Kogod PMBA Travels to South America
Students in the Kogod School of Business’ inaugural Professional MBA cohort visited corporate boardrooms and operational centers, toured international shipping ports and experienced the ground zero for the growth of a nation’s wine industry during their recent trip to Argentina and Uruguay.
“The trip [demonstrated] the value of spending time immersed in a city to build a … sense for the culture as it guides how business is done,” said Susan Fortkiewicz, MBA ’14 and a project manager in Global HR Operations at CSC. “[It] unmasked an interesting European-feeling atmosphere, which helps to explain the way certain businesses are run and interactions are handled,” she said.
In addition to visiting South American branches of American companies like Microsoft and EY, the cohort paid visits to local companies like NXTP Labs, an accelerator program focused on technology startups in Latin America, and Mercado de Liniers, one of the largest cattle auction houses in Argentina.
The hands-on experience gained in South America was invaluable to the MBAs on the trip, as were the interpersonal relationships that the cohorts developed with one another.
“Studying abroad with the cohort was a … special experience. Our relationships gave us the confidence to speak up during presentations, form groups easily, encourage one another with our ideas, and engage in deeper discussions about our site visits,” said Traci McCombs, MBA ’14 and an HR specialist at the National Institutes of Health.
The second cohort will travel to Brazil in May 2015 for its own international business experience.
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Max Pulcini
Max Pulcini is a Philadelphia-based writer and reporter. He has an affinity for Philly sports teams, Super Smash Bros. and cured meats and cheeses. Max has written for Philadelphia-based publications such as Spirit News, Philadelphia City Paper, and Billy Penn, as well as national news outlets like The Daily Beast.
