Thirteen students and three faculty members took a winter break trip to India to get first-hand experience for a new course focused on doing business in emerging markets.

The course was designed to familiarize students with the strategic and operational challenges companies face while competing in emerging markets, and provide the education and context to generate creative solutions to the competitive challenges of doing business in these new markets. 

While in India Dec. 29 to Jan. 9, the Philadelphia University group attended lectures about emerging markets and the global economy; economic opportunities and constraints in India; cultural and religious issues; and India’s future in a globalizing world.

The Philadelphia University group also visited a variety of educational, cultural and religious sites, including the Taj Mahal, Shri Lakshmi Narain Hindu Temple, Birla Institute of Management Technology, Delhi Haat Outdoor Bazaar, the U.S. Commercial Service and the U.S. Embassy.

“At these sites, the students were given tours, interacted with professionals in a variety of sectors, including health care, business, manufacturing, tourism, education, planning and government, and were offered the opportunity to learn in a direct way about how these sectors are growing and developing in the modern South Asian/Indian context,” said Steven Dinero, associate professor of Human Geography, one of the course instructors.

The course, which also required a series of meetings both before and after travel to India, is one of the first comprehensive in-country collaborative courses offered by the School of Business Administration and the School of Liberal Arts.  The students who took the course are majoring in business, fashion industry management, architectural studies and biology.  Besides Dinero, the other faculty members are Steven Frumkin, associate professor of Textile Management and Marketing, and D.K. Malhotra, professor of Finance.

Jaime Poe, a senior marketing major who had never left the U.S. before traveling to India, said she expects the course will help her in the workplace. “I want to do market research for companies looking to expand into India,” she said.  “This class provided a real-world, up-close experience with the booming economy and intricate culture of India.”