Partners in management education: The Flint-Togliatti Initiative (стр. 1 )

PARTNERS IN MANAGEMENT EDUCATION:

The Flint-Togliatti Initiative

Gregory W. Allar

Adjunct Professor

School of Management

University of Michigan-Flint

Andrei E. Volkov

Rector

International Academy of Business and Banking

Togliatti, Russia

Fred E. Williams

Dean

School of Management

University of Michigan-Flint

FINAL REPORT

Grant IA-ASDH-G8190317

The International Academy of Business and Banking in Togliatti, Russia

The University of Michigan-Flint in Flint, Michigan

FINAL REPORT

Grant IA-ASDH-G8190317

PARTNERS IN MANAGEMENT EDUCATION: The Flint-Togliatti Initiative

The International Academy of Business and Banking in Togliatti, Russia

The University of Michigan-Flint in Flint, Michigan

This two-year collaboration between the School of Management (SOM) at the University of Michigan-Flint (UM-Flint) and the International Academy of Business and Banking (IABB) in Togliatti, Russia, addressed three areas: faculty and curriculum development, joint exploration of technology-supported distance learning strategies, and engaging corporate sponsorships for key initiatives. These initiatives were designed to

·  Develop and deliver a Core Business Management Curriculum (CBMC) for IABB faculty, using a combination of intensive classroom activities and technology-facilitated distance learning,

·  Bring three IABB faculty to Flint for advanced training and professional development,

·  Develop and deliver two Executive Development (ED) courses for managers in Togliatti, and

·  Explore other collaborative efforts including, but not limited to, student exchanges.

Major program activities of this grant included:

1998 – 1999

·  Andrei Volkov, Rector for the IABB, visited the UM-Flint campus from December 1 - 15, 1998 to meet with the Project Directors, Fred E. Williams, Dean of the School of Management, and Gregory W. Allar, Associate Director, to discuss the order of activities for the two-year period 1998 – 2000. During his visit Dr. Volkov had the opportunity to meet with faculty members from the School of Management who would be teaching at the Academy, and various community leaders from business and industry.

·  While reviewing the Project Activities and Schedule, project leaders both from UM-Flint and IABB decided that to achieve our mutual goals and to stimulate and increase contact between representatives from both institutions, that it would be necessary to upgrade the IABB computing network. Upon careful review of the grant budget, funds were reallocated and transferred to the IABB to pay, in part, for the purchase of a new file server. UM-Flint informed the USIA that improved and updated technology was a critical requirement for supporting communication among participants and a key step toward achieving important program goals. USIA agreed, and authorized the reallocation of funds.

·  Faculty and staff from the Instructional Technology Services (ITS) purchased and installed a web board on the university network. Work began on the development of a web page for the project, which would advertise the activities, goals, and participants of the two-year USIA grant. Information was updated and added regularly.

·  During the early stages of planning UM-Flint and IABB project directors proposed that three CBMC courses would be taught in each of the two project years. At the time this format appeared the best approach to attain the goals of the grant. When Dr. Volkov visited UM-Flint in December 1998, he proposed that all six (6) faculty members should come from UM-Flint during the 1999 – 2000 academic year. This would enable the IABB to provide a consistent student population – the current third year IABB class – for the courses. A relatively stable cohort of students moving through the courses opened possibilities such as the creation of simulation activities, the inclusion of case studies that could be interwoven throughout the courses. It also offered opportunities to gather research data.

·  Faculty members from UM-Flint, who would be teaching at the IABB, were paired with their appropriate colleague at the IABB. Faculty members corresponded via email to develop course content and munication between the two faculties was obviously facilitated by the new IABB server. Teaching materials to be used in the six courses offered by UM-Flint faculty were included on the IABB internal network. Students, faculty and administrators all had access to this network.

·  UM-Flint Project Directors, Fred E. Williams and Gregory W. Allar, traveled to the International Academy of Business and Banking in Togliatti, Russia from February 26 – March 7, 1999 to meet with Project Directors, Igor Bogdanov, President of the IABB, and Andrei Volkov, Rector of the IABB. At that time the UM-Flint project directors met with the faculty at the IABB to discuss the program activities of the grant. During their visit to Togliatti President Bogdanov and Provost Volkov introduced Drs. Williams and Allar to a number of the influential members of the Togliatti business community. The following is a partial list of those community leaders with whom they met.

