Summit Valuations, LLC, a full service valuation company, announced that President Ron Ahlensdorf, Jr. was recently chosen to participate in a college class activity to benefit international students at the University of San Diego seeking certificates in business and marketing. The class was taught by Jeofrey Bean, principal of Del Mar Research, author of two customer experience books and an expert reviewer for the Customer Experience Special Interest Group (CXSIG) sponsored by Intuit, according to the company’s press release.
The Extension's 9-week Directed Studies in Marketing and Business class, designed by Bean, is part of an international program he has been teaching in since 2015. It is the capstone course for students working on the certificate program for business and marketing. Only 2 to 5 students take the class each term with the goal of learning all they can about a single industry, a high performance company operating within it, and an executive who has embraced best practices leadership, the release said.
"We all have a responsibility to mentor the next generation and this is one of my favorite ways to give back," Alensdorf said. "We don't know how many of the young people we impact will eventually enter our industry, but we hope some of them do. We need young people in the mortgage industry and if helping them get more out of their classes attracts them to what we're doing here, and then I'm willing to give that some of my attention."
"It takes a certain type of leader to take time out of their busy day to help our next generation," Bean said. "I don't find those types of leaders every day. Ron had a big impact on these students by being accessible and sharing his insights into best practices in his industry.
"The Extension serves a special function at the university," Bean added. "Our students might have already studied the theory. What they seek is practical insights to apply to business quickly. We teach them how to formulate questions that are so good that the likelihood of getting insightful answers is very high. That's the information executives need to make more effective business decisions.
Bean says the students' primary goal is to fully understand how the subject company differentiates itself from its competition and positions itself to be the best option for its customers. For established firms, as opposed to startups, the students will also attempt to assess how the company has outlasted its competition and remained profitable over time.
"When young people have to become experts on an industry, a company operating there and an executive in a very short period of time, they learn how to ask very good questions," he said. "I select companies and people from my network very carefully. I want my students to learn from highly ethical people working at best-in-class companies. These are the people I hope will transfer their knowledge to these young, future leaders."