CIBERThe George Washington University

2013-2014 ANNUAL REPORT

Visit us online at http://www.business.gwu.edu/CIBER for updates.

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Table of Contents

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Director’s LetterAbout GW-CIBERFostering ResearchBuilding a Community of ScholarsTeaching International BusinessPromoting Experiential LearningAdvancing Education in Business LanguagesEngaging the Business & Policy CommunitiesSupporting Student InitiativesThe Next Four YearsGW-CIBER Administrators & Advisors

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The 2013 - 2014 fiscal year was quite busy for GW-CIBER. The year was the last one in the 2010-2014 grant cycle, so we had our full range of planned activities, but we also had to devote a considerable amount of time to shaping our strategy for writing a new grant proposal. I am excited to share the good news that GW-CIBER was one of the seventeen

CIBERs that got refunded for four more years!Before I mention our new endeavors planned for the next

four years, allow me to highlight some of our accomplishments over the past year.

First, I am happy to report that we had a great success providing experiential learning opportunities to our students. We continued our support of GWSB’s Consulting Abroad Projects (CAP), catered to the full-time MBA cohort, by offering a training workshop on consulting and by leading a CAP project in Rwanda where the students worked with local firms operating in the agriculture sector. We also participated in the CIBER network’s Global Business Project (GBP), with a diverse and talented group of eight GW students enrolled in several of our Master’s programs (part-time MBA, Healthcare MBA, International Trade, Information Technology, and Accounting). This variety in backgrounds, ages, and experience ensured well-rounded GBP teams that offered their client companies a range of industry, functional, language, and cross-cultural communication skills, among others. Finally, for a second year in a row, we awarded funding to GW School of Business students participating in unpaid summer internships in positions related to international business. Most of the six students we funded had secured overseas internships -- with international organizations, NGOs, or local companies.

GW-CIBER programming in Business Languages was also successful. Our Business Language Faculty Coordinators and affiliated language faculty continued their work on designing innovative tools for student learning and offering

opportunities for professional development to language instructors from local institutions.

Albeit with still limited funding, we promoted research on GW-CIBER’s theme of Institutions, the State, and Development in International Business. We hosted our seventh Summer Doctoral Institute (SDI) in 2014, with scholars coming from PhD programs in Engineering, Management, Finance, International Business, and Political Science. This variety of disciplines contributed to lively discussions and expanded professional horizons. Additionally, GW-CIBER was fortunate to receive a generous donation from a GW School of Business alumna and member of our Advisory Council. With this funding, we supported the development of three research projects on topics such as global strategy formulation, environmental technology innovation across countries, and transparency in foreign direct investment in the petroleum industry.

In order to boost our outreach efforts, we collaborated with several GW entities in organizing numerous invited-speaker events, panel discussions, and conferences.

We are now at the beginning of our third CIBER grant cycle, and we are looking forward to enhancing our flagship initiatives and expanding our programming with new offerings. Our objectives for the next four years are centered around curriculum development, experiential learning, development of multidisciplinary research projects, professional development opportunities for faculty and doctoral students, training programs for members of the business and policy communities in the Mid-Atlantic region, promotion of business language education, and enhancement of students’ and professionals’ understanding of the business environment in Sub-Saharan Africa.

In closing, I would like to thank all my colleagues for their continued support and hard work – which contributed greatly to the success of our third grant proposal.

Sincerely,

Reid W. ClickDirector, GW-CIBERAssociate Professor of International Business & International Affairs

Visit us online at http://www.business.gwu.edu/CIBER for updates.

All Rights Reserved GW - CIBER 2014Design by Aubri French

Director’s Letter

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About GW-CIBERThe GW Center for International Business Education

and Research (GW-CIBER) is part of a dynamic network of CIBERs located in universities across the U.S. Founded under the 1988 Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act, this program is administered through the U.S. Department of Education. The main objective of all CIBERs is to promote U.S. competitiveness and to provide programs and services that help students, academics, businesses, and policy-makers expand their capacity for international understanding and global success.

GW-CIBER is pursuing the above objective by offering programming under the overarching theme of Institutions, the State, and Development in International Business. This theme leverages GW’s location in Washington, DC, as well as the expertise of its faculty and its strategic commitment to international business, international development, and foreign languages. The Center’s theme emphasizes the role of formal and informal institutions and that of the State as a

prominent institutional actor, while also focusing on emerging and developing markets and the challenges and opportunities they offer to U.S. businesses.

Drawing on the capabilities and interests of faculty from several nationally-recognized GW programs (such as International Business, International Affairs, Economics, Public Policy/Public Administration, Political Science, and International Law), GW-CIBER has adopted a multidisciplinary approach to program development and outreach. Furthermore, the Center benefits from close ties and collaboration with leading DC-area NGOs, multilateral organizations, think-tanks, and development agencies, among others. GW-CIBER also serves as a national and regional resource supporting business language instruction, with a focus on less-commonly taught languages, in order to enhance future professionals’ potential to communicate, understand other cultures, and be successful in foreign markets.

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Our Objectives1. Advance the understanding of International Business along six focal areas.

2. Integrate International Studies and Business education and provide real-world experiences in IB.

3. Expand students’ proficiency in the context of business in less-commonly taught languages.

4. Develop a scholarly community of doctoral students from around the country interested in research

related to the Center’s theme.

5. Provide professional development opportunities for faculty at GW and Minority Serving Institutions.

6. Promote scholarship nationwide on the Center’s theme by assembling researchers from diverse

disciplines and locations.

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GW-CIBER’s research (journal articles, books, working papers, seminars, workshops, conferences) is related to the Center’s theme of Institutions, the State, and Development in International Business. Within this area, the GW-CIBER scholars conduct research and organize activities that address six focal areas, which cover issues that are important for managers, policy-makers, and academics.

Until 2011, GW-CIBER’s sponsored research was carried out through annual Request-for-Proposal Competitions (RFP). Through this mechanism, GW faculty and doctoral students were invited to submit proposals for projects (research, teaching, and outreach) related to the Center’s theme and the six focal areas, with an emphasis on the impact on U.S. competitiveness.

Due to budget cuts for Title VI programs (which include CIBERs), we were not able to offer our regular RFP competition for the past couple of years. However, in 2013, GW-CIBER received a generous donation from one of the Center’s Advisory Council members, which allowed us to sponsor three research projects (see next page for details).

Additionally, we also offered our annual Summer Doctoral Institute for research and study on the Center’s theme (see next section for details), which featured projects discussing: (i) quantitative methods for the risk analysis of global supply chains; (ii) if and how the presence of multinationals affect domestic firms’ voluntary involvement in activities related to corporate social responsibility; (iii) intellectual property rights in the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations in U.S.-Northeast Asia trade relations; (iv) the effects of cross-listing on the cross-border acquisition

performance of emerging market multinational corporations; (v) how the pre-merger financial constraints of an acquiring retail multinational determine its choice of payment method and post-takeover performance, conditional on country-level institutional factors; and (vi) whether firms not domiciled in the U.S. that contribute politically benefit differently than U.S. firms. These doctoral research projects are in various degrees of completion and are being prepared for journal submission and conference and seminar presentations.

Finally, GW-CIBER’s research initiatives are enhanced by the work of our faculty coordinators and other GW faculty members, as well as through close collaboration with other GW centers, other schools, and local organizations, who work with us on offering quality research conferences and discussions.

