UC-Canadian Exchange Proves to be a Potent Brew

One day, a giant beer conglomerate may arise out of Cincinnati and Montreal to dominate the world's brewing industry. If that happens, chances are good you'll be able to trace the origins of such a company back to events at UC this weekend.

Students and faculty from the College of Business Administration are hosting 15 students and four faculty members from the University du Quebec at Montreal (UQAM) as part of the "Capstone in International Business" course being taught by associate professor of marketing Raj Mehta.

Fifteen UC students serve as partners with 15 counterparts from UQAM in the class, which featured a visit by the UC students to Montreal in September and this weekend's return trip to Cincinnati by the French Canadians. It is the first time the course has been taught with such an extensive level of interaction. Throughout the quarter, the two groups have been in contact via video teleconferencing and the Internet.

The objective of the class is to gain a real world experience in what it means to do business internationally in a culture and business environment foreign to what the students already know. Teams of four students each -- two from each school -- are analyzing the impact of internationalization on either the beer or beauty care industries, with final presentations due to be made this weekend.

As part of their Cincinnati visit, the students heard presentations from representatives of Hudepohl-Schoenling Brewing Co. and Avon Products Inc., and toured a Sam Adams Brewing Co. facility and a Procter & Gamble beauty care production facility.

The brewery tour was a first-rate introduction to global business in itself: the Sam Adams brewery in Over-the-Rhine produces almost seven million cases a year, sold both domestically and overseas in 13 countries in Europe and southeast Asia, according to plant manager John Toerner.

The global nature of the business also came out when Quebec native Richard Dube, the plant's quality assurance manager, greeted the tour in excited, rapid-fire French with the Canadian students and faculty.

"This has been a very good experience for both the professors and the students," said Anne Fortin, professor of accounting from UQAM. "It has been a lot of learning and teamwork. It has brought students from two different countries together and shows we can do something like this."

"I've been quite impressed with how well the students have interacted," added Mehta. Creating relationships between the students, which could result in future business possibilities, is a major goal for the class.

"This has been a good thing," said UQAM marketing major Ben Martel. "With the video conferencing, we're learning to see Americans differently."

"We had thought how we saw Americans at the Olympics, running around and saying 'Look at us,' was how Americans were," added UQAM student Phil Archambauld. He and Martel are part of a team in the class with UC seniors Joe Pflanz and John Botos. "We're finding out Americans are not how we thought they were. In Montreal, we always hear about New Yorkers and really, that's what we thought all Americans were like."

At left, Canadian student Giles Meunier runs through the yeast room as the workers are rinsing yeast out of a vault.