Ingles, por favor

On our flight to South America, I discovered what happens if you don't understand the language the flight attendant is speaking. After getting about four hours of sleep in 48 hours, I had just nodded off as we were getting to Lima, Peru. While I was asleep, the flight attendant asked me to put my seat up. I missed that part. As I was waking up she came by again and was visibly upset with me for not moving my chair. She then started speaking very fast in Spanish (which I do not understand). She talked progressively louder and then finally just grabbed my seat and pushed it to the upright position.

I have now learned to say, "Ingles por favor."

Mike Clagg

(Mike Clagg is a student in the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business. He is currently with the school in South America for the South America Summer Study Abroad Program.)

Get the Work You Want

Tuesday night our Great Work Great Career class learned about how to be persistent and about the importance of understanding the broad spectrum as we pursue our desired career path.

The course we have been taking is based on the book of the same name by Stephen R. Covey and Jennifer Colosimo. It helps people identify and develop their unique talents and passions. It also helps people better tap those skills, and it prepares them for the job market by improving their resume building and interviewing abilities.

We had the opportunity to hear from Bernadette Caldwell, a current participant in the course. She spoke about the potential women have in the workplace, and she also gave encouraging words about effective negotiation.

We also heard from Barbara Sidwell, current Huntsman career accelerator. Barbara explained that as we develop our careers, we will need seven people as part of our network:

1) Mentor - someone to teach, guide and be a professional example

2) Godfather - someone to champion you to your boss (pull some strings)

3) Headhunter - someone who will look out for you and help place you in ideal situations

4) Visionary - someone who has a broad perspective and helps you dream

5) Realist - someone who says, "Good idea ... but what about X, Y and Z?"

6) Partner - a supporter through the highs and lows

7) Mentee - someone for you to teach, train and guide

To close Tuesday night's class, Lynne Pettit explained the difference between being PROACTIVE and REACTIVE and avoiding the "victim mentality." We were taught that we must first identify the need, then identify our skills, and lastly, identify a solution. Being proactive is key to getting the work you want.

Questions? Answers?

Last week I told you that we met with representatives from more than 20 architectural firms who all seemed interested in bidding on our new building. They were given one week to submit questions about the project. I told you that after we reviewed the questions, we would be sending the answers out to all the bidders. So, are you ready to hear the answers we came up with? Okay, I will share them with you.

Dramatic pause.

I have no answers for you because there were no questions. Nothing. Nada. Not a single one. Can you hear the crickets chirping in the silence?

I'm sort of disappointed. I was geared up to offer answers to all manner of probing questions and ended up being left all by myself with nothing to show for my preparations. I guess that's good. It means we answered all their questions the first time we met with them. And yet, I still feel a need to answer questions about the building.

So, can you help me out here? Do you have any questions? I mean, questions about the new building? (I can't answer questions about just anything, you know. I know very little, for example, about Paris Hilton and I really don't want to answer any questions about the 2012 presidential race. I do know something about our plans for a new business building, however.)

Do you have questions about the building? If so, please leave your questions in the comment box below this blog post. I will answer them so all readers can see.

Ken Snyder

Greetings from South America!

¡Hola! It has been quite a nice trip so far down here in Chile. The total time of traveling 23 hours straight was definitely worth it! Here are a few things I have learned so far while traveling in South America.

1- Don't be late to the bus that leaves at 4:15 a.m. because you will never hear the end of it for the next 32 days.

2- Security at the SLC airport is very ornery so don't get offended if they pat you down.

3- The food at LAX is expensive so bring food in your carry-on or just sneakily get food from your fellow classmates who did bring food in their carry-ons.

4- The realization of a 13-hour plane ride doesn't hit you until you are 2 hours in and ready to get off.

5- When you haven't eaten very much all day, you will eat ANYTHING and it tastes amazing.

6- You might just have a falling-out with the friend sitting next to you, but don't take offense - they are just tired too.

7- Be careful who you follow around the city because some people know what they are doing and some people just act like it.

We are currently staying in the city of Vina Del Mar which is located about 1 1/2 hours away from Santiago and right on the ocean. Yesterday we went to Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso which is the 4th oldest university in Chile. We went to the Agricultural college campus (their campuses are located in different areas in the region) where we had two professors speak to us about the Chilean university and the agriculture systems.

It was interesting to see how their system of education is structured. An aspect of their system that is different from the U.S.'s is that once they choose a major to study, they must stick with that major for the rest of their education. It is very rare to be able to switch majors so most students drop out. Can you imagine that happening at USU when almost everyone is changing their majors every week?

Another interesting aspect of yesterday's visit is that the students of the Catholic University were currently protesting the higher education system, causing the majority of their college campuses to close. The students wanted stronger public universities and greater regulation on the profits of the higher education institutions. (Click here to read more.)

After listening to the professors, we were able to take a tour of a food packing plant which used to be owned by the Catholic University. Yesterday pant workers were processing lemons (it smelled wonderful!). The plant manager told us that they have workers quickly scan through to see if they have any bruised, scarred or off-color lemons which they remove (see picture on the left). The lemons then go through another sorting through a machine for color, size and shape. The "perfect" looking lemons then get shipped to foreign countries while the "rejects" are sold in Chile. They do this because Chileans typically care more about the price than the appearance of what they buy. Foreigners, on the other hand, often make their purchase decisions based more upon the appearance. It was interesting to see how even though two different-looking lemons taste the same, many of us are willing to pay more for the better-looking one.

