Forty-two students in the College of Charleston School of Business MBA program departed for Brazil last week to study and discover the world’s sixth largest economy. The study abroad experience is a requirement of the one-year global MBA degree.
[Related: Read MBA student tweets from Brazil.]
Students watched a futbol game in the soon-to-be Olympic and World Cup stadium.
They began the two-week study on December 4, 2013 in Sao Paulo where they learned about local industries, met with corporate representatives, and experienced the country’s rich cultural sites. The week of December 9, students are in Rio de Janeiro, home of the 2014 World Cup.
“Brazil has been steadily on the rise for the past 10 years, but has recently hit some road bumps, financially,” says Jim Kindley, director of the MBA program. “The learning opportunity in this emerging, yet turbulent market is substantial as our students meet with some of Brazil’s executives across several different industries. This is really perfect timing for this trip.”
Brazil’s economy, the largest in South America, has been a growth powerhouse in the last decade, but the economy has shrunk for the first time in nearly five years, according to third-quarter GDP figures. The students will learn about factors impacting the country’s economic slide as well as the expansive preparations and economic impact for the World Cup next year.
The Sao Paulo agenda included site visits and meetings with:
- Apontador, a leading geolocations website and growing tech company;
- Sabesp, a waste management company;
- BM & F BOVESPA, the largest stock exchange in Latin America;
- Natura Cosmetica, a large consumer cosmetics manufacturer.
The Rio de Janeiro itinerary includes meetings, tours and lectures at:
- Brazilian Council for Sustainable Development;
- A Coca-Cola Bottling Company;
- Petrobras, a multinational energy corporation and the country’s largest company;
- Fundacao Getulio Vargas, a business higher education institution;
- Brazilian Development Bank and funded public works projects;
- World Cup and Olympic stadium.
Previous MBA classes have studied in China, Vietnam and Dubai. Several MBA graduates are now working in those countries at places such as Anheuser Busch Inbev Vietnam and the State Grid Corporation of China in Shanghai.
[Related: Watch a video about the Vietnam trip.]
Upon their return to campus in January, the MBA students will choose their individual focus areas of study in finance, hospitality revenue management, or marketing.
The class of 2014 is comprised of 42 students representing six different countries, and is the largest cohort since the program began four years ago.
[Related: Watch a video about this year’s diverse MBA cohort.]
For more information, contact Sandy Krezmien-Funk at krezmienfunks@cofc.edu.