Fostering Research

Focal Areas• Trade, Investment, and Labor Policy

• Firm-State-Society Relations

• Property Rights and Global Innovation

• Natural Resource Scarcity, Security, and

Sustainability

• Economic, Financial, and Political Crisis

• Diaspora Investment and Entrepreneurship

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Research Projects Funded by rkl3D, LLCRobin Liebowitz, founder and CEO of rkl3D, LLC, who earned her undergraduate and

MBA degrees from GW, provided generous funding for projects exploring issues related to international business and development. More specifically, faculty members were invited to submit proposals for projects that further the knowledge in the areas of (i) Foreign Direct Investment; (ii) Cross-Border Mergers and Acquisitions; (iii) Innovation in Emerging Economies; and (iii) Energy Security. The following three projects were selected for funding:

The aim of this research is to better understand how European international contractors sustain their competitive advantages despite multiple challenges in both the domestic and global markets. This study explores a theoretical framework to examine international general contractors’ strategies by looking into market environments, firm resources, and firm capabilities. In addition, actual cases of successful global strategy formulation and implementation by European international contractors that adapt to the new environment are examined, analyzed, and discussed. This study provides insights for the engineering and construction industry to consider diverse strategies, including foreign direct investment and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, in the ever-changing global project environments.

Young Hoon Kwak, Associate Professor of Decision Sciences

Environmental technology (ET) innovation has long been characterized as offering the best prospect for responding to environmental needs with minimal impact on business. Yet despite this potential “win-win” for businesses, the production of this innovation is far from even across countries. In order to shed light on the drivers of ET innovation, researchers have examined a variety of policy instruments. However, evidence regarding the effectiveness of specific policy instruments in stimulating ET innovation has been inconclusive. In this study, the author proposes that missing from this emerging body of literature has been sufficient attention to the broad legal and political institutional contexts from which ET innovation may also emanate. Specifically, the researcher argues that the legal origins of a country affect its orientation toward ET innovation activity. Further, he contends that the level of democracy should positively moderate these relationships. Thus, in this study the author examines the following research question: how does national institutional environment (i.e. legal, political) influence the development of ET innovations?

Legal Origins, Democracy, and Environmental Technology Innovation: A Cross-Country Examination

How do European International Contractors Adapt to the Changing Project Environments?

Jorge Rivera, Professor of Strategic Management & Public Policy

Transparency in multinational enterprises (MNEs) is widely viewed by policy makers as necessary for alleviating the challenges of poor governance, weak institutions, and corruption common in developing countries. These problems are acute in oil-rich countries, a phenomenon known as the “resource curse.” Recent rulemaking under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in the United States, and similar laws around the world, seeks to mandate project-level disclosures by extractive industry firms listed on stock exchanges. These measures have proven highly contentious among MNEs, who argue that mandating disclosure of proprietary information increases their risks abroad, especially when competing against foreign state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Scholarly work on MNE transparency is limited. Theory does not yield consistent predictions, and little empirical work has examined transparency in foreign direct investment, focusing instead on cross-country comparisons of domestic firms. To address these gaps, this project seeks to extend the literature in two ways. First, the author explicitly examines MNE transparency with respect to foreign investments, which he terms investment transparency. Second, he expands beyond prior work that focuses solely on publicly traded companies to understand how SOEs differ from traditional MNEs in regards to transparency decisions. The implications of this project should be of interest to U.S. policy-makers and MNE managers competing against increasingly-internationalized SOEs.

Robert Weiner, Professor of International Business

Transparency in Foreign Direct Investment: Theory and Evidence from Petroleum-Reserve Acquisitions

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For a seventh consecutive year, GW-CIBER offered its annual Summer Doctoral Institute (SDI) for research and study on Institutions, the State, and Development in International Business. In summer 2014, six PhD students pursuing doctoral degrees in universities across the country, came together on GW’s campus to do work on research projects under the mentorship of GW faculty members.

SDI’s main objective is to create a community of scholars working in various disciplines but with common interests in GW-CIBER’s theme. This interdisciplinary nature of SDI allows for a multi-perspective discussion, mutual learning, and unexpected discoveries. Additionally, the program participants gain a new outlook on the topics they have been investigating, and acquire the necessary tools to incorporate this new vision into their research.

The main component of the SDI program is the relationship between the student and his/her faculty mentor. SDI faculty mentors devote time to personally interact with their assigned students, and to be not only advisors but also research partners. Each student-mentor pair works towards a co-authored paper that can be published in a top journal and presented at high-quality conferences in their respective fields.

Similar to the students, the faculty members serving as mentors also come from different disciplines. Besides International Business, other departments and schools represented in SDI include Strategic Management and Public Policy, Decision Sciences, Economics, Political Science, International Affairs, Engineering, and Information Technology.

Furthermore, all participating SDI students are granted access to various GW resources – computing services, libraries, research seminars, conferences, and professional development workshops.

GW-CIBER Summer Doctoral Institute

Building a Community of Scholars

“The GW-CIBER Summer Doctoral Institute has been an invaluable experience that enriched my doctoral studies from several aspects. I had access to a wealth of resources through faculty members, peers, and thought-provoking weekly seminars which helped shape my future research endeavors. Being in the DC area, I had a chance to participate in several activities relevant to my work which helped expand my network. The GW-CIBER staff and faculty have been a great support for us and our research projects, facilitating our stay and resulting in a fruitful scholarly collaboration.”

-Hiba Baroud, SDI 2014 Participant

Alumni SpotlightLuis Dau, an SDI 2008 alumnus, who worked under the mentorship of GW Professor Jennifer

Spencer, has recently had his SDI paper published in a top journal. The article “Strategic Responses to FDI in Emerging Markets: Are Core Members More Responsive Than Peripheral Members of Business Groups?” (by Ayyagari, M., Dau, L. & Spencer, J.) is forthcoming in the Academy of Management Journal. It investigates if and how the affiliation with and the position in a business group network influence the strategic response of local firms (assertive vs. accommodating) with regards to investment announcements by multinational corporations. Luis graduated with his PhD in International Business from University of South Carolina and is now an Assistant Professor at the Northeastern University School of Business.

“The GW-CIBER Summer Doctoral Institute Program broadened my understanding of international business in an interdisciplinary manner. The theme of the 2014 program on ‘Institutions, the State & Development in International Business’ was very helpful for me as a political economist seeking to expand the research area of institutionalism with business interests. The weekly seminars and feedback from my fellow colleagues and one-to-one research guidance from my faculty mentor were also instrumental in advancing my research on intellectual property and industrial interests. Above all, I am very grateful that the academic bonding that we have created through the program has become a strong foundation for future research collaboration.”-June Park, SDI 2014 Participant

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Building a Community of Scholars

Featured Project

Cross-Border acquisition is one of the most important means to expand globally. However, Emerging Market MNC’s (EMNC) internationalization is challenged by liability of “emergingness” and lacking of legitimacy due to the institutional environment of their home country. How could EMNCs capture value through cross-border acquisition and leverage their accumulated competitive advantage in home country? Specifically, will institutional spanning such as cross-listing enhance the EMNCs’ competitiveness in the global market for corporate control? In the process of cross-listing on a major foreign exchange, EMNCs, whose home market characterized by an institutional void, comply with higher-quality corporate governance requirement and improve the quality of information disclosure.

Using a dataset of EMNCs’ cross-border acquisitions from 2000-2010, this study examines the effects of cross-listing on cross-border acquisition performance of EMNCs. The results showed that incorporating governance requirement and regulatory regimes of world class financial markets through cross-listing enhances EMNC global competitiveness and strengthens their capability of reconciling competing institutional logics in global markets.

