COB Study Abroad Updates AY 21-22
Catching up with International Business Study Abroad trips
Due to the ongoing pandemic, we reduced the number of study-abroad programs we typically offer. In fall 2021, we ran a program completely virtually in collaboration with three other foreign universities, namely, the Hamburg University of Applied Science from Germany, Universidad de Cantabria Santander and Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria from Spain. The course was offered under course number CBA 495. We had 20 participants from CSULB, 21 from Hamburg University of Applied Science, and seven in total from the two universities from Spain. Students were placed in mixed teams and each team consists of members from different countries. Students were asked to conduct a research project on “Competitive port clusters in times and beyond exogenous shocks: Implications for the Port of Hamburg (Germany), Port of Los Angeles (USA), Port of Long Beach (USA), Port of Santander (Spain), and Port of Las Palmas (Spain)”. The project provided students an opportunity to analyze current business issues, particularly global supply chain and port operation. We invited guest speakers from three countries to give presentations on current issues to help students better understand the research question. Most of these guest speakers are in a high position in their respective organizations and have years of experience in port issues. We aimed to achieve two goals: (1) allow the students to apply what they learned in prior business courses to analyze a current global business problem; (2) allow the students to learn how to work effectively in a team consisting of people from the different social-cultural background.
CBA 494 FALL 2021
Additionally, we also offered CBA 494 in fall 2021. The original plan was to travel to Vietnam and Japan in winter 2022. Due to the on-going travel restrictions, we changed our travel plan to Germany. Dr. Hieu Nguyen took 21 students (five of them are graduate students) to Munich and Frankfurt from Jan 3 to Jan 13. They had four company visits and one lecture led by a professor at Munich Business School, in addition to some cultural activities, city tours, museum visits, etc. We aimed to achieve several goals: (1) enable students to work successfully in teams to solve business problems that arise in competitive environments; (2) enable students to strengthen both oral and written communication skills through individual and team assignments; (3) increase their understanding of and appreciation for the complexities of the domestic and global environments of business and the unique demands of doing business internationally.
GERMANY SPRING 2022
Finally, we plan to resume our program to Germany in spring 2022, which is offered under course number CBA 494B. We have been running this program continuously for over 25 years, in collaboration with our partner school the Hamburg University of Applied Science. See the news article for more information about our collaboration. Dr. Jonathan Phan will lead this program. Currently, there are 18 students enrolled in this course (15 undergraduate students and three graduate students). We had to convert this program to a virtual program in the last two years due to the pandemic. We hope this time we will be able to provide an opportunity for the students from both sides to reconnect. The trip is scheduled at the end of May or early June.
