Global Business Majors Required To Travel Abroad
Photo credit: Mary Christine Demetillo
By Kiara Mays | Published Feb 8, 2017
There have been quite a few misconceptions floating about Kean University concerning the College of Business and Public Management (CBPM).
One of the popular misinterpretations being that all CBPM students are required to enroll in a program that entails an international component. That is not the case for all Business majors, however, it is in fact true that all Global Business majors are to participate in a project that calls for travel to another country.
“Global Business majors have a required Global Consulting Project called the Global Practica which is a different experience than studying abroad,” said Paul Goncalves, Manager of Global Programs at the CBPM.
In a nutshell, the Global Practica program is an opportunity for Global Business majors to gain firsthand experience in their field by working with companies/businesses in other countries. The students help the companies in a number of ways. For example, they may conduct an extensive analysis of the company, provide feedback/recommendations in order to make the company better, as well as strategize and devise plans for the company.
“Every company that the students have worked with have been willing to host the teams again because they’ve produced great work,” said Goncalves.
Some companies that the students have worked with include: Kangnai, one of the oldest and most successful shoe manufacturers in China, 3FiveTwoGroup, a private medical company in the U.K., Dräger, Concentric AB, and Wakefern, just to name a few.
“Concentric AB treated my team and the students from Germany as professionals and members of the company,” said Julio C. Olivo, a Senior and Global Business major at Kean. “My team and I were able to go back into our past courses and apply concepts learned in Supply Chain Management, Finance, Operations Management, and International Management.”
For those that are interested or may be considering a major in Global Business, the Global Practica program is a two week consulting assignment that takes place in another country. In the past three years and as recent as this past Summer, teams of about 5-6 students along with a faculty advisor have traveled to Germany, Northern Ireland, Panama, China, and more.
The program takes place in early June of about Junior year for CBPM students and in order to participate, students will have had to have completed 60 credits. Students of the past who have already taken part in the Global Practica program have had nothing but positive things to say about it.
“Through my years at Kean, I would have to say that being able to experience the Global Practica is one of the things that I will treasure the most,” said Mary Christine Demetillo, Global Business major and senior at Kean. “The practica helped me discover who I am as a business person and who I want to be.”
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