The Effects of Cross-Listing on the Cross-Border Acquisition Performance of Emerging Market MNCs

Yinuo Tang, Anu Phene & Reid Click

SDI 2014 Participants &

MentorsHiba Baroud – Industrial Engineering, University of Oklahoma

GW Mentor: Royce Francis, School of Engineering & Applied Science

Jie Li – Retailing, Michigan State UniversityGW Mentor: Jiawen Yang,

International Business

Ying Liu – Management & International Business, Florida International University

GW Mentor: Jorge Rivera, Strategic Management & Public Policy

June Park – Political Science, Boston UniversityGW Mentor: Susan Sell, Political

Science & International Affairs

Kelsey Syvrud – Finance, Florida State University

GW Mentor: Meghana Ayyagari, International Business

Yinuo Tang – Strategic Management, University of Pittsburgh

GW Mentors: Anu Phene & Reid Click, International Business

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Teaching International Business

I had the pleasure of teaching in a new GWSB program in the fall of 2013 – the undergraduate International Business Program in Buenos Aires. This allows GW students to take coursework at the Universidad Torcuato di Tella (UTDT) from GW and UTDT faculty, alongside Argentine students. The program, which includes a language component, is designed to have students study international business in a foreign environment and complete nearly all the requirements for the major in International Business while abroad. The classroom component is enhanced by the hands-on experiences available to students. GW-CIBER is supporting the development and expansion of the program, and in the future will be offering students more immersion in the business and policy environment through a co-curricular program of site visits to businesses and government offices.

I taught the International Business Finance course, and was impressed with the way the environment enhanced student comprehension of difficult material. The students were getting first-hand exposure to several fascinating issues in international economics and business. I was able to use Argentina as a laboratory for explaining the major concepts – and in the process explain the importance of institutions in international business.

Upon arrival in the country, we were immediately presented with currency issues. The official exchange rate was approximately 5.8 pesos per dollar, but by asking around you could find a way to exchange cash at a more favorable rate – known as the dólar blue rate – that was about 9.5 pesos per dollar. In the classroom, this provided for good discussion of supply and demand in currency markets, along with the impact of tight currency controls imposed by the government and the looming speculations about future exchange rates.

The exchange rate issues are coupled with inflation ones. In the time the students were in Argentina, they saw the prices of most goods increase (including their favorite

Starbucks drinks). The government of Argentina had been aggressively trying to control inflation. It published data indicating an inflation rate of about 10% annually. That is high compared to most developed countries, so this alone provided a new experience for the students. However, non-governmental estimates of inflation put it at approximately 25%. This controversy proved a good example of how new institutional arrangements emerged and how they impacted different stakeholders. Rather than control inflation itself, the government was accused of resorting to controlling the measurement of inflation, through threats and under-reporting!

Since all of these issues are part of the aftermath of Argentina’s spectacular financial crisis of 2001-2002, I talked in class about the country’s default on its $130 million debt, the collapse of its currency board, and how this led to the current situation. When Argentina defaulted on its debt again in August 2014, my (already former) students were excited because, after having immersed themselves in the environment for over four months, they could understand why this was coming.

We also launched into a discussion of political risks faced by foreign direct investors, and the 2012 re-nationalization of the largest oil company was still fresh in everyone’s mind. Additionally, the Vice President was under investigation for corruption and this steered our class discussion to the Transparency International corruption ratings (with Argentina rated as very corrupt) and what it would mean for the country’s business climate.

Argentina indeed proved to be a natural laboratory for explaining the core concepts of my course, and showcased the role of institutions. There is probably no better place to be a student of International Business Finance than Argentina!

-Reid W. Click, Associate Professor of International Business & International Affairs; Director, GW-CIBER

Teaching International Business in Argentina

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Teaching International BusinessTeaching International Business in Argentina Studying International Business in Argentina

When I first entered the School of Business at the George Washington University (GWSB), I was convinced that I wanted to study abroad. Having traveled numerous times to the Dominican Republic with my parents, who were born and raised there, I had enjoyed being immersed in another culture throughout the years. However, by the time I reached college I wanted to experience another culture that was not the American or the Dominican one.

I arrived in Buenos Aires on August 1st, 2013. Being a native speaker of Spanish (the only one in the GW group that year), it was relatively easy for me to accommodate into everyday life. The GWSB International Business program in Argentina, with Universidad Torcuarto di Tella as the host school, consisted of five classes with two GWSB professors and three Argentine professors.

With only a few days in, it was evident that attending classes at di Tella provided me and my GW classmates with a different perspective on the material. For example, through our International Finance class, we learned how inflation and exchange rates affect a country’s economy. And, given the economic and political situation that was unfolding in Argentina at this time – there was a lot of news concerning the country’s inflation and monetary policy – we witnessed how what we learned in class applied to the real world. Exchange rates were fluctuating daily and prices were increasing every week or so. Further on, in the International Marketing class, one of the local professors taught us how marketing differs depending on the economies. The strategies used for emerging economies were not the same as those used for mature ones. During my time in Argentina, Coca Cola introduced a new beverage to the Argentine market, Coca Cola Life. This product catered to the local market as it was made with natural sweeteners. Again, we were able to see how the material learned in the classroom applied to the real world. Lastly, through our Doing Business in Argentina class, we went on a site visit in the outskirts of Buenos Aires. We visited Tenaris, a company that manufactures steel pipes for the energy industry. We listened to a presentation about the company and got a tour of the plant.

Since I hope to pursue a career path consisting of international assignments in the future, this international experience and exposure is valuable to me as it improved my understanding of economic and business issues and provided me with confidence about interacting with people from different business and national cultures.

The Argentine culture was significantly different from the cultures I was accustomed to. During my time there, I was able to enjoy the delicious Argentine cuisine (the churrasco and ojo de bife did exceed my expectations) and to travel. I was able to travel to Mendoza and learn about the Argentine wine

industry, and to Mar de Plata, a small town where Havana, the popular alfajores brand, was founded. But my favorite trips were to El Calafate in Patagonia and Iguazu, homes to some of the most wonderful natural places - the Perito Moreno glacier and the Iguazu Falls. The two places were so different from each other, but very enchanting to say the least.

Overall, my classmates and I had a wonderful time studying in Buenos Aires. Towards the end of the semester my classmates no longer needed me to be their translator as they had improved their Spanish. We were able to experience an entire new country while building long lasting friendships during our time there. We all did become porteños while in Buenos Aires.

-Aylin Feliz, BBA Candidate 2015, International Business and Finance; Research Assistant, GW-CIBER

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Promoting Experiential LearningSupporting Internships in International Business

Challenges in Tourism • Harnessing big data to create value for

managers: The Visit Greenland research department is compiling information that encompasses everything from visitor origin and spending habits, to experiential expectations and traveler desires. As databanks continue to fill up in terms of volume and variety of information, it will become more important to package the information into progressive business solutions.

• Improving aging or inefficient infrastructure: From a tourism perspective, everything from transportation systems, roadways, proper lodging, electricity, telecommunications and internet connectivity will always remain critical in establishing a competitive product. While improving or establishing infrastructure is typically in the hands of the State, or a major firm, it is vital for managers to continue to press the issue up the chain, and provide up-to-date information on the real impacts that poor infrastructure has on their businesses.

• Smaller enterprises keeping up with the fast-moving technological landscape: The majority of tourism enterprises are small or micro organizations that are at a serious disadvantage when it comes to human resources. While this makes it difficult for them to keep up to date with the latest technological advances and trends, it also makes it critical for them to use newer systems in order to create more efficient operations.

-Ben Taylor, MTA; Visit Greenland Mapping ProjectPhoto: Mads Phil, Visit Greenland

In an effort to boost student participation in internships related to international business, for a second year GW-CIBER provided support to students who have secured unpaid internships in relevant fields and functions. In summer 2014, six students were awarded funding to support their internships. They were placed with the USAID (Ethiopia), the United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace (Geneva), the Eurasia Center, the D.C. Office of the Deputy

Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, a small NGO in Brazil, and a tourism agency in Greenland.

The students reported improved time management, cross-cultural communication, decision making, research, and writing skills, among others. As a final part of their internship, the students were tasked with writing a report discussing the top three international business issues that managers may face in the next ten years (see excerpts below).

