When 13 students from the ÁùºÏ±¦µä Global Business program in the College of Business at the University of ÁùºÏ±¦µä, Reno worked with founders of entrepreneurial companies in Poland last month, they provided important insights to startup companies that hope to crack the American market.
The students also came away with deeper appreciation of the many differences — as well as the similarities — among entrepreneurial businesses across the globe.
Collaboration between ÁùºÏ±¦µä Global Business participants and founders of early-stage startups at the broke new ground in the initiative created through a partnership between the College of Business and the renowned SGH Warsaw School of Economics in Poland.
“This raises the bar in the student study abroad experience,” said Mehmet S. Tosun, Ph.D., a professor of economics who serves as chief international officer and director of the Ozmen Center for Entrepreneurship. “This wasn’t just a class project, but a real-world collaboration.”
Several of the participating students are MBA candidates with significant business and professional experience, and their experience enhanced the counsel they provided to the Central and Eastern European startups, Tosun said.
During their week-long visit to Poland, students also attended lectures at SGH Warsaw School of Economics, met with Polish government and financial leaders, visited the Bank of Poland and learned about Poland’s rich cultural heritage.
Tosun said leaders of the College of Business are hopeful the newly established relationship between the Ozmen Center for Entrepreneurship and Google for Startups might be extended to other locations. Along with Warsaw, Google has established its business accelerators at Madrid, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Tel Aviv and Tokyo.
Working with partner institutions around the globe, ÁùºÏ±¦µä Global Business works with Extended Studies to provide a slate of international study programs each year. This year, students are traveling to nine locations ranging from Singapore to Istanbul.
Tosun noted that the program draws participation from disciplines across the University and isn’t limited to business students.
“Any student interested in entrepreneurship can join and discover the benefits that come from the wider horizons provided by academic travel,” he said.