Ш  Sergei Zhilkin, Mayor of the City of Togliatti;

Ш  Aleksandr Drobotov, Chairman of the City Council;

Ш  Igor Antonov, President of the insurance company ASTRO-VOLGA, and

Ш  President of the Rotary Club of Togliatti;

Ш  Yuri B. Stepanov, Vice President of the car company, AVTOVAZ;

Ш  Vitaly Groisman, Director of the medical hospital, VIZAVI;

Ш  Natalya Afonina, Chairman of the Automobile Banking Center

·  Upon completion of their visit to Togliatti, Drs. Williams and Allar went to the U. S. Embassy in Moscow to discuss the activities of the program with Ilya Levin, the Assistant Cultural Attachй. They also introduced themselves to Natalya Savicheva, Project Manager of Sustaining Partnerships into the Next Century (SPAN) and Inga Pagava, Program Officer for IREX, and outlined the PIME project and its goals. At that time Ms. Savicheva encourage the University of Michigan-Flint to consider applying for a grant from the SPAN Program and to continue to build the partnership with the IABB and the business community in Togliatti.

·  Drs. Betty Velthouse and Gregory Allar attended the Kettering Management Education Conference at the Bolshevo Conference Center in Moscow from May 16 – 20, 1999. Present at this Conference were representatives from more than 25 technical colleges and universities from Russia and Eastern Europe. Drs. Velthouse and Allar also had the opportunity to discuss ideas for management training programs with Alexander Ostrov, Country Director – Russia for DELPHI Automotive Systems. Like most regional universities, the University of Michigan-Flint offers a range of academic contrast, Kettering University’s programs focus on science and technology. Since both universities are located in Flint, and since Kettering’s involvement in Russia dates back to the early 1990’s, representatives from both universities determined that the Conference in Moscow might be an appropriate venue to plan and pursue collaborative activities with colleagues in Eastern Europe and Russia.

·  An important component necessary to prepare UM-Flint faculty members to teach in Russia is an introduction to the Russian culture and the changes that are ongoing in contemporary Russian society. This instruction made use of educational films, news articles, as well as a field trip to a Russian restaurant, TROIKA, to experience Russian cuisine. This cultural indoctrination utilized a historical perspective to acquaint UM-Flint faculty with the evolution of major intellectual, ideological, cultural, social, and political trends. To comprehend Russia today, it is important to understand its history.

·  Outreach activities of this grant project were undertaken at every opportunity. Each visit and/or communication offered opportunities to explore ways to promote the program and create the framework to continue its evolution. UM-Flint faculty members have met with members of business and industry in southeast Michigan to discuss training programs and internships for graduates of the IABB. Lev Lester, Vice President – International for Haden, Inc. has shared his company’s experience in Russia, and wholeheartedly supports the present undertakings of this project. Recently, UM-Flint project directors shared their vision for the development of the next phase with David Herman, Executive in Charge Russia and the Newly Independent States for General Motors. The next phase of cooperation between the IABB and UM-Flint may very well dovetail the mission of the Presidential Management Training Initiatives, the so-called Yeltsin Initiative, with those of IREX’s Sustaining Partnerships into the Next Century (SPAN IV Program) and/or the Office of Citizen Exchanges within the USIA’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

1999 – 2000

·  The Partners for Management Education (PIME) Project relied upon the active participation of faculty/staff members from both institutions. More than twenty faculty/staff members from the IABB, and fifteen faculty/staff members from UM-Flint contributed to the success of the program.

·  UM-Flint faculty meet regularly to discuss the ongoing activities of the grant, to review materials included in each class, to evaluate student comprehension of the underlying concepts of a market economy, and to explore the use of case studies and simulation activities in their classes. Several case studies from the Harvard Business School were reviewed as possible topics to be interwoven throughout the six courses, but were not adopted. The faculty felt that these materials did not reflect the dynamic subtleties of the market economy.

