THE IB GLOBE
THE FRIENDS OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS NEWSLETTER
It is with deep regret that we notify you that the former Chair and Co-Founder of the International
Business Program, Alvord G. Branan, passed away on November 1, 1998. Many of you had personal contact with
Dr. Branan and found him to be an interested advocate of students, particularly in the International Business
Program, and was dedicated to international education. Dr. Branan retired in 1997 and recently had agreed to
come out of retirement to assist SDSU in organizing the many international components of the campus. He passed
away the day before he was to return to the university.
"Dr. Alvord Branan was an educator capable of combining two seemingly diverse disciplines - languages and business - in an accessible package" (The San Diego Union-Tribune, Thursday, November 5, 1998). He was a national authority on the teaching of foreign language for business purposes. Dr. Branan and Dr. Michael Hergert, Dean, College of Business Administration, co-founded the Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER), the grant which supported the foundation of the International Business major at SDSU. "Our international business program is the largest of its kind in the nation, with 750 students...Al was a former chair of the program and was greatly admired and loved by students," Michael Hergert told the San Diego Union-Tribune. Dr. Branan was also co-founder with Dr. Hergert of MEXUS, the first undergraduate transnational dual-degree program in the U.S. and Project North America (PNA) in which students study one semester in Canada and one semester in Mexico. He supported and helped create exchange opportunities for students with universities throughout the world.
Dr. Branan earned degrees in French (Ph.D., Tulane, MA, Middlebury), a BS in business (University of Florida) and a Masters in International Management from Thunderbird. He was designated a Knight of the Order of the Palmes Académiques from France as a foreigner who had exceptionally supported the study of France and French. He was later accorded French citizenship, a dual-citizenship with the United States. Dr. Branan also served in the armed forces, attaining the rank of lieutenant commander in the Navy Reserve.
Dr. Branan was extremely well-respected by students and faculty alike. He was honored by the Alumni Association when he received the Outstanding Faculty Award. He had a great sense of humor and spent a great deal of time enjoying conversation with students. International Education has lost a great leader. But we appreciate the forethought and insight that drove Dr. Branan to inaugurate the International Business major here at SDSU.
This first undergraduate, binational dual-degree program in the nation has brought national recognition to SDSU. MEXUS was listed among the economic and social activities on the Report on the Initiative to Implement A New Border Vision given to President Clinton last June.
A total of 128 students have taken advantage of the program which has seen 17 students graduate. A total of 44 U.S. SDSU students have taken part and 50 from Mexico. This innovative program continues to grow and to provide quality culturally knowledgeable employees for both sides of the southwestern U.S. border.
Since we are encouraging all IB majors to study or intern abroad, we have encountered a situation with equal exchange between universities which needs to be addressed. Do we have any IB alumni in San Diego County who would be willing to house a foreign student for a semester or a year? We are in the formative stages of problem-solving, and this is one option we are looking into. If you may be willing to help in this area, please let us know at ib@mail.sdsd.edu or call (619) 594-3008.
(Co-founder of the IB Program) announces: "I am very pleased to announce that San Diego State University has received the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE) national award for the Model MBA Entrepreneurship Program of the Year. SDSU and the University of Texas, Austin were the national finalists. Sandy Ehrlich and Alex De Noble prepared the SDSU application which Alex presented to a panel of judges. The Entrepreneurial Management Center was also recently selected for the TEIM award (Total Excellence in Management) by the San Diego Business Journal. These are outstanding awards which further add to the prestige and reputation of the EMC and our Entrepreneurship program." Congratulations to Sandy and Alex, along with the entire EMC team, on receiving this wonderful recognition.
Luis Omar Hernández: 1st Graduating Class of MEXUS, December, 1996, (Spanish/Latin America)
When I graduated from SDSU and the MEXUS Program I was eager to get a job where I could apply everything I learned from my bi-national educational experience. Fortunately, shortly thereafter, I was hired by the United States-Mexico Chamber of Commerce (USMCOC) to work as the Trade Representative at their National Office in Washington, D.C. For almost two years I have called Washington, D.C. home, have had tremendous exposure in the U.S. and Mexico, have made contacts in both countries, and have learned and experienced things that I would have never imagined possible.
