Going Global with the Robert H. Smith School of Business!
Team 6: Eric Levy (UMD), Jenifer Ramirez (UMD), King Yi Chan (HKUST), and Lai Hang Mak (HKU),
- Describe your experience in the program. What was the best part of your experience? What surprised you about the experience?
This experience has been one of the highlights of my school year. I had the opportunity to work with students from the University of Hong Kong as well as accounting pioneers in the field of automated accounting, currently working at a Singapore-based accounting company called Sleek. The best part of my experience was interacting with the students. The pandemic has been tough for all of us, and being able to meet new people is always gratifying.
- What challenges did you face during this program and what global mindset competencies did you use to overcome them?
Case competitions are always exciting and enable people to demonstrate their full potential. The International Business Agility Lab was no exception. When my teammates and I started working on strategies for Sleek, we initially had trouble figuring out how to approach the problem presented because it appeared, at first, that not enough information was provided to get started. However, thinking about the Agility Lab’s core competency of “tolerance of ambiguity” helped me work through the problem. I made assumptions to fill in for the information I lacked and ultimately arrive at an appropriate solution.
- What was something that you learned from your participation in this program that you may not have learned otherwise?
This experience reminded me how great working on a diverse team can be and also encourage me to look for similar opportunities in which my global mindset can be developed.
- What has this experience taught you about working on multinational teams?
Some people are good for some tasks, and other people are good for other tasks. This does not mean that anyone person is more important or competent than another. It just means that people should be assigned to tasks that exploit their strengths. Then each person can contribute fully to the team.
- What advice would you give a student considering participating in this program?
Give yourself the time to participate in this program while taking classes. It may take time to develop your ideas. Because it is a case competition, you are probably going to change your point of view many times. Be open-minded to your teammate’s opinions but also give yours. You should not simply agree with everything someone says without contributing your views. Doing that will prevent you from learning as much as you could from this experience. Talk and share your knowledge. You bring something to the table, so share it!
