Faculty members in LSBE have served as mentors and research partners
for doctoral students from abroad. So far, three doctoral students
have spent time in LSBE working with the faculty and taking courses.
Read more about what these scholars have to say about their experiences:
Birger Opstad, Ph.D. student,
Buskerud University College, Norway
Ossi Pesämaa, Ph.D. student,
Lulea University of Technology, Sweden
Henrik Sällberg, Ph.D.
student, Blekinge Institute of Technology, Sweden
Birger Opstad
I am a third-year doctoral student from Buskerud University College
in Norway. I recently got the opportunity of spending three months
as a research scholar at the University of Minnesota Duluth. As
a doctoral student, I wanted more international experience - to
see different cultures, get professional guidance from senior scholars
in my field (marketing) and to practice my English language skills.
Why Minnesota? Because my research area is consumer behavior and
brand extension and I wanted to spend time at a school where faculty
members were working in this area. On the very first day at the
University, I met a lot of nice people, including my supervisors,
Praveen Aggarwal and Rajiv Vaidyanathan. Praveen and Rajiv have
given me a lot of comments, feedback and suggestions about my research
project. I am very impressed with their knowledge and interest for
my work. Thanks!
While at UMD, I also attended two courses, one on analysis of variance
(ANOVA) and another on experimental design and methodology. The
knowledge gained in these courses will hopefully benefit me when
I work on my research design upon my return to Norway.
I look back to my time at University of Minnesota with gratitude.
I have brought with me new knowledge and experiences that will be
helpful as I complete my Ph.D. studies.
Thank you very much!
Ossi Pesämaa
I spent five months of my second year as a Swedish Ph.D. student
at UMD (10th January -18th June, 2003). Dean Kjell Knudsen partly
initiated this opportunity and later invited me to UMD, after numerous
email exchanges with Sharon Torrison to take care of the administrative
details. I wanted to learn the American language in a professional
forum, share in the multifaceted American culture, meet some of
the numerous Scandinavian descendants, join an exclusive group of
MBA students and do directed research under the guidance of Professor
Geoffrey Bell. I also learned more about a professional research
bureau with the help of James Skurla and Professor Richard Lichty.
A special appreciation to Professor Sanjay Goel, with whom I collaborated
on two separate papers presented at the Scandinavian Academy of
Management Conference 2003. Sanjay has also visited me in Luleå
and shared with me his great network of friends and experience.
Thanks for your commitment, Sanjay!
I gained knowledge about doing research in general throughout many
discussions with committed senior scholars. I was involved in a
major research project on American tourism industry, for which I
conducted surveys with 254 businesses in two different interfirm
tourism networks. I made numerous friends and connections during
my stay there.
My future plans are to interpret some of the experiences I gained
in Duluth into my final doctoral dissertation. I will also try to
publish some of the work in an international journal. Hopefully
I will be able to meet some of you at UMD again soon.
THANKS!
Henrik Sällberg
The two month visit to the Labovitz School of Business and Economics
(LSBE) at the University of Minnesota Duluth has been very fruitful
to me. My aim is to become a good researcher; as a European, it
is necessary to acquire good skills in the “American way”
of conducting research. Americans produce most of the research in
the world and are given most of the rewards for excellent research,
such as the Swedish Nobel Prize. In general, the degree of deductive
research is higher in the US relative to Europe, where inductive
research is more common.
In LSBE, there are several distinguished researchers with a lot
of experience in deductive research. To be able to exchange ideas
with them on how to write papers for American scientific journals
has been very fruitful. My mentor in Duluth, Dr. Sanjay Goel, in
particular has guided me in the process of developing skills in
theory-building according to the deductive paradigm.
In addition to access to distinguished researchers, UMD offers
extraordinary library facilities. The library itself offers a creative
research environment. It gives you access to all electronic databases
necessary to conduct top-tier business research.
Besides the research opportunities, the UMD campus offers great
sports facilities with indoor running tracks, gyms, and tennis courts,
a good complement for those who want to keep fit while doing research.
Also, UMD has a very good hockey team worth watching. Further, Duluth
as a town is beautifully situated along Lake Superior. Downtown,
there are several top-class restaurants and a nice old style shopping
mall if you have some leisure time.
Overall, I would not be surprised if I, after having earned my
PhD, find the stay in Duluth to be the single most important activity
I undertook during my doctoral program. It has improved my skills
in building theoretical models, and organizing scientific paper
writing. Those skills will make me become a more productive researcher.
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