Managing in Developing Countries •Urban planning and infrastructure: Developing

nations seem to be plagued with an unending supply of non-existent or poorly constructed roads, small airports, and a lack of ports and railroads. These are the necessities of running a successful business, and without them busi-nesses simply cannot be as effective. Part and parcel with this is poor urban planning. Roads are put down, and then ripped up to install sewer systems and drainage. Overall, a lack of long-term vision is given to building a city that works together, which only leads to long-term problems.

•Financing and governance: One of the top issues experienced by managers in growing African businesses is the limited access to financing and supporting governments. Many countries have huge interest rates, or require excessive amounts of collateral. For business managers attempting to start or expand a business it can be a huge hassle without business-enabling laws in place by the government and access to financing from an efficient and funded banking system.

•Education and business training: Managers have an extremely hard time finding educated and trained employees to hire in developing countries. With primary and secondary education lacking and an inadequate tertiary education, the workforce may be seriously limited. This causes a power vacuum at the management level, and results in import of foreign workers. The lack of critical thinking skills often disallows employees to think creatively and solve problems.

-Teal Griffey, GMBA; USAID Project in Ethiopia

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The highly-competitive Global Business Project was offered for a seventh year in 2014. This unique experiential-learning course for MBA and other Master’s level students provides the participants with a complete immersion in the lives of global consultants. The teams, including students from the GBP Consortium member-schools, are challenged to apply what they learn in the classroom to real-world business problems faced by real client companies. The clients are assured that they will receive actionable high-quality recommendations, professional conduct and presentation, and access to a talented pool of graduate students who can become future full-time employees. The student teams offer a collective competence in the language of the host country and in various functional and industry areas relevant to the project at hand.

The participating students gain valuable experience and exposure that will help them in their career planning. They are also given the opportunity to interact with peers from other schools (both virtually and in person) and to acquire knowledge of current consulting frameworks and practices.

The 2014 GBP program included projects in Brazil, China, and India. Eight GW students were accepted into GBP teams. The specific client companies for which the GW students worked were Grupo RBS, Brazil (newspaper network improvement), HPCL, India (investigation into the architecture of the company’s retails business), Eli Lilly, India (construction of a market-penetration roadmap for a new product), Domino’s Pizza, Brazil (expansion of the market share), GE-Infrastructure, Brazil (identification of business opportunities), M+W, China (market analysis), and HGST, China (brand health analysis and market share expansion).

Supporting Internships in International Business Global Business Project 2014Featured GBP: China

GBP offers a truly unique experience to pursue a rigorous consulting role coupled with a cross-cultural team experience. Our project client was a global leader in hard drive manufacturing, and our task was to evaluate a niche consumer market and to deliver an optimal go-to-market strategy for these specialized hard drives. The research included obtaining a keen understanding of the China market by evaluating its culture, demographic trends, consumer preferences/biases, economic development, technological trends, and business traditions, and developing strategic plans to effectively navigate the foreign market. As a self-proclaimed research guru, I was humbled at the realization that industry and business data was a luxury we had for the US market.

In executing the project, we used an iterative hypothesis and test approach provided by the curriculum that proved to be instrumental in identifying opportunities and pivoting focus with large amounts of market information. This approach is one that I still use today in various forms and that has enabled me to make advances in my professional experiences.

I learned critical lessons with working in a cross-cultural team and developed experience navigating the nuances and challenges when relying on virtual communication, time-zone coordination and access to resources (Google, among many other common tools, was not used in China). Today I have a great appreciation for perspectives that differ from my own, and feel that my intuition for business decisions has been strengthened by the ability to learn from a team of various cultural backgrounds.

While I considered myself a veteran to group projects and a savvy business professional, the GBP experience gave me an entirely new set of tools that I continually build upon, and today I am a far more effective team member, which has contributed greatly to my personal and professional growth. GBP is certainly one of those experiences that you will get as much from it as you put in. I recommend to those that are rewarded with an opportunity to join the program to accept every obstacle as a learning lesson and to celebrate each moment of success. Regardless of your professional background, you will take away countless lessons that will reward you far beyond the project term.

-Kimberly Vu, GBP 2014 Participant

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Promoting Experiential LearningConsulting Abroad Projects

As part of their curriculum, all first-year Global MBA students are required to participate in one of several Consulting Abroad Projects (CAPs). The CAP program is a three-course sequence, taken during the spring semester, and is designed to provide students with the opportunity to acquire deeper knowledge about a particular country and industry, by involving them in consulting projects for a client operating in the host country.

An International Management course, offered in the first half of the Spring semester, equips the students with relevant international business theoretical frameworks, and introduces them to the details of their specific projects. Additionally, with the support of GW-CIBER, the CAP students were again

offered a full-day training workshop covering the consulting methodology TEAM FOCUS, taught by the international consulting expert and professor of strategy Dr. Paul Friga. The TEAM FOCUS problem-solving model guides the consulting teams through the various stages of the consulting process – from understanding the problem, to collecting and analyzing data, and communicating with team-mates and clients.

For a second year in a row, GW-CIBER’s Faculty Director and Administrative Director led the CAP-Rwanda student teams who were introduced to the topic of the institutional challenges and opportunities that firms face in developing countries.

Argentina: The students visited Buenos Aires and Mendoza to explore the CleanTech sector. Clients and projects included IMPSA (international market entry strategy formulations for major hydro and wind projects in Africa) and ALP Group and Biogas Argentina (business strategy formulation on the local context of Argentina’s renewable energy market).

China: This program focused on the hospitality sector, engaging clients such as Marriott International East China and Shanghai Jin Jiang Metropolo Hotel Management Company. The students provided advice to these firms on brand portfolio management strategy, product diversification, and customer loyalty program expansion.

India: The main client for this project was Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL), the largest automobile manufacturer in India. The student team consulted for four of MSIL’s suppliers and leveraged their skills in the areas of supply chain optimization, demand forecasting system improvement, plant inventory optimization, and procurement.

Rwanda: For this project, GWSB partnered with two local clients operating in the agricultural sector. This partnership was facilitated by the Rwanda Development Board. The clients, Norelga Macadamia Rwanda, and Ikirezi Natural Products, asked the students to address issues such as feasibility of investing in new equipment, export expansion, land use, and debt management and financing.

Turkey: This year’s CAP project in Turkey focused on the fashion industry, with Beymen (a luxury fashion retail company) as a client. The project provided the GMBA students with an opportunity to use their marketing, IT, strategy, and general management skills and knowledge. Specifically, the teams investigated ways to attract new customers, promote a new brand, and expand the company’s online sales.

CAP 2014 Countries and Projects

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The China CAP program was based in Shanghai, with a focus on the tourism and hospitality industry. We got the opportunity to work with an internationally-renowned brand in one of the world’s largest, most dynamic cities. The pace of growth and sheer scale of the city is stunning, and the hospitality and welcoming nature of the Chinese people was equally incredible. One of the best aspects of our trip to China was the weekend trip that we were able to take to Beijing. It was fantastic to see the contrast between Beijing and our host city, Shanghai. Beijing reminded me very much of DC, whereas I thought that Shanghai was more like New York, and I thought it was very interesting to see that similarity between the four major cities across the two countries.

When I have visited landmarks in Europe and the US, they have been dominated by foreign tourists, but that didn’t seem to be the case at the Wall. The foreign tourists were outnumbered by visitors from within China, and this was refreshing to see. Our professor explained to us that the increased wealth of the middle class in China has resulted in a huge increase in these domestic trips for people who previously had been unable to do it. This was the essence of our project - how can major hotels in China capture these huge numbers of domestic leisure and business travelers?

On our second day in Shanghai, we met with our host, the company’s Area Director of Operations for East China. I wanted to get his insight into the rapid growth of the Chinese economy during his time in the country, and I was really interested in his view as an expat living in Shanghai. He was educated internationally (the UK & the US) and could have chosen to live anywhere, but he has made Shanghai his home, and I was curious to know why. He explained to the group that for a hotel management professional such as him, there was nowhere else to be in terms of opportunities and growth. He was opening hotels on a weekly basis, and was able to travel all over China and represent his company.

