Dr. Fenwick Huss

Georgia State Faculty to Speak in China

Two scholars from Georgia State University have accepted invitations and will speak at seminars in two different Chinese cities.

Fenwick Huss, dean of the J. Mack Robinson College of Business at Georgia State, will be one of the keynote speakers at the International Symposium on Hospitality Management 2007, an event hosted by Xiamen University in the city of Xiamen. 

Dr. Huss has lectured in China many times before on business information needs in transitional economies. 

The seminar, which will be held August 7-9, will focus on promoting hospitality management education and research, according to Linda Sun, an international program consultant in Georgia who helped organize the symposium.

Xiamen, designated as one of China’s special economic zones, has a vibrant economy and a flourishing tourism industry and is located just a one-hour flight away from Shenzhen, one of China’s fastest-growing technology hubs.

Xiamen University has one of China’s top-ranked hospitality programs and wants to establish an exchange program with a university in America, said Dr. Sun.

She added that Xiamen University sees Georgia State, with its nationally ranked Cecil B. Day School of Hospitality, as an ideal candidate for such a partnership, but she could not comment on Georgia State’s interest in pursuing it.

The seminar will end six days before Georgia State hosts the grand opening of its new Hospitality Learning Center August 15 at the Georgia World Congress Center. 

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Dr. Richard Welke

Richard Welke, director for the Center for Process Innovation in the Robinson College, will speak at the China Private Economy Innovation International Forum 2007 on August 11-12 in Taizhou, a city of about 5 million people near Shanghai. 

The symposium, organized by the Institute of Economics Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing and the Taizhou Economic Association, will address “how local and regional resources and capabilities can be used to spur private innovation and improve competitiveness,” Dr. Sun said in a statement. 

For a city its size, Taizhou has a substantial amount of private enterprise, Dr. Sun said.  But local business leaders are still learning how to sustain domestic growth in the face of increasing foreign investment and pressure from publicly owned businesses.  

The Taizhou government fully supports the conference and will facilitate business connections for enterprises and entrepreneurs from the United States and China that attend the conference.

For more information, contact Dr. Huss (404) 651-2604 hfhuss@gsu.edu;
Dr. Welke (404) 413-7863 rwelke@gsu.edu or
Dr. Sun at (770) 973-8732 asppress@yahoo.com.

 

Students from Martinique Visit Hartsfield, Delta Museum

A group of 16 students and four teachers from Lycee Professionel Andre Aliker, a vocational school in Fort-de-France, Martinique, visited Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport during an educational trip June 23-30.

The students are considering careers in the transportation sector, a vital industry in Martinique.  The island, an overseas department of France near Venezuela in the southern Caribbean, relies heavily on imports by air and sea. 

On a tour arranged by Manny de Barros, protocol official for the airport, the college-aged students met with airport operations officials and viewed the new baggage facility at the North Terminal, as well as one of the airport’s ground control towers.

In addition, the students toured Delta Air Lines Inc.’s Delta Air Transport Heritage Museum, which houses the Spirit of Delta, the first Boeing 767 purchased by an airline, and the Ship 41, the first DC-3 plane to carry Delta passengers.

Delta operates a Boeing 737-800 once a week from Atlanta to Fort-de-France, a non-stop service that it started in December.

Also on hand for the tour was Delta account executive George Blanco, who is based in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where the airline has an international hub that covers the Caribbean islands.

To give students exposure to the world beyond Martinique, the Andre Aliker school is considering making the trip to Atlanta an annual event, according to Marie-Aimee Disy, one of the teacher-chaperones on the trip. 

For more information, contact Christel Coita, marketing and media relations coordinator for the Martinique Promotion Bureau/CMT USA, at christel.coita@franceguide.com. 

 

Dr. Jagdish Sheth and the cover of his latest book: The Self-Destructive Habits of Good Companies...And How to the Break Them.

Local Business Scholar in India and Dubai for New Book

Emory University Charles H. Kellstadt Professor of Marketing Jagdish Sheth returned from India and Dubai last month where he promoted his latest book, “Self-Destructive Habits of Good Companies…and How to Break Them.”

Published in April by Wharton School of Publishing, Dr. Sheth’s book details seven problems with corporate management that can cause a seemingly strong company to experience losses or even go under.

Struggles facing AT&T, Digital Equipment Corp., Eastman Kodak Co., Enron, Ford Motor Corp., Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. and others are outlined in the book and offer examples of what not to do when managing a competitive business, according to Dr. Sheth.

“With success you engage in excess,” Dr. Sheth said, likening corporate habits to ones individuals sometimes develop after making a lot of money. “When affluence comes quick in life, people end up doing things that are so dumb – like taking drugs,” he said.

Corporate affluence, he said, can lead to habits including arrogance, complacency and denial, which Dr. Sheth says can be the most destructive.

While in India to promote the book, Dr. Sheth spoke with several news organizations about India's corporate culture. He said that many Indian firms need to have more non-Indian diversity, take foreign competition more seriously and be wary of becoming too arrogant.

“Self-Destructive Habits of Good Companies…and How to Break Them” was also the subject of a three-part documentary produced by CNBC India that will air in the country this month.

For more information on Dr. Sheth, watch a three-part GlobalAtlanta video interview that discusses his work in the U.S. and his book “Tectonic Shift: the Geoeconomic Realignment of Globalizing Markets,” that was published last year.

http://video.globalatlanta.com/GlobalAtlanta_00020.html

“Self-Destructive Habits of Good Companies…and How to Break Them,” is available in book stores and for bulk ordering by calling 1-800-CEO-READ.

 

Argentine Consul General Hosting Nine Companies

Argentina’s consul general, Carlos Layus is hosting nine Argentine companies invited here by the AmericasMart this week.

The companies will be a part of an international exhibit located on the ninth floor of Building One at the mart. 

They will feature textiles, wool, rugs, mats, bedcovers, indigenous artcrafts, and home accents including leather and wood products. 

The Argentine consulate will also host a Saturday, July 14, brunch at the AmericasMart for the visiting companies that will begin at 11:30.

For more information on the companies, call (404) 880-0105, ext. 105 or visit www.consuladoargentinoatlanta.org

Tamuna Liluashvili

Southern Center Events Coordinator
Takes Job in Republic of Georgia

Tamuna Liluashvili, a native of Tblisi, Georgia, who has worked with the Southern Center for International Studies for 6 years, will return home this month to take on a position with the country’s Ministry of Economic Development.

Ms. Liluashvili will be deputy head of Georgia's National Investment Agency, where she will promote and facilitate foreign direct investment into her country.

A graduate of Agnes Scott College and South Gwinnett High School, Ms. Liluashvili came here in 1992 after her parents met what would be her American host family in the first Friendship Force exchange to take place between the two Georgias. 

Based in Atlanta, Friendship Force promotes understanding of foreign cultures through international exchange programs.

After graduating from Agnes Scott, where she studied international relations, Ms. Liluashvili began working with the Southern Center as events coordinator and community relations manager.

During her time there, she welcomed to Atlanta such international dignitaries as former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, ninth president of the World Bank James Wolfensohn and numerous ambassadors and foreign ministers.

She has also served on the Board of Art Partners of the Members' Guild of the High Museum of Art and as a member of the Atlanta-Tblisi Sister City Committee.

Ms. Liluashvili is eager to keep in touch with members of Atlanta’s international business community and encourages individuals to contact her via email at tamuna_atl@yahoo.com.

To learn more about investment opportunities in Georgia, visit www.investingeorgia.org.