Short-Term International Practicums

Apply your business expertise to global settings.

At USD, we believe international consulting is one of the best ways to prepare yourself for a career in a global business environment. You'll have the opportunity to apply the business concepts and hands-on training you've learned in class to real-world business situations abroad.

The international business practicum is a field-based, short-term consulting project for an organization in another country to address a current and significant problem which they have identified. In some cases, your project team might include other USD business school students and graduate business students from a university in another country.

We typically organize these projects in January (between the regular semesters) and locations vary each year. In the last few years, students have consulted in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (in cooperation with COPPEAD Graduate School of Business); Bangkok, Thailand; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Shanghai, China; Singapore; Munich, Germany; Delhi, India (in cooperation with IMT Ghaziabad) and Accra, Ghana.

Learn about our recent client projects.

Here's a collection of international consulting projects that USD students completed around the world.

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Organization	Industry	Project
Arcor	Food and Beverage	Arcor is the largest candy and confectionery manufacturer in the world. Students developed entry strategies for two Arco products into the U.S. market.
Cepas Argentinas	Food and Beverage	Identified six tactical and three strategic ways of increasing capacity and designed scenarios to further internationalize Cepas Argentinas' international activity.
Walmart Argentina	Retail	Executed various projects including designing strategies to serve lower income consumers, driving customers to expand on-line purchases and consolidating its organizational culture and reputation as one of the best places to work in the country.
Banco Galicia	Banking	Identified current major emission sources and opportunities for savings in the future incorporating various bank branches in sustainability efforts.
Laboratories Hidalgo	Healthcare	Performed various projects including assisting the company in consolidating their operations by recommending financial and operational systems to improve efficiency, developing a growth and expansion strategy and developing a reformulation strategy of the company's human resources processes and practices in recruiting, retaining and development of human talent to support future business growth.
QBE Insurance	Insurance	Conducted market research and industry analysis and developed a strategy to extend company's reach to new segments.
AAETAV	Tourism	Executed several projects including designing a strategy and implementation plan to support Argentina´s intentions to expand Adventure and Ecotourism Travel activities and implementing a plan to foster, build, protect and sustain the rural culture and heritage of Argentina National resources while developing demand for sustainable rural tourism.
Argentis	IT	Provided tools to help Argentis' top management creatively think about growing the business in the fashion industry in the U.S. Designed an entry strategy in this industry segment including the identification of potential risks and proactive behaviors to manage them.
Globant	Software Development	Various projects to expand their international reach in Asia and the USA through either mergers and acquisitions or greenfield operations.
Sagrada Familia Foundation	Nonprofit	Prepared a business and marketing plan designed to increase company's donor base. The plan also designed steps to improve turnover of materials by increasing volume in current distribution channels as well as identifying new channels.
Imagen HB	Marketing/Branding	Developed a global business strategy for the company's growth and differentiation in the brand development for cities and regions across continents.
Lanxess	Chemicals	Diagnosed the supply chain management (SCM) process that the company has for order fulfillment and customer satisfaction, designed strategic and operational efficiency and effectiveness improvements and defined a timeline for their implementation.
Bodega Lagarde	Food and Beverage	Defined strategies to enhance company's current image in the U.S., identified new potential markets and designed a business model for its growth strategy abroad.
Hit CoWorking	Real Estate	Assisted the company in developing a marketing strategy to advertise locations to potential customers and educate consumers on co-working spaces. Developed a tactical plan for the creation of company's mobile site and web platforms.
La Fabrica del Taco	Food and Beverage	Developed a marketing plan to strengthen the company's position in Argentina. Created an entry strategy plan for expansion to the U.S. and other international markets.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Organization	Industry	Project
