Traveling has always been a favorite activity for Dr. Nick Rhew, Assistant Professor of Management in the Romain College of Business. He鈥檚 been to more than 30 countries across the world and has visited nearly all 50 states. But his most recent trip wasn鈥檛 just for vacationing鈥攊t was an opportunity to learn and grow in the field of international business.
Rhew was one of a select few faculty from universities across the United States to participate in a visit to India from December 27 to January 10. The program was developed by Dr. Sumit Kundu, associate dean for the Center of International Business Education and Research at Florida International University nd sponsored by CIBERS from Brigham Young University and FIU. The trip included multiple stops to businesses and universities in several different cities and states across India.
鈥淚ndia is such an interesting place with a rich culture and history,鈥� said Rhew, who was making his second visit to the country. 鈥淭his time around, my whole focus was finding what I could use in my teaching and research. I was thrilled and grateful for the opportunity.鈥�
The goal of the program is to equip faculty members with the ability to improve their teaching and research capabilities in international business. In this case, the focus was seeing how competitiveness looks in a large emerging market post-COVID. Just this past January, India passed China as the world鈥檚 most populous country with approximately 1.4 billion people.
Seeing that growth firsthand was something Rhew wanted to experience. As a professor of international business, it helped put an image to what he had shared with classes. By sharing his experience and the technological advances he saw firsthand, he also hopes it can put an end to the negative light that is sometimes shed on India in the United States. 鈥淚t should tweak the thinking that India is a lesser country or so far behind 鈥� that can be the perception, especially in the U.S.,鈥� Rhew said. 鈥淚n terms of the level of income, there鈥檚 still a lot of development to happen. But there鈥檚 a portion that鈥檚 not at all behind and may even be ahead.鈥�
Rhew visited a variety of locations in India such as Delhi, Agra, Kolkata, Mumbai and Goa. There were trips to businesses such as Tata Motors鈥搕he parecompany for Jaguar Land Rover鈥揳nd universities such as the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade and the Management Development Institute at Gurgaon.
He even got a chance to present while at the Management Development Institute at Gurgaon as part of a mini conference. His presentation focused on the future of online education and what we have learned from COVID-19. While many classes went virtual during the pandemic, one major point of his presentation was that it isn鈥檛 always necessarily the best answer for every class to go that route.
鈥淭here are real differences between online and face-to-face programs,鈥� Rhew said. 鈥淥ne lesson was certainly how we should deliver online programs better but hopefully another lesson was also when to choose not to go online.鈥�
Rhew was able to almost immediately apply several lessons he learned from this program to classes he鈥檚 currently teaching this spring. At the undergrad level, he鈥檚 applied teachings to his strategic management courses. He鈥檚 also displayed hundreds of images that graphically demonstrate the lessons to make them more applicable.
He鈥檚 utilized the trip to improve his lessons in MGT 681, a Strategic and International Management course in 91社区鈥檚 MBA program. One component of the course is about entering foreign markets. In the past, many examples focused on Chinese markets. But after the visit to India, Rhew鈥檚 focus has shifted.
鈥淚t鈥檚 difficult to overstate just how influential India will be for the global economy,鈥� Rhew said. 鈥淭hese lessons plug in so neatly to the section of the course that鈥檚 all about entering foreign markets.鈥�
This program was an opportunity Rhew simply couldn鈥檛 pass up. He鈥檚 hopeful more ventures like this could show up in the future鈥搘hether it鈥檚 going back to India or exploring a new country.
He believes faculty, regardless of their concentration, should try something like this at some point during their teaching career. The lessons and experiences alone can prove to be extremely beneficial鈥揵ut don鈥檛 expect them to just show up by traveling abroad. You have to make the most of it.
鈥淭hose benefits aren鈥檛 simply going to be automatic,鈥� Rhew said. 鈥淵ou have to reflect on all of the differences and similarities. It has to be an active reflection to make good on the benefits of traveling internationally for a program that has cultural and academic visits.鈥