McCombs TODAY

BBA Global students at soak up Texas culture at Gruene Hall

This summer 33 students, including two from McCombs, participated in the BBA Global Business Program on the UT campus. The four-week program brings university students from Austria, Brazil and China to build management skills and get intensive intercultural exposure.

Students formed cross-cultural teams to compete in an online simulation which pits global companies against each other as they compete for market share. A concurrent course expanded on the simulation teamwork to teach students skills in intercultural problem solving.

“This is a great program to see how you would do on an international team,” says McCombs international business senior and Global Business Program participant Chris Williams. “It will allow you to grow in your ability to manage people of different cultures; it will teach you how to recognize cultural differences that could become problems, and how to manage those differences if they become problems.”

The students also explored Austin, with tours of Whole Foods Market and Hoover’s headquarters, Texas two-step dance lessons and shopping on South Congress. 

The program is run by the Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) at McCombs and offers McCombs students six hours of course credit. Distinguished Senior Lecturer Robert Duvic and CIBER Assistant Director Deirdre Mendez serve as instructors.

CIBER says the goal of the program is to give students hands-on corporate management and intercultural teamwork experience and introduce them to future global businesspeople on multiple continents.

“BBA Global is a great opportunity for our students to acquire intercultural credentials without having to travel abroad,” says Program Coordinator Angie Carter. “It’s also attractive to students who have international experience that didn’t include this kind of contact. We’ve gotten a really positive response from our participants.”

Visit the BBA Global Web site for more information.