·  During Phase I, eight faculty members taught six courses: Economics (Dr. Perry from the Department of Economics, College of Arts and Sciences), Marketing (Dr. Angur), Accounting (Dr. Miller), Finance (Dr. Mehdian), OB/HRM (Dr. Velthouse/Dr. Smith), and Operations Management (Dr. Lotfi/ Dean Williams), at the Academy, serving over 230 student-enrollments. The faculty taught these courses in intensive two-week sessions to an average class size of 39. Fifty-seven IABB students completed at least one course, and 25 completed all six. The Academy’s students, who are all fluent in the English language, consistently demonstrated a profound interest in and enthusiasm for the courses, and their academic acumen exceeded all the expectations of our faculty.

·  Another key objective was to engage both faculties in the development of curriculum materials – to bring SOM and IABB faculty together to adapt the best of Western management education to the circumstances of the developing Russian market economy. We made limited progress on this goal and learned much about the challenges we must meet to engage both faculties.

·  Two faculty members from the School of Management conducted two seminars with participants in the Presidential Management Training Initiative (PMTI) Program. This Program, based on a decree by former Russian President Boris Yeltsin, call for a sustained effort to provide professional training for enterprise managers in order to replace management practices from the Soviet period with more market-oriented policies at the enterprise level. In short, it is a micro-economic approach to Russia’s transition into the global economy.

On October 15, 1999 Dr. Mark Perry discussed “The Current State of the Economy in the U. S.” Forty-eight (48) people attended this seminar. On March 16, 2000 Dr. Betty Velthouse presented “The Role of Human Resource Management for PMTI Managers.” Forty-seven (47) people attended this seminar.

·  Students who successfully completed each course received Certificates of Achievement and 5.0 Continuing Education Units (C. E.U. s) from the University of Michigan. Although the certificates were well received by the students, they felt that “university credit” would be more prestigious and convincing with potential future employers.

·  Awarding each student who successfully completed 5.0 Continuing Education Credits (C. E.U. s) represents a total in-kind contribution by the University of Michigan Flint of $156,C. E.U. s at in-state tuition rate = $197 for the first credit hour, and $151 per each additional credit hour = $801/student x 195 students awarded certificates). This in-kind contribution was not included in the original budget proposal.

·  Introduced the Academy’s Rector to key contacts with the AACSB-The International Association for Management Education (AACSB) at the association’s annual convention. The Academy intends to develop and implement a business curriculum that would be recognized and accepted by this international association. AACSB is currently expanding its accreditation to include schools from other countries that meet or exceed its exacting standards.[1]

·  The relationship, which has developed between the two institutions, now enable faculty members to collaborate and serve as consultants to local and regional businesses, as well as to address the problems that US companies may have with their partners in Russia, for example, the joint venture of Packard Electrical Systems/Samara Cable Company (PES/SCC), a subsidiary of Delphi Automotive Systems in Samara, Russia.

·  Created a website to facilitate communication between institutions and to promote the activities of the project:

http://pime. flint. umich. edu/

·  Two representatives from the Academy’s Department of Finance spent one week in Flint during June. While at SOM, they met and discussed curriculum issues and teaching pedagogy with their UM-Flint colleagues. They also had a daylong meeting with the Director and staff members for the Office of Budget and Finance for the State of Michigan in Lansing, Michigan, representatives from the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and with the Department of Finance for the City of Flint. These meetings were prearranged at the request of project leaders at the Academy. Faculty members of the Academy are currently working with municipal, regional and the Russian national government together with the World Bank to examine and make recommendations on revising the present municipal and regional financial structure. The Academy intends present its recommendations at a conference in Togliatti, Russia and intends to invite representatives from the State of Michigan, the Davidson Institute and from the Department of Finance for the city of Flint to participate in this conference;

·  Three of the Academy’s students spent approximately five weeks at the University of Michigan Flint. During that time each student had a non-paying internship three days per week in Flint. The hosts for these internships were Bank One, the Finance Department for the City of Flint, Dupuis & Ryden (an accounting firm). The students also audited three classes at the University, two from the School of Management, one from the Department of Economics; The students also had a very intense cultural program which included a trip to Chicago to visit the Chicago Board of Trade, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the Federal Reserve, and the Sears Tower, to attend a local meeting of one of Flint’s Rotary Clubs, and to meet with Mayor Woodrow Stanley.

