Senior business administration Hayley Weiner will look at how the training and practice of business professionalism has evolved as part of this year’s Quest, which returns in person as a daylong event on Wednesday, April 6.

Weiner’s presentation, “Business Professionalism Evolution and Training,” will take place during a series of School of Business sessions on the topic between 10 and 11 a.m. in 242 Marano Campus Center (and virtually via Zoom) as part of the college’s annual celebration of scholarly and creative activities. 

“Professionalism is a complex and difficult-to-define concept,” Weiner explained. “I decided to study this topic, as it is an essential part of student development in workplace environments, for not only business students but students pursuing any career.”

Weiner defines “business professionalism” as containing three key components: knowledge, experience and ethics.

Faculty mentor Dr. Barry Friedman, of the School of Business management and marketing faculty, provided a lot of guidance and in-depth discussions before Weiner started the project.

“When we did begin researching, Dr. Friedman and I took to scholarly peer-reviewed journal articles for insight from other professionals studying business professionalism,” Weiner said. “From this research, we learned that professionalism may appear complex due to varying behaviors amongst professionals. Yet, professionalism in all professions possess the same underlying goal.”

Since a sense of business professionalism is key to working in so many fields, the session could benefit a wide audience.

“A person coming to my Quest presentation can expect to learn a tangible real-world idea of business professionalism,” Weiner said. “Often, we sit in class and learn definitional concepts of professionalism, but not methods and tactics to acquire it. My presentation will outline both a definition and methods of professionalism.”

Quest begins with an opening event and poster session from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 5, at SUNY Oswego's Syracuse campus. Wednesday, April 6, features no classes in deference to Quest presentations, poster sessions and performances between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on the main SUNY Oswego campus.

For more information on Quest, visit oswego.edu/quest.

Senior business administration Hayley Weiner will look at how the training and practice of business professionalism has evolved as part of this year’s Quest, which returns in person on Wednesday, April 6.

What is business professionalism? Senior business administration major Hayley Weiner will probe the evolution and concepts of it during this year's Quest.