Foreign market strategy project

Guest post by Mike Lawrence, Foster BA 2012 and Certificate of International Studies in Business Student Custom/Italian Track

Boeing Market Outlook Report was the focus of 2011 Foreign Market Strategy Project. Certificate of International Studies in Business (CISB) tracks competed in the fourth annual Foreign Market Strategy Project in winter 2011. Made possible by the Boeing Company with CISB alumna Ya-Han Brownlee-Chen as project manager, the project tasked students with examining Boeing’s Current Market Outlook Report and looking for both general and region-specific improvements that could be made to the report. In addition, it challenged students to improve the usefulness of the report to Boeing’s numerous supply chain partners around the world. CISB students had approximately five weeks to complete their research and then present their findings to a panel of judges which included Boeing Company representatives, Associate Dean Steve Sefcik and CISB alumni.

At the suggestion of Ya-Han, a coach from Boeing, Helly Hansen and Samskip IcePak were brought into the tracks to provide an industry perspective and guidance to the teams. Tracks got a lot of help and advice from the coaches. One student said, “Not only was our coach extremely helpful, but she invited us to tour her workplace this spring.”

All of the presentations were a delight to see, with each group bringing unique and often very creative ideas to the table. In the end, there were three awards distributed among the eight presenting groups. The Chinese team (Chinese Track) received the Grand Prize for Best Recommendation, while the Middle East (Custom Track) team received the reward for Best Presentation, and the Europe (German Track) team for Best Teamwork. In all, the project was an excellent experience for CISB students and Boeing alike, with Boeing receiving some quality ideas on how to improve their report.

The Chinese track presented their strategy to senior management and campus recruiters at Boeing on April 8. They also went on a VIP tour of the Everett facility,  met with recruiters at a networking lunch and had the privilege of meeting with Ian Chang, VP, China Operations and Business Development for Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

Have an idea for a future strategy project? If so, please contact CISB at [email protected].
Learn more about the Certificate of International Studies in Business.