Camp Mangueira	Nonprofit	Camp Mangueira is a non-profit social program created in 1989. Their goal is to provide underprivileged youth with the skills and opportunity to enter the labor market. A team of students analyzed ways in which the placement of the graduates can be improved, specifically in the area of marketing and in an effort to attain the financial growth necessary to further develop CAMP's program size.
Hospital Pro-Cardiaco	Healthcare	Examined the processes and practices involved in the hospital and determined the strengths and weaknesses of the program. The analysis of the structure provided an understanding as to why there was a low response rate and helped to ascertain practical suggestions to improve the rate.
L'Oreal	Cosmetics	Identified strategies to increase the sales and brand image of the Kerastase line of products.
Message Informatica	IT	Provided strategies for the firm to grow its business, such as specialization of a particular technology solution and employing long-term marketing actions to benchmark its services against competitors.
Organic Food Store and Restaurant	Food and Beverage	Analyzed the financial and marketing feasibility of launching a health food and organic chain of markets modeled after Whole Foods for Brazil.
GlaxoSmithKline	Healthcare	Proposed cultural organization changes to improve efficiency in their production line.
INTO	Healthcare	Designed an action plan to guide INTO through the implementation of their social responsibility projects.
Triscal Consulting and Technology	IT	Analyzed the feasibility of offering such services in the U.S. market. Provided a comprehensive overview of the U.S. market potential and identified a variety of untapped markets within South America for Triscal.
Cortex Intelligence	IT	Designed a channel marketing strategy to help expand the company's market share. Identified things like the most appropriate sales and channel structure, types of partner companies in the channel, optimal commissioning model, restrictions for the relationships and types of support for the channel.
Diagnostico da America	Healthcare	Investigated new ways to improve the quality of relationships with the doctors who send their lab work to Diagnostico.
Gaffree e Guinle University Hospital (HUGG)	Healthcare	Performed various projects including developing a distance education model that allowed HUGG to train health family groups and healthcare workers in poor communities and designing a new cost effective scheduling system for pharmacists and assistants to balance their workload.
Golden Cross	Healthcare	Provided a solution for the healthcare company to have a higher rate of response on their customer's questionnaire, which served as the basis for the company to assess and evaluate quality of service provided.
Mecal	Metallurgy and Steel	Suggested a strategy to reposition the company in the current marketplace. Investigated the best timing of capital investment projects for the company within the next couple of years.
Petróleo Brasileiro, S.A. (Petrobras)	Oil and Gas	Designed a preliminary plan for improving both the staffing of the call center and the service provided to customers.
Endesa	Energy	Created programs to increase collections from customers accessing electricity by informally tapping into the system or not paying their electricity bill.
Polimera	Biotech	Developed a marketing plan focusing on the medical markets in Brazil and a financial plan for the company in the next five years.
Enersud	Renewable Energy	Created a production strategy and marketing plan for company's new wind turbines product line.
Fine Image Technology (FIT)	Medical Device Manufacturer	Developed a plan to launch the company's product in low-income regions of Brazil and determined potential product demand among hospitals and clinics.
Grupo Carmo	Hospital	Performed a comprehensive analysis of hospital operations and developed a plan to optimize critical care front desk procedures to minimize waiting time, maximize medical staff allocation and improve patient check-in efficiency.
Grupo Roque	Cookware Manufacturer	Produced an actionable internationalization strategy that would enable the company to start selling its products in Angola and meet its goals of diversifying its customer base.
Saboreata	Chocolate Manufacturer	Performed a careful review of this boutique chocolate manufacturer facilities, financial state and marketing plan and recommended a plan of action for expansion.
Andina Brasil	Food and Beverage	Analyzed the financial viability of technology-based voice picking methods and determined if the current Argentina model could be transferred to the Brazil market. One of the major licensors of Andina Brazil is Coca-Cola.
Orga Systems	IT	Performed various projects including establishing a system that ensured consistency, fairness and transparency when assessing employee's individual performance and analyzing the purchasing function activities, their cost reduction areas of opportunity and implementation suggestions.
World Study	International Exchange Service	Developed a process and budget control tools covering broad inventory control operations, spanning areas such as purchasing, logistics, planning, forecasting, marketing and development.
