Duvall & Associates, Inc.
BUSINESS ADVISOR NEWSLETTER
 

Program offers education for the real world

- by Alan Duvall 

Published in Dayton Daily News   November 5, 2006 

“If I only had a brain.”  –Scarecrow, Wizard of Oz. 

Finance, accounting, economics.  All worthy subjects and required curriculum for American business majors.  But where does theory end... and practicalities of life begin?  It seems many business schools forget their primary goal is the preparation of young minds for the real world of business.  Pure theory doesn’t carry you very far once you pass through the friendly confines of school grounds to the untamed regions of life. 

Enter the University of Dayton.  Incorporating a visionary program dedicated to melding life experiences with its traditional business core, the university has gained a national reputation for teaching entrepreneurial skills. 

Flyer Enterprises is a program that lets undergraduate business students immerse themselves into the working operations of a campus-based business.  Flyer Enterprises includes coffee shops, cafes and convenience or retail stores.  One hundred and seventy student employees have made a consolidates $1.3 million in sales and an impressive net profit. 

“Vision – To become the national leader for experiential business education.  Mission – To create a competitive advantage for our employees by providing experiential education through the operation of profitable, ethically-focused businesses that serve the needs of our stakeholders.” 

Not bad – a self-funding education.  Students gain practical experience operating a sizable business overcoming actual world business issues.  You can read everything you want about business, but like wartime combat, you can’t possibly understand reality until you’ve actually experienced the action. 

To further enhance authentic life education, the University offers teams of students as independent consultants (at no charge) to Dayton-area businesses.  Local companies encountering transitional marketing, production and service issues may benefit from these young minds. 

A companion masters of business administration course partners teams of students with companies such as NCR, General Electric and Skyline for development of strategic plans. 

The university has even created an entrepreneurship concentration election for MBA students.  Taught by experienced business entrepreneurs such as Requarth Lumbers’ Alan Pippenger, the program focuses on educating students in the art of business management at the competitive level.  

Combat-hardened students unleashed upon the battlefield of the business world.  What a unique concept. 

“Therefore... I hereby confer upon you the honorary degree of ... Doctor of Thinkology.”  –Wizard to Scarecrow. 

Alan Duvall is a certified public accountant in Dayton.  Contact him at Alan@Duvallcpa.com.