Monday, May 24, 2021

In early May, twenty-eight students, mostly from UNCW’s Executive MBA program, were part of an international consulting project with Packeta, a leading logistics provider based in the Czech Republic.

The idea of a virtual residency to Prague came to EMBA student George Earhart '21 during a Zoom call with Cameron School of Business faculty members Nivine Richie and Rebecca Guidice. In less than two months, CSB students, faculty and staff collaborated to host the international residency, combining live participation with virtual elements.

With support from Richie (associate dean of graduate and international programs and professor of finance), Guidice (director of the professional and Executive MBA program and professor of management), Mark Pelletier (assistant professor of marketing) and international partner GIOBA, the students overcame time zone challenges for a week of research and collaborative critical thinking. Nearly all of the participants traveled to Wilmington to spend the week working together on campus. Four students participated each day virtually.

Their efforts resulted in a capstone presentation to Packeta's CEO and management team and a report outlining recommendations for the company’s future efforts related to strategic growth, logistics, corporate social responsibility and promotional marketing.

“Previous weekend residencies in the EMBA program have been very successful so I knew the professors and staff could pull it off,” said Earhart. “Fortunately, GIOBA and Packeta were willing to accommodate us according to circumstances. UNCW really thought out how to incorporate live and virtual students for this project and were able to integrate us seamlessly with the technology they had on hand.”

A future international consulting project in South Africa is tentatively planned for early 2022.

-- Caroline Cropp

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