We engaged in several days of site visits, meetings, and seminars to further our understanding of this industry, and then got to work on tweaking our recommendations for our client. This extremely rewarding project culminated in a successful presentation to an executive group of senior managers at the flagship hotel of our client. Crafting a final product that added real value to the company, with the view of the Pudong Skyline from our hotel rooms, was an unbelievable experience, and one I will never forget.

-Joseph Feinmann, MBA Candidate 2015

Featured CAP: ChinaConsulting Abroad Projects

One of the CAP destinations this year was Argentina. Professor Anna Helm, who teaches in the International Business Department and is affiliated with the GW-CIBER in her role as Faculty Coordinator for Business Languages, developed a course that immersed eighteen Global MBA students in the Clean Technology sector in Argentina. The course exposed students to marketing related operations in a business environment, which is characterized by volatility and institutional voids. With the deficiencies in regulations and incentives structures, the business environment in emerging markets is unpredictable and therefore more difficult to navigate. Students learned firsthand what the specific constraints and opportunities are in Argentina through engagement with firms that operate in this environment on a daily basis.

During the spring semester CAP Argentina students participated in seminars on Argentina’s business culture and business climate, the specifics around the CleanTech market there, as well as hands-on workshops focusing on international marketing strategy and green consumer behavior. There were also numerous opportunities for students to engage with experts from the U.S. Department of Energy, the International Finance Corporation, as well as DC-based CleanTech consultants and legal experts. Concurrently with the seminars, students were working on four client projects, assisting firms in Argentina with strategic marketing projects. The companies ranged from a relatively young biogas company, to an innovative wind-energy engineering firm focused on off-grid renewable energy installations, to IMPSA, a multinational corporation doing wind and hydro installations throughout Latin America and South-East Asia. Students assisted the firms with the development of strategic expansion plans both in their domestic and regional markets, as well as in the global arena with a focus on Africa.

While on-site in Argentina, students were exposed to a variety of perspectives on the country’s business practices, sustainability efforts, and the state of the CleanTech industry through visits to the American Chamber of Commerce in Buenos Aires and other organizations and companies engaged in efforts to promote sustainability, CleanTech and renewable energy in Argentina. Students also got to enjoy a visit to Mendoza and its wine districts, a tango show, and a day full of activities at an Estancia at the foot of the Andes.

Featured CAP: Argentina

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Advancing Education in Business Languages

A Note From the Business Language CoordinatorsThe past academic year has been a productive one for GW-CIBER’s business

languages team. We kept true to our mission to serve as a regional leader in business language teaching by developing innovative teaching tools and offering much needed professional development opportunities to language instructors from the Washington, DC area.

During the past grant year, the GW professors of Chinese (Phyllis Zhang) and Arabic (Mohssen Esseesy) stepped up their efforts on completing their business case and video projects.

As part of our language immersion initiatives, the Professor of Japanese Shoko Hamano, together with her colleague Ms. Mitsuyo Sato, organized the GW-CIBER Japanese Immersion workshop for teachers of Japanese. The well-attended event brought together participants from all levels of instruction for a day of learning, sharing, and networking. The workshop participants appreciated seeing specific modules actually used in the classroom and learning about how these might fit into the traditional curriculum. Two other well-received aspects of the workshop were the student presentations and an interview with a GW Japanese program alumnus who currently works as a manager for Mitsubishi. The latter, specifically, gave a clear demonstration of the applicability of business-language skills in the real-world context.

Another chance to disseminate our experience with teaching business languages was the annual Business Language Conference. We offered two workshops on Using Business Cases for Teaching Business Languages. Additionally, we were awarded a Business Language Research and Teaching (BLRT) grant for the project “International Business and Business Language in Collaboration: An Online Teacher Training Unit and Service-Learning Model”. We propose to make business content more accessible to language teachers through an online course on business concepts. The result will be a language-teacher-friendly training in business, available at any time for teachers to complete. The online course will be modelled on our successful e-Handbook on Teaching with Business Cases that we developed earlier with GW-CIBER’s support.

Finally, the partnership between GW-CIBER and the National Capital Language Resource Center (NCLRC) on exposing more language teachers to business language news and opportunities, resulted in several columns in the NCLRC’s monthly online newsletter (see list on this page).

- Dr. Margaret Gonglewski & Dr. Anna Helm

“Business Language in Focus” Columns

by Dr. Margaret Gonglewski

•GlobalBusinessLanguages: A Valuable Resource” (July/ August 2013)

•FindingSuccessinBusiness Language Teaching” (September/ October 2013)

•BusinessLanguageNetworking Through NOBLE” (November/ December 2013)

•FromDoubtertoBelieverin Business Language Teaching” (January/February 2014)

•LinkingLanguageDirectly to the Workplace: Spanish for Healthcare” (March/April 2014)

•Highlightsfromthe2014 National Business Language Conference” (May/June 2014)

•BusinessJapaneseImmersion Seminar: Intensive Learning from and with Colleagues, Students, and the Business Community” (July/August 2014; with Rachel Crawford)

To read the columns, please visit: http://nclrc.org/teachers_corner/business_language.html

Bragging PointThe article “Sustainability Pedagogies for the Business Language Classroom”, written by GW-CIBER’s Business Language Coordinators Margaret Gonglewski and Anna Helm, has been accepted for publication in the 2014 edition of Global Business Languages - an annual publication featuring articles on issues related to foreign languages, as well as English as a Second Language, taught for specific purposes (business, science, hotel and restaurant, law, etc.). The article examines the notion of “sustainability pedagogies” framed within three key aspects of sustainability education noted in the scholarship: interdisciplinarity, transformative learning, and experiential learning. In each of these areas, the authors provide an example of how sustainability pedagogies can be implemented in business language courses.

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Advancing Education in Business Languages

This one-day seminar was held as part of GW-CIBER’s business language immersion event series, which aim to provide cutting-edge professional development programming for language instructors in the DC area. The seminar offered all participants an opportunity to learn about methods for teaching Business Japanese, exchange ideas and materials, and observe demonstrations and hear presentations by teachers, students, and representatives of the Japanese business community. As is the practice with every immersion event held by GW-CIBER, the workshop took place predominantly in Japanese, and was led by two GW-CIBER affiliated language faculty - Dr. Shoko Hamano, Professor of Japanese and International Affairs, and Mitsuyo Sato, Lecturer of Japanese.

The close to thirty participants came from local high schools, universities, and the World Bank. They listened to an overview of the Business Japanese modules developed by Dr. Hamano and Ms. Sato, and received tips on how to incorporate more business content into Japanese class activities. Two instructors of Japanese in local high schools talked about the use of business concepts in the high-school Japanese language curriculum.

A notable presentation in Japanese was given by an American Business Development Manager for Mitsubishi Corporation, who shared his personal experience as an American expatriate working in a global Japanese company.

The morning session concluded with demonstrations delivered by a group of GW students of Japanese, who showed to the workshop participants how specific teaching approaches have resulted in actionable class projects and sustained learning.The second part of the workshop was held at Evermay, a historic Georgetown estate owned by a couple of Japanese biotech entrepreneurs. Evermay now serves as the headquarters of the S&R Foundation, which supports “individuals with great potential and high aspirations in the arts, sciences and social entrepreneurship, with a special emphasis on furthering international cultural collaboration and ensuing social benefits.”

The afternoon program included presentations on: (i) the mission of the S&R Foundation; (ii) the magnetic levitation transportation project between Washington, DC and New York (Katsuhiko Ichikawa from Japan Railway Central); (iii) inspirational stories from the Japanese civil aviation industry (Yoshiharu Naoki from All Nippon Airways); and (iv) travel opportunities to Japan (Scott Gilman from JapanQuest Journey). Besides immersing themselves in different aspects of the Japanese business, the workshop participants also had the chance to tour Evermay and enjoy its history, artwork, architecture, and interior.

