Beyond Ready CQ in the FSB

First-Year CQ Foundations

This program begins with a self-assessment to set a baseline and then the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion program in BUS 101 within the skills-focused First-Year Integrated core.

CQ Foundations

CQ Assessment: Students take the CQ Pro online self-assessment of their cultural assessment, administered by the Cultural Intelligence Center, to set a baseline for their growth in the Farmer School of Business. Each student receives a full assessment report, funded by the Center for KickGlass Change, that details their score on each of the four key dimensions and related sub-dimensions. They also see how they compare (low, moderate, high) to worldwide norms and to their Farmer School peers. They will re-assess their CQ at the end of BUS 101 to measure their CQ growth. They may also assess their BEYOND READY CQ score before they enter the job market to demonstrate their CQ skills to potential employers through the Center for KickGlass Change.

CQ Learning: Students gain an understanding of the conceptualization and application of Cultural Intelligence through in-class and out-of-class learning, discussion, and application.

CQ Self-Reflection + Growth Plan:  Students consider the takeaways of their CQ self-assessment and identify specific opportunities for personal growth. They then develop a personal CQ growth plan for their four years at Miami. Students build in curricular, co-curricular, and extra-curricular offerings curated for them in the BEYOND READY CQ website site. FSB Professional advisors will check in on their CQ growth as they progress through the Farmer School of Business.

DEI Modules in BUS 101 include:

The Business Case for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

In this module, students learn about the importance of Diversity to firm performance - but only if it is effectively managed to produce equity and inclusion.  Students consider the influence of bias in creating opportunity and psychological safety with an application to team effectiveness and collaboration. 

Embracing Cognitive Diversity in Business

Students focus on cognitive diversity using the HBDI assessment of thinking preferences. They discover their core thinking preferences, understand when and how to stretch to non-preferred thinking styles when the situation requires it, and know their cognitive tendencies under stress so as to evolve into a Whole-Brain thinker and leader. 

DEI Challenge

Companies have long understood the competitive advantages of creating diverse and inclusive workforces (greater innovation, stronger financial performance, etc.,). However, the good intentions as well as costly initiatives and programs have failed to achieve meaningful and sustainable results. While the urgency to address organizational inequities is understood, there is no clear roadmap for how to achieve it, and organizations cannot continue to rely on ineffective approaches of the past. This problem is challenging organizational leaders to fundamentally rethink what they value, who they value, and just how committed they are to drive organizational change related to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusiveness (DEI).

A group of corporate executives and board members from diverse industries came together and formed The Change Group to tackle some of the most troubling disparities seen within corporate America. BUS 101 students work in consulting teams to critically examine one of the initiatives identified by The Change Group and provide recommendations that would result in realistic, sustainable progress towards the initiative.

KickGlass CQ Leadership Program

This innovative and unique program will provide students with the opportunity to complete co-curricular credentials to develop their Cultural Leadership skills. These credentials will build on the CQ DRIVE coursework in BUS 101 which is designed to create self-awareness and motivation for CQ Growth. The credentials will be designed to promote growth through CQ KNOWLEDGE, CQ STRATEGY, and CQ ACTION. It will provide students with programmatic development through the four CQ dimensions to performative CQ LEADERSHIP in the CQ ACTION stage.

In each stage, students will focus on self-awareness, perspective-taking, and skill development to develop as open-minded leaders, of all identity intersectionalities, who enter the workforce with the tools to mitigate individual and structural bias and the empathy to include and unite. The credentials will develop Cultural Intelligence and Inclusion skills organized around the four CQ Dimensions to a variety of stakeholders. KICKGLASS CQ LEADERSHIP program will leverage the Farmer School of Business’s decades of experience with delivering high-quality experiential learning opportunities to students and external participants.

The Center for KICKGLASS Change will offer a variety of in-person and technologically-enabled remote credentials that will be available to all Miami students, faculty, and staff in Oxford, as study-away and as study-abroad. They will also be extended outside the university for executive education and alumni learning. Participants receive digital credentials which can be published on LinkedIn and social media to provide evidence of CQ development to employers, graduate schools, and customers.

Each credential has a discounted fee of $199 for Farmer School of Business students. Students can plan to earn all four credentials in one academic year.

