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Written by Allie Perkins, Global MBA class of 2018

 

I’ve been fortunate to be able to travel to many parts of the world in previous professional and personal capacities, and once wanderlust sets in, I’ve found that it’s nearly impossible to shake. Thanks to GW, I have had more than one opportunity to visit a foreign country and engage closely with and be a part of its culture while bolstering some of the global business and consulting skills I’ve attained during my MBA program. When I heard about the Short Term Abroad Trip to Vietnam, I knew that it would be a chance to learn about an entirely new culture in a corner of the world I haven’t been able to visit.

Traveling to Asia has been on the top of my travel bucket list for a number of years. I’ve looked on enviously as friends and former colleagues traipse through its numerous ancient cities, swim in its beautiful oceans, and explore the other natural beauty that flows throughout all of its many countries. However, what I am most excited about, is the chance to interact with a new culture in a new environment and (hopefully) help solve a challenge for a real business that lives and breathes in Vietnam. When I traveled to Cape Town South Africa for my Consulting Abroad Project last May, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed learning about the cultural complexities and nuances that affected business in the region; it changed my entire view on the country. I hope to have the same experience in Vietnam.

I am consulting with a nascent business that organizes a highly successful food festival in both Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi. This year, Ho Chi Minh had over 60,000 visitors eager to experience and be a part of the soul of Vietnam. So often, food is the bridge between people, languages, and cultures. Its representative of what people value, their social norms, and how they engage and interact with each other and the world they live in. I am thrilled to be working with such a great team on a unique and fulfilling project

I chose to study at GW because of its emphasis on global business and bridging the misunderstandings that oceans and languages and borders cause. Because of the projects I’ve been a part of with global organizations, I have a much deeper understanding of the complexities of doing business abroad and/or with businesses and clients of different cultures. It is so important to be conscious of these nuances in order to be successful. I look forward to my time in Vietnam as I hope to grow my understanding of doing business in another part of the world and further my goal of becoming a global citizen.

 

Photo credit: BBC Travel, http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20170317-living-in-h-ch-minh-city

 

 

 

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Despite all the traveling, cultural visits, and other extracurricular activities, we never lost sight of our true goal in Argentina: serving our client.

On Friday, June 2nd, 2017 our team presented the final recommendations to our client. As an outsider it can feel almost irreverent to explain how to do things better to a co-founder of a company. Our client’s company was his and his partner’s brainchild. But, as all good leaders learn do, our client wasn’t afraid to ask for help when he saw parts of the organization lagging.

My talented and diverse team was able to conduct numerous interviews and observe the day-to-day workings of the organization throughout our time in Buenos Aires. We saw things that the firm’s leadership may have missed or been too busy to notice on a daily basis.

We were not burdened with the responsibilities of actually managing the firm and we were therefore perfectly positioned to objectively observe the good, the bad, the ugly, and the inspiring. Additionally, employees were able to speak candidly with our team and identify points of tension that they may have been reluctant to share with the firm’s leadership. The human element is an often overlooked part in an organization’s success or failure and I was surprised to discover the impact of some of the deep-rooted relationships within the firm. It is these relationships that are hard to understand a thousand miles away on a video teleconference.
Our recommendation was supported by our own experience, business theory we studied at GW, and the guidance of both our professor and graduate assistant. We crafted a process improvement and efficiency roadmap for the firm to enable stable long-term growth in an unpredictable developing market. It won’t be an easy path, but we are confident in the firm’s leadership to implement either our recommendation or a similar plan to achieve both sustained growth and personal satisfaction.
Our professor lauded our work as “billable” which is probably the highest praise we could expect. We were professional and our recommendation was technically and tactically sound. I learned first-hand both the joys and frustrations of consulting abroad. By the time the two weeks were over I felt I was a part of the organization and had real connections with the leadership and employees. I am thankful for the opportunity to travel to Argentina and serve such a welcoming and hospitable client. What I learned from my short stay will certainly aid me in my summer consulting internship and throughout my future career.

Written by Global MBA student: George Chewning

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