Japanese Immersion Workshop

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Creative Tools for the Language Classroom

Advancing Education in Business Languages

GW-CIBER’s business case and video series aim at enriching the educational experience of business language students. Since 2010, the Center has funded the development of case and video projects in German, Russian, Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, and Korean. Most of the projects have been completed (see Arabic and Chinese projects featured here) and are already being used in class, while the others are receiving their finishing touches.

The projects and the associated teaching materials are being used to demonstrate the different aspects of a cross-cultural business interaction, including voice inflection, gestures, posture, tone, use of honorifics, and physical distance between speakers. The projects also showcase the specific context in which certain vocabulary is used, as well as the business environment in that particular country. Therefore, students gain not only language skills but also knowledge how to successfully communicate in professional settings abroad.

Featured Project Opportunities and Challenges - Quanfu’s StoryFaculty: Phyllis Zhang, Associate Professor of Chinese & International Affairs

In the last 30 years, many private small businesses have emerged in China. Just like many others, these small businesses have been facing challenges of expansion, restructuring, and diversification as they grow.

This case presents the development of Quanfu, a private company located in the Shunyi district of Beijing. Started as a family business in early 90s, Quanfu has been known as a manufacturer and supplier of plywood and furniture for the last 20 years. It has grown into a medium-sized company of over 400 employees, with a net asset of 200 million RMB. What are the key decisions that Quanfu has made in the past that has led to its successful development? What are the main challenges that Quanfu is facing today? How should Quanfu take the next step and grow beyond its current status? The case unfolds Quanfu’s three growing stages and discusses the company’s plans for further development.

The case materials:This case is presented in the form of a written narrative of the company, intermingled with video introduction of

the company’s background and interviews of the company’s leaders. Accompanying exercises and tasks focus on language forms and communicative skill development in speaking, reading, and writing.

Objectives and learning outcomes:•Throughthecasestudyanddiscussion,studentswillgainsomebasicknowledgeandunderstandingof growing private businesses in China, including general practices, opportunities, and challenges. •Forbusinesslanguagelearningoutcomes,studentswillbeableto:

o Augment their business-focused vocabulary and expressions at advanced level;o Discuss business decisions in the semi-formal style suitable for business settings;o Present business plans and proposals in Chinese in both oral and written forms.

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Featured ProjectThe Case for A Single Arab CurrencyFaculty: Mohssen Esseesy, Associate Professor of Arabic & International Affairs

Should the twenty-two Arab states revive today the Arab Dinar that was in circulation as a single currency throughout the Arab world in early Islamic times? Students in Business Arabic engage in problem analysis and solving of this and other case studies in the Business Arabic modules, to demonstrate their mastery over content and growth of their Arabic language skills. In so doing, before formulating an opinion or recommend a course of action, students study and analyze the case narrative, synthesize and evaluate relevant data and facts, and watch a recorded video interview with a prominent Arab economist, who was the first to revive the call for the reissuance of the Arab Dinar in recent decades.

This decision-focused case study is designed to engage students in stimulating debates and examination of this important proposal which, if implemented, would create a formidable trading zone. This case propels students to become active participants and deploy their critical thinking skills in order to evaluate the facts of the case and consider obstacles, as well as facilitating factors and alternative solutions along with their implementations. Through this and similar case studies in Business Arabic, learners sharpen their problem-solving skills of real business world issues, and become better prepared for future decision making in the real world. The case method in Business Arabic accommodates diverse learning styles (e.g., those that apply rules to facts of the case, those that look for patterns in the data of the case to develop hypotheses, as well as those that appreciate the opportunity to be involved in concrete, practical experience).

The single Arab currency case study is based on an actual proposal that has been advanced for the creation of an Arab Dinar zone, which has been under consideration for some time at the Arab League. What this case study offers its users is a motivation to learn, since the content provides linguistic, cultural, and business value to them. In short, the learning outcome of this and other stimulating case studies in Business Arabic is long-lasting and rewards the users linguistically and professionally, especially when considering future careers related to business in the Arab world.

Advancing Education in Business Languages

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One of GW-CIBER’s objectives is to offer quality programming and initiatives catered to the business and policy communities, and to serve as a bridge between those communities and the academia. To this end, we organize or co-sponsor workshops, invited speaker lectures, panel discussions, symposia, and conferences on various issues of current relevance to policy makers, managers, and scholars. Featured here are a few of the outreach events that we supported during the 2013-2014 grant year. We collaborated with several GW and external organizations to ensure a broader reach, synergies, and a wide selection of topics.

Negotiating History, Culture, and Institutions in Emerging Markets

The Fourth Emerging Markets Forum, organized by the University of Maryland CIBER and co-sponsored by GW-CIBER since its first year, featured some of the world’s leading scholars on the subject of how culture, history, and institutions shape the business environment. A particular emphasis of the Forum was the Islamic world. Participants were offered critical insights on doing business in the Middle East and elsewhere in the Islamic world, and how to constructively engage - commercially as well as socially – with this quarter of the world’s population. The invited speakers discussed the business environment in the Islamic world, the role of institutions, social media challenges, and cultural constraints. Over 100 participants attended this day-long forum.

9th Ethiopian Diaspora Business Forum

For a second time, GW-CIBER supported the annual Ethiopian Business Forum, held in August 2014 and organized by the Ethiopian American, a Virginia-based Ethiopian Diaspora business and investment group. The topic of this year’s forum was “Investing in Ethiopia’s Emerging Technology Sector”, in recognition of the growing importance of technology as a key driver of innovation in the Ethiopian economy. A particular focus was also investment in the power sector – one of the most attractive investment and technology transfer areas, where investment from the Diaspora is poised to make lasting impact. Additionally, the forum included a Private Equity Pitch session, with the view that more investment could be attracted if the opportunity is presented to both businesses and private equity firms. The Forum also featured a Pioneer Ethiopian Diaspora Business Person Award bestowed on Diaspora entrepreneurs who have introduced innovations in business that have positively affected business practices with long-term results in Ethiopia and/or in the Diaspora. In 2013, this award was given to the co-founder and CEO of the Ethiopian Broadcasting Service (EBS), the first non-political Diaspora-based satellite TV that has led the way in introducing innovative programming in Amharic and English to over 20 million viewers in Ethiopia and in the Diaspora. The 2014 Award committee is currently accepting and reviewing the nominations for this year’s award.

Some of the other sponsors of the 9th Ethiopian Diaspora Forum included the Ethiopian Airlines, Ernst & Young Ethiopia, Altour Tech, Comex PLC, Info Mind Solutions, EBS, and Vivid PLC.

Engaging the Business & Policy Communities

Collaborative and Co-Sponsored Initiatives

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The 16th Conference of the International Academy of Management and Business (IAMB)

GW-CIBER was pleased to co-sponsor this conference, which was held in November 2013 on the GW campus. IAMB is an academic association dedicated to advancing the research, teaching, and practice of management and business worldwide through academic publications, and by fostering a small-conference setting with multinational delegates.

The 16th conference featured papers in the following tracks: Organizational Studies, International Business, Strategic Management, Marketing Management, Technology & Innovation Management, Human Resource Management, Education & Training, Finance & Accounting, Management of Social Issues, and Management Studies. Participants included scholars from all continents.

Opportunities in International Private Enterprise and Real Estate

The Center for Real Estate and Urban Analysis (CREUA) and the Center for International Business Education and research (GW-CIBER) held a networking reception and program featuring two leaders in international business and real estate, who discussed international property rights and career opportunities outside the United States.

