Prospective MBAs in the Kogod School of Business Professional MBA cohort spent a portion of their 27-month program make connections outside of the DC metro. After months of planning and preparing, the cohort, the second in the program’s history, departed for one of South America’s most emerging markets, Brazil, for an eight-day international stay.
“The overarching goal of the program is for students to learn and understand how business is conducted in a developing economy,” said Jolie Roetter, Kogod’s director of global learning, in a news article on the Kogod website.
Students had the opportunity to visit and tour a companies and organizations from a variety of industries in the cities of Sao Paolo and Rio de Janiero. In total, the cohort toured eight sites, including Natura, Brazil’s largest beauty company, and Casa de Cultura e Cidadania, a community center offering educational courses for children and adults.
“We researched the companies and wrote one-page research papers on them,” said Linsey Jaco, MBA ’15, about preparing for site visits in Brazil. “Professors were keeping those companies top of mind for us,” she said.
As with any study abroad experience, participating students gained new perspectives on the possibilities and realities of living and working in a foreign country.
“I would be interested in returning [to Brazil] and working for a fairly large firm…on strategy and operations and how to better produce within the country,” said Daniel Feeman, MBA ’15.
The second cohort is set for graduation this December. In May of 2016, the third cohort will travel to China for their international experience. The inaugural PMBA cohort spent their time abroad in Argentina and Uruguay.