International business students consult companies on opportunities in Malaysia
The students, who were in Malaysia as part of the Master of International Business Captsone Project, were required to act as consultants to the Australian firms.
“One of the client companies has already followed up on the recommendations made by the student team and has signed an agreement to work on a joint manufacturing project with a Malaysian partner identified by our students,” said the Capstone Unit Coordinator, Dr Jacqueline Mees-Buss.
Another team provided excellent market insights that significantly changed their client’s strategy to enter the Malaysian market, said Dr Mees-Buss.
"The collaboration between students, companies and trade organisations proves to be beneficial to all participants," said Dr Mees-Buss. “Overall, the feedback we got from participating companies as well as organisations such as Austrade and the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) was very positive."
The project runs over twelve-weeks and is aimed at defining and solving problems related to internationalisation ambitions of the participating companies.
It's really important for students to have work experience with corporate clients, as it helps students understand the real-life application of their course teachings.
“Working with corporate clients also helps us develop core skills required for the corporate environment that are not possible to learn in a classroom,” said Mike Riera, who recently completed the project.
“It is always a big leap for students to translate their newly acquired business knowledge into business practice,” said Dr Mees-Buss.
“It is something we cannot easily teach in the classroom, it must be practiced in the midst of the complexities and ambiguities of real business problems.”
