Course Information

Learning Goals

At the end of this course, students should be able to:

Define a problem in highly uncertain environments from a set of ambiguous information
Work effectively and professionally in different cultural environments
Drive impact on business and peace related problems working with local partners
Develop increased sensitivity toward the impact of business in society

Serving Partners

Students will assist partners using the following activities:

Investigative Research - Teams conduct research on specific industries, problems or issues both in-country and at the University of Alberta to provide varying viewpoints on the issues
Interviews - Teams are equipped and trained to meet and interview individuals in various industries. Past teams have given our partners the opportunity to meet with individuals and organizations that they might not normally interact with
Analysis - Teams prepare financial analysis on various business opportunities. The output of these has provided our partners with inital decision metrics, as well as possible partnerships opportunities
Business Model Development - Teams develop business and partnership models for our partners within specific opportunity areas
Teams provide a new and different perspective that our partners might not develop
Teams provide an opportunity for training our local partern's staff

Team Structure

Outside of class, you will spend a great deal of time working with your fellow teammates. This will involve communicating with your faculty advisor, partner contacts and professors to develop a project plan, issue tree, and conduct pre-research in order to make the most of your time in-country. Given the sheer amount of work required to coordinate such a visit, there are clear roles for each team member. Early in the course, each team member should elect to take on one of the following roles:

Cheif Administration Officer (Doran)
Chief of Coordination (Sean)
Chief of Partnerships
Chief of Logistics (Hicki)
Chief of Giving (Beatrice / Jodi-Ann)
Chief of Media (Diane)
Chief of Technical Expertise in Cancer (Tim)
Chief of Deliverables (Sarah)

Class Assignments

Assignments will be a combination of readings for classroom discussion that are also designed to help students prepare for the partner project in the field.

Class readings and discussion
Individual Reflection Paper
Partner project deliverable
Case Study write-up

Individual Reflection Paper

Each student will be responsible for writing four reflection papers. The broad topics for these reflections are listed below, but they are meant to provide an opportunity for you to integrate your country readings, your project work and the class readings in a reflective way while giving you the opportunity to be creative.

How have your experiences influenced your perspective and expectations of this course?
Pre-country reflection: What are you excited about? What are your fears?
Post-country reflection: What surprised, challenged and excited you?
Personal reflection on the Frontiers of Business Initiative experience.

Course Policies

Turn off and do not use cell phones or wireless devices (i.e. PDA's) in class. These are distractions to fellow classmates and can disrupt the class.
Be funny. Take controversial positions. Be a devil’s advocate. Use examples from your own experience. Ask difficult questions. Try to connect the ideas in class to things you have heard / read about in the media. Having fun in this class makes the learning environment more positive for everyone.
Although I often take a casual and informal approach to class and facilitating an interactive learning environment, I take our projects and our interactions with our partners very seriously. Please respect our relationship by respecting the integrity of the course and its partners.
I am happy to meet with students and groups in and out of class. Come up and talk to me at the beginning or end of class, as we can usually sort out most questions / problems through open communication.
Email is almost always the best way to get in touch with me outside of class.
Above all, remember that in the field you are representatives of Canada, The University of Alberta and the Alberta Business School. Please keep that in mind from the moment you step on the plane until you arrive home.

Phases of Course

In many classes, learning occurs through the semester and the exams and projects occur at the end of the term. In contrast, this course is a substantially front-end loaded class. Of the total workload in this class, at least 70% of the total will take place during the frst 7 weeks of class and the 2 weeks in-country. A great deal of this work will take place outside of class time. It is vital that students develop early routines and build sufficient time outside of class to meet regularly with their teams, their faculty advisors and their discussion groups.