The speakers were Jason Dallara, Director of the Office of Real Estate Acquisitions and Disposals - Overseas Building Operations, U.S. Department of State, and Anna Nadgrodkiewicz, Director of Multiregional Programs at the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE).

Engaging the Business & Policy Communities

Private Equity in AfricaIn October 2013, GW-CIBER provided support to the GW African Business Association to

host Mr. Hurley Doddy for an exciting and informative discussion on the state of African business from the perspective of a private equity investor. Mr. Doddy is a Managing Director, Founding Partner, and Co-CEO of Emerging Capital Partners (ECP) - a leading Washington, DC-based private equity management company focused exclusively on Africa. ECP has seven offices across Africa and over a decade of investing experience in companies operating in over 40 countries on the continent. Mr. Doddy is responsible for providing overall leadership and strategy for the firm, including management of the investment staff. He has served on the boards of the African Venture Capital Association (AVCA), Oragroup (West and Central Africa), Celtel International (Pan-African), Charaf Corporation (Morocco), Agromed S.A. (Tunisia), Continental Reinsurance (Nigeria), All Africa

Airways (Mauritius), Air Ivoire (Cote d’Ivoire), and Société Internationale de Plantations d’Hévéas (SIPH) (West Africa). The discussion was moderated by Dr. Danny Leipziger, Professor of Practice of International Business, GW School of Business.

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Supporting Student Initiatives

Fostering Careers in International BusinessFor several

years, GW-CIBER has been working with international career experts to offer learning and training opportunities to students who are interested in pursuing study-abroad programs, i n t e r n a t i o n a l internships, or full-time overseas assignments. One

such expert that has consistently motivated students about “going global” is Ms. Stacie Nevadomski Berdan - a seasoned global executive, an international careers expert and an award-winning author on how to succeed in the global marketplace. She provides practical and relevant advice on the value of understanding cross-cultural environments, the benefits of female leadership, and the need for developing a global mindset in all American students today. She spent the majority of her career at Burson-Marsteller and Unilever, where she served as strategist, coach, and counselor to CEOs, politicians, and senior executives around the world. Her extensive global leadership experience in corporate communications, brand marketing, public affairs and cross-cultural consulting extends across four continents with a specific focus on Asia. Stacie uses her international business experience to promote the need for global awareness and cross-cultural competency for all in her books, media appearances, by-lined contributions and speaking

engagements across the country. She has authored four books on the intersection of globalization and careers. Her first book, Get Ahead By Going Abroad, has won two business-career awards, and has identified a fast-tracking career trend in women working internationally. One of her most recent books, Student Guide to Study Abroad (IIE, September 2013; co-authored with Dr. Allan Goodman, President and CEO of the Institute of International Education, and Sir Cyril Taylor, Founder of AIFS), is the go-to guide for students and advisers on how to make the most of study abroad.

Throughout her career, Stacie has counseled dozens of senior executives at the world’s leading companies, internationally-acclaimed non-profit organizations, and several foreign governments in the area of strategic business communication. She is equally comfortable advising business leaders, campus counselors, teachers, and students on the ins and outs of going global. Her professional responsibilities have spanned more than 50 countries in Asia-Pacific, Europe, and South America.

Stacie blogs regularly for the Huffington Post and on her site www.stacieberdan.com. Her numerous broadcast appearances include NBC “Weekend Today”, NPR’s “Marketplace,” ABC News “Money Matters” and “America This Morning”, CNN International, numerous FOX appearances, and her work has been featured in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Forbes, Fortune, Time, The Language Educator and many others.

 

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Supporting Student Initiatives

This hands-on workshop was attended by close to thirty graduate students who discussed approaches that can increase their odds of going global and further develop their global mindset. Specifically, the students learned how to: acquire and package their international skills in order to apply them to current global business trends and needs of potential employers; devise a strategy for an international job search, doing the appropriate research and networking; identify high-growth sectors, industries,

markets and organizations that are “hot” right now; and brand themselves in their resumes and cover letters and use social media for the international job search.

The workshop was organized in partnership with the GW School of Business International Business Society, a student-led organization which furthers the understanding of issues related to international business and promotes international career opportunities among members of the GW community.

International Careers Workshop: Creating a Winning Global Job-Search Toolkit

In March 2014, GW-CIBER, in collaboration with the GW Office of Study Abroad and the GWSB Office of Global & Experiential Education, was pleased to host Ms. Stacie Berdan for a third time, when she organized a panel discussion on how students can use their study abroad experience to enhance their career and personal growth prospects.

The panel discussion featured GW study-abroad alumni and people passionate about the topic, who addressed issues such as: why study abroad matters; how students can develop and refine their global persona; how to network on a global scale; what skills students can develop while studying abroad; how the study-abroad experience can be incorporated into the job-search; and how to optimize the study-abroad experience on both personal and professional levels.

The event started with a keynote address by Stacie Berdan who pointed out that the percentage of students who elect to study abroad is still very small (even smaller at graduate level) and this is due, to a great extent, to the fact that students still do not understand what options they have and how a study-abroad program can fit into their career plans. Some of the benefits of studying abroad, according to Stacie, are expansion of students’ cross-cultural horizon, personal growth

and development, career opportunities enhancement, grade improvement, and on-time graduation. However, she underlined that a study-abroad experience has to involve more than travel and fun activities, but also a deep dive into the cultural, historical, political, and economic environment of the host country and learning how to communicate successfully across cultures. Ms. Berdan also suggested some ways for students to leverage their study-abroad experience, including continued networking, seeking opportunities to apply and enhance their newly-acquired language skills, and making sure they showcase their global abilities and achievements with enough descriptive details that will capture the attention of prospective hiring managers.

After the keynote address, the stage was taken by the panelists: Chris Powers, Director of Education Abroad Programs at the Institute for International Education; Veneeth Iyengar, Principal of Sage Growth Partners & General Manager at Canton Health Ventures; Chris Billing, Filmmaker and Journalist; Benjamin Pauker, a current GW Undergraduate Student; Sharlene Juste, Study Abroad Operations Assistant at GW; and John McKiel, Senior Consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton. The panelists shared their views on why study abroad is important and how it has benefited them personally.

Leveraging Your Study Abroad Experience

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The Next Four YearsWe learned recently that GW-CIBER has been awarded

funding for the next, 2014-2018, grant cycle. Therefore, we will continue our mission to promote international education and understanding in the coming four years, by delivering innovative programming and engaging students, faculty, business people, and policy makers.

The 2014 CIBER grant competition was harsher than in other years, since the Department of Education decided to fund a limited number of CIBERs. Out of forty two applicants, only seventeen were awarded, and GW-CIBER was ranked third in terms of funding.

The new call for CIBER grant proposals included two competitive and two invitational priorities. The competitive ones ask for expansion of student employment opportunities through partnerships with professional associations and/or businesses, and for collaboration with Minority-serving Institutions (MSIs) and community colleges in order to internationalize their curricula. The invitational priorities stress on collaboration with institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, or Southeast Asia, and on offering initiatives focused on language instruction to strengthen the preparation of international business professionals. GW-CIBER has addressed these priorities through various activities involving all of our stakeholders.

GW-CIBER’s updated unifying theme of Institutions, Policies, and Development in International Business, will be supported by five key focal areas: (1) Trade, Investment, and Employment Issues; (2) Leveraging Diaspora Populations; (3) Energy, Land Management, and Environmental Sustainability; (4) The Intersection of Business, Government, and Civil Society; and (5) Innovation and Property Rights. These areas have critical implications for U.S. competitiveness and reflect specific GW faculty expertise. GW-CIBER’s theme and the associated focal areas will guide the center’s programming in seven specific objectives addressing student learning, faculty development, and outreach.

OBJECTIVE 1: Develop global leaders by furthering students’ understanding of the international context of business through innovative degree offerings, curriculum enhancement, and co-curricular activities.

