Dr. Vas Taras is an Associate Professor of International Business at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He received his PhD in International Human Resources and Organizational Dynamics from the University of Calgary, Canada. He is the Founder of the X-Culture Project (www.X-Culture.org). His research and work revolves around cross-cultural and global virtual teams and experiential approaches to international business education and development. His research team is particularly interested in the potential of global crowds to solve complex problems. He is an Associate Editor of the International Journal of Cross-Cultural Management and Cross-Cultural Strategic Management, and Editorial Board Member of several other management journals, including the Journal of International Business Studies and the Academy of Management Review. Vas has lived, worked and studied in half a dozen.

Presentations

SCS19: SCHOLARLY IMPACT AND INFRASTRUCTURE

From Classroom to Facebook: How the Social Media Enabled a Revolution in Business Research and Education

Abstract: Learning International Business in a classroom is like learning how to swim on a football field. One must get in the water to learn how to swim. X-Culture is a platform that allows international business students learn international business through experience, on a global scale. About 5,000 students from 150 universities in 40 countries on 6 continents participate in X-Culture every semester, with over 50,000 alumni since the project launch in 2010. The students work in international teams consisting of approximately seven people, each coming from a different country. About a dozen multi-national corporations ask for help and the thousands of students develop their solutions. A project like this would not be possible in pre-Facebook era, yet once social media became mainstream, it was created with zero budget. The presentation will review how social media and digital technologies are revolutionizing business education and research.