Three MBA students at the KU School of Business have joined a new global project to learn first-hand how to conduct business abroad. The students depart for their destination countries this week and include Veronica Ayala (Brazil), Brian Mellor (China) and Peter Tosco (Japan). The Global Business Project (GBP) is a graduate-level course designed and developed by a consortium of Centers for International Business Education and Research (CIBERs).
The GBP seeks to provide graduate students at participating institutions the opportunity to increase their ability to conduct business in languages other than English—especially less commonly taught languages—by working in small teams on real business projects in foreign countries.
The University of Kansas CIBER leads the inaugural year of this project along with the CIBERs at UNC-Chapel Hill and Temple University. Other CIBER schools participating this year include Brigham Young University, Duke, George Washington, Ohio State and the Universities of Hawaii at Manoa, Indiana, Maryland and Pittsburgh.
These schools created the GBP to provide an avenue for MBA and graduate students to increase their global business and language competency through guided, hands-on, business experience in global markets. The project capitalizes upon the individual strengths and international ties of the participating CIBER institutions, with each school responsible for leading teams to a country or region that matches its particular expertise.
This year, the GBP program in Brazil is led by KU Professor Dr. Melissa Birch. Other School of Business faculty serving as advisors include: Chris Anderson, Kissan Joseph and Jim Morrison.
For each of the next three years, three more CIBERs in the GBP consortium will lead projects to additional countries. Future Global Business Projects will expand students' options and their competencies in other regions and languages, including Russia, Eastern Europe, Asia and the Arabic-speaking world.
The KU Center for International Business Education and Research is one of only 31 CIBERS in the United States. The primary goal of these centers, funded through matching grants issued by the US Department of Education, is to improve American competitiveness through comprehensive service and educational programs in academic and corporate settings.
