Study abroad program to teach students about networking through golf
A new study abroad program in Scotland aims to teach students about the importance of networking — by teaching them how to golf.
Offered by Central Michigan University's College of Business Administration, the course is titled Selling on the Green, or BIS 342. The faculty-led program begins May 23 and concludes June 6, 2017.
The course will be taught by CMU marketing and brand strategy professor Deborah Gray. The purpose of the class, Gray said, is to teach students how to network and build business relationships through playing golf.
Gray contributed a chapter to the 2014 book "Selling on the Green: The Art of Building Trusted Relationships and Growing Your Business on the Golf Course" by Jonathan Taylor and Tim Davis.
“Golf is the international language of business," she said. "(About) 90 percent of CEOs are golfers, and those who golf make an average of 17 percent more than those who do not.”
Students will be spending time in the cities of Edinburgh and St. Andrews, and will have the opportunity to learn about the history of golf in Scotland. Students will also learn key socialization and conversational skills, aimed at helping them successfully network through playing golf.
