COLLEGE STUDENTS TAKE BUSINESS TOUR OF EUROPE

While a view of the queen and an audience with the pope may be memorable experiences for students who attended a European study tour this summer, conversations with key business leaders was the focus of the trip.

For three weeks, 37 college students 23 from Southeast Missouri State University and 14 from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale toured Europe.

Peter Gordon and Ken Heischmidt from Southeast Missouri State University's department of marketing lead the tour.

"We're one of the only schools in the Midwest and few in the nation to take this kind of tour," said Gordon.

He stressed that at each stop students were addressed by corporate presidents and key members of management in some of Europe's largest companies. These were not just tourist stops, Gordon said.

"What we're finding is more and more of a global economy," said Gordon, "especially with the integration of the 12 European community nations, which really becomes the largest country in the world as far as purchasing power."

That spells opportunity for U.S. companies looking to expand in Europe.

At the same time, European countries are combining forces and taking aim at U.S. markets.

"It's really important for a student interested in becoming a strategy maker for a U.S. company to get as much information about international business as possible, especially in Europe."

The tour gives students a survey of six or seven different countries and a chance to see how each conducts business.

"We went to London to visit the queen, and that's literally true," Gordon said. Some students attended a dedication ceremony for a statue, which the queen attended.

Students also visited Parliament and officials of Thompson Publishing Co. in London.

In Antwerp, Belgium, students toured the port facility, the largest finished-goods and produce port in the world, along with a local brewery.

In Brussels they visited Ingram Micro, the world's biggest distributor of computer software. They also talked with officials at the Caterpillar factory in Belgium.

In Zurich, the president of Dow Europe discussed environmental safety.

In Rome, students visited the U.S. embassy and had a papal audience, along with about 3,000 other people.

"But we were all there by invitation," Gordon said. "Several members of the group got to shake hands with the pope."

This summer was the sixth European tour. Gordon said eight people took the first trip. The trip planned for next summer should have 45 participants.

"Each year we go to a little difference places, new companies, new countries. We do have students go back for a second time."

"Most of the students were from Southeast Missouri, and for most it was their first real exposure overseas," Gordon said.

"Students are so thrilled by this opportunity career-wise that many are motivated to go and work for a multinational corporation," he said.