In 1997, recognizing the increasing global interconnectedness of business, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s Haslam College of Business integrated international business into its Full-Time MBA program. This initiative led to the creation of MGT 593 – Global Business Seminar and Travel, a course that features a mini-term study abroad experience, allowing students to immerse themselves in the business environments of two different Latin American countries.
In 2024, MBA students participated in this program from January 7-16, gaining firsthand experience in Argentina and Chile.
International Business Immersion
The travel course familiarizes students with the dominant economies in Latin America, particularly in the two countries the students travel to in a given mini-term. As they develop a better understanding of the key differences in the economies and political environments, the students apply what they have learned to complete a final project for the seminar.
Kelly Hewett, Reagan Professor of Business in Haslam’s Department of Marketing, explains that, through the seminar, students see how other countries’ cultures and politics shape their business, personally experience other cultures’ business practices and overcome language barriers to work with companies in these countries.
“The course pushes students out of their comfort zones and challenges them in ways that enrich their understanding of how business is done in other parts of the globe,” she says.
Applied Learning in Real Time
According to Mary Goss, executive director of Haslam’s graduate business programs, while most MBA programs offer a study abroad experience, Haslam distinguishes itself by pairing this experience with a course that culminates in a comprehensive final assignment. This unique approach ensures that students not only gain international exposure but also integrate and apply their learning in a meaningful way.
“Here, you’re putting in place the things that you learned in the classroom environment and applying them to what you are learning on the ground,” Goss said. “Learn while you are on the trip, have some downtime as well and produce a deliverable at the end of it. I think this is a differentiator for our program.”
Because the destination countries change each year, seminar goals and deliverable also change. The 2024 participants explored and researched the wine industry in Argentina and Chile. Their closing assignment was a consulting project for Domaine Bousquet, the largest 100 percent organic winery in Argentina. Teams of students worked to address Domaine Bousquet’s objectives, which focused on new marketing approaches and offerings to drive organic wine consumption among millennials and younger consumers globally.
MBA candidate and graduate teaching assistant Will Sherrer explained that providing marketing options to the client required the students to draw on their MBA coursework up to that point.
“We were taking concepts from our marketing courses and applying them to this project and trying to break down what is this market we’re looking at, what are the different regions of the world and the different consumers that they’re trying to reach and what are the best ways to reach them,” Sherrer said. “It was cool to tie that project to all the other courses that we had been taking throughout the semester.”
Packed Itinerary
As additional preparation for the final assignment, students attended presentations from local economic experts and visited multiple producers of wine and related products. Among these in Chile were Hillebrand Gori, a logistics provider for the wine, beer and spirits industry, Industria Corchera, which specializes in the production and manufacturing of high-quality cork products, and the family-owned Kingston Vineyards. In Argentina, students visited Bodegas de Argentina, a business chamber that represents and promotes the Argentine wine industry, Bodega Roberto, a boutique family vineyard, and Domaine Bousquet, among several others.
The students also toured scenic destinations like Valparaiso & Viña del Mar in Chile and Termas Cacheuta in Argentina. Plus, they had free time to explore such cities as Santiago, Chile, and Mendoza, Argentina. These occasions enabled the students to experience the countries’ cultures in depth, which offered insights beyond business lessons.
‘Bigger Than the Circle We’re in’
Savannah Brown, an MBA candidate and graduate research assistant, found both Argentinians and Chileans to be kind and open, and she noted that business interactions in the countries are very affable.
“It felt personal, which stuck with me,” Brown explained. “Going to the family vineyards or the factories, just the way we were brought into this conversation about what they were doing, like we had been working with them for years. It was something that I really liked.”
Sherrer observed, “Going to any other country and trying to understand the world through their perspective just gives you a much deeper appreciation for life and your own perspective on the world.”
“Life is so much bigger than what you’re used to, what you see, what we know in America,” Brown said. “It was just a blessing see how their culture is, the life they live, their personalities, but also how differently they do business. That was my biggest thing. Life is a lot bigger than the circle we’re in.”
Cohort Cohesion Boost
The Full-Time MBA students not only expanded their worldview, but came to lean on one another in the cohort.
“Over the years we’ve been doing this, we’ve seen that students being thrown together in a new environment cements the ties between cohort members,” Hewett explained.
Brown agreed, saying, “Our relationship already, I think, was really good, and that just made it even better. I do think it helps with bringing everyone together and giving us a shared experience that a lot of people don’t have.”
Goss noted that, based on student feedback, they moved the study abroad seminar from spring to winter break, so the cohort members would have more time to nurture those connections during the rest of the academic year.
Continuing a Tradition of International Business Education
For almost 30 years, international business has been taught as an essential component of Haslam’s MBA program. As representatives of the latest cohort trained in it, Sherrer and Brown expressed appreciation for the program and the chance to study abroad through it.
Brown said, “The staff and the faculty alone in this program is enough of a reason people should consider coming here for their MBA. The program is challenging in the best type of way. But you’re also being constantly reminded to stop and take a break, which I think is a good balance. It’s a great program.”
Sherrer noted that the cohort had learned about many business topics in the MBA program, but all from an American perspective.
“The world is a big place,” he said. “You learn a unique way of seeing the world when you go to learn in someone else’s culture. To do a business case and get to see the international scope of that was twice as interesting and certainly worthwhile.”
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CONTACT:
Scott McNutt, business writer/publicist, rmcnutt4@utk.edu
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