Since I started at the USMCOC, I have been the Coordinator of the Buen Vecino Internship Program (BVIP). In this capacity, I am responsible for the development, organization, and administration of the bi-national student exchange program, the same program I participated in a few years back. For about a year, I also served as the Bilingual Technical Editor of our ACCESS-MEXICO environmental project. My duties in the ACCESS-MEXICO project included researching, compiling and translating Mexican environmental laws and correspondences. My newest responsibility is serving as the Coordinator of the Textile, Apparel, Fiber, and Yarn Task Force (TAFY). As Coordinator of TAFY, I assist in meeting the needs and resolving the concerns of our member textile companies on various trade issues by working with the private and public sectors of the United States and Mexico. All these roles have allowed me to travel extensively throughout both countries, form international relationships that will last a lifetime, and have provided me with a continued education in the "real world."
Besides my specific assigned duties, I am constantly active in many projects and programs that make up the Chamber. During my time here, I have twice visited Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo at his residence, have met with many U.S. and Mexican state governors, congressmen, senators, government secretaries of various offices, CEOs of major corporations, deans of universities, and have attended many events, galas, and meetings on both sides of the border. I consider myself very fortunate to be exposed to and to be learning about the things that I studies, but I also realize that I would not be here had it not been for my education and experience through the SDSU International Business MEXUS Program. Gracias!
Teresa Cisneros Donahue: graduated Summa Cum Laude, BA in IB, 1992 (Spanish/Latin America); MA in IB, 1994
I never thought that I was going to become the first person to successfully implement the first transnational undergraduate dual-degree program in the United States: the MEXUS program. MEXUS students study a minimum of two years in both Mexico and the U.S. and receive International Business degrees from the two countries. Many people before us tried to implement a program like MEXUS without success. So when we succeeded, it brought national and international attention to the IB program at SDSU. For the last five years I have been in charge of developing dual-degree programs with universities in Mexico, and now I am the Director of the International Business Exchanges and Dual-Degree Programs. I am responsible for finding new partners for our exchange programs in Latin America, Europe and North America. Our next goal is to find partners in Asia and the former Soviet Union.
Due to my job I have been traveling and I am in constant contact with all of our partner universities throughout the world. Eventually, we want every international business student to either studies and/or intern abroad. This represents a great challenge for my office since we have the largest international business program in the nation with more than 700 majors.
We also want to have dual-degree programs in most of the major languages that the IB offers. We are currently working with universities in Barcelona, Spain, and Quebec, Canada. Eventually we want to have dual-degree programs with Brazil, Chile, China, Italy, and the Soviet Union, and another city in the interior of Mexico. I love this challenge because I have to deal with all the different educational systems and find a way in which our IB students can fulfill graduation requirements for two different countries simultaneously and graduate in an acceptable period of time. I also like the fact that I am helping the International Business program at SDSU to become a unique program and one of the best in the nation. And one from which we IB alumni can be proud to have graduated!
Beatriz Renden-Schultz: Graduated 1996 (Spanish/Latin America)
Importing/exporting was what I had in mind when I graduated in International Business from SDSU in 1996. When I went into the "real world," that area in which I felt confident would have open doors for me, were closed. I was left with a lot of opportunities to work as a salesperson, but this was an area I did not want to approach for many different reasons I preferred not to explain.
I expected to go back to SDSU to continue my education, but never imagined myself working in it. It has been one and one-half years since I started working in the MEXUS office, now the office of International Exchanges and Dual-Degree Programs. This office promotes exchanges to many countries in the world and a dual degree for those International Business Majors who want to have "total immersion" in Mexico. My experience in this department and in the whole university has been a very rewarding one. In the short time I have been at SDSU, I have achieved a great amount of professional as well as personal growth.
My role as Associate Director in the International Exchange Office is to assist in the coordination and promotion of the exchanges. Coordination includes among many other duties, advising to students who participate in the program and acting as a liaison with partner universities in Mexico, Canada, Europe and South America. I also research and compile articulation agreements to assure transferability of coursework from the foreign school. I have traveled to South America to initiate exchanges with schools in Colombia and Ecuador.
The International Exchanges and Dual-Degree Programs office is making many new plans for the near future. Since I started in the MEXUS Program, I have seen these program grow. Now there are plans for a Dual-Degree Agreement with the French-speaking Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, in Québec, Canada and with the University of Barcelona, Spain. And there are also plans to explore an exchange with Cuba! It is exciting to contribute to a program that helps students see the business world first hand!
