
The assessment center evaluates skills that included the ability to lead a team,
effectively make decisions; prioritize, plan and organize tasks; identify and synthesize
relevant information and express ideas clearly. Participants are evaluated on the
tasks they choose to tackle, the memos and reports they produced, and their performance
at meetings and presentations, which are videotaped. Using a detailed management
behavior checklist, the materials that you submit will be analyzed by a team of
industrial-organizational psychology graduate students. Approximately one week after
the exercise, students received a detailed report on their performance, and a development
plan is develop.
The Iliad assessment is unlike any other college experience-if you can succeed
here, you have the tools to be an effective leader and an asset to any organization.
I personally learned a lot about myself as a participant, which will help me rise
to my greatest potential in both the classroom and the workplace.
-Tali Rasooly, BSE Freshman
Mount Everest Simulation
This web-based simulation presents an engaging setting in which you will explore
aspects of leadership and team dynamics using a team ascent of Mount Everest as
the backdrop. In each round, the team member will need to analyze information on
weather, health conditions, supplies, goals, or hiking speed, and determine how
much of that information to communicate to their teammates. The simulation has a
number of learning outcomes including teaching how to participate in, and lead teams
more effectively; how teams can improve the way that they make collective decisions;
how cognitive biases impair decision-making; how teams can solve problems and make
decisions more effectively in situations when members have different information
and opposing interests; how different leadership approaches can affect team performance
in situations with time and competitive pressures; and how teams and their leaders
deal with tradeoffs between short-term task completion and longer-term team effectiveness.
PHOTOS
Universal Car Rental Simulation
This web-based simulation presents an engaging context in which manage a car rental
operation (Universal) in Florida. The objective is to improve regional performance
by developing an effective strategy. The simulation involves three regions--Orlando,
Tampa, and Miami--which vary in size, market dynamics, and customer mix. The simulation
applies the information learned in economics. More specifically, the simulation
teaches the principles of pricing in a changing and realistic management environment.
Participants assume the role of a regional marketing manager responsible for pricing
a fleet of rental cars.
Cirque du Soleil Field Trip
Despite a long-term decline in the circus industry, Cirque du Soleil significantly
increased revenue over the last 10 years by reinventing the circus. Cirque was able
to create new customer demand by challenging the conventional assumptions about
how to compete in the global business environment. Cirque successfully innovated
by shifting the buyer group from children (end-users of the traditional circus)
to adults (purchasers of the traditional circus), drawing upon the distinctive strengths
of other alternative industries, such as the theatre, Broadway shows and the opera,
to offer a different type of entertainment to more mature and higher spending customers.
The field trip to the Cirque De Soleil show was used to show how this company with
its unique hybrid of music, dance, and acrobatics has created a new category of
live entertainment. In the process, it has been a marketing, management and financial
commercial success.
IKEA Field Trip
IKEA as one of the largest furniture manufacturers and retailers in the world, with
operations in 32 countries is well known for its stylish and innovative designs.
It was the pioneer of furniture that could be dismantled and packed flat, to allow
ease of transportation. The teaching objectives of the field trip are: (1) better
understand the evolution of IKEAs global marketing strategy under the various P's
(product, price, promotion, place, packaging, positioning and people); (2) identify
the factors that are responsible for creating a global brand image; and (3) recognize
the importance of the human resource management practices as IKEA has one of the
most committed workforces in the retail industry.
Harley-Davidson Field Trip
The only major American player in the global motorcycle market, Harley- Davidson,
has developed a distinct brand image and has dominated the U.S. motorcycle industry
for many decades. In the early 1980s, Japanese manufacturers flooded the market
with high quality and low priced bikes and nearly destroyed Harley-Davidson. Harley-Davidson
transformed the manufacturing process and adopted a new marketing strategy focused
on selling community and lifestyle positioning. The field trip provides a useful
vehicle to explore a variety of business issues, ranging from manufacturing to brand
management.
PHOTOS:
2007
Strategy Board Competition
During their first year in the BSE program, students
participate in the Strategy Board Competition. Student teams study a company over
the course of the semester and develop strategic recommendations. Each team illustrates
its recommendations on a display board, which is evaluated by a team of judges,
including a representative from their company.
PHOTOs:
2004
Here
are a few of the student's entries from the April, 2009 Academic Showcase:
Berkshire Hathaway
| Lockheed
Martin | The Walt Disney Company
Hershey Park Field Trip
The BSE program takes a day-long field trip to Hershey
Park, PA to visit the Hershey School, Hershey Park, and the Hershey Museum. The
purpose of the visit is to discuss the achievements of Milton S. Hershey and his
entrepreneurial achievements, including the creation of the Hershey bar, the founding
of the business, and the development of the mass market for chocolate. The guided
bus tour through the town and around the factory help students focus on the broader
contributions that Milton Hershey made to a sustainable, mutually beneficial social
contract between business and community.
PHOTOS
Gaver Tree Farm
BSE celebrated the start of Autumn at the Gaver Tree Farm in Mt. Airy, MD on September
30, 2009. The Farm is owned by the family of Greg Gaver, a BSE sophomore studying
Economics and Plant Science at UMD. The Gaver Family was Frederick County Farm Family
of the Year for 2005 and was presented the Take Pride in America award for 2008
for outstanding conservation and environmental stewardship practices.
PHOTOS
Service Day
All incoming freshmen in the College Park Scholars program participate
in a service project before the fall semester. PHOTOS:
2005 |
2007
| 2008 |
2009
New York City Trip
Each spring, hundreds of Scholars may opt for a weekend trip to the Big Apple
enjoying a Broadway show and a visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In
addition, each Scholars program designs an activity to enhance its focused
learning. In previous years, BSE has organized a visit to Times Square
businesses where students met with managers of Planet Hollywood (2006); an NBC
Studio Tour (2007 & 2008); a Guided Wall Street Walking Tour and a visit to the
Museum of American Finance (2009).
PHOTOS:
2005 |
2006 |
2008 |
2009
Senior Recognition
Each year, BSE invites its graduating seniors to come together
to relive freshman and sophomore experiences, share their Smith School stories and
describe their plans following graduation. Past luncheons or dinners have taken
place at the University of Maryland Golf Course Club House, the Smith Schools Executive
Dining Room and at a local restaurant.
PHOTOS
College Park Scholars Softball Tournament
The Scholars Charity Softball Tournament
takes place each spring. Each Scholars Program plays on behalf of a charity that
they have chosen to support. The first, second, and third place teams are rewarded
with donations to their charities on behalf of the entire Scholars Program. Batting,
running or catching expertise is NOT required a desire to have fun with friends
is! PHOTOS
Terrapin Adventure Challenge
BSE begins its year of colloquiums with participation
in the Terrapin Adventure Challenge Program at the University of Maryland's state
of the art climbing facilities. This experience fosters problem solving, decision
making, teamwork, and personal confidence through fun and challenging outdoor activities.
PHOTOS
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