Empresa Bacana	Social Services	Developed a strategy to determine if the company's efforts in legalizing informal businesses in the favelas (shanty towns) of Rio has been effective.
Medium-Sized Tech Company	Technology	Helped develop an innovative strategy to launch a new product.
SECOVI-Rio	Real Estate	Assisted this government-sponsored organization in developing a plan to improve the environmental sustainability of their existing and future commercial housing units.
Ciabrink	Educational Toys Manufacturer	Analyzed the Brazilian toy market and determined opportunities for growth at home as well as in neighboring countries. Identified various Chinese companies that could become potential Ciabrink partners or joint ventures.
In Press	Marketing and Communication	Developed a new evaluation process that is straightforward and applicable to help employees align their efforts with the company's goals and increase efficiency.
Shell Brazil	Oil and Gas	Devised a plan for the creation of "virtual expertise centers in Brazil" to identify areas of expertise available in the Intranet and areas of interest for dissemination within the Shell Brazil Group.
Roche	Pharmaceutical	Identified the real benefits of the new dedicated delivery system, by analyzing customer demand, schedules, costs and service quality of the present provider and selecting strategic customers for the implementation of the proposed system.
Pinngo	Social Media Marketing	Created a marketing strategy to target large corporate customers which resulted in the company needing to focus more on data collection and outsourcing.
CIN	Nuclear Technology	Evaluated existing processes and made specific recommendations for improvement in record-keeping, storage of information and process automation.
CL Women	Digital Marketing	Evaluated existing processes and made specific recommendations for improvement in record-keeping, storage of information and process automation.
Halliburton	Oil and Gas	Located the specific issues that had lowered the company's Great Places to Work (GPTW) rating through five key categories in GPTW surveys.
Way Design	Furniture Retailer	Mapped customer experience by secret shopping at all of Way Design's furniture store locations throughout Rio and made specific recommendations for enhancing the customer experience. On a second project, students performed a complete demographic, geographic and economic evaluation of the Miami, Florida market in order to provide a customer analysis, market analysis and competitor assessment for expansion purposes.
TR Subsea	Technology	Evaluated the current strengths of the company and found that the proprietary simulation technology developed by the company had significant applications to other industries and recommended a name change to reflect the company's change in strategic direction.
TWIST Press	Data Science	Investigated several international markets for expansion and provided pros and cons of each place, finding that expansion into the Canadian market should be seriously considered.
Vatio Renewable Energies	Energy	Advised the company on business model alternatives that address the various strengths, weaknesses, and uncertainties pertaining to the future of solar energy in Brazil due to governmental regulations.
Descomplica	Digital Education	Developed strategies to identify new distribution channels to help Descomplica grow while keeping its prices affordable and expanding access to higher education.
Incentive.me	Technology	Performed a comprehensive value analysis, including a detailed spreadsheet analysis that contained estimates for discounted cash flows, under various assumptions.
Lemobs	Technology	Provided input on product development through a comprehensive business plan (“Canvas”) analysis and conducted a comprehensive analysis of potential “good clients” based on various demographic characteristics.
PetroRio	Natural Gas	Performed a comprehensive industry analysis of fellow European companies to help PetroRio take advantage of the liberalization in the natural gas industry in Brazil.
Verde Vicio	Food and Beverage	Performed an operations analysis on the feasibility and profitability of using new sales channels, conducted a pricing analysis to determine delivery cost, and created a survey to collect customer feedback.
Hilton Copacabana	Hospitality	Created an excel tool and provided reccomendations to help with staffing and productivity in the housekeeping and food-and-beverage departments. On a second project, students recommended strategic changes in internal communication to improve Hilton Copacabana’s key guest satisfaction (SALT) score.
Suade Crianca	Non-Profit	Integrated Saúde Criança's workflow along with several software systems in all operational areas to improve workforce efficiency and eliminate human errors.
L’Oreal	Cosmetics	Conducted research to better understand consumer behavior in two permanent hair color market segments that were experiencing a substancial decline. Recommended changes for the retail environments in which L'Oréal products are sold to reduce this decline.

