Study abroad provides insight, perspective on global business
by anna rzewnicki
December 3, 2007
University offering summer 2008 programs
When business news stories surface about Alibaba.com, as they have been this fall, Brian Mathis is one undergraduate business student who can visualize the business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce company based in eastern China.
A junior in business management at NC State's College of Management, Mathis had visited the company’s headquarters in Hangzhou, China, and spoke with members of its management team about the challenges and opportunities for doing business in China. He also visited and met with officials at other companies in the eastern China region.
He did so on an assignment in the summer of 2007 as part of the first round of classes offered through NC State’s new partnership with Zhejiang University in China.
An entrepreneurial student, Mathis was able to see opportunity everywhere, even in a walk around a lake. In fact, that’s where Mathis met a couple that was launching an import-export business but needed a State-side contact to help with some of their activities. Mathis took up the challenge. Since returning to school this fall, he has helped the couple with a few introductions.
Coursework took priority as his fall semester got going back in Raleigh, but Mathis said he still stays in touch with the couple, helping with translations and other communications. He also stays in touch with many of the international friends he made while at Zhejiang University.
Mathis said the entire experience has helped him “understand how business is done in the greater context. I have a better grasp of the political, cultural and other external factors that affect international business.”
Jessica Remcheck, a sophomore in business management, was also part of the inaugural NC State sessions at Zhejiang University.
She took an Introduction to Business class taught by Beverly Tyler, associate professor in the College of Management’s Department of Management, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and a political science class.
Remcheck said she found the setting ideal for learning, both in the classroom and beyond.
“I learned a lot just being on the trip and experiencing the culture,” she said. “In context to business, going on the business visits helped us realize a lot about what business is like in China. We did case studies that were about business in China and we talked a lot about business in China in general,” she said.
Among the business sites that Remcheck mentioned were Coca-Cola and Wahaha plants, and a subsidiary of Ask.com.
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