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• For International Weeks, Porto Business School partners with universities in other countries on programs that focus on critical business trends.
• The international experiences foster cultural awareness, provide networking experiences, push students out of their comfort zones, and help them develop soft skills.
• To ensure successful programs, the school must address a range of logistical, organizational, financial, cultural, and political challenges.

 
Today’s business students must learn to thrive in global business environments. That’s why, at Porto Business School at the University of Porto in Portugal, we have implemented as part of our curriculum.

These weeklong immersive experiences are designed to enhance our international profile, promote cultural exchanges among students and faculty, and lead to academic cooperation among institutions. Most important, because International Weeks address current business challenges and themes, they prepare students for today’s job market by enabling them to develop deep insights about other cultures and participate in a globally minded academic community.

While some business schools have turned to virtual experiences to give students international exposure, we believe that in-person travel provides unmatched benefits. First and foremost, it allows for a richer cultural immersion as students observe unfamiliar customs and business practices firsthand. Such hands-on experiences provide practical insights and real-world learning that virtual visits cannot replicate.

Second, international travel gives students opportunities to interact directly with local peers and professionals, which allows them to build relationships and expand their networks. Finally, traveling abroad helps students develop the resilience, adaptability, and cross-cultural communication skills that are crucial for global leadership.

How It Works

In 2024, we scheduled our four International Weeks for April, September, and November. Typically, between 20 and 30 students sign up for each event. Participation may be competitive and is based on academic performance, interest, and career goals. Participants include students from MBA and EMBA programs, faculty, and members of the community—particularly those from associated companies.

International Weeks strongly emphasize experiential learning, combining traditional classroom sessions with interactive workshops, group projects, and real-world simulations. Guest lectures, social activities, and networking opportunities are also critical parts of the program.

In addition to these learning experiences, students engage in a variety of cultural and educational activities geared to the specific locations they’re visiting. As an example, during a recent trip to the U.S., students spent time at the headquarters of a tech giant in Silicon Valley, where they met with executives and worked on real case studies.

All International Weeks are carried out in collaboration with partner schools and focus on topics that are critical to modern business. During the planning stages, we consider several key questions: What are some of the most important emerging business trends? How do these trends align with our current curriculum and strategic goals? How do they affect the industries where our graduates are most likely to work? Which countries are in the forefront of these trends? Within those countries, do we have existing relationships with schools that have expertise in these areas? Answering these questions helps us decide which schools to partner with and what topics to spotlight.

An example comes from a recent International Week at HWR Berlin. Due to Germany’s strong industrial base and its role in the global economy, the main topic of the week was transformation and change management. The goal was for students to learn how organizations can employ effective change management techniques to innovate and improve operations, integrate new technologies, navigate transitions, and remain competitive.

What are the most important emerging business trends? How do they align with our curriculum and strategic goals? How do they affect the industries where our graduates will work?

Students discovered strategies for improving organizational performance through successful change initiatives and how to align change management techniques with an organization’s strategic objectives. Finally, participants learned practical tools that will allow them to implement transformation and change effectively in their own organizations.

Currently, we offer International Weeks not only in Germany but also in India, where we focus on building socially responsible organizations; the U.S., where our topics are innovation and entrepreneurship; and Hong Kong and Macau, where we discuss doing business in China.

Four Important Benefits

International Weeks create a dynamic platform for students, faculty, and professionals to engage in meaningful exchanges and learning experiences that extend beyond traditional classroom settings. We believe that these international experiences offer four key benefits:

They foster cultural awareness. When students participate in educational activities and on-site experiences, they immerse themselves in the cultures of their host cities and gain a deeper understanding of local traditions, history, and business practices. This gives them a heightened global awareness and a nuanced understanding of how cultural factors influence business environments and operations. It also prepares them to work in international settings because they have gained the skills to navigate cultural differences.

They provide robust networking opportunities. As participants interact with peers, industry experts, and academics from various countries and professional backgrounds, they build relationships that can lead to future collaborations, internships, projects, and job opportunities. Students also connect with mentors in ways that drive personal growth.

They promote a global outlook. Guest lectures, workshops, and panel discussions led by international scholars and business leaders provide participants with insights into global market trends, emerging business practices, and cross-border challenges. Visits to leading companies in host countries expose students to real-world business situations. Through these combined activities, students gain a deeper understanding of international business dynamics and learn practical skills that are directly applicable to their careers.

