Montclair State University

On July 1^st, 2009, twelve graduate students from Karl Franzens University in Graz, Austria, stepped on American soil for the very first time to begin their 1-month study abroad experience at Montclair State University. The newly developed sister city program between MSU and Graz has been the result of a 60-year old accord between the two universities. Together with the Global Education Center, the International Business Department in the School of Business at Montclair State offered a Summer MBA Study Abroad Program and attracting Austrian students to attend some of its popular classes. The visiting Austrian students simultaneously attended the three classes of Intro to International Business, International Business: concepts & Issues, and International Market Entry Modes. Drs. D.K. Kim, C. Jayachandran, and Ike Ekeledo participated in the Summer Study Program by teaching these popular courses.

Two weeks into their stay at the Village apartments at MSU, I had the opportunity to meet with five of these twelve students at the Red Hawk Diner for coffee and conversation. They were: Andreas Kreuzeder, a student of Environmental System Sciences; Stephan Schantl, a student of Business and Sociology; Tanja Hafner, an MBA student concentrating on Management and International Business; Daniel Kazianka, also an MBA student with a concentration in Management and International Business; and Patrick Wolbart, an MBA student concentrating in Accounting.

Upon inquiring about their experience in our educational system so far, Hafner talked about how friendly and helpful the University staff has been during their stay at Montclair. “They are extremely friendly and have taken care of us every step of the way” she explained. “The student-teacher relationship is extremely different from back at home” added Kreuzeder. “In European settings, teachers give the impression that they’re a step above you. Here, they treat you like equals. That was a little confusing.” Talk about an educational culture shock! Schantl unhesitatingly expressed her thoughts about how perhaps, here in the United States, even education is looked at as a business deal. “You’re paying so much for the college here that the education system has to recognize you as a customer, and customers should get what they pay for.” Some bursts of laughter created an ice breaker and the other students felt more comfortable talking about their experiences as well.

Dr. Ekeledo, professor of Marketing in the IB Department adds some food for thought on this subject. According to him, the “casualness” of the student-teacher relationship, what he characterizes as accessibility to the professors, is no accident. It is consistent with manager-subordinate relationship in the American work environment. “I believe accessibility to your instructor makes for a healthy learning environment” he says.

Kazianka talked about his motivation to come to America, “For me, it was about experiencing the American culture. It has definitely been worth it. All the clichés we have heard about this culture are actually all true.” Upon asking what clichés he was referring to, he replied, “Well we have glimpsed this culture through Hollywood movies, but when we saw kids on lemonade stands outside 4^th of July fireworks ground, we knew it was true.”

It seemed that for most of these students, the curiosity about American culture drew them to sign up for this Study Abroad program and take the trip to Montclair State. While touring New York City and New Jersey highlights (part of their itinerary for the program), they confirmed that the city life back home in Austria is not much different. However, the behavior of people here was a far cry from those in Graz. “It seems that people here are more laid back” said Wolbart. He was referring to my question about how the financial meltdown has affected people in Graz compared to here in the US. “European people feel a sense of urgency when they’re out of jobs or when the economy is doing bad.” he explains. Kreuzeder seconds the notion by talking about how a sense of guilt makes European people panic at the sight of a plummeting market.

The group voted that the best part of their stay was the field trips they took around New York City under the supervision of Dr. Ekeledo and Dr. Luis Portes. They all seemed thrilled with the opportunity for experiencing American lifestyle up close and personal. They did however, suggest a few additional activities that might have kicked their experience up a notch. “I wish we had some de-briefing on our itinerary,” suggests Kreuzeger. “We never got to discuss what we saw.” In addition, they suggested that the IB department incorporate more interaction amongst the foreign and the American students. Schantl explained that their interaction was mostly limited to people in their own group (from Graz), which prohibited an understanding of the needs, wants, and motivations of students from their own generation across the globe.

Dr. Ekeledo described the difficulty of conquering that issue, especially since the Graz students stayed at MSU for just one month during the summer, a time when local students are nowhere in sight. The opportunity for interaction through clubs and organizations is almost nil around that time as well. However, recognizing that issue, Dr. Ekeledo counteracted that problem by assigning each of them a different term projects involving group case analysis and presentations.

When asked if they would recommend this trip to anyone back home, the students from Graz displayed an enthusiastic nod of heads. They had adopted this study abroad program as an opportunity to broaden their horizons. “These days, you never know where you’ll end up working,” says Hafner. She represented the views of a new European generation that has identified the importance of branching out and immersing into different business cultures around the world. The students collectively expressed a bit of a disappointment in their observation that the American students do not take advantage of these kinds of study abroad programs. Apparently, only 1% of MSU students opt for study abroad programs during their study period.

This exchange program with Graz keeps in tandem with the goal and vision of the International Business Department. The department wants to offer international exposure to MSU students and bring visibility to its competitive IB program. The IB department hopes that the Graz students will take invaluable knowledge home with them and publicize their positive experiences to their fellow students at Karl Franzen University. The department has been extremely proactive in its global expansion efforts over the years, in the hope that these efforts may bring forth valuable research and pedagogical collaboration between faculty groups at Montclair State and other reputable universities abroad.