·  While experimentation with distance learning strategies was important goal in Phase I, several factors combined to limit our experimentation:

Ш  First, it was necessary to reallocate some grant monies to improve the IABB information technology infrastructure, as described earlier;

Ш  Second, forging new relationships, adapting courses for a new and unfamiliar environment, and meeting myriad logistical demands (virtually all SOM faculty who taught in Togliatti simultaneously met a full course schedule in Flint), and this left less time than we had anticipated for exploring distance learning issues;

Ш  Third, during the first one and one-half years of Phase I, UM-Flint’s distance learning capabilities were in the early stages of development. Although SOM faculty had used interactive TV delivery systems, they were just starting to explore web-based course delivery. In short, our initial aspirations for experimenting with distance learning strategies simply exceeded our initial capability. In retrospect, these circumstances were probably quite beneficial because they forced SOM and IABB faculty and students to interact on a personal level, and those interactions were clearly instrumental in building the high levels of understanding and trust that currently characterize the partnership.

·  Fortunately, the SOM sharply increased its distance learning capacity this year. These new capabilities opened novel distance learning opportunities for PIME I and led to remarkable progress. UM-Flint offered its first web-based course in the winter 2000 semester, with excellent results. Interestingly, Operations Management was among the first six UM-Flint web courses taught in winter 2000, and it was taught at the IABB a few weeks later, in May 2000. This fortunate timing afforded an opportunity to experiment, and one IABB student, volunteered to enroll in the web version of Operations Management in lieu of the on-campus class. After joining the course at its midpoint, this student came abreast of his classmates within a month, and ultimately completed the course with the highest scores in the class. Word of his experiences spread rapidly through the IABB, and when the SOM faculty visited IABB to teach the on-campus version of Operations Management, IABB students were very excited about the prospects of additional opportunities for UM-Flint/IABB web based courses;

·  Language differences also posed problems. SOM faculty members, with one exception, don’t speak Russian, and many IABB faculty have weak understanding of English, as is typical of most adults over 30 in Russia. We anticipated the inhibiting effects of language and background differences, but Phase I confirms that we underestimated the challenges. On the other hand, Phase I also confirmed that the Academy’s students have excellent academic preparation and capability, as well as excellent fluency in the English language. These facts, combined with the demonstrated feasibility of web-based delivery, make clear the most promising directions for the next phase of our collaboration. This approach appears to be the most logical way to advance our collaborative efforts, benefit the students, and in the process to secure a more comprehensive understanding of the Russian business climate.

·  The International Academy of Business and Banking (IABB) and the School of Management (SOM) at the University of Michigan Flint, both view the activities of this grant as the first phase of continuing collaborative activities.

Final Report of PIME Expenditures

Category	USIA FUNDS	UM-Flint Cost Sharing	Total USIA Fund Expenditures	Total UM-Flint Cost Sharing Expenditures
GENERAL PROGRAM EXPENSES
International Airfare & Per Diem	$ 39,000		$ 46,910
Educational Materials	$ 32,000	$ 4,000	$ 32,843	$ 4,375
Salaries and Benefits		$ 75,270		$ 98,961
Medical Insurance	$ 629		$ 363
Student/Faculty Exchange	$ 24,000		$ 23,001
Computer Consultant/Other Program Costs	$ 36,000	$ 12,600	$ 20,891	$ 2,944
Professional Membership/Conference Fees	$ 2,000		$ 1,714
TOTAL PROGRAM COSTS	$ 133,629	$ 91,870	$ 125,722	$ 106,280
ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES
Salaries and Benefits	$ 16,000	$ 28,228	$ 21,167	$ 25,561
Other Administrative Costs		$ 20,000		$ 603
TOTAL ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS	$ 16,000	$ 48,228	$ 21,167	$ 26,163
TOTAL DIRECT COSTS	$ 149,629	$ 140,098	$ 146,889	$ 132,443
TOTAL INDIRECT COSTS (26%)		$ 36,425		$ 63,052
TOTALS	$ 149,629	$ 176,523	$ 146,889	$ 195,495
Total Unexpended USIA Funds	$ 2,740

