China trip broadens horizons of Ohio Society member Maggie Houston.

• Position: Membership

When Wright State University (WSU) offered faculty member, Maggie Houston, CPA the opportunity to teach a course for the Executive MBA Program in China, she jumped at the chance. Houston headed to Beijing in July to teach Strategic Cost Management to a class of 35 mid- to high-level executives from the Chinese government and companies such as Nokia, IBM and Volvo

In Beijing a translator helped bridge the language gap. "An excellent finance professor helped with translation, particularly with business vocabulary," Houston said.

The group studied a Balanced Scorecard computer simulation, activity-based and target costing as well as the cost of quality and environmental accounting.

Houston and her husband John traveled throughout China prior to the course, spending four days in Shanghai. A WSU alum working in China gave them tips for enjoying their Chinese adventure.

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They enjoyed visiting the Bird's Nest and the Watercube three weeks before the Olympics. They also took a three-day cruise on the Yangtze River where they got a taste of the size and breadth of China's infrastructure.

"The infrastructure being built in inland China is amazing," Houston said. "We passed dozens of newly or partially constructed...