Meredith herald
Volume XI, Issue 20
February 22, 1995
Raleigh, North Carolina
Speaker discusses cultural speed bumps in business
by Christina Poples
The John Weems Graduate School
sponsored a lecture concerning inter
national business for its students in the
Masters in Business Administration
(MBA) program.
Kathy McLaughlin, president of
McLaughlin International, spoke to thp
MBA students and faculty about “The
Global Marketplace ” at a dinner in Belk
Dining Hall on Thurs., Feb. 16.
The lecture was funded by the
Broyhill Leadership Institute, which
began injan. 1994when Meredith was
a Broyhill Foundation grant. The
institute’s purpose is to promote the
aspects of effective teamwork —
servanthood, fellowship, and leader
ship, which are at the heart of all its
programs.
The John Weems Graduate School
has three graduate programs in educa
tion, music and business administra
tion. Mary Johnson, dean of the gradu
ate school, and Rose Lippard, profes
sor of business, decided that they
needed a “way to enhance the pro
gram by getting everyone together in a
social atmosphere,” said Lippard.
They also had a companion lec
ture in the fall with a presentation on
“Gender Communication” by Pat
Heim. They
decided to
continue the
conununica-
tion theme
with the
spring lec
ture, said
Lippard.
MdaM^iin
International
is a seven-
year-old con
sulting firm,
which is lo
cated in the
RTP World
Trade Cen-
t e r .
McLaughlin
speaks, leads
seminars and writes about customiz
ing programs for companies to meet
their international business needs.
“1 wouldn’t be anywhere else but
Meredith College tonight,” said
McLaughlin as she pounded her fist on
the table. She did this, she said, to
illustrate her main point because an
action
like
pounding
the table
is consid
ered to be
assertive
in the
U.S., but
in many
other
countries
that
would be
consid
ered ex
tremely
rude.
“ 1 n
the last 10
pr 15
years, there has been a growing num
ber of companies purchased by or
merged with international firms,” said
McLaughlin. “International business is
now not only in LA. or New York but
photo by Jan Seate
Kathy McLaughlin, president of McLaughlin International,
addressed Meredith MBA students last week. She
addressed the problem of U.S. business people seeing
past their own way of doing things to international ways.
also in cities, small towns and rural
areas across the nation.”
Nations have merged. Countries
have opened their borders to new eco
nomic progress, and there is more and
more internationalization, she said. But
while the business world is growing
closer together, our horizons are ex
panding becauseour technology makes
it possible to do business on four dif
ferent continents at the same time with
out leaving our offices.
Mclaughiin addressed seven areas
in which American business people
hit “cultural speed bumps.” We not
only need to know about our own
production, service and industry but
also how to do business internation
ally, said McLaughlin.
The Seven Cultural Speed Bumps:
• Pace
The U.S. treats time as a commod
ity. “We plan it, use it, give it away, run
out of it and compartmentalize it in our
see BUMP page seven
Students want change at SGA Forum for the Future
by KJmberiy Zucker
Lately, Meredith’s campus has been
filled with questions. Students, fac
ulty, administration and alumnae have
been questioning what the future of
Meredith College will be. On Feb. 21 at
7:30p.m., students held a forum in the
chapel to form their own answers to
these questions.
Kelly Formy-Duvall and June Hol
land presided over the meeting, while
Kristen Tyvoll and Erica Balmer wrote
down all student suggestions to take to
their meeting with President Weems
on Wednesday. The rest of the com
mittee—Tara Flanagan, Cheryl Jenkins,
Melissa Ray, Nikki Bounds, Stephanie
Conger and Alyce Turner—sat on the
panel also.
Dr. Jean Jackson began the forum
by praising the students for coming
out and showing their interest. “It is
important to make known that we
want changes to make this a better
community. This a great opportunity
for students to come together and be
heard.”
The forum began with some stu
dents asking for more flexibility with
the dorms. A request was made for
students over 23 to be allowed to live
in the dorms. International students
and out-of-state students wanted the
dorms to open earlier when returning
from holidays. These students also felt
that there should be a storage facility
available to them over the summer.
Some students also made sugges
tions concerning male visitation. A
lot of students feared that student life
would suffer with the addition of male
visitation, while others were con
vinced that without this more people
will continue to leave.
Another issued raised was the
quaility of residence life, including
fines, call downs and quiet hours.
Other students were concerned
with the possibility of increasing the
number of night classes.
Others suggested a wider variety of
majors. Some students feit that then-
fields were not getting enough finan
cial support. Students also felt the need
for more advisors in certain depart
ments, such as the speech and commu
nications department.
Students also asked that the post
office and the campus store extend
their hours on the weekends. Others
complained of the dining hall hours.
Suggestions were made for the cafete
ria to change dinner hours to 5:00-7:00
p.m. and to extend breakfast hours
until mid-morning.
Many students were also concerned
with the academic image of Meredith.
A suggestion was made to form a mar
keting committee to design new bro
chures and to send Meredith students
into high school classrooms to increase
enrollment instead of lowering aca
demic standards.
Other students wanted more inter
action with President Weems. Many
were upset that they never see him
throughout the campus, while Jack-
son and other faculty were
complimented for eating in the cafete
ria. Students felt that he should try to
interact more with the Meredith com
munity.
The forum concluded with a reso
lution, which stressed that to make
any accomplishments and changes, all
members of the Meredith community
must have unity. In striving towarck
unity, students have suggested that a
committee of non-traditional and tradi
tional students, faculty and alumnae
be formed to work on these sugges
tions and with the board of trustees to'
make the necessary changes at the
college