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Winterims provide hands-on global experiencesWinterims provide hands-on global experiences

More than 275 students at Thunderbird School of Global Management spent winter break studying around the world in places such as the rainforests of Costa Rica, the Dead Sea in Jordan and Wall Street in New York. Thunderbird Winterims, which last anywhere from 11 to 22 days each January, offer MBA candidates in-depth cultural experiences and private meetings with corporate and political leaders.

The study programs also give students a chance to hone their language skills. In fact, two Winterims in Mexico are language immersion programs.

“Many students come from other parts of the world to study in Glendale, but if you want to be an international manager you have to be able to see what managing is like in different parts of the world,” said Thunderbird Professor Greg Unruh, Ph.D., director of the Lincoln Center for Ethics in Global Management. “The Winterim is a fundamental part of the Thunderbird curriculum.”

Thunderbird’s 11 off-campus programs in January included: finance on Wall Street, global brand management in New York City, sustainable business development in Costa Rica, challenges in emerging Middle East economic centers in Dubai, the big emerging market of South Africa, global business development in Jordan, global development in Brazil, Asia-Pacific rim big emerging market value creation dynamics in China and Hong Kong, U.S. foreign economic policy and the new global environment in Washington and two Spanish immersion programs in Mexico.

Students who complete a study program between the fall and spring trimesters receive three credit hours, and many Winterims satisfy Thunderbird’s global experience requirements.

Unruh, who leads the Costa Rica Winterim, said students who traveled with him got an in-depth view of the challenges of building a profitable business in an emerging economy in a way that is environmentally socially responsible.

His Winterim students not only learned about ecotourism, rainforest preservation and bioprospecting, but they also learned lessons in global citizenship when a 6.2 magnitude earthquake occurred nearby.

Thunderbird students responded by hosting a fundraiser for the local Red Cross chapter at the INCAE Business School in Costa Rica. They raised more than $900, which included donations from other student groups on campus in Glendale, Ariz.

This was the first year that Thunderbird held a global development Winterim in Brazil. Some of the highlights of the trip included learning about sustainability, renewable energy and environmental management by visiting companies and plantations around Brazil.

On the Winterim in Jordan, the 29 students had the opportunity to consult directly with small and medium-sized companies and non-governmental organizations on their specific business needs.

Winterim participant Elena Ziebarth said one of the highlights of the trip was working with the dedicated staff at Beecell, a mobile value-added services company she consulted for as part of the Winterim. The company was interested in entering the United States and understanding the market.

Ziebarth said the consulting helped the company make an assessment of whether of not they should go for it.

“Winterims provide students with a completely different experience than in a Thunderbird classroom,” Ziebarth said. “Whether the course is focused on introducing a local business environment, focused topic, career path or hands-on experience, students receive far more than typical book learning, lecture and discussion. I had a sense that the topics we learned about or discussed were indeed right at our fingertips. What better way to learn?”