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Tag: Going abroad

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By: Camila Batres

May 5, 2023

Preparing for my upcoming trip to Dubai has reminded me of my last visit there six years ago. At that time I was fresh out of high school and unaware of the country’s cultural nuances. I'm eager to return as a business student and make the most of the city's learning opportunities. I plan to immerse myself in the culture, network with local professionals, and gain new insights to enhance my understanding of international business.

I am grateful to have an opportunity to travel with my classmates who have become like a second family to me. I look forward to sharing this adventure with them and creating unforgettable memories. I'm also a little nervous about navigating a new business environment in a new country. Nevertheless, I'm confident I'll take on the challenges and make the most of this fantastic opportunity.

My team’s work with our Industry Partner Visa has been a fascinating journey so far. Our project focuses on helping Visa promote circular economy practices such as buying and selling secondhand goods worldwide. This project presents exciting opportunities for sustainable growth. 

Initially, we narrowed the scope of the problem but our partner advised us to think more creatively. After stepping back and contemplating the bigger picture, we analyzed the UAE population and identified how most blue-collar workers could benefit from recommerce practices. Our partner has been impressed by how we took their suggestions and reinvented our way of thinking. Witnessing the evolution of our partnership with Visa over the semester has been truly remarkable.

So far CAP has been an incredible learning opportunity for me as a business student. I'm grateful for the chance to work with Visa and my team and I'm excited to see where this journey takes us. I plan to continue learning and growing with my classmates and partner once we get to Dubai!

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By: Sophie Titlebaum

May 18, 2023

Upon arrival, we dove right in! This was helpful in order to minimize jetlag as much as possible. We toured parts of the city and had a nice welcome dinner together, all 17 students, Dr. Messerli (our professor), Chelsey (our Graduate Assistant), and Eamon (our Berlin tour guide). Dinner was delicious and then everyone went to sleep. What shocked me the most, upon arrival, was that there were so many vegan options! There were always multiple vegan options, from the hotel buffet to ice cream shops to wurst (sausage) restaurants. This was super cool, and lots of food was very cheap! Some days I could keep it to around 10 Euros per day, on food.

Globant & Their New Office!

Caption: On our second visit with our client, Globant, they showed us their new office which is in its final stages of construction! This was a pleasant experience to meet other “Globers” and spend some time with the team. Globant has been very welcoming to us and we have loved getting to know them. After this, we went to lunch with the Globant team and then we went back to the hotel to continue working on our final presentation!

The local business environment is very interesting! We had the opportunity to visit many types of businesses, from startups (36C) to growing companies (MiCT), to very mature and established companies (PwC). This has given me great insight into all levels of business. One common theme is that German businesses focus on ethical business, putting moral aspects first, above profits. Germany is also highly affected by political aspects, most specifically at the current moment, the Russia-Ukrainian war. Some businesses are impacted in that energy prices are higher and new energy sources are needed to be found, while other businesses are impacted in that they are the ones actually trying to provide assistance to those affected by
the war. 

Surprisingly everything was pretty simple in terms of getting around! There is not much of a language barrier, as nearly everyone knows English! Additionally, the metro system is very simple to navigate, and it is very clean! 

Exploring a New Part of Town!

On our free day, I spent the morning with others and went to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, about an hour from where we stayed. It was a very moving experience and I was grateful to have the opportunity to do so. On our way back, I took some time to myself. I got off at the Waidmannslust train stop and explored a new town! It was an excellent time to reflect on my own and see how Germany has changed.

An impactful class trip experience was when we went to visit Bayer, the pharmaceutical company. They had a museum within the site, and actually explained a lot of Bayer’s history. What stood out to me the most was the fact that they acknowledged some of its dark past with respect to the Holocaust and the former company’s connection to some unethical testing on Jewish women in concentration camps. Germany is very aware of its history and remembers it in a way to remind itself to never repeat its past. 

This has been a great experience to really understand a culture and situation, without simply reading about it. We really get the opportunity to live in the experiences and understand it all firsthand!

Meeting Our Clients in Person!

On the first full day, we all had the opportunity to meet our clients in person for the first time. This was an excellent opportunity for us to all learn about each other’s clients, and projects, and hear the clients speak. This was held at the SAP Data Space in Berlin.

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By: Sophie Titlebaum

For the CAP program through GWSB, I will travel to Berlin, Germany to complete a project for a software development company, Globant. Globant provides IT consulting services to a wide range of companies. My team consists of four GMBA students, in which we are aiming to help Globant expand its offerings in Europe, with Germany as its current area of focus. We have suggested expansion into the Electric Vehicle space and are helping to provide a concrete solution, implementation tactics, and risks to consider. 

To prepare for my time away, I have been sure to spend time with my loved ones. My boyfriend and I took a trip to see his family in Maryland and then went to see my family in Philadelphia. This was important to me, as I know that the upcoming summer will be very busy with lots of commitments. This was a great way to relax and reset. Additionally, I’ve been giving my cat, Macho, cuddles so he doesn’t miss me too much!