Beijing, China

Organization	Industry	Project
DragonMed	Manufacturer	Analyzed export markets in the Middle East and Europe and recommended the markets with the most potential. Identified distributors and analyzed the competitive landscape in those markets.
3G Data Services in China	Technology	Performed analysis of best practices of leading global carriers at different stages of 2G/3G deployment and made recommendations for Chinese carriers in providing data service in the 3G era.
Energy Company	Oil and Gas	Researched the existing rail and pipelines and the plans of the national and local governments to expand them. Estimated costs for rail transportation and proposed an innovative alternative for efficient handling of the product by rail and truck.

Shanghai, China

Organization	Industry	Project
Callaway Golf Company	Consumer Goods Retail	USD consultants assessed current retail strategy and helped establish a proposal for expanding the demand for, and knowledge of, the sport of golf in China.
Automotive Supplier	Automotive	Laid the foundation for a re-organization strategy in Asia and mapped different requirements of the new structure, underlying proceedings as well as the drafting of different structural possibilities.
WD-40	Manufacturer	Performed various projects including conducting a project for segmenting the China market for its individual products and developing a value creation strategy for the company's top 10 customers.
David Laris Creates	Food and Beverage	Assessed a possible merger scenario with a large chain in terms of cost, synergy and impact and developed an implantation plan with best practices. The team also developed a strategy for using social media for great brand awareness.
Perfashion	Fashion	Developed a strategic plan to prioritize the major initiatives for the company's expansion. Perfashion supplies trimmings to Zara, Mango and Maxmara and others.
Zhongchangjiang Telecommunications Technology (ZCJTT)	Telecommunication	Developed a strategic marketing plan to introduce company's new technology into the U.S. market.
iPai	Online Sales	Helped the company define and prioritize opportunities in China by performing in-depth research and suggesting western entry strategies into eastern markets. Also defined the best communication strategies to build brand awareness and succeed in this market. On another project, developed a negotiations strategy for dealing with consignors by identifying a new key value proposition, as well as recommendations for negotiation tactics. Also helped to streamline work flow in sales, production/auction and administration processes.
Shanghai Foreign Services	Consulting Services	Analyzed company's portfolio of services to assist in prioritizing opportunities that will lead to its growth and brand awareness in the short and medium term.
ALO7	Digital Education	Conducted a segmentation analysis of the future of the e-mobility market. Identified and validated the future dominant players in the automotive industry and derived concrete recommendations to uncover the supplier`s future key customers.
dgPower	Manufacturer	Developed consumer profiles for Western audiences and aligned current product benefits with potential customer desires and motivations. Presented ideas for product development, communication strategies, and implementation tactics for international expansion into these Western markets.

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Organization	Industry	Project
Edify	Nonprofit Education	Investigated whether a "solar rooftop microloan" would be a viable loan product for their NGO partners, Aspire and Esperanza. As part of this investigation, the consulting team identified why more small businesses have not acquired solar rooftop. Students also assisted company in developing a "solar rooftop microloan" product to be marketed in the region.

Munich, Germany

Organization	Industry	Project
IFEN	Space and Aviation Sciences	Developed a market potential analysis and an entry strategy plan to guide company in its expansion efforts to the U.S. and China.
Keithley	Manufacturer	Assisted company in reducing an exhaustive array of tools, redesigning and improving relevant worksheets, redesigning the process steps for more CRM efficiency and working out a kind of reward program for the sales people to cause a better mental understanding, identification and triggering of the whole process.
BMW Motorrad	Automotive	Created a marketing tool to help the company develop specific promotional strategies through analyzing customer trends and segments in China for increasing motorcycle customization.
Webasto	Automotive Supplier	Promoted the sale of luxury sun roofs for car manufacturers in Brazil by focusing on the most effective marketing strategies for car sales and accessories across multiple car segments from luxury on down.
BMW Motorrad	Automotive	Developed innovative luggage transportation systems that can be integrated with the company’s portfolio of motorcycles. Focused on a positioning analysis of BMW motorcycles in the United States and a positioning analysis in Asia. Assessed how innovative approaches for transporting people and goods by motorcycle could increase market appeal. On a second project, students developed long-term marketing and sales strategies focusing on strategies aimed towards Generation Y & Z.
MAN Truck & Bus	Automotive	Enhanced the manufacturer’s marketing and brand management strategies. Developed a key performance indicator (KPI) model of important sales and marketing activities, and identified important KPIs related to the manufacturer’s online marketing and communication activities.
Ridetronic	Bicycle	Analyzed the positioning and sales opportunities for the company’s e-bikes in the United States. Developed a market entry strategy including the product design, pricing, marketing communication, and sales channels.
APIC BEAM	Technology	Performed a market segmentation analysis to identify target segments with the greatest market potential. Developed a positioning strategy and marketing communication plan to effectively convey the product’s capabilities to the target segments.

Accra, Ghana

Organization	Industry	Project
Edify	Nonprofit Education	Performed a comparative analysis of schools' business performance in order to provide recommendations regarding how Edify and its local partner Sinapi Abba Trust (SAT) can best invest their financial and human resources to achieve a transformative effect on students and society.

