Keele Management School Magazine Issue #9 2939 KMS Venture Magazine.Joomag FINAL AMEND MARC | Page 7

Venture / HELLO Success Story Economics and Politics student Matthew Cupac successfully secured a prestigious and highly competitive placement role with the Government Economic Service. Global Virtual Teamwork Project F inal year KMS students taking the Comparative Business Cultures module had the opportunity to act as consultants to ‘client’ students from Duale Hochschule Baden-Württemberg (DHBW) university. This was part of the Blended Learning International Co-operation (BLIC) programme which promotes international partnerships between universities around the world. dhbw-vs.de/en/international/blic Twenty KMS teams worked closely with DHBW students who were developing business plans having identified a country for market entry for a selected product or service. The KMS teams produced a ‘cultural analysis’ report for their German clients alerting them to potential cultural consequences of entering the market in their chosen country. The reports included a review of cultural issues in ‘doing business’ in the clients chosen country, relevant to their industry and product/service offering; an analysis of specific plans for organising their operations, any matters specifically asked for by the clients and recommendations on how to proceed. The students worked in cross-cultural, virtual teams providing them with experience of the reality of work in today’s business world which is often difficult to simulate in a classroom environment. KMS students were led by Dr Paul Forrester and their German counterparts by Professor Jürgen Bleicher The assessment for the module was a poster presentation to visualise issues in comparative business culture, the theme being a reflection of issues encountered in the multi-cultural/ virtual teamwork exercise. The posters were displayed at a Poster Event on 8th December and the module leader, Dr Paul Forrester said ‘I’m convinced that this combination of theory learned in lectures combined with virtual and cross-cultural group work in tutorials not only reinforces principles and concepts, but also provides students with skills in analysis, consulting, client relationship management and virtual working. These are all skills required in today’s business world.’ Matthew found his placement via one of the KMS placements bulletins sent directly to students who have expressed an interest in undertaking a placement. This was particularly useful due to the very small application window of 48 hours for this particular role. Matthew’s top tips to share with fellow students applying for a placement is to: • Identify areas in which you want to secure a placement • Monitor businesses in that area, and available opportunities • Acquire knowledge of specific companies and how they operate, with emphasis on any specific candidate traits they are looking for. Matthew hopes his placement experience will confirm that this is an area he wishes to have a career in, and will motivate him once he returns to full time study. He hopes it will also provide him with the opportunity to enhance his knowledge and witness how the theories learnt in class are reflected in the real world. For further information about undertaking a placement, or if you think you may have a role suitable for a placement student, please contact Sharon Farrow, Student Placement Officer, [email protected] 7