I am most excited about gaining real-life work experience in another country. I’ve studied in and traveled to other countries, but working with a client will be a whole new experience. I see myself living in Europe one day, so this will be a great opportunity to dip my toes in the water. I am most nervous about the final presentation. While I know it will be our time to shine, it will be my first time presenting to a European audience. It will be good to learn if presentation practices are the same in Europe, as well as new ways to present and capture the audience’s attention.

Throughout the semester, my work with the team and partner has been great. We have all had the opportunity to learn new ways of working and new ways of thinking. One challenge has been the fact that the business problem is pretty broad, so we have struggled to hone down on a very specific element with tangible action items. I hope that once we are in Germany, there will be even more fruitful conversations so that we can add as much value as possible!

Overall, this has been a great journey so far. I look forward to the in-country portion and know there will be many adventures, lessons, and memories!

Off We Go!

 

Now that the Silver Line goes all the way to Dulles, I decided to use this to get to the airport. My boyfriend took the metro with me, and we said our goodbyes! I am excited about the journey ahead! I will be on the same plane as a few classmates.

 

While Macho may look angry, this is his normal face (he was actually purring when I captured this photo). He is sad that I am leaving, but he will be under good care! For all we know, maybe he’s a German cat, and so he will feel more bonded to me once I’m back. 🙂

Prepping for the Trip!

Our CAP Professor, Dr. Messerli, provided each of us with this helpful guide. It’s been a great resource to learn more about the culture and country, while also getting excited about the trip! I’ll be finishing this on the plane.

 

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Featured in the above photo: The STAP UK 2022 group in front of Buckingham Palace. 

Reflection by Sarah Fritz, MPP student.

There are few experiences as an adult where I feel completely safe and encouraged to ask questions. At work, I do my best to come across as competent and prepared, and in class as a public policy student, I strive to quietly excel without drawing attention to myself in the classroom. Touching down in London, I was expecting more of the same. However, throughout my week as a student in Business and State: Privatization and Public-Private Partnerships, I rediscovered the joy of learning and uncovered a confidence in my curiosity.

Throughout both my undergraduate and graduate career, I have often had trouble separating education from grades. I viewed class time as a necessary hurdle to a participation score and preferred to teach myself the material. But in London, the professor’s emphasis on group discussion, alongside my peers’ engagement, allowed for a rare combination of intellectual stimulation in a low-stakes environment. As a result, our unique group culture and authentic dialogue broadened my perspective of what learning should be.

Author, Sarah Fritz, at KPMG.

STAP UK participants engaged in discussion. 

Without the pressure of an exam, I felt encouraged to genuinely interact with the presenters and drive the conversation in a direction that interested me. I subsequently learned more in one week in London than I have in months within a classroom. I found myself incentivized to research topics outside of class, fueled by a desire to meaningfully contribute to discussions and understand the perspectives of those around me.

Traveling and learning alongside students with diverse backgrounds and interests allowed class discussions to meander around a myriad of subtopics, enabling us to look at each public-private partnership through a different lens. I was consistently impressed with the knowledge of my peers and felt grateful to be in the room with them. I have heard it said, “if you are the smartest person in the room, you are in the wrong room”. This experience was a reminder that I was certainly in the right place.

While there were many interesting subjects discussed throughout our week in the UK, such as the National Health Service and the future of sustainable energy, the topic I found most beneficial to my interest in broadband policy was the concept of private equity investment in infrastructure. Throughout my research on municipally owned and operated networks, I have consistently run into the same issue: how does a rural municipality acquire the funding to build its own network? Peter Durante from the Macquarie Group provided a unique solution.

I had never considered the ability of the private sector to provide a financial cushion to municipalities experiencing high barriers to entry for building networks. Mr. Durante implored us to not count out the private sector when planning infrastructure projects, citing the ability of firms to innovate and provide data analysis alongside funding.

STAP UK participants in front of The Royal Logistics Corps Museum. 

A view of Parliament. 

Each speaker we encountered in London was genuinely passionate about their subject and had both an authentic interest and eagerness to learn from us too. For example, our conversation with Member of Parliament Carolyn Harris encouraged me to view menopause as both a complex women’s health and policy issue. Her knowledge of the subject was illuminating, but it was her passion for a solution that piqued my interest, and I deeply admired her desire to connect with the students in the room.

Our in-person discussions provided a pleasant reminder that articles and white papers can only take students so far. The opportunity to ask detailed questions of experts challenges us to be bold in our curiosity and induct our own knowledge into the conversation.

I am so grateful for my time in London with GW because I learned that remaining anonymous in the classroom was hindering my experience and devaluing my investment in education. This program gave me the tools to rediscover the confidence and curiosity within myself that had been buried by a desire to achieve. If you asked me before the trip what my metrics for success in school are, I would have said: “to get all As”. As a result of this trip, I would now answer “to both meaningfully contribute and listen to those around me…and make a few friends too”.

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