Contact: Sammy McDavid
Seven Mississippi State graduate students and four faculty members are in the People's Republic of China this week for an information-sharing program focusing on business management.
The university group from the College of Business and Industry returns on Sunday [the 27th] after eight days in Shanghai. The trip, which began Friday [Oct. 18], is being financed, in large part, through a generous gift from their sponsor, Shanghai-based UFSoft Co. Ltd. Group members are paying the remainder of their way for this major lifetime experience.
UFSoft is China's largest independent software development enterprise and its largest provider of management software and services. The company has nearly 30 branch offices, more than 50 sales agencies and hundreds of sales representatives, all necessary to serve the world's most populous nation.
"The company currently is making a transition from a solo financial software producer to a diverse management applications provider, and is seeking our suggestions for managing a large corporation," said Barbara A. Spencer, MSU director of graduate studies in business. UFSoft's customers include accounting, automobile manufacturing, insurance, stock trading, and retailing concerns, among others, she added.
In their presentations, Spencer and the others are giving particular emphasis to commercial organizational structures and their efficient operations.
With Spencer are Louis M. Capella, associate dean for internal affairs; John O. Lox, director of the international business academic program; and management professor Stephen Taylor.
All but one student in the MSU group are pursuing master's degrees in business administration. The MBA majors include Richard L. Bowles of Meridian, Guy Jones of Trussville, Ala., Anna S. Martin of Clinton, Kent Mortimer of Kilmichael, Lenito J. Sinay, also of Meridian, and Laura Ellen Thornton of Mobile, Ala. Bowles and Sinay attend MSU-Meridian; the others, the Starkville campus.
For Xiaomei Luo--the lone finance major--the trip provides an unplanned opportunity to return to her hometown.
An historic city located near the mouth of the Yangste River, Shanghai is China's largest municipality, greatest industrial center and one of the world's major commercial and trading ports.
Luo's presence also will be special for her traveling companions. When not meeting with UFSoft officials, the working tourists will spend time taking in such city sites as the Shanghai Stock Exchange and Lu Jia Financial Center, as well as a variety of museums and historical locations.
For the Americans, having a personal guide to help negotiate around a sprawling city of some 12.9 million residents surely must be a very good thing.