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Service learning and international business education.

Article Excerpt
Abstract

In recent years, business schools have come under increasing scrutiny for teaching relevant and practical skills to their students. Experiential and service learning--learning by doing--has been one area in which business schools were able to complement their traditional classes to enhance their students' learning outcomes. International business is an area in which the growth of experiential learning has been slow. This paper seeks to explain a unique model for providing international business experience to MBA students using a high-ranking small MBA program in Florida as a case study.

"I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand" Confucius c. 450 BC

Introduction

In order to enhance their students' competitive advantage in the marketplace and provide practical knowledge to their students, business schools have embraced a variety of experiential learning models in recent years. These models vary in their duration, intensity, commitment, and required level of involvement. Despite the importance of globalization to businesses, international experiential learning has grown slowly. This is partly because experience in international business requires international travel, a higher level of monetary commitment, and qualified and experienced faculty members to participate. Webb, Mayer, Pioche and Allen (1999) suggested that schools use internationally experienced faculty and an interdisciplinary international business curriculum which embodies cross-cultural education to prepare their students to the global business realities of the 21st century. The purpose of this paper is to examine a particular experiential learning model for teaching international business. To accomplish this task the paper is divided as follows: first, the institutional framework for developing the experiential learning model in international business is described; then, an example of a recent project relating to the internationalization of a small and medium sized high-technology company is given as an example. The paper ends with practical suggestion to business school for implementing these types of projects.

Institutional Framework

In order to have a viable international business education program, the mission of the organization, the business school, and/or...

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