“Medical Students practice on real patients during their residencies. This is your opportunity to practice what you’ve learned by solving real-world business challenges,” noted Ganitsky, academic director of the Master of International Business program during his remarks at this year’s Global Business Consulting launch.
Ganitsky helps match Miami Herbert graduate students with companies based on their specific skillset, interests and career goals and the company’s needs. Fifty-four students from different graduate business programs are assigned to 10 company projects, each led by a faculty member and a company mentor. Project objectives range from implementing commercially viable alternatives for generating revenue and optimizing savings from remote assistance solutions, to developing a marketing plan, to creating a company restructuring plan, and designing a data analytics system to improve decision-making.
This year, the nine participating companies reside in Miami, Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia, Guyana and United States and the presented projects expand to Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Uruguay, and the United States. The companies cover a wide range of industries such as innovative education, bio energy, ecommerce, medical devices, agricultural, telecommunications.
Assuming their new roles as “international consultants,” students were treated to professional insight by Boston Consulting Group partner Luis Arjona. Member of Miami Herbert’s Latin America and Caribbean Initiative (LACI) Advisory Board, Arjona emphasized the importance of communication among the team members, including the creation of a team charter to clearly define each member’s role, as well as a frequent review of the project objectives and underscored willingness to listen to diverging views. He also encouraged students to learn from each other and to have fun.
In his welcoming remarks Dean John Quelch encouraged students to strengthen relationships with their teammates, as well as the company mentors, and faculty advisors.
“These are connections that will serve you well in your future endeavors,” said Quelch. He also thanked the faculty members for their commitment to this experiential learning opportunity.
The Global Business Consulting is a semester-long course, concluding with a final student presentation to leadership at each company.
