UW MBA Students Travel to Germany for On

Fifteen University of Wyoming second-year students in the College of Business MBA Program recently received global business experience by working with two of their fellow UW International MBA Program classmates and Pforzheim University’s MBA students on business-related projects.

The UW MBA students traveled to Pforzheim, Germany, as part of their “Capstone Strategic Management” course. While there, students worked with their colleagues at Pforzheim University on strategic analysis projects and visited several international companies.

Pforzheim University, located in Pforzheim, is a town of nearly 120,000 people in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany at the gate to the Black Forest.

“The experiential learning opportunities provided to our students truly set our MBA program apart from others,” says Tanner Parmely, UW MBA Program recruiter.

Krista Lewellyn, UW Department of Management and Marketing assistant professor, teaches the capstone strategy course.

“Our students collaborate with other students who are part of Pforzheim University’s International MBA Program on a strategic analysis project related to the companies we visit, prior to, and during the visit,” she says.

This year’s team projects had UW MBA candidates working with MBA students from eight different countries. The international week activities extend the UW students’ experiences with issues they are likely to encounter in global business settings, while also providing the opportunity for them to develop their own personal competencies of working effectively in multicultural teams, Lewellyn adds.

“Working with a multinational team was difficult, yet beneficial to my development as a professional,” says JT Cattelan, from Kemmerer. “Working around different norms and customs is essential to doing business internationally. Work ethic and passion vary greatly among different societies and, as a group, I felt we overcame this obstacle.”

UW student Zachary Soukup also worked on his project with a team from Pforzheim University.

“Group dynamics are never easy to manage, especially from half a world away. But, by applying the skills and knowledge we’ve acquired over the course of our respective programs, we were able to bring together an excellent final product,” he says. “Altogether, it was an eye-opening experience, and I look forward to similar opportunities in the future.”

When project presentations were completed, UW students had the opportunity to travel to a number of international companies to learn about various strategic management operations. This year, the students traveled from Pforzheim to Basel, Switzerland.

“At the visits, the UW MBA students actively engaged in discussions with executives managing a variety of business operations,” Lewellyn says. “These interactive meetings provided insights about the challenges and opportunities associated with doing business in the global competitive landscape of the 21st century.”

The international experience allows for understanding of global business as a whole, Parmely says.

“With graduation coming up quickly, students will be able to actively leverage these experiences in their job hunt endeavors,” she adds.

For more information, call Parmely at (307) 766-2449 or email tparmely@uwyo.edu.