Phase 1: Deep Dive
Philosophy: Phase 1 is based on the philosophy that complex problems must be approached from multiple angles, and that these must be considered in the unique context of each country. In this phase we tackle the complex challenges driving our project by considering how different theories and perspectives might inform the particulars of each context. In class sessions will cover economics, philosophy, political science, law, peace studies and business perspectives. Students will bring their independent research about Ethiopian contexts and the projects to bear upon these theories.
Even before class, you will be expected to build a knowledge base regarding Ethiopia, cancer and other relevant topics. You may consider reading the history of the country, biographies of individuals who lived or worked in those areas. You may also want to consider building expertise in areas of healthcare, agriculture, mining or any other topic that relates directly to the project assigned.
In class and through the preparation of readings we will consider how perspectives on peace, business, law and political science can build a picture of the challenges and opportunities of doing business in post-conflict societies.

Phase 2: In-Country
Philosophy: The projects we tackle in this course are complex and multifaceted, they concern real lives and their full nature cannot be understood by reading a book. The second phase is based on the philosophy that in order to truly understand the challenges facing a particular context, we must first walk with and learn from those we hope to serve.
The second phase takes place during January 2017. Although much research can be accumulated early, the time in country provides the most opportunities for fact-finding and research. The concept is for a total immersion into a complex situation, at the end of which the Frontiers of Business Initiative team will present a tentative recommendation.
During the first day our in-country partners will go over safety and security procedures, the full itinerary, and the project overall. The first week’s itinerary will include meetings and interviews that focus on the overview of the project, and of business in Ethiopia. This can include meeting with business, religious, political and academic leaders, and in a typical day, students may be able to interview up to 5 different people. In the past, it has been helpful to have the team travel further in-field in its data-gathering during the first week. It is important to build a schedule with some flexibility for the joint partner- Frontiers team to make adjustments, as needed. It is possible that the team will be split to cover more interviews. It is recommended that you find a cultural or leisure activity unrelated to the project to undertake while in-country.
During last day, the team will come together to present initial findings to our partners. This will be scheduled with time for group questions and discussion and followed by a private meeting with the country representative or project leader to gain their feedback and discuss post-trip expectations and deliverables.
It should be noted that although the problems are defined and researched by the team in Phase 1, these problem statements frequently change as the problem is further examined and understood. These changes could be a shift in focus from one area of the organization to another, a narrowing of the scope of the project, or even finding that the problem statement needs to change entirely. In addition to maintaining flexibility on the ground with respect to projects, it is also important to note that the pace of life in many of the countries that we visit may be different than a typical American business environment. As a result, students and faculty should expect to be flexible with respect to the timing of responses to requests from our partners. For example, in a number of countries, interview schedules were not fully solidified in advance, but rather are planned at the beginning of each day, because the context would not have supported such advance planning. In other cases, travel to distant places may require students to spend a significant portion of each day in traffic being transported to sites. Adjusting gracefully to these unknown unknowns is a natural part of the Frontiers of Business Initiative's in-country experience.

Phase 3: Delivery and Reflection
Philosophy: The third phase is based on the philosophy that there are no quick solutions to the challenges our partners face, and that we must take time to both individually and collectively reflect on the lessons learned, on how we can drive value for our partners and on how we might give back to those who enabled us to have this opportunity.
Phase 3 has three parts. The first is the completion of the project. This typically consists of both in-class and outside of class activities. Class time will be devoted to collective problem solving with respect to the projects. Outside of class, continued contact with our partners will include periodic conference calls to communicate progress and gain additional feedback before formulating final recommendations, a memo detailing the problem statement, in-country findings, analysis, and final recommendations to be delivered within 4-6 weeks of the team departure date and a final conference call with our partners to review final recommendations and answer any questions about the memo.
The second part of this phase of the course involves giving back to all those who invested time and energy into the Frontiers course. This may include presenting the projects around campus, improving the course for the next cohort, writing case studies and properly thanking all of our supporters.
The third part of this phase involves reflection. The experience in-country is one that is likely to leave a lasting impression. This is a unique experience that often takes a great deal of time for its full impact to be realized. It is during this third stage that students and faculty have the opportunity to individually and communally digest the experience. The third and fourth reflection papers, as well as class discussions that revisit earlier questions will aid in this reflection.