Haslam students visited six different business headquarters while studying marketing and supply chain management in Australia this summer.
“I really enjoyed the exposure to Australian business through our day-to-day experiences, as well as our field trips,” said Laura Hollins, a senior majoring in marketing and management. “It was so fascinating to see in person the process that our groceries go through to get to us.”
Professors Dan Flint and John Bell led the group of 19 students, taking them to Woolworth’s regional distribution center, Lion’s XXXX brewery, Buderim Ginger factory, the Port of Brisbane, Queenstreet Mall and the Australia Zoo. The organizations provided insights into their marketing strategies and business relations within Australia and the Pacific trade region.
“The company visits bring course concepts to life as students hear first-hand how leaders and managers wrestle with a hyper-competitive and global business environment and enables them to see many of the operations in action,” said Dan Flint, Regal Entertainment Group Professor of Business.
Flint and Bell’s courses focused on international marketing and supply chain management strategy, specifically on consumer goods in an Australasian context. Students stayed at one location until the end of the trip, a focus which Jacob Triplett, a senior majoring in supply chain management, said allowed him to get a better understanding of the culture.
“The main difference that I noticed was the casualness of the way Australians conducted business,” Triplett said. “We would have meetings and presentations with executives from companies, and they would be wearing casual business clothing and cracking jokes with us.”
The experience ended with several days on Fraser Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the largest sand island in the world. Students had the opportunity to go on several day hikes and learn about native cultures from aboriginal elders, including how to throw a boomerang.
