TRAVEL SEMINARS IN EUROPE: HOW CAN I DIRECT ONE? Developments in Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 8, 1981 221 TRAVEL SEMINARS IN EUROPE: HOW CAN I DIRECT ONE? Sion Raveed, Southern Illinois University - Carbondale ABSTRACT This paper is designed to indicate to any interested faculty member, how to run a travel business seminar. International trade is becoming very important to the United States. The international business environment is a very complex one. It is difficult to teach students how international business is carried by use of in-class lectures, or other traditional teaching methods. A European Business Seminar was developed to carry out his task. During the seminar students have an opportunity to interact directly with top level business executives. These executives have day to day responsibility for their firms’ international business operations. Seminar Development This paper describes the step by step procedures faculty members would need to follow in order to set up their own seminars. It also highlights some of the major issues a faculty member should consider when structuring a similar seminar. In order to offer an international marketing seminar, one must find a “home’ far it. A university institutional base is desirable in order to offer academic credit for the program. The crucial element of a travel business/seminar is the lecture/discussion sessions with a wide variety of firms which are actively involved in international business or other Institutions that influence the foreign business environment. In order to secure foreign hosts one must first choose the countries to be visited. Experience has indicated that the overseas seminar should visit two to four countries. Participants need to be to contrast the commercial environments and marketing practices found between countries but still stay in each country long enough to absorb its unique features. Countries which are especially supportive of business are: Belgium, France, Netherlands, The Republic of Ireland, United Kingdom, and Yugoslavia. Certain countries should be avoided in running such a seminar. Characteristics of countries that would make less than ideal hosts include a tradition of business secrecy, very high costs of living, strong anti-American feelings, political instability, ect. Filling Out Your Program Once the host countries are selected, the next task is to arrange for host organizations. There are a variety of foreign institutions that will help one contact suitable organizations. For example, in the United Kingdom, one can contact the Central Bureau for Education Visits and Exchanges to help find appropriate hosts. Institutions that serve a similar function in other countries include the Irish Development Authority in Ireland, the Bureau of Tourism In Belgium, and Universities in Holland, France, and Yugoslavia. Most countries have such institutions which are willing to help study-travel seminars. These institutions are helpful but often very slow. In contacting an organization, one needs to send a description of the seminar, a description of the tentative schedule, and a write-up on the type of presentation that would best serve your objectives. One needs to contact 50% more potential foreign hosts than actually needed. This provides a full schedule plus a few back-up hosts. Past experience has shown that it is advisable to have some back- up host organizations because roughly 10-15% of the organizations that agree to Speak to the seminar will need to cancel their presentation. These cancellations are due to strikes, special holidays, or managerial emergencies. Students taking this type of experiential seminar should first attend several orientation meetings in the U.S. At the meetings the seminar is explained and reading materials are handed out. The readings should cover general information about traveling abroad, more detailed material about the political, economic, and marketing environments of each country, as well as articles on some of the specific organizations to be visited. At consequent meetings the reading materials should be discussed. Session Format Do not expect any visit to a single institution to provide the students with the total picture. The desired outcome is best achieved by visiting a variety of organizations. If each host provides input on its policies, management strategies, methods of dealing with the international market and the environment in which it operates, then the students will develop the necessary understanding from the experiential activity. We leave it to each organization to we visit ta decide on the format of presentation that best suits that particular host. Seminar Development It is often difficult for any one university to effectively start up and run a travel business seminar. A number of universities have joined together to put on such programs. It often takes a number of years to make the initial contacts. In my case, it took three years. Even once all the contacts are made, one University often can’t support a travel seminar on its own. To run such a program efficiently requires two to three faculty members to accompany the students to Europe. This requires recruiting 30 to 45 students, in order to keep the costs within reason. If you are interested in directing a seminar in conjunction with other universities you are welcome to contact myself at the Department of Marketing, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois 62901, (618) 453-4341 and/or Daniel Brenenstuhl, Management Department, Arizona State University, Tempe Arizona 85281, (602)965-3961. Table of Contents Volume 8, 1981 The Promotion: Human Sexuality in Organization The Simulation of Chaos Leadership Development in a Simulated Urban/Suburban (U/S) Environment Tomed: A Computer Game Emphasizing Social Responsibility/or/why the Pop-Top Can? Integrated Brain Activity and the Manager's Job: Utilizing