Willie Redmond shares insight on preparing students for real world business challenges

Willie Redmond was headed for a job in corporate America, potentially climbing the ranks via Wall Street or through corporate law, but a course he took while pursuing an MBA at the University of South Carolina’s Moore School of Business changed his career trajectory.

Armed with an undergraduate degree in economics and the need for an elective in his MBA program, Redmond asked if he could take the PhD level international economics course. The professor agreed, though cautioned most of the students in the class had taken PhD level microeconomics and macroeconomics. Redmond had taken neither per-requisite. But for the ambitious graduate student, it was “challenge accepted.”

The course was indeed challenging, and Redmond said he worked harder for it than any other in his life. Still, he enjoyed the content. So much so that his professor encouraged him to pursue a PhD in economics.

“Quite honestly, I’d never really considered it that much because I was going to do the MBA and go out in the corporate world and get rich, as opposed to not rich like I am now,” Redmond said with a laugh. “But that intrigued me. I have really looked at that, what a crazy little inflection point. That really got me to the best job ever, quite honestly. I really enjoy teaching and working with students.”

The feeling is apparently mutual for many of Redmond’s students and colleagues at Southeast Missouri State University where he’s taught since the late ’90s. He has conducted research on international business and led educational experiences for students, and in 2019, Redmond was recognized with the Provost’s Research, Instruction and Development for Education Award. The Council of Deans at the university selects the winner, with nominations coming from each of the colleges at Southeast.

(Disclaimer: The writer of this story took one of Redmond’s MBA courses at Southeast.)

Dr. Willie RedmondAaron Eisenhauer ~ B Magazine

International business

Redmond has an engaging personality, and he connects well with students — especially around his work with the International Business program. He’s taught summer classes at some of Southeast’s partner universities in Germany, the Netherlands and Finland.

“You talk about challenging, and you know we like challenges in our life, but challenging [in the sense of] getting in front of a German master’s level class talking about the European Union,” he said, adding the students he was teaching had grown up in the environment he was lecturing about.

When Redmond came to Southeast, Dr. Peter Gordon was serving as director of the International Business Program. But Redmond was the “de facto assistant director” and worked with his colleague over the years. Five years ago, Redmond took the reigns, a role he’s held until this year when he was named interim chairperson of the Department of Marketing. (Dr. Jim Caldwell is serving as the interim director of the International Business Program while Redmond provides leadership as chairperson.)

Even with the shifting of roles, Redmond stays plugged in to the International Business Program. In speaking with B Magazine for this story, he outlined some of the core components.

One is advising international business majors. Redmond works with the students, advising them on courses to take as well as study abroad options which range from short two-week programs to semester-long options.

A second aspect is assisting students outside the business school who are interested in study abroad options. Redmond said the business school, along with foreign languages and some other areas scattered around campus, is an epicenter of study abroad activity.

Dr. Willie RedmondAaron Eisenhauer ~ B Magazine

Case competitions

The third component might actually be his favorite. Redmond leads student case study teams to compete in global competitions — something he considers “a joy.”

These are selective events with only 16 schools around the globe qualifying to compete. Southeast has traditionally made the cut.

“We always push this whole idea of experiential learning and trying to give these students this real world experience. And in some ways there’s nothing really as real world as actually analyzing a business problem, and that’s what they do in these competitions,” he said.

In short, the participating students are put in a room for four hours with no outside sources other than four textbooks. The students are presented a business challenge and tasked with how to solve it.

After four hours, they present in front of a panel of judges.

Redmond said what many don’t understand is the preparation that goes into these competitions. Students come in at night and on weekends to practice with different cases, working through the analysis and approaches to solving the business challenges. Though the challenges at the actual competition are different than what’s being used in practice, Redmond said the approach remains the same. The students are using what they’ve learned in the classroom in the real world scenario.

“I always tell them there’s no job that says, ‘Yes, I’m going to give you a textbook, and I’m going to give you a test on Friday and then give you a paycheck.’ But there are jobs that say, ‘If you can use that information in that textbook and reason through different problems and things like that, then I will definitely give you a paycheck if you can do something like that.’ And that’s what they get to do with these case competitions.”

While it’s important to have an understanding of the basic areas of business such as accounting, finance, marketing and economics, Redmond says he tries not to “pigeonhole” the selection of team members according to their academic area of emphasis. He points to examples of teams from other universities having one member with a finance background and another in marketing and so forth. If a question comes up that the specialist can’t answer, it tends to put the entire group at a disadvantage.

Not only are these students competing but they’re finishing at a high level. Redmond pointed to his 2012 team that won the championship in the Netherlands. His last group that traveled to Germany placed fourth in early 2020 right before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly put a damper on the last couple years of competitions, as well as some international travel for students looking to study abroad. Ironically, last year’s case study competition was scheduled to be held for the first time in China.

The impact of COVID on these student experiences is something Redmond laments, especially for those who planned their academic schedules in advance around these opportunities. But the good news is some of these experiences are starting to resume.

This year’s case study competition is scheduled for Iowa, though Redmond says it remains to be seen how well European schools will travel.

At some point in the future, Redmond expects Southeast Missouri State University will have the opportunity to host the competition in Cape Girardeau.

Dr, Willie Redmond stands outside the Harrison College of Business of Southeast Missouri State University.Aaron Eisenhauer ~ B Magazine

Coming out of COVID

Asked about key issues he sees at play for the regional economy, the economist brought up the impact of the pandemic on the workforce in what he called the “COVID hangover.”

“You hate to see businesses kind of saying that they’re gonna cut down some. I just was reading the paper this morning and Schnucks in St. Louis was cutting their hours because of labor issues and so forth. And you kind of hate to see that. Obviously there’s this balance between helping people with benefits during COVID and being able to come out of that. Hopefully we can get people back to working, because that’s how the economy really thrives and businesses are running well. People are working and spending that money that they’re making while they’re working.”

Redmond noted that many businesses operate on thin margins during normal times anyway. Then the unexpected stress of the pandemic and its related challenges hit and it becomes difficult for the operation to survive.

Meanwhile, wages have gone up.

“That’s good for those who are working, who are getting those jobs. That’s great and so forth, but you know as an economist you still worry about that whole balance of what happens to a business, once again, that has costs and has to try to keep going. And what does this do to the cost structure going forward?”

He later added he’s all for workers getting paid a good wage, but the challenge of rising costs for businesses — labor and other expenses — can impact the cost structure for businesses.

Willie Redmond’s resume is impressive. He is one of those quiet, yet sharp, individuals you don’t always read much about. But his perspective, whether on navigating future careers or how to approach business problems, is one that’s embraced by his students and peers.

Dr. Willie Redmond stands in the Harrison College of Business of Southeast Missouri State University where he has taught since the late '90s. Aaron Eisenhauer ~ B Magazine