2008 - Marketing Educators' Association

INTERNATIONALIZING THE BUSINESS CURRICULUM: A CASE STUDY OF
COLLABORATION AMONG STUDENTS FROM THREE COUNTRIES
Katrin R. Harich, California State University, Fullerton, Department of Marketing,
P.O. Box 6848, Fullerton, CA 92834-6848; kharich@fullerton.edu
Iris Ramme and Dennis Koehler, Hochschule für Wirtschaft und Umwelt Nürtingen-Geislingen,
Department of Marketing, D-72603 Nürtingen, Neckarsteige 6-10, Germany
In a global world, preparing business students to
function well in various cross-cultural contexts has
become increasingly relevant. Business education
must prepare students for a reality of diversity.
This essay describes a case study of collaboration
among students from three different countries. The
collaboration took place in the spring of 2007 when
students from Germany, Finland and the U.S.
worked together on a real-life consulting project for a
client based in Germany.
The client for the project was a management
consulting firm with a focus on the banking sector.
Students were tasked to answer the question of
what a regional German bank can learn from banks
in other countries when it comes to improving its
service quality.
ABSTRACT
113
Project challenges included different levels of
student involvement, communication difficulties and
the time difference. Project benefits were the
acquisition of skills (marketing and marketing
research knowledge, understanding of the banking
industry, interpersonal skills, time management,
understanding of customer service, managing a reallife
project) and enhanced cross-cultural
understanding.
The project provided an innovative way of learning,
offering students the opportunity to enhance various
skills, cross-cultural understanding and academic
knowledge, a combination that could not easily be
accomplished in a traditional classroom setting.
References Available on Request.