Abstract
Using an experiential learning model as a conceptual background, this article discusses characteristics and learning objectives for well-known foreign study programs such as study tours, study abroad, and internships and compares them with a less common overseas program called the Global Marketing Program (GMP). GMP involves interdisciplinary student-faculty team travel abroad to conduct marketing research on behalf of U.S. companies. International business foreign study program professionals were surveyed and rated the importance of key student learning objectives for these programs. The study abroad program and study tour are well suited for cultural immersion; the international internship provides development of international business skills as well as cultural immersion at levels higher than the other three programs. The GMP outperforms the study tour and study abroad in the development of international business skills and surpasses the study tour in providing cultural immersion for students. The GMP and international internships are identified as the more appropriate foreign study experiences for development of future global marketing professionals.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 285-294 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Journal of Marketing Education |
| Volume | 33 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 2011 |
Funding
This article offers several contributions that have not been well discussed in the marketing education literature. First, we discuss the Global Marketing Project (GMP), a category of foreign study programs that falls outside the mainstream experiential programs highlighted by . An exemplar of the GMP is the Export Project, which is a program that began under the funding auspices of a 2-year federally funded program and offers students from the College of Business and the College of Applied Science and Technology at a Midwest university the opportunity to provide international market research services to U.S. companies. The program continues following the 2-year grant. In this program, students couple their analysis of secondary research performed in the United States with 3 weeks of intensive field work where they conduct market research and meet with potential distributors and final users in a foreign target market all under the guidance of faculty. The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: Partial funding for this project was provided through a Seed Money Grant from the College of Business at Illinois State University.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| College of Business and the College of Applied Science and Technology | |
| Illinois State University |
Keywords
- experiential learning
- foreign study programs
- global marketing professionals
- international study
- study abroad
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Education
- Marketing