APPENDICES

q  List of students receiving Continuing Education Credits (C. E.U. s) in the following classes:

o  Economics

o  Marketing

o  Accounting

o  Finance

o  OB/HRM

o  Operations Management

q  Sample of Certificates of Achievement

q  Internship Evaluation forms for

o  Slava Shoptenko - Bank One (3)

o  Oleg Vostrikov – Department of Finance for the city of Flint, Michigan

o  Artyom Volkov – Dupuis & Ryden

q  Faculty Comments

o  Dr. Zilbershtain’remarks

o  Dr. Lotfi’s remarks

o  Dr. Mehdian’s remarks

q  Slava Shoptenko’s comments (2)

q  Artyom Volkov’s comments

q  Oleg Vostrikov’s comments

q  Article from Togliatti newspaper, “Ploshchad svobody”, about the Academy’s internship experiences in Flint, Michigan

q  Currents Article

q  AACSB Self Study Organization for UM-Flint – forwarded to IABB

Students Receiving Continuing Education Credits (CEUs)

Student Name	Economics	Marketing	Accounting	OB/HRM	Op/Mgt	Finance
Badjanov	Alexei	X	X	X	X	X	X
Barinov	Yuri	X	X	X	X
Belousova	Marina				X
Bocharov	Alexandr	X	X
Buldygin	Dmitry	X	X	X	X	X	X
Chichaev	Ilya	X	X	X	X	X	X
Dunaev	Igor	X	X	X	X	X	X
Dvorkin	Anton	X	X	X	X	X	X
Evdokimova	Elena	X	X	X	X	X	X
Germanova	Sveltlana	X	X	X	X
Gladyk	Olga		X		X
Govorov	Anatoli	X	X	X	X	X	X
Guseinov	Roman	X	X	X	X	X	X
Ignatjev	Fedor	X	X	X	X	X	X
Kalugin	Dmitri	X	X	X	X	X	X
Kislyuk	Irina	X	X	X	X	X	X
Kopjeva	Vera		X		X
Kuleshova	Ludmila	X	X	X	X	X	X
Kusnetsova	Natalia	X	X	X	X	X	X
Lapina	Ekaterina				X
Lapsheva	Tatjana				X
Lavrentjeva	Irina		X		X
Lechkina	Sveltlana				X
Lysyakova	Maxim				X
Moiseev	Maxim	X	X	X	X	X	X
Nagornova	Ekaterina		X		X
Nechaeva	Sveltlana	X	X	X	X	X	X
Nesterov	Vladimir	X	X			X	X
Ostroukhova	Anna		X		X
Pavlukhina	Julia	X	X	X	X	X	X
Popov	Pavel	X	X	X	X	X	X
Popova	Lilia		X		X
Potapova	Anna		X		X
Prokofjeva	Anna				X
Rykov	Artyom	X	X	X	X	X	X
Salavatullina	Venera				X
Salikova	Elena	X	X	X	X
Saprykina	Anna	X	X	X	X
Semizorova	Ekaterina	X	X	X	X	X	X
Shipilo	Marina	X	X	X	X	X	X
Shoptenko	Slava	X	X	X	X	X	X
Sirovatkin	Aleksei	X	X
Stepanov	Artyom	X	X	X	X
Syrovatkin	Alexei			X	X	X
Temnokhud	Fedor	X	X	X	X	X	X
Tseradze	Maiya	X	X	X	X	X	X
Vinnichenko	Maria				X
Voitsekh	Andrei	X	X	X	X	X	X
Volkov	Artyom	X	X	X	X	X	X
Voropaev	Oleg	X	X	X	X
Vostrikov	Oleg	X	X	X	X		X
Zaitseva	Maria				X
Zakirova	Elvira				X
Zapitetski	Artyom	X	X	X	X	X	X
Zavolkovski	Michael	X	X	X	X
Zheleznova	Tatjana		X		X
Zhemchueva	Anna	X	X	X	X	X	X

Partners in Management Education: