Developing innovative thinking

by Mohammed Khayum

Article taken from USI Magazine, Fall 2006

Dr. Mohammed Khayum wants students graduating from the University of Southern Indiana College of Business to have the confidence and capability to think in an entrepreneurial way.

“That doesn’t mean that all students are going to go out and start a business. Not everyone has the stomach for that,” said Khayum, dean of the college since January, “but an entrepreneurial mindset is a way of tackling problems—seeing things in other than traditional ways. We want our students to know how to use information and see a variety of perspectives.”

As dean, Khayum leads a college that offers 10 bachelor’s degree programs, two associate-degree programs, a master’s program in business administration, and two post-baccalaureate certificate programs. The college enrolls more than 1,900 students, including about 100 in the MBA program.

Across all areas, Khayum said the challenge is to keep the curriculum
relevant. Today’s graduates need skills in collaboration, project management, communication, and leadership. They need transferable skills they can take from a job in manufacturing to one in healthcare if necessary. Research shows that today’s graduates will change jobs several times during their careers.

The dean is excited about ways a new building proposed for the college will enhance teaching and learning.

“It will make a statement about the University—that we will provide the type of facility that prepares students for the workplace,” he said.

The new facility will have state-of-the-art technology and space that invites collaboration and brainstorming. Khayum envisions corridors with alcoves that feature seating and computers with whiteboards where students can write down, share, and save the ideas they discuss informally.

Specialized rooms in the new building will simulate the workplace. A stock market lab will have up-to-date streaming information. A  negotiations lab where individuals share ideas through technology could be used to learn about conflict resolution issues.

“This makes everybody on the same level,” Khayum said, “so the strength of the idea is more important than the strength of the personalities in the room.” The new Joe Coslett Family Sales Management Development Laboratory in the Orr Center was completed during the summer with equipment and facilities for students to practice sales skills.

Provided with a generous gift from retired Evansville businessman Joe Coslett, the lab will be more expansive in the new building with additional space and a less visible control room.

Khayum grew up in Guyana (formerly British Guiana), the only English-speaking country in South America. After completing the A-level (advanced level in the British system of secondary schools) at the all- male high school Queens College in the country’s capital of Georgetown, he became a high school social studies
teacher for one year. Sensing that he liked teaching, he entered Guyana’s only university at age 19 to study economics. The program included four years of academic study and a year of compulsory military service.

“During the year of national service, there was some basic training where participants learn to use rifles, march, drill, and so forth,” Khayum said.

“It is quite a military regimen that makes you come to some kinds of decisions about whether you like that structure. There were some beneficial things (discipline, teamwork), but you are at the very bottom level so you must obey all orders.”

Because of his knowledge of economics, Khayum was assigned to review operational costs at five different military sites in the hinterland of the country after completing basic training.

Developing innovative thinking

 “Very early I got experience using expertise I was acquiring in college in a practical way. Coming out of college I wanted to apply my skills,” he said.

After completing the bachelor’s degree in 1979, he worked until 1983
with the Institute of Development  Studies, a center partially funded by the University of Guyana. His major project for the institute was a study of the Caribbean banking system.

By 1983, Khayum was interested in an advanced degree and was considering the University of the West Indies. Higher education beyond the bachelor’s degree was not available in his home country.

However, he reconnected with a Temple University professor who had
taught in Guyana as a Fulbright Scholar and subsequently decided to enroll at Temple, where he received a scholarship to study economics. He completed a master’s in 1989 and a doctorate the following year. His wife Desiree and son Omar joined him in Philadelphia in 1987. Khayum completed a one-year faculty appointment at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania before joining USI in 1991.

Desiree ’97 earned a degree in accounting from USI. She is the accountant for the Evansville Water and Sewer Utility. Their son Omar, a 2004 Purdue University graduate, is associated with a Chicago information technology consulting firm that completes projects throughout the country.

Because of Khayum’s experience with the national service and the institute, he wanted to apply his knowledge and skills to help companies or nonprofit organizations in Evansville. One of his first projects was an economic impact study for ARC Industries, which employs persons with disabilities.

“It was inspirational,” Khayum said. “It opened my eyes to what the organization does — engaging people in meaningful activities. At the same time, the organization buys things from the community and engages in sales.”

One project led to another. With each economic impact study, Khayum built up knowledge of the community to use on successive projects. In 2004, he collaborated with a University of Evansville professor to complete a study for Toyota. The high visibility of that project is expected to result in additional opportunities for the college to serve regional companies and organizations.

Khayum believes faculty engagement is important to creating a reputation for the college. Several faculty members and students have completed or are exploring projects through the University’s new Center for Applied Research and Economic Development. The first two projects teamed the college with the Dubois County Area Development Corporation and the Lincolnland Economic Development Corporation.

Khayum said the college’s three advisory boards (Board of Advisors, Accounting Circle, and Information Technology Alliance) provide critical information about what is expected of graduates. Several current initiatives are a result of board input, including the startup of an organization for highschool computer science teachers.

As leader of the college, Khayum wants to produce graduates who can view projects that confront them not in a linear way but in an integrated way because of the complexity of situations in the real world.

“There are a lot of gray areas,” Khayum said. “We want to educate students to identify unmet needs and resolve them. Then they will be able to identify more opportunities for their companies.”