Students Explore International Business by Doing Business Abroad

A new study abroad program was offered this summer to Crosby MBA Program students as well as undergraduate students that provided an opportunity to not only study business abroad, but also participate in international commerce through internships in China.

Heusler and Wolf in Beijing, China at ZPark, which is known as “The Silicon Valley of China.”

This summer two MU MBA students, Jessica Heusler and Jordan Wolf, travelled around the globe for a pilot internship program in China.

The students assisted the president of the company with the marketing for ChinaSense, a program through the China-International Business Collaborative that provides tours and inside-business access to universities (primarily Executive MBA programs) and business groups that want to learn more about how business is conducted in China.  

ChinaSense was founded as China became more prominent on the global business scene.  The Trulaske College of Business employed ChinaSense this summer as the in-country facilitator for the college’s summer 2007 China program.  Through the program, graduate and undergraduate students visited companies and discussed international business issues with executives in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, and Hong Kong.  The program also included business lectures and also various forms of Chinese cultural entertainment.

Heusler and Wolf worked directly with the company’s founder, Jennifer Pan, to develop marketing strategies, website evaluations, and customer service recommendations as well as the standardization and expansion of her business.  While abroad for about a month, they lived in Beijing and worked in Beijing’s up and coming Zhongguancun Software Park (ZPark) which is commonly referred to as the “Silicon Valley” of China.

“I had an unbelievable experience in Beijing this summer and gained a new up-close understanding of Chinese business practices through my work with ChinaSense,” says Heusler.  She has served as a student manager for the college’s programs in Bergamo, Italy, Gwangju, South Korea, the college’s intersession program in Budapest and Vienna and is leading a new program this summer in Prague, Czech Republic.  She also serves as the Marketing Manager for all of the college’s short-term study abroad programs.  “I believe this internship helped make me a more competitive candidate in the job market as more and more companies work closely with China as a result of globalization.”

After arriving back in the U.S., Heusler and Wolf made recommendations for future International-based internship programs for the college.  Because of the increased interest in internships abroad, more opportunities will be available beginning in summer 2008 for students in popular cities around the world such as Sydney, Australia and Madrid, Spain among a few others.

“The college’s Study Abroad program has been growing with respect to the number of students participating and expanding in the variety of countries to which we travel,” says Chuck Franz, associate professor of management, who oversees the college’s study abroad program.  “Being able to provide more international internships for our students is very exciting.”