OBJECTIVE 2: Collaborate with businesses and professional associations to create experiential learning and training opportunities for international business students.

OBJECTIVE 3: Develop multi-disciplinary research programs spanning the fields of business, international studies, and public policy, with an emphasis on interdisciplinary projects, to expand the body of knowledge in international business.

OBJECTIVE 4: Provide professional development opportunities for faculty and doctoral students in diverse fields from across the United States, with a special emphasis

on collaborative programming for scholars from Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) and community colleges (CCs) in the Mid-Atlantic region with the goal of internationalizing their curricula.

OBJECTIVE 5: Engage the business and policy communities in the Mid-Atlantic region to develop their global business competency through training opportunities and outreach.

OBJECTIVE 6: Promote “business language” education by offering programs that expand the proficiency of current and future international business professionals and strengthen the business literacy of language instructors in the Mid-Atlantic region.

OBJECTIVE 7: Enhance students’ and professionals’ understanding of the business environment in Sub-Saharan Africa and its relevance for U.S. competitiveness.

Within the above objectives, we will continue offering most of our flagship programs – the Summer Doctoral Institute, the Faculty Development in International Business (FDIB) on Succeeding in Emerging and Developing Markets, the language activities in less-commonly-taught languages, the overseas experiential-learning projects, and the request-for-proposals competition for funding of novel research and teaching projects. We will also introduce new initiatives (see a sample on the next page) that will enhance our current programming by reaching a wider and more diverse audience.

GW-CIBER’s overarching goal for the 2014-2018 grant cycle is to build from strong foundations laid in the two previous cycles to advance knowledge in international business, increase the global effectiveness of current and future managers, promote instruction in languages deemed to be in areas of national need, and serve as a local, regional, and national resource.

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The Next Four Years

Featured New Initiatives

DC-area firms pursue ambitious agendas on limited budgets, while students seek opportunities to gain real-world international business experience. To address both needs, GW-CIBER will collaborate with three major associations serving the international business community: DC Chamber of Commerce, which has recently formed an International Business Development Committee; Virginia/DC District Export Council (DEC), which works closely with the U.S. Export Assistance Center (USEAC) in Northern Virginia/DC; and ExportDC. These associations work directly with businesses currently engaged in international business activities, as well as firms interested in internationalizing, and GW-CIBER will work with the associations and the

businesses to place students in meaningful internships. One internship at the DC Chamber or Mayor’s office (which works closely with all three partners) will support research in areas related to exports and U.S. competitiveness.

Export Training Internship Program

GW is fortunate to have a large alumni population abroad and active alumni associations in cities throughout the world. Students not from these countries look to gain international experience related to international business during their summers through foreign internships. GW-CIBER will collaborate with GW Alumni Associations to secure internship opportunities and help match students with the appropriate positions abroad. The program will be piloted in China, where GW has a particularly large and interested alumni group, and then will be rolled out to other countries with strong alumni associations.

IB Internship Program with GW Alumni Associations Abroad

GW-CIBER will collaborate with Howard University School of Business on globalizing business curricula through five mutually-reinforcing components: (i) joint participation in the Globalizing Minority-Serving Institutions program organized by Georgia State CIBER, which matches a participating CIBER school with a participating MSI; (ii) supporting the development of new study-abroad courses by Howard faculty members; (iii) faculty mentoring and classroom shadowing; (iv) complimentary registration for Howard faculty to attend our FDIB on Emerging and Developing Markets; and (v) support for innovative international business research, teaching, and outreach projects proposed by Howard faculty. We will also partner with Howard to develop an international business workshop series for MSIs and community colleges in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Collaboration with Howard University on Globalizing Business Curricula

It has been increasingly demonstrated that crossing the boundaries of academic disciplines, by bringing together scholars from different fields to develop courses and programs, leads to augmented capacities for addressing the complex problems that today’s graduates face. With this in mind, and using its previous achievements in business language (BL) curriculum development as a stepping stone, GW-CIBER will design and launch five cross-disciplinary BL Minors – Arabic, Chinese, German, Korean, and Russian. These minors will deepen student understanding of the business environments in selected countries by combining language and culture with international business courses. To integrate classroom learning with experiential learning, we will require students to complete an internship in companies that engage both language and international business skills.

Cross-Disciplinary Business Language Minors

GW-CIBER will deepen or establish new partnerships with different entities in Ethiopia, Ghana, and Rwanda to offer programming for students, faculty, and businesses, including short-term study abroad courses, faculty development programs, conferences, and business-plan competitions for African entrepreneurs.

Programs that Enhance Understanding of the Business Environment of Sub-Saharan Africa

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GW-CIBER Administrators & Advisors

Reid W. ClickAssociate Professor of International Business

and International Affairs

Michael Moore Professor of Economics and International Affairs

Anupama Phene Professor of International Business, Phillip Grub Distinguished Scholar

Susan Sell Professor of Political Science and International Affairs;

Director of the Institute for Global and International Studies

Liesl RiddleAssociate Professor of International Business and International Affairs;

Co-Director of GW’s Diaspora Program

Jennifer SpencerProfessor of International Business and International Affairs; GW School of Business Vice Dean for Faculty and Research

Robert Weiner Professor of International Business, Public Administration, and International Affairs;

Chair, Department of International Business

Anna Helm Assistant Teaching Professor of International Business

Nevena Yakova GW-CIBER Program Manager

Alexis Gaul GW-CIBER Administrative Director

Margaret Gonglewski Associate Professor of German and International Affairs

DIRECTOR

FOCAL AREA FACULTY COORDINATORS

BUSINESS LANGUAGE FACULTY COORDINATORS

ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF

Jennifer Brinkerhoff Professor of Public Administration, International Affairs &

International Business; Co-Director of GW’s Diaspora Program

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GW-CIBER Administrators & Advisors

Shmuel Ben-GadBusiness Specialist, GW Gelman Library System

Wade ChannellSenior Legal Advisor, U.S. Agency for

International Development (USAID)

Bernard DemczukAssistant Vice President for District of

Columbia Relations, GW Office of Government, International, & Community Relations

Mihir DesaiPresident, Dexis Consulting

Bill Gottfried CEO, Gottfried International, Inc.

Shoko HamanoDirector, GW Language Center;

Professor of Japanese & International Affairs, GW School of Arts & Sciences

Danny LeipzigerProfessor of Practice of International

Business, GW School of Business;VP for Poverty Reduction & Economic

Management (Retired), the World Bank

Robin K. LiebowitzPrincipal, rkl3D LLC

Taj MeahIndependent Information Technology

& Services Professional; Business Development Executive (Retired), IBM

Rex PinglePresident and CEO, PMD International

Pradeep RauProfessor of Marketing, GW School of Business

John SaylorChairman, Virginia/Washington, DC District Export Council (DEC)

Donna ScarboroAssociate Vice President, GW Office of International Programs

Margaret SingletonVice President, Contracts & Programs, DC Chamber of Commerce

Jennifer SpencerVice Dean for Faculty & Research; Professor of International Business & International Affairs, GW School of Business

Murat TarimcilarProfessor of Decision Sciences, GW School of Business

Christopher VizasDirector, Smart Wave, Inc.

Robert WeinerChair, Department of International Business; Professor of International Business & International Affairs, GW School of Business

Barbara WeiselAssistant U.S. Trade Representativefor Southeast Asia & the Pacific, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative

Karima WoodsDeputy Director of Business Development & Strategy, DC Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning & Economic Development

Gilbert YanceyExecutive Director, F. David Fowler Career Center, GW School of Business

ADVISORY COUNCIL

GW-CIBERThe George Washington University School of Business

Duques Hall, Suite 4502201 G Street, NW

Washington, DC 20052

ciber@gwu.edu202-994-3098

http://business.gwu.edu/CIBER