The Maryland Global Consulting Program, “An Ultimate Experience”

The Center for Global Business offers students at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business the opportunity to apply the skills they have developed in the classroom to real-world consulting projects. As part of the Maryland Global Consulting Program students have the chance to enrich their professional development journeys and broaden their business perspectives with a unique, hands-on learning opportunity.

In the fall of 2022, three teams of five multidisciplinary MBA and specialty master’s students were matched with three Maryland-based companies seeking a market assessment and entry plan to expand into various global markets.

Parraid, a product-oriented company (POC) dedicated to design, engineering, sales, and support of telemetry data systems and tactical communications solutions, worked with five students in a market penetration and development project to proactively internationalize their brand. After a semester of high-level analysis and investigation, the team recommended a set of international markets and a competitive market landscape of the top three countries to enter for Parraid.

E-Livestock Global, a company in the biotechnology sector that offers a blockchain-powered global traceability platform for healthy livestock, received consultation from a team of five students on a market exploration venture, targeting expansion across Europe, Asia, and Central/Latin America. The team presented their findings after in-depth research and a benefit-analysis process, highlighting their recommendations for the next locations in which to develop their operations.

Youth Transitions Inc., a non-profit organization that is committed to training individuals with developmental disabilities for employment opportunities in the food service industry, challenged a team of five students from the program to develop a market entry strategy and devise potential partnership opportunities. After a semester of detailed investigation and analysis, the company received a comprehensive market entry landscape for the top five priority markets and an outreach plan to help secure a partnership with the Department of Defense, intending to support military families abroad that have disabled children.

Following each of the team’s concluding deliverables, a few of the clients have already begun to implement the proposed recommendations. Parraid details the success stemming from the team’s recommendations. “We are already signed up to attend a large exhibition in one of the countries recommended as a target of opportunity and will plan to contact some of the POCs presented by the UMD team,” says Parraid. “For a small business, this program gives us access to exceptional UMD students. As a team, they adapted quickly to our product offerings and types of markets. We received detailed information and actionable recommendations.”

One student that participated in the E-Livestock project says the experience offered a distinctive hands-on approach that included “the opportunity to research, use critical and analytical skills, perform comparative analysis and effective writing” and required them to “both use and build leadership skills.” Another student on the team was proud to announce that the program “was by far [their] favorite experience of business school,” allowing them to “absolutely give everything without burnout or doubt.”

“This was the ultimate experiential learning experience.”

Maryland-based companies interested in the Maryland Global Consulting Program can visit the website or contact smithglobal@umd.edu. The center is now welcoming inquiries for the summer iteration of the program.

The Maryland Global Consulting Program is sponsored in part by CIBE, a Title VI grant administered by the U.S. Department of Education.