Well I'm excited to see what the rest of the trip brings! Adios!

Kathryn Grover

(Kathryn Grover is a student in the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business. She is currently with the school in South America for the South America Summer Study Abroad Program.)

Do professors just head for the beach in the summer?

I want to start this post by thanking Steve Eaton, Connor Child and Sterling Morris. Not only did they suggest that I write, but they were in the George S. Eccles Business Building so we could have the conversation that led to this blog post. This is important because many people who don't work on a college campus (or in education in general) think that all teachers have the summer off and that we just close up shop and head for the beach. While it's a lovely thought, it's just not true. So I decided I'd answer the age-old question: "What do professors DO in the summer anyway?"

The spring graduation here at Utah State University was on Saturday, May 7. It was a fantastic day, and I was sad to say goodbye to so many outstanding students. On Monday, May 9, I started a new class - teaching MGT 3500 (marketing fundamentals) to 40 students as part of the School of Business' Summer Study Abroad program. There was a 90-minute class every day for three weeks, and since I was testing out both my new textbook (coming out in the fall - very excited) and a new computerized marketing simulation, there was a lot or preparation, feedback and adjustment. That class is now on brief hiatus while the students attend business visits and complete assignments on their five-week travel experience. Those experiences are being led by other Huntsman School faculty who are "on the job" 24-7 until they come home.

Now that my classes are over for the summer, I have some very important work to do. First, there is getting ready for the fall semester. Continuous improvement can't happen if we don't evaluate and change what isn't working and summer is the time to do it. There are books and articles to read, TED talks to watch and new examples to hunt for.

Then, there's the research. This is the hardest part to explain because it's just so fuzzy for people who don't do it, but let me try. Existing academic research represents the edge of thinking about a particular subject, and business research in particular focuses on what we can learn from and teach to practitioners about strategy and tactics in all areas of business. Ph.D. faculty are expected to contribute to that pool of research and learn from it - to be expert in their subject area. To do that requires reading (a LOT of it), designing and implementing new research studies and writing. I have three such projects right now and hope to complete them all before classes start in August.

Last and most important are the students. Classes are in session year round in the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business, and when there are classes there are students. When there are students, there are questions. When there are questions, someone needs to be there to answer them. So people like myself, Steve, Connor and Sterling, along with our incredible faculty and staff are there to answer them.

Except for June 9. That day, I'm headed to the beach.

Dr. Stacey Hills

Student discovers summer in Logan

It’s kind of surreal to walk around campus during the summer.

This is only the second summer I’ve stayed in Logan instead of going back to my parents’ place since I started in the fall of 2004. For one reason or another I never stuck around. My friends would stay in town, and I’d come up and visit weekly. But the decrease in traffic was my only tip off that anything was different.

Sometimes I’d even have to come up to campus to talk to an academic advisor or the registrar’s office, but those were few and far between.

Now I’m in town because I have a stable job and a wife and one more semester until I graduate and move away to work at some job where I have to wear a tie and big-boy pants five days a week. To ease my load in my last semester, I decided to take a couple summer classes.

So when I find myself walking the near empty sidewalks or past dark offices, I can’t help but feel that something is wrong. There isn’t, of course. It is just nice that it’s all so peaceful and it makes me wish I had spent more summers in Logan.

It’s a crying shame really, because after months of waking up before the sun, putting on four layers, and deciding between walking through knee-high snow drifts or finding a route to class that takes me through buildings, I find the spring (once it finally decided to make an appearance) makes up for my Nordic trek to class.

If I could back up my education and start over, I'd spend more time in Logan taking summer classes.

Logan has so much to offer now that things are warming up. This year we have the flooding to keep in mind, too, but that just means everything’s going to be green for longer and we will be at less of a risk for fire, right? And the rain is suppressing the pollen, so my wife’s allergies aren’t acting up.

It’s also refreshing to complete class work on an accelerated schedule, because that’s all I have to focus on, besides work. It’s nice to walk outside at 2:30 in the afternoon knowing I’m free to play until the sun sets. My friends and I can grab a croquet set or bocce balls, head to a park, kick off our shoes and feel the grass between our toes, and play until we feel the cool canyon breeze pick up.

Nice. I’ve discovered summer in Logan.

Paul Lewis Siddoway

Define your contribution

Tuesday night our Great Work Great Career class learned about how to give ourselves the competitive advantage when searching for that great career.

The course we have been taking is based on the book by Stephen R. Covey and Jennifer Colosimo by the same name. It helps people identify and develop their unique talents and passions. It also helps people better tap those skills and it prepares them for the job market by helping them improve their resume and interviewing abilities.

We were privileged to hear from Troy Oldham, who shared stories and work practices from his days at Microsoft, where he was heavily involved in that company’s marketing and branding. His lecture was basically a shortened version of “branding 1010.” He explained the process a firm goes through to identify and develop a brand. He also talked to us about how we can use the same approach to develop our own personal brand.

We are three weeks into the course and all the participants have attested to the effectiveness of it. Those who are truly participating are really getting out of it what they are putting in. This course has had a great impact on the lives of those who have already gone through it. It really helps people change the way they not only view the current economy and opportunity for work, but the way they view themselves as individuals and contributors.