Kangwoon University’s graduate business dean Youn Youn-suck of Seoul Korea presented a $12,000 check to Mississippi State University to refit a multimedia classroom in the college of business and industry in McCool Hall. South Korean Kangwoon University has shared a unique partnership with MSU since 1991 when MSU professor J.P. Shim designed the International Business Strategy Program that enables Kangwoon and MSU to interact on a regular basis. “This program was designed to provide opportunities for both MSU and Kangwoon participants,” Shim, professor of information systems and director of the IBSP program, said. “And I believe it has been received very well which proves it to be successful to both groups.”
Over 130 individuals have graduated from the program and of those at least 30 have received scholarships to go about completing it. Often times scholarship recipients are those who translate when MSU hosts the Kangwoon’s participants. Kangwoon University participants journey to MSU annually to finish their six-month program. With their visit, they usually make a donation to MSU for any amount from $5,000 to $10,000. The annual gift goes toward the $100,000 commitment Kangwoon offered to five MSU students to pay for scholarships, guest speakers and other expenses of the program.
“This year was different, we were celebrating the 10 year anniversary of the program so that is partly the reason for the additional donation,” Shim said.
The additional $12,000 will go toward a classroom in McCool with up-to-date computers, projectors and other equipment needed in the business school.
IBSP is designed for Korean business executives who completed Kangwoon University Graduate School of Business Advanced Management Program. It provides a way for Koreans to gain knowledge about U.S. business practice and teach more to Americans about Korean business practice. Topics of the program cover problem-solving skills, cross-cultural management, computer technology, strategic information systems and comparative education. Field trips incorporated in the program allow for Koreans and Americans to visit one another’s major business industries. Field trips taken in previous years include FedEx and Silicon Valley and in Korea, Samsung Electronics, Hyundai and Daewood Automobile. Koreans travel to MSU twice a year while MSU participants travel to Seoul Korea. once a year. Shim is accompanied by more than 15 MSU faculty members; J. William Rush, Daniel S. Cochran and Harvey S. Lewis to name a few. The program is a very competitive one allowing only a small number from a large pool of applicants to be accepted.
“The schools benefit in several ways: faculty members are able to interact with business groups in Seoul, international students attending MSU are able to exchange ideas with teachers and industry executives here. The hands-on opportunity lead to better understanding of each country’s industrial atmosphere,” Shim said. “We need this relationship between countries. It benefits the MSU and Kangwoon participants by broadening their horizons and allowing them to be familiar with what’s out there.”
Shim is a John Grisham Faculty Excellence Award winner and authority on business information. Shim is frequently asked to speaking engagements across the globe. He has lectured at companies in the United States, France, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and India. Shim has published over 50 articles and presented 100 papers at national and international meetings. He received his undergraduate and graduate degrees in South Korea and came to MSU in 1984 after finishing his doctorate in management science and management information at the University of Wisconsin. Shim now lives in Starkville with his wife and two children.
“The program has been very well received over the last 10 year because many people believe in it,” Shim said. “I’m very proud of it myself.