Students and CEOs don't share priorities, research shows

Students view globalization and environmental sustainability as two of the biggest factors affecting the success of future business, and many feel their education isn't adequately preparing them for that future, according to a recent study.

But today's chief operating officers, according to the study released last month by information technology giant IBM, were more likely to pick people skills and macroeconomic factors rather than globalization and the environment.

IBM has conducted similar studies in recent years, but this is the first time they have sought the perspective of the next generation of businesspeople, according to Ragna Bell, the strategy and change leader in IBM's Institute of Business Value, which conducted the study. Researchers interviewed approximately 3,600 students and more than 1,600 CEOs for the study, Bell said.

In the study, about half of the students — compared to less than a third of the CEOs — described globalization as an important business tool.

The root of this difference may be the fact that current students were raised as technological innovations were boosting global awareness by making information more accessible, according to Bell.

"On every question we asked, they were almost twice as likely to pick globalization," Bell said. "They grew up, in a way, in a smaller world."

As a tool, technology can play an integral role in increasing efforts to globalize, Bell said. Globalization is not as simple as opening a few stores in another country; she said it requires a level of international relations — an understanding of the customs, laws and dealings of other nations.

As junior international business and marketing major Alexia Smith put it, "a company that can't communicate with other countries is going to be in trouble."

"That's why I'm doing international business and I'm studying in China next semester," Smith added. "There's no way that business won't be globalized."

At this university, the business school constantly addresses the importance of globalization, according to business professor Michael Ball.

"We try to integrate globalization topics into all of our courses," Ball said, a fact that has not been lost on business students.

"All of my classes have absolutely touched on it, it was something that was always brought up," junior operations management major Lauren Filocco said.

Jan Greenwood, president and CEO of Greenwood/Asher and Associates — which aids executive searches, training and consulting — believes students are right to name globalization as a priority for future business leaders, as she has incorporated the concept into her own business.

"Our work has been global," Greenwood said. "Ever since I started in executive search, we've worked and recruited around the world. You've got to understand global culture, cultural differences."

Bell speculated that future globalization is more important to students than CEOs because current business leaders have spent enough time working on globalization that they take for granted that it would remain a continued focus.

According to the study, the future of the environment was also a key factor to more students than to business leaders; students were nearly three times more likely than CEOs to expect the sustainability of natural resources to have a significant impact on business.

Andrew Bederman, a managing partner at the law firm Greenberg & Bederman, has experienced firsthand how business and the environment can intersect for the worse while representing businesses that have struggled in the wake of the recent Gulf oil spill.

"It's pretty clear that if you're involved in a business like the fish business, whether you're a processor or distributor, you'll be affected," Bederman said. "But there are also people who own property, people in tourism, people who own motels and hotels in the gulf who also lose money."

Despite this university's successes in teaching globalization, Ball said he agreed that its business program hasn't developed a solid and consistent way of integrating sustainability discussions into its coursework.

"Environmental and green issues are in their infancy," he said. "That's not something we've been working on for the last 10 years."

In the IBM study, only four out of 10 students felt their education so far has adequately prepared them for dealing with future business issues.

"While this study was not created solely for universities, IBM's close ties with universities allow this study to be a useful starting point for re-examining curriculum and shedding light in areas, like the environment, that may need more emphasis," Bell said.

"We are reaching back out with professors, students," Bell said. "This study was created to better understand the next generation."

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