"International Consultancy Project--Sweden" by Eliza Roberts

One of the core requirements for first year MBA students in the Global MBA program at the GWU School of Business is to conduct a consulting project for a foreign company abroad as a part of the International Residency Project. This year, the 120 or so Global MBAs are going to Serbia, Sweden, Korea, India, and Mexico. Check out the "Writers in Residency Blog" to document these courses.

The projects range from marketing food products in Serbia, to microfinance in Mexico and marketing for Swedish Green Technology companies that want to begin selling products in the US market. The classes began during the 4th quarter and culminate with a 2-week trip overseas to meet with clients and present in person, and to meet with other likeminded companies in the country.

I am on the Sweden trip and have spent the last 7 or so weeks with a team of 5 developing a marketing plan for a Swedish company that seeks to turn manure into energy. We have already had multiple conversations with our client and have drafted a nearly finalized version of our marketing plan that will likely change somewhat upon meeting with our client early next week. We just arrived in Sweden today and will spend tomorrow sight seeing and trying to fight our jet lag before diving back into our projects early next week and meeting with a number of sustainably- minded companies in Sweden.

There are a number of meetings I am really excited about, but I am particularly looking forward to a meeting with the sustainability person at IKEA. Our trip is starting in Malmo and after about a week we will take a train north to Gotenberg. The weather is much colder than expected, especially after basking in the DC sun. We are all hoping that the sun comes out and that a warm front arrives as soon as possible!

Eliza Roberts Global MBA, 2011