Developing Comparative Study Abroad Programs for MBA Students: Lessons from Argentina, Chile, Colombia, and South Africa
Rachel Collins Wilson
Belmont University, USA
Volume 16: 2021, pp. 5-28; ABSTRACT
Graduate business education programs have begun to include short-term study abroad classes in an effort to infuse international business skill and intercultural competence in their program structure. The present research chronicles a four-year incremental improvement effort made on a short-term MBA study abroad program based in the United States. Four categories of changes were made over this period. These major changes were implemented in the areas of multiple-country comparative pedagogy, security and safety, delivery of academic content, and after-hours group experiences. Whereas single-country itineraries were offered the first two years of improvement, during the third and fourth years a change was made to move to a comparative curriculum across two adjacent but highly dissimilar countries. Student engagement and learning were noticeably greater during the multiple country itinerary, rather than in single or multiple locations within one country. Lessons and reflections from this multiple-year improvement effort are provided as well as suggestions for future research.
ORDER ARTICLE PERMISSIONS/REPRINTS/OFFPRINTS
To order permissions to include this article in textbooks, edited volumes, course booklets, online/digital course packs, etc., and/or to order multiple individual hard copies for classroom use, please use the appropriate form available on the Order Forms page or alternatively, contact the Publishing Editor pneilson@neilsonjournals.com directly.
