Export Strategy Consulting

Important Note: Due to COVID-19 this program is set to take place entirely online as study abroad programs and non-essential student travel will remain suspended through the Summer 2021 semester. 
 

Is this program for me? 

This course will focus on the mechanics of international trade from the perspective of US firms. In order to learn about the complicated strategy and operations around the exportation of products, students will participate in consulting projects with companies interested in initiating exports or expanding their already existing export operations into foreign markets. Students will learn about and apply to their real-client projects a variety of concepts and frameworks, such as export-market attractiveness analysis, logistics and incoterms, harmonized codes, tariffs, and market research.

Students will meet virtually with representatives from the real-client companies on a regular basis to discuss the parameters of the consulting project. Students will also participate in weekly synchronous sessions. Topics for this part of the course include a general course overview, team management skills and real-client project expectations as well as the topics listed above.

This course is eminently creative and practice-oriented. Students will be working with real clients and consulting with them to address their export expansion needs. Students are expected to be highly entrepreneurial at finding the necessary sources of information to properly assess the current business landscape and develop a sound set of recommendations for their client. These sources include, but are not limited to, physical and online archives, industry experts, government sources, and potential consumers of the client’s products and services.
 

Course Objectives:

By the end of the course, students should be able to:

• Explain the impact of trade regulations on US firms
• Navigate the trade “landscape” and assess how regulatory frameworks, tariffs, trade policy, etc., impact opportunities for US firms’ exports
• Design and execute a custom-tailored data collection plan (inclusive of both secondary and primary research) to answer key business questions identified by the client organization.
• Implement a hypothesis-driven consulting process in order to effectively and efficiently meet client expectations.
• Provide their client organization with creative, impactful, and actionable strategic export solutions via a written report and oral presentation.
• Actively engage in team management and employ strategies to enhance productive team collaboration.

Eligibility

This program is a graduate-level, open enrollment course for GW students and Consortium registrations.  
 

Academic Credit:

3 credits are awarded for successful completion of the course IBUS 6297

• School of Business – Graduate Students:
  • This program fulfills general elective credit for Master's and MBA programs. 
  • This course fulfills the IBUS 6290 Special Topics (International Business Consulting Capstone I) requirement for MSIB students.
  • Students may petition to have study away courses count towards Graduate School of Business Certificates or other Master's degree requirements by speaking with their academic advisor.

Calendar:

In the 8-week course, you will spend approximately 4 hours per week engaged in direct instruction (a combination of recorded video lectures, live synchronous sessions, guest presentations, interactive modules, and online discussions). Homework and other independent work (e.g., readings, course papers, etc...) is estimated at around 7.25 hours per week. This amounts to 11.25 of total hours per week and 112.5 of total hours per semester.
 
There are a total of 38 contact hours for this course, including:
 
Digital Sessions: 2 hours (presentations and short videos)
Live Sessions: 20 hours (8 2 1/2-hour Zoom sessions)
Team Meetings: 8 hours (weekly meetings and regular check-ups with teams)
Guided Research: 8 hours
 

Information Session:

You can view the recorded Information Session here!

GW Professor:

Dr. Anna Helm (ahelm@gwu.edu)
Faculty Director, GW Center for International Business Education & Research (GW-CIBER)
Associate Teaching Professor, Department of International Business
 

Cost Estimate:

For this program students will be charged GW tuition for 3 credits.
 

Additional Information:

Questions?

This program is administered by Global & Experiential Education in The George Washington University School of Business.

Feel free to contact us by email (sbintl@gwu.edu) with questions.
 

Other Helpful Resources:

• Eligibility & Payment (GWSB Graduate)
• Cancellation Policy for Short-Term Abroad
• Health Insurance for Short-Term Abroad
• Non-Participant Accompaniment
• Pre-Departure, Health & Safety Orientation for Short -Term Abroad
• Withdrawal & Refund Policy (GWSB Graduate)
• Global and Experiential Education Scholarships