They help participants develop soft skills. Because students are pushed outside of their comfort zones when they travel internationally, they learn to develop key skills such as adaptability, cultural agility, resilience, problem-solving, and cross-cultural communication. These are all skills students will need as they pursue careers in a globalized economy. As they successfully navigate unfamiliar territories, they gain confidence, which contributes to overall personal development and broader global perspectives.

Obstacles to Overcome

As other business schools have found, coordinating international study abroad for students presents a complex set of interconnected challenges, and our International Weeks are no different. For our part, we have developed a set of solutions that address challenges in five main areas:

Logistical. It is not always simple to coordinate our schedules with those of our partner universities. It also takes time to make travel arrangements for students and secure accommodations for international guests.

To overcome logistical challenges, we hold regular meetings with partners to proactively coordinate all aspects of the program. We inform participants in advance about all the travel details they should address, from obtaining eSIM cards for their phones to planning for medical consultations. Finally, although participants are responsible for making their own flight arrangements, the school maintains partnerships with travel agencies and we can book the travel for participants who want us to do so.

Cultural differences must be navigated carefully, so students are provided with mandatory sensitivity training before their international experiences.

Organizational. It can be difficult to define the parameters of the program, which must be balanced, interesting, and suitable for a wide range of participants. Our goal is to ensure that the program engages participants and provides them with a good experience without being overwhelming. We also want to make certain that faculty can balance their teaching responsibilities with other academic commitments.

Financial. Each event requires substantial funding to cover the costs of travel, accommodations, honorariums, and marketing. We attempt to reduce travel expenses by negotiating with partner schools and local accommodations providers to receive special rates.

Cultural. Language barriers can impede communication, and cultural differences must be navigated carefully. We provide mandatory sensitivity training and orientation sessions to prepare students for their international experiences.

We know that, unless individuals understand their own cultures, they will struggle to comprehend others. Therefore, during the orientation sessions, we have participants begin with a self-diagnosis of their own cultures, which they discuss with the group. Then, we move on to analyzing the various dimensions of cultural maps. Ultimately, particpants are challenged to draw the cultural maps of the countries they plan to visit.

Political. We must carefully consider the geopolitical stability of the countries where we might be sending our students, and we avoid areas that have heightened tensions or health risks. For instance, we’ve had increased difficulty in planning trips to regions such as Hong Kong, due to safety concerns and travel restrictions. We develop robust contingency plans to ensure student safety and program continuity in case there are sudden political changes or crises.

Assessed for Impact

One final challenge is educational, as we seek to ensure that we are meeting the three main learning goals of our International Weeks: to help students improve their cultural competency, develop their global business acumen, and enhance their networking skills.

To this end, we employ robust evaluation methods to measure the impact and success of the program and point us toward continuous improvement. We conduct surveys and collect feedback from students and partner schools after every trip.

Our goals are to help students improve their cultural competency, develop their global business acumen, and enhance their networking skills.

After students have returned, we assess how they perform on related projects and assignments in their subsequent courses. Finally, we track the career progression of our alumni to evaluate the impact international experiences have had on their professional success.

A Systemic Approach

We have found that delivering experiences such as our International Weeks requires a systemic approach across a range of dimensions.

First, we know that if we want our students’ experiences to be rich and rewarding, we must establish clear objectives from the outset. For example, we want to ensure that our programs promote our students’ cultural awareness, enhance their soft skills, and build their global networks.

Second, we know that we must plan a multidimensional program that includes guest lectures from international scholars, cultural workshops, language exchange sessions, and networking events. We bring diverse perspectives and expertise to each event by collaborating with international partners such as foreign universities and cultural institutions.

Third, we involve the entire community as a way to ensure broad participation from students, faculty, and staff across all departments. During the planning process, we deliver targeted communications to each of these groups.

Fourth, we provide adequate resources and support to both students and faculty. This includes budgeting for guest speakers, designing promotional materials, and taking care of logistical arrangements.

Finally, we gather feedback from participants after the event. This allows administrators to assess the impact of the event and identify areas for improvement.

By taking such an approach, we can develop international experiences that foster cultural exchanges, enrich the academic experience, and enhance professional networking. And we can ensure that our students are prepared to thrive in a complex and globalized business environment.