Welcome to another edition of Trivia Tuesday, our weekly examination of the programs, policies and resources that help to differentiate the leading business schools. This week we turn our attention to an opportunity for hands-on international development work offered by the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley.
The International Business Development (IBD) course is one of the most popular electives at Haas. Similar to the international consulting electives at Wharton and Tuck, the course sends small teams of students to consult at client sites around the world for three weeks each summer. The program is open only to first-year students, and the application process includes both essays and an interview.
Students selected for participation are assigned to project teams in January of the first year and work with their teams in the spring semester to conduct background research and analysis. Following the end of first-year classes in mid-May, each team spends a dedicated three weeks on-site with the client, completing such projects as preparing a business plan, conducting market analysis, developing marketing or entry strategies, or recommending operational changes. In keeping with the course’s focus on international development, the sponsor organizations are largely regional companies or non-profits, including the Wildlife Conservation Society, GrameenPhone, The Longevity Project and the Sewlanka Foundation.
Although the IBD project is usually delivered to the clients by the end of the three week period on-site, teams may need to conduct follow-up work in the fall semester. In order to provide students with an opportunity to share their findings with other teams and to discuss their experiences, IBD participants meet for two full Fridays during the fall semester. During these meetings, each team presents its project to the class in case format. Upon successful completion of the spring semester preparation, the in-country project, and the fall semester presentations, students receive three elective credits towards their Haas degrees.
To learn more about international study or experiential learning opportunities at Haas and other leading business schools, be sure to check out the schools’ websites or the Clear Admit School Guides!
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