Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/62201
an enterprise. Even more important, they strengthen rela- tionships within the student companies. "Working on Habitat for Humanity accomplishes many of the same things as sending a group off to Outward Bound, and yet the Outward Bound experience doesn't produce any- thing for anyone. If you go down to work on a Habitat for Humanity home with a group of people from work, you build interpersonal relationships and contribute to the community at the same time," Michaelson says. "At times, the service project is the glue that holds some companies together dur- ing business-related problems." He illustrates the point with the tale of students who elect- ed to sell beach towels that featured the Oklahoma logo and a reference to OU's recent national sports title. Although they tried to work within university licensing rules, the stu- dents were told that the towels violated certain licensing requirements. They were given a choice of selling their inven- tory to a company the licensing office had located, or selling the towels in nonpublic places. The students opted for the "black market" approach, but by this time they'd missed their prime chance to sell towels to Sooners heading off to spring break. "Their business was sputtering," Michaelsen says. While they were still figuring out what to do, the students took part in their service project, which involved local high school students, OU athletes, and Special Olympics children playing in a softball game. The game took place near fields where the OU men's baseball team and women's softball team also were playing. Crowds were good, and several news organizations covered the event. "Even though these students had been so angry with each other, they had such a good experience doing this service proj- ect that they rebuilt the community spirit within the team," says Michaelsen. "They were able to face up to the problems on the business, and they ended up doing pretty well." They sold out of their nonlicensed towels, reordered more legitimate ones, and opened a snow cone division of their company. Ultimately, both divisions were quite profitable. "That company would not have been nearly so successful if those students hadn't done that service project together," Michaelsen says. Proven Success Like any passionate program director, Michaelsen is con- vinced the IBC has a remarkable impact on student lives—but unlike most, he has hard data to back him up. In 2000 he conducted a survey of graduating seniors to evaluate core undergraduate programs. Eighteen to 24 months after partic- ipating in the IBC, more than half of the respondents identi- fied it as the single most positive aspect of their undergradu- ate business education. Of the seniors who did not participate in IBC, less than one percent mentioned anything relating to their junior-level courses when asked about their best under- graduate experiences. Asked what made IBC valuable to them, respondents identified three main benefits. First, it improved their learn- ing and helped them apply concepts to later classes. Second, it improved their ability to develop people skills. Third, it created a profound sense of community among the IBC par- ticipants, which remained strong through the remainder of their time at OU. "When asked about how things are going in their courses, IBC students invariably speak in terms of 'we'—they and one or more IBC peers with whom they have voluntarily chosen to work and study," Michaelsen says in a report about the sur- vey. "In fact, many instructors in higher-level courses are find- ing that they cannot allow self-formed project groups because other students are simply unable to compete with groups composed of former IBC students." The IBC has been so successful at OU that Michaelsen happily shares its stories with other school administrators who want to set up similar programs. He knows of at least one school—Brigham Young University-Idaho in Rexburg—that has copied some aspects of Oklahoma's IBC program. "It's a private school on a smaller campus in a very small community, so it's a very different situation," he notes. The faculty had decided to try the program for a semester and see how it went. Before the semester was over, they were com- mitted to the program for good. By the second semester, one of BYU's student companies had earned a $10,000 profit—a level it took the OU students two years to achieve. If other schools are interested in setting up their own inte- grated curricula, Michaelsen advises them to include the business community from the very beginning—particularly the bankers who might be interested in approving the loans. He also recommends that schools start with 70 students in two companies and increase class sizes over time. Schools also should have seed money to cover the loans to the stu- dent companies. Then, they're ready to launch—and students will have the learning experience of a lifetime. No lecture or textbook can quite prepare students for the decisions they'll have to make if inventory is ruined in a rainstorm, for instance, or a suppli- er turns out to be a competitor. IBC students who overcome such problems are likely to be better prepared to take on the larger obstacles that will threaten their companies when they're facing higher stakes in the corporate world. ■ z BizEd MAY/JUNE 2003 51