CQ Development Courses in the Farmer School of Business

• MKT 404 | CQ Marketing
  
  • This marketing elective course is designed to develop marketers who have the knowledge, perspectives, and skills to practice culturally intelligent (CQ) marketing in increasingly diverse and dynamic environments. Cultural Intelligence (CQ) is the ability to recognize and adapt to cultural differences, including differences across cultural identities. Students will learn the CQ MKT process and consider how the four dimensions of Cultural Intelligence, CQ DRIVE, CQ KNOWLEDGE, CQ STRATEGY, and CQ ACTION, can be activated in a marketing context to deliver marketing thought and practice that is adaptive, inclusive, and culturally aware.
• MKT 486 | KickGlass Marketing For Change
  • This experiential learning capstone course will provide students with hands-on experience at activating human-centered marketing designed to create social change. Within the course, they will complete an Intergroup Dialogues certification program facilitated by the Center for American and World Cultures. Students will consider the potential of marketing as both a force for good and a force for growth as they compete in the KICKGLASS Marketing for Change Challenge, providing solutions to a real-world social change challenge by a client company or organization. They will develop as adaptive, empathetic, and culturally intelligent marketers who activate bold and inclusive marketing that addresses consumers' needs, meets brand goals, and promotes social change.

• MGT 304 | Cross-Cultural Management
  • This course is designed to familiarize students with the major concepts used in managing people in diverse environments, both internationally and domestically. In addition to learning about a variety of cultures, students can become more adept at thinking about issues from multiple perspectives.

Additional Opportunities

These opportunities and experiences build upon your Cultural Intelligence.

Global Readiness Certificate

FSB students may also elect to take the FSB’s Global Readiness Certificate through Miami University’s Global Initiatives program to build their Cultural Intelligence. The certificate allows students to take specific courses within their Miami plan and participate in various other activities designed to allow students to:

• Acquire interdisciplinary global knowledge
• Gain intercultural competencies
• Develop culturally sensitive mindsets necessary to live, work and interact with diverse individuals in our local and global communities

FSB Global Studies

FSB students can choose from a variety of study abroad and internship programs in locations around the world during spring, fall, summer, and winter terms. Students can choose to study for an entire semester in London, Barcelona, Budapest, and Maastricht or complete a semester-long internship in Australia and the Pacific Rim. 

You can also course semester-long programs in both summer and winter terms in locations as varied as Asia, Europe, the Mediterranean, and Canada in the summer with shorter programs over winter term in Asia, Australia, Latin America, and Europe.

Business in the Global Market Certificate Program

The Business in the Global Market Certificate Program is designed to complement any business major in the Farmer School of Business. Previously the China Business Certificate Program, Business in the Global Market allows students to expand their global knowledge and focus on an entire region.

Upon enrolling in the Business in the Global Market certificate program, you will select one of four regional concentrations: Africa and the Middle East, Asia and Oceania, Central and South America, or Europe. As you move through the curriculum, you will engage in language practice, cultural engagement, an overseas experience, and business coursework, all related to your selected concentration. 

Scholarships

KICKGLASS CQ Leadership Scholarships

KICKGLASS CQ Leadership Scholarships are available for students with financial need and for under-represented talent. Under-represented talent in Leadership includes students of color, LGBTQ+ students, and female students in economics and finance. Please contact Dr. Gillian Oakenfull, Director of the Center for KickGlass Change at goakenfull@miamioh.edu for more information.

Farmer School of Business Study Abroad Scholarships

The Farmer School of Business has been fortunate to have generous donors to support study abroad opportunities for FSB students. Scholarship award amounts vary, and may reach up to $3000. Eligible students may apply for both needs-based and merit-based scholarships. Funding for study-abroad may also be available through Miami’s Global Initiatives program.

Measuring Beyond Ready CQ

FSB students will retake the CQ self-assessment during their senior capstone course to measure all four key dimensions of CQ as they move in the workforce. With your BEYOND READY CQ score, you can demonstrate to potential employers that you have the skills required to succeed in the diverse and global business environment that awaits you after the Farmer School of Business.

For More Information

Please contact Dr. Gillian Oakenfull, Farmer School of Business Faculty Director of Diversity and Inclusion and Professor of Marketing at goakenfull@miamioh.edu.