Bangalore, India

Organization	Industry	Project
EcoWatch India	Environmental Services	Developed a plan by which EcoWatch could partner with other organizations to expand its reach, effectiveness and viability.
United Breweries	Food and Beverage	Developed a marketing campaign that encompassed the Internet, radio, TV, outdoor and point of purchase outlets so customers would interact with the brand on an on-going basis.
Sogefi/MNR	Manufacturer	Explored growth opportunities to strengthen their OEM customer relationships, build a brand identity and build a corporate social responsibility initiative.
Ripples Learning	Training and Development	Proposed six key strategies that were tailored to improve Ripples Learning's competitive position.

Dehli, India

Organization	Industry	Project
Alantik Group	Financial Services	Helped the company determine how to communicate Alankits' Portfolio Management System products to their target markets and analyze what their competitors are doing and how to improve their market penetration through use of social media.
Blue Dart Express	Express Package Distribution	Project was focused on developing strategies to minimize transportation expenses for the Northern Region hub of Blue Dart.
Cox and Kings India	Travel and Tourism	Estimated the market size of the inbound incentives travel market for India and suggested ways to capture it for Cox and Kings India.
NTPC	Electric Utility	Project emphasized working on the strategic objectives of the company targeted for 2020 in solar energy generation and possible stakeholder identification.
Quatrro	Business Services	Project focused on building brand recognition and enhanced visibility for the company in both small and medium business across the United States through online and social media marketing.

Lima, Peru

Organization	Industry	Project
Telefónica del Perú S.A.	Utilities	Developed a logistical support for the "phone stores" to improve customer service.
Luz del Sur S.A	Utilities	Designed and implemented a customer service evaluation system.
Hotel Sonesta	Hotel and Tourism	Performed a project to expand global brand awareness with the international tourism sector to generate more customers and revenue.
Panificadora Bimbo del Perú S.A.	Food and Beverage	Developed a commercial plan to identify new target markets to increase market share.

Singapore, Singapore

Organization	Industry	Project
Van der Horst Energy	Cargo Transportation Service	Analyzed how to improve the synergy of the two sister companies to expand their customer base in Singapore, improve profit margins and market outside of Singapore.

Cape Town, South Africa

Organization	Industry	Project
Century City Property Developments	Real Estate	Determined complimentary property usages that should be planned.
Cybercellar	Food and Beverage	Performed various projects including investigating the alternatives for international funding and to recommend strategies for securing venture capital funding and designing a strategy to take their current business model to expand internationally.

Bangkok, Thailand

Organization	Industry	Project
Mazda City	Automotive	Reviewed current operations, management structure and marketing strategy and provided suggestions for increasing revenues from vehicle sales and services.
RMA Group	Renewable Energy	Designed market entry strategies to bring solar panel technology to six countries in the West African Coastal Belt and Horn of Africa, which served as RMA's bluepring for expansion.
Global Fleet Sales	Automotive	Analyzed the global vehicle armoring industry, identified Nigeria and Kenya as the two most opportune new markets for GFS to expand beyond its core customer base and developed a comprehensive marketing plan to reach the target audiences.
RMA Group	Automotive	Formulated a competitive market entry strategy to help position RMA into Africa, Euroasia and the European market to not only maintain strength and dominance in their current target segments, but also gain footholds into new emerging markets such as India and Russia.
RMA Group	Food Services	RMA Group considered entering the airline and airport catering industry in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Students completed an industry overview of both the airport and airline catering industries and created a market entry strategy along with entry timelines for the company.
RMA Group	Infrastructure	Analyzed and suggested selected areas in Africa with market potential for selling turnkey containerized hybrid power generation solutions.

Mbarara, Uganda

Organization	Industry	Project
Children's Malaria Hospital	Nonprofit Healthcare	Proposed enterprises that could generate profits to cover the hospital's operating expenses, while also engaging the community.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Organization	Industry	Project
EMAAR Properties	Real Estate	Developed a plan for this leading real estate developer in the Gulf region to solve an operational issue they had at one of their marquee properties.
Qualcomm	Semiconductor	Developed effective "Sponsored Services" business models to increase data usage in critical Middle Eastern and Asian markets. "Sponsored Services" is the concept that a sponsor subsidizes data services for mobile phone users in return for the opportunity to interact directly with the consumer for marketing purposes.
Tecom Investments	Higher Education	Dubai International Academic City (DIAC) is the World's only Free Zone dedicated to Higher Education, hosting almost 30 universities from all around the world on one joint campus. Students supported company in their planning process of a new shared student recreation center for the more than 15,000 students.

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Learn about our recent client projects.

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Short-Term International Practicums