CISB Students Tackle Smartsheet’s International Expansion

The eleventh annual CISB Foreign Market Strategy Competition took place on February 1, 2018. The night was full of innovative ideas for how Smartsheet, a Bellevue-based enterprise software company that went public earlier this year, should proceed in expanding their product into other countries. Teams were charged with taking into consideration market potential, barriers to entry, partnerships and culture. The judge panel included Smartsheet representatives, CISB alumni and Foster faculty.

Teams presented on the potential benefits and risks of entering a range of markets, including Germany, Australia, Spain, Taiwan, the UAE and Japan. The Chinese track won best presentation overall for their analysis of Taiwan, the Japanese track won the most original presentation, and the Spanish track won best presentation style for their evaluation of Spain. The Chinese Track presented to management in Bellevue as did the German track at the request of the company. The students enjoyed robust discussion and attended an internship info session as well as facility tour..

Special thanks goes to CISB alumna Kelsey (Rizer) Soriano, Manager of Customer Success, Strategic Accounts, Smartsheet, for leading the company’s participation in the project.

Do you work for a company that would like to engage with CISB on a future strategy project? If so, please contact us at [email protected].