Nine People from Eight Countries

by Volker Heidtmann

In all the classes we take in the School of Management (SOM), people work together on group projects. This is in total contrast to what I expected when I came to UB. I thought business school would be very competitive, but that was not at all the case. That is the great thing about this program: there is a lot of emphasis on teamwork and interpersonal skills.

When I came to UB I also thought I would learn primarily about the U.S. and its culture and business practices. However, there were so many international students in the program that I had an opportunity to get to know people from all over the world and to understand their culture and their values and how they look at things. This was very exciting. I could experience a variety of people in one place, which is especially important now that the world is getting to be a smaller place.

One of my experiences that grew out of the emphasis on teamwork in the SOM was a great trip to Montreal in May 1997. We started out with three cars headed to Montreal and we all managed to stay together on the highway - an organizational feat in itself. There were nine people from eight different countries: one person from Japan, two from India, one from Russia, one from Spain, one from Senegal, one from Ghana, one from the U.S., and me from Germany.

In German universities, group work is not very big. It's interesting that in a more homogenous culture working together isn't necessarily easier. The amazing thing is that once you get to appreciate differences, you see how much good they can do, just by virtue of different experiences, knowledge, skills, and different views on a problem. So much creativity is lost without these differences.

The community at the UB School of Management is closely knit. The school makes it very clear from the first day that it is important that everyone starts out with this basic principle: cooperation rather than competition.