As a Wisconsin MBA student, you will have the opportunity to build cross-cultural awareness and experience firsthand how global business is conducted.

Your global learning experience will include a team consulting project with actual deliverables for a multinational corporation or a company based within your country of travel. The project includes on-site consultations with company leaders, tours that shed light on each destination's economy, history, and culture, and a final presentation of your team’s recommendations. You will collaborate with students from different specializations, bringing a cross-disciplinary perspective to the project.

Recent global learning experiences have brought Wisconsin MBA students to locations such as Brazil, Panama, Peru, Ireland, South Africa, Chile, and Vietnam. To maximize learning, trips focus on countries with economies in transition and emerging markets that are likely to have an impact on the future global economy.

Your exposure to global perspectives is also enhanced by your learning community, which unites students, faculty, and staff from locations around the globe. The small cohort size of the Wisconsin MBA Program ensures that you will study, collaborate, and socialize with this diverse group of motivated, career-focused individuals.

three women weaving with reeds
During a visit with local entrepreneurs in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam, Nicole Kite (MBA '17) tries her hand at weaving with reeds. The business makes mats, rugs, and other hand-crafted items.

Wisconsin MBAs Explore a Global Market

As part of a recent Global Course, Wisconsin MBA students traveled to Vietnam, where they consulted with existing businesses and learned about the economic, political, historical, and cultural factors influencing the globalization of this emerging market. Vietnam provided an ideal laboratory for learning; the country's GDP has more than doubled in a decade, and entrepreneurship is flourishing.

While in Vietnam, students visited a variety of companies, including General Electric, Prudential, PwC, and SC Johnson. They also visited a craft brewery to assess opportunities for U.S. beer makers to enter the Vietnamese market.

In the global course, MBA students across all career specializations participate, creating a cross-disciplinary experience that mirrors the way consulting assignments are handled in actual business environments. Upon returning to campus for the second semester, students completed their consulting projects and wrote papers about how the trip impacted their understanding of global business.

Kimmie Miescher

“The trip to Brazil was an excellent opportunity to get a global perspective on brand management. We visited several consumer packaged goods companies, including SC Johnson, where we did a case study focusing on targeting different segments of consumers throughout Brazil. The global trip was an astounding success and is definitely an experience I will never forget! The trip delivered professional learnings that I will take with me throughout my career in brand management, and it also provided an opportunity to grow on a personal level.”

—Kimmie Miescher, MBA
Product Manager, Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corp.