the Troika Model What does R2 Have to do with a Product Management Course? An Analysis of the Effects of Jungian Problem-Solving Style Dimensions on Marketing Decisions Bargaining Behavior in Personal Selling and Buying Exchanges Extending the Simulation Product Life Cycle A Generalized Algorithm for Designing and Developing Business Simulations Operationalizing a Test of a Model of the Use of Simulation Games and Experiential Exercises Pygmalion and Perception: An Experiential Exercise Behavioral Consequences of Reward Regarding Employee Absenteeism in an Industrial Setting: An Operant Conditioning Approach The Simlab Program: The Use of Experimental Simulation and Process Analysis for the Development of Management and Organizations Designs for Research on Simulation-Games, Cases, and Other Experiential Exercises The Role of Students in The Case Method Weaknesses in Research Design Critical Variables in Research on the Educational Value of Management Games Research Questions for Cases Research on the Learning Effectiveness of Business Simulation Games - A Review of the State of the Science The Effects of Valuation Techniques on Holding Cost During Inflationary Periods: A Simulation Exercise The Operations Simulation - A Study in Game Development Applying Guided Design to the Production/Operations Management Course: A Progress Report and Evaluation Terminal Data Entry and Retrieval Systems Simulations and Microprocessors Microcomputers and Related Technology for Simulation Gaming Microcomputers - A New Technology for Innovations in Business Simulations Microprocessor Controlled Interactive Video Simulation Business Game Design: From Theory to Practice The Success of a Computerized Simulation in Microeconomic Pedagogy The Test Preview Game: Applying the Game Show Format Providing a Real World View of the Personal Function: A Simulation Finding an Effective Means of Teaching Managerial Behavioral Skills: Two Different Experiential Teaching Methods Compared A Management Development Program Based on the Experiential Learning Model Participant Type Differences in Response to Experiential Methods: An Informal Look Preparing Student Groups to Participate in Experiential Group Projects: An Organizational Development Approach An Instrument for the Assessment of Learning Dimensions: A Progress Report of the Learning Dimension Scale (LDS) An Empirical Analysis Relating the Learning Style Inventory to Memory and Logical Ability Teaching Styles in Simulation Experiential Learning Versus Traditional Teaching Styles Student Perceptions of Effective Teaching Behaviors Problems in Evaluation of Experiential Learning in Management Education Students' Perceptions of Learning by Simulation A Relative Evaluation of Experiential and Simulation Learning in Terms of Perceptions of Effected Changes in Students Overview of Computer Based Business Games in Business Policy Classes Behavioral Decision Theory and Business Policy Giving Accounting Students Writing Experience as Job Preparation Getting to First Base with MBO: An exercise for Writing and Evaluating Objectives Dimensions of Conflict in Experiential Learning Consumer Alienation and Perceived Relevance of the Business Simulation Using the Self-Reference Criterion to Simulate Culture in Internationalized Business Course Experiential Learning in a Cross Cultural Setting- The Practice of Simulation Approach to Business Education in Japanese Universities Student' Perceptions of the Use of a Computerized Simulation in Teaching Management Information Systems Using the Case Study Approach to Develop a Microcomputer Bases, Fully Integrated, Data Base Driven, Management Information System The Case Study as a Tool for Organizational Change: Applying the Steel Ax to the Designers of Management Information Systems Toward a Theory of Teaching Business Policy A Case Study in the Use of Experiential Learning (A Management Game Simulation) to Enhance Student Understanding of Strategy Evaluation and Policy Formulation Suggestions for Integration of the Business Administration Core Publishing Opportunities and Requirements for Business Simulation and Experiential Learning Materials How do we Apply Experiential Learning Intercollegiate Case Competitions for M.B.A. Students: Initiation and Implementation Teaching Business Policy and Strategy Using the Incident Process The Learning Co-Op Approach to the Core Policy Course Meeting the Managerial Skill Shortage - Is Academia Up to It? An Empirical Analysis of Experiential Learning Reinforcement International Experiential Learning: Experience is the Best Teacher Encouraging Student Participation During International Academic Programs European Summer Study Program: Can you, Should you, What Does it Take? Travel Seminars in Europe: How can I Direct One? International Experiential Learning: Student Evaluation ABSEL: Empirical Findings on the State of the Association Sensitivity of Performance Scores in Business Simulations Improving the Learning of a Business Simulation Game by Increasing the Process Content Student Participation in Deciding Performance Criteria for Grading in an OB Course: An Exercise and a Case Study Markup for Profit: A Simulated Self-Administered Experience in Retail Pricing The Investment Decision Game: An Experiential Learning Approach to Stock Market Decisions Through Gaming CHIPS: A Marketing Channels management Game External Validation: An Experimental Approach to Determining the Worth of Simulation Games Teaching Performance Appraisal Skills: An Experiential Approach In Support of Experiential learning: Results of a Follow-Up Survey The Introductory Management Course: Taking Theory Application One Step Further Decision Efficiency and Effectiveness in a Business Simulation The Implications of Cognitive Processing Variables and the Complex Decision Simulating the Simulation for Enhanced Player Rationality Simulation/Experiential Learning Audit