The Global Business Project (GBP) is a graduate-level course designed and developed by a consortium of Centers for International Business Education and Research (CIBERs). The primary goal of these centers, funded through matching grants issued by the US Department of Education's international studies division is to improve American competitiveness through comprehensive service and programs in educational and corporate settings. The CIBER representatives who came together to create the GBP wanted to provide a way for their MBAs and graduate students in related disciplines to increase their global business and language competency through guided hands-on business experience in global markets. The resulting course capitalizes upon the individual strengths and international ties of the participating CIBER institutions, with each CIBER responsible for leading teams to a country or region that matches its school's particular expertise.
Purpose 
Timing
Countries/Languages for 2008
Project Summaries * NEW
Purpose
The primary goal of the course is to provide graduate students at participating institutions the opportunity to increase their ability to conduct business in languages other than English — especially less commonly taught languages -- by working in virtual and co-located teams on projects for multinationals or local companies in markets critical to US competitiveness.
Timing
August/September/October
Companies submit project applications via GBP website and CIBER participating schools acquaint first-year MBAs and graduate students from other disciplines with the course and the unique opportunities it provides to students with prior language and business experience.
October/November
Students at participating schools apply to the course via GBP website; faculty at the participating schools review their students' applications and recommend to the GBP Selection Committee those students with the best fit for the submitted projects.
The GBP Selection Committee reviews company and student applications, forms 4-person teams from among the recommended applicants at all participating schools, secures a faculty mentor for each team, and notifies companies and students of the matching decisions.
March 14 - 16
Teams meet in Washington, D.C. with their faculty mentors, business language supervisor, and primary company representative to develop a detailed project scope of work, project timeline, and work plan for the 7 weeks of virtual team project work.
March 17 through April 30
Teams work virtually for seven weeks on the project, gathering data and investigating possible solutions to the business challenges defining the project. Each team continues to be guided by a project-specific faculty supervisor and a company representative as well as by the business language professor overseeing all of the projects for a particular country.
May
From May 15 - 17 the teams receive collective and individual mentoring at a partner business school in the destination country.
From May 18- 30, teams work full time on the project, either at a company location in the destination country, or at a variety of locations (for projects in which OSU students are involved, team work in country may be on a slightly different schedule to accommodate a later spring semester end date at that school).
Before returning to US, teams present final project findings and recommendations to company representatives in the targeted country.
September
GBP teams present final oral and written project report to U.S. based faculty supervisors and U.S. based company representatives and evaluate projects and team members. Final grades are submitted by faculty leaders to the students' home institutions.
Countries/Languages for 2008
In its inaugural year 2007- 08, the destination countries for the Global Business Projects for students at all of the schools participating in GBP are Brazil, China, and Japan, led by the CIBERs at University of Kansas, UNC-Chapel Hill, and Temple University, respectively. In each of the next three years, three more CIBERs among those participating in the consortium will lead projects to additional countries, expanding students' options and their competencies in other regions and languages, such as Russia, Eastern Europe, other parts of Asia, and the Arabic-speaking world.
Goal for 07-08: 4 projects in each destination : 12 teams x 4 students = 48 students
