The Farrell Entrepreneurial Leadership Series hosted the first spring lecture with guest speaker Shuming Zhao, Ph.D., professor and dean of the School of Business at Nanjing University and dean of the School of Graduate Studies at Macau University of Science and Technology, on Thursday, March 12.

Lloyd Gibson, D. Sc., director of the Master of Business Administration Program and assistant professor of business, introduced Zhao and served as the moderator.

Zhao’s topic was “Human Resource Management in China, Japan, and the USA” and he spoke to an audience of Seton Hill University M.B.A. students and local business men and women concerning the financial crisis and its affect on human recourses.

“This calls for companies to restructure their management to endure the calamity. It’s a new world and we need a new way of thinking. During this financial crisis that is affecting the world economy, we should have a global mindset rather than a domestic mindset,” Zhao said.

“Dr. Zhao emphasized the idea that human resource management becomes a huge factor in overseas markets because of cultural and legal differences in various countries,” said Jasmin Sadikovic, a 2008 Seton Hill University graduate and current M.B.A. student.

“The event provided an in-depth look at the inner workings of domestic and global organizations and the cultural norms that affect them,” said Michael Rivera, a 2008 Seton Hill University graduate and current M.B.A. student.

Zhao provided advice for the large attendance of Seton Hill University M.B.A. students.

“For you M.B.A students, learn the language of another culture. This will help prepare you to have a global way of thinking towards the economy and be able to communicate with more countries,” said Zhao.

As the lecture concluded, the audience was given the opportunity to ask questions.

An attendee asked, “Where do you think the United States is heading with our economy, especially with our interdependence on a global economy?”

“If Americans continue to take out extreme loans and max their credit cards, things will stay the same or even get worse. As a country, we need to learn to save rather than spend. This way the United States will be able to endure the crisis,” Zhao said. “As for other countries, they should begin to increase their domestic consumption rather than their global consumption.”

Zhao has published more than 20 books and over 200 academic articles on global human resource management.

The next lecture in the Farrell Entrepreneurial Leadership Series will be held Thursday, April 23, at 6 p.m. in the Administration Building, room 206, and will feature guest speaker Howard B. Slaughter, Jr., CEO of Landmarks Community Capital Corporation.

The Farrell Entrepreneurial Leadership Series is a program of The Farrell Programs for Innovation in Business at Seton Hill, and is made possible by a gift from the Farrell Family Foundation of Pittsburgh. The Farrell Programs for Innovation in Business help Seton Hill students develop the entrepreneurial skills needed to compete in a rapidly changing world by integrating entrepreneurship, grounded in the liberal arts, into all levels of the University’s academic programs.