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Rome is where the heart is.
A group of 22 students led by Management and International Business' faculty member Randall Martin traveled to Rome between December 27, 2004 and January 8, 2005, participants in the latest study abroad opportunity offered through the Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER). Though it was colder than she expected, IB Honors student Neri Martinez had a "great time." She had hoped to have an interview related to her thesis, which deals with negotiation, but the appointment was canceled. Still, she got to test some of her theories informally. "I took the train to Florence, the leather center of Italy, and negotiated prices for my purchases," she said. "It's very much a negotiation-based culture. People enjoy it when someone knows how to negotiate."
Graduate student in international relations Astrid Boening had very specific goals for the trip, and in her case, the scheduled meeting-with the Italian Mission to the European Union-panned out. "As part of my thesis, I am going to undertake a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis of the Italian Mission, applying a business model to a government agency," she said. "I went into the meeting with a clear idea of what I needed to cover." The session was so productive that when she later read an article about the European Union in a respected journal, she said she realized that she knew more about aspects of the subject than the author did. In addition to coursework and touring, study abroad trips always include a visit to a local business, giving students the chance to see firsthand how a firm operates in another country. This group got to meet with a representative of Terre Da Vino, S.P.A., a wine company. For more information about how you can sharpen your international business skills through a short-term stay in another country, take a quick trip to http://www.fiu.edu/~ciber/.
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