Farmer School hosts top students at summit

In Their Words

“It was a great interactive learning experience that really had me thinking about different ways to analyze business issues. Furthermore, from the speakers and workshops, I gained a lot of insight about what it means to be a business leader.”

Jonathan Wong, University of British Columbia

“I hope that Dr. Heitger, Dr. Ballou, and Miami University continue to host the summit so that other students can have this great learning experience as well."

Abishek Pai, Miami University

"I thought the summit was a wonderful opportunity for networking, meeting new people, and having fun. I enjoyed the challenging case studies that were presented to us."

Dana Cook, Miami University

“Whether it was breaking out into groups to discuss ethical case studies, playing broomball at Goggin Arena, or simply having conversations with the diverse and fantastic group of individuals present, the summit was an experience I was very glad to be a part of and won't soon forget.”

Andrew Kovach, University of Notre Dame

Video

Beth Brooke, Ernst & Young Vice Chairman of Global Markets, was the keynote speaker at the EY Business Excellence Student Summit hosted by the Farmer School's Center for Business Excellence. Runtime: 26 minutes, 12 seconds

Thought-provoking case studies, team problem-solving exercises, and access to top professionals added up to a transformational experience for participants in Miami University’s first Business Excellence Summit.

Miami University sophomore Abishek Pai attended the event, held July 20-22. "The Business Excellence Summit was a great introduction to several tasks and potential problems that I will face in my career,” he said. “Having the opportunity to examine these ideas in a round table discussion format with some of the brightest students from across the nation proved to be an extremely valuable learning experience.”

The conference, presented by Ernst & Young in partnership with the Farmer School of Business’s Center for Business Excellence (formerly the Center for Governance, Risk Management and Reporting), was the first event of its kind to be held on a college campus. Focusing on the issues of integrity, leadership, and transparency in the world economy, the summit drew 33 hand-picked sophomore accounting majors from top undergraduate business programs in the U.S. and Canada.

“Early on in their business education, students need to be made aware of how leadership can impact the success of an organization,” said accountancy department chair Marc Rubin. “The Ernst & Young Business Excellence Summit was an important opportunity to expose students from across North America to these critical issues, as well as demonstrate Miami leadership in this area.”

Beth Brooke, keynote speaker and vice chairman of global markets for Ernst & Young, stressed the unmitigated value of honesty, integrity, and reputation in today’s business world.

“Your integrity is your most precious possession,” said Brooke, “If you act without integrity once, you don’t get a second chance. It really is that important.”

The conference structure presented case studies of business decision-making from the multiple perspectives of interns, managers, and executives. Students were encouraged to deepen their own critical thinking in breakout groups mentored by Farmer School Masters of Accountancy students.

Brian Ballou and Dan Heitger, Farmer School faculty members and CBE co-directors, reported that feedback on the summit was overwhelmingly positive.

“The student participants told us that the event was an eye-opening experience, alerting them to the various challenges that they will face as future business leaders, and that they appreciated applying the concepts discussed at the event to current issues,” said Heitger.

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