Catherine Tyberg:(1997) (French, Western Europe)
Through the International Business program at San Diego State, I was able to enrich my education in the areas of business, language and culture. The opportunity to study at EPSCI, an International Business School located in France was an academic endeavor that proved to be both challenging and rewarding. While earning my Bachelors of Art degree for SDSU, I was also working towards a double diploma at EPSCI. The French degree required a thesis and a minimum 4-month internship, which I completed while in Paris. The extra work was well worth it since the work experience taught me great deal about marketing and networking which has helped me in my current career.
As a financial consultant with the investment firm of Merrill Lynch in San Diego, I am utilizing many of the skills I studied in the areas of finance, marketing and management. I am essentially building up my own business with both domestic and international private clients. My background in International Business has opened a lot of doors for broadening my business. I feel that my expertise in the area of investing provides opportunities for Europeans to invest in the U.S. market. In addition, speaking the French language and understanding the culture has created a natural market niche for my business and has helped me gain International clients who feel comfortable doing business with me.
The International Business Program looks forward to receiving YOUR story to print in the IB Globe next time!
Many IB Alumni have become very successful as a result of their IB major. If you know of a job that an IB major/alum could do, please let us know. We keep resumés on file. Also, we post jobs on the IB Web page at WWW-rohan.sdsu.edu/dept/ibalumwb/dept.html.
Women in International Trade is a non-profit professional organization designed to promote women doing business in international trade by providing networking and educational opportunities. Our members include women and men doing business in all facets of international trade including finance, public relations, government, freight forwarding, international law, agriculture, sales and marketing, import/export, logistics and transportation.
Women and men join WIT to enhance their professional skills, share international trade information, establish global business contacts in the private and public sector and to help the organization achieve their goals as defined in its missions statement below:
by Susan Witt Protocol Services
"Etiquette used to mean 'keep off the grass'. When aristocrats at Versailles trampled through the gardens, Louis XIV's gardener put up signs, or étiquets, to keep them away. The palace guests paid no attention to the signs and finally the king himself had to decree that no one was to go beyond the bounds of the étiquets. Eventually rules of etiquette for court behavior were required for all court functions."*
Protocol is the recognized system in international courtesy and conduct, Etiquette is a culturally-accepted system of courtesy and conduct. In simpler terms, protocol is recognizing that courtesy is needed (in the Middle East the left hand has limited uses), and etiquette is knowing how to perform the needed courtesy (do not use the left hand for giving or receiving).
It is important for success in the international arena to be aware of the differences which exist between our own customs and those of other countries. This recognition enhances communication and prevents misunderstandings. Many cultures revere silence as a time for thinking. Americans are uncomfortable with silence and will continue to talk. It is puzzling therefore to some cultures as to when we Americans find time to think, as we are always talking!
In some countries the head is considered sacred and should not be touched. It is disrespectful to toss an object to someone or pass it over someone's head.
Mannerisms designed to disguise or protect emotions can also vary greatly from culture to culture. One particularly widespread precept in this area is that of face. Face may be defined as the individual's discipline, self-esteem and general good reputation. Many cultures place great importance on preserving the individual's face at all times.
Having a level of comfort and confidence is critical in establishing a mutually beneficial relationship. The culturally aware individual realizes the benefits of being sensitive to differences, treating everyone with respect and dignity, and the importance of remaining flexible.
Susan Witt is a speaker and seminar leader based in San Diego, who teaches professional programs copyrighted by The Protocol School of Washington, D.C. The International Business Program recognizes the importance of cultural understanding and have asked Ms. Witt to teach an IB 498 with this subject matter. Ms. Witt gives seminars on How to Succeed in the International Arena* within which is taught Gender Neutral Handshake and Introductions* (men and women rise for introductions and handshakes), First Meeting*, Becoming World-Class Competitive*, Projecting a Cross-Cultural Awareness*, Gain the Edge in International Negotiations* and Present Yourself with an International Image*. If you are interested or feel that your company could benefit from Ms. Witt's seminars, please call (619) 259-9051 for more information.
*Adapted from The Protocol School of Washington manual.
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