KU News Release

Business students return from summer consulting projects

LAWRENCE — Three University of Kansas graduate students have returned from summer consulting projects abroad, where they worked in foreign markets for U.S. companies such as Boeing, Koch Industries and Tramco.

The trips were part of the new Global Business Project and International Business graduate course offered by KU. Participants and their destination countries were Veronica Ayala (Brazil), Brian Mellor (China) and Peter Tosco (Japan).

“A lot of international programs are theory-based, but the GBP program gave us the opportunity to not just experience the culture, but to do actual work for a real company in another country,” said Mellor, who is pursuing master’s degrees in business administration and East Asian languages and cultures. “It was real international work experience, not just an opportunity for study.”

Developed by a consortium of Centers for International Business Education and Research, the Global Business Project seeks to provide an avenue for graduate students to increase their global business and language competency through guided, hands-on business experience in global markets.

The students departed at the end of May after attending a meeting in Washington, D.C., and forming student-led teams for each project. Melissa Birch, director of KU’s Center for International Business, Education and Research, led the teams in Brazil with assistance from School of Business professors Chris Anderson, Kissan Joseph and Jim Morrison.

Other schools leading teams and participating this year were the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Temple University, Duke University, George Washington University, University of Maryland and the University of Pittsburgh.

“The Global Business Project provides MBA students with an outstanding opportunity to participate in consulting projects along with students from other top MBA programs,” said Chuck Krider, academic director of KU’s master’s of business administration program. “They have an opportunity to apply what they have been learning in the classroom to actual international business issues faced by companies in international markets.”

More information about the KU students participating in the project is listed below.

DOUGLAS COUNTY AND CALIFORNIA
From Lawrence, Kan. 66047 and LaJolla, Calif. 92037
Brian A. Mellor, master’s student in business administration and East Asian languages and cultures, received a bachelor’s degree in English from KU in fall 2002. He is the son of Janet Yaws of La Jolla, Calif., and is a Shawnee Mission East High School graduate.

MISSOURI
From Lee’s Summit 64086
Peter Delaserna Tosco, master’s student in business administration, received a bachelor’s degree in East Asian languages and cultures from KU in spring 2005. He is the son of Divina Speer and a graduate of Lee’s Summit North High School.

PARAGUAY
From Asuncion
Veronica Ayala Haedo Acosta is a master’s student in business administration and a graduate of the Universidad Católica Nuestra Señora de la Asunción.

KU's Center for Business Education and Research is one of only 31 such centers in the United States. The primary goal of these centers, funded through matching grants issued by the U.S. Department of Education, is to improve American competitiveness through comprehensive service and educational programs in academic and corporate settings.

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