WMU: German Business and Culture (Short-term, Faculty-led program)

Concept:  Get a chance to add international understanding to your life experiences and your resume without having to commit to an entire semester abroad.  Additionally, this trip requires no language competency which makes it more accessible to many people (people with German language skills are absolutely invited also!).  The program involves a tour of German business and cultural sites and interactions with German university students, and an intensive negotiation course taught in English by Dr. Eckert at Paderborn University.  The tour part of the trip is scheduled as BUS 3960 and the Negotiation component is MKTG 4780. Each of these is a three credit course, making the whole experience SIX CREDITS!   (6960 & 6780 for graduate students).

The Educational Program Trip: (BUS 3960/6960): The group will begin in Berlin and spend our first week based there.   Berlin is Germany’s capital city and bustles with activity, history and art!  Our time in Berlin includes a “Fat-Tire” bike tour of Berlin where we will explore the history and culture of this once divided city, a visit to the Reichstag, Germany’s Capital Building, and a visit to one of Berlin’s oldest breweries.  From Berlin the group will make a day trip to the world headquarters of Volkswagen in Wolfsburg.  At VW, the group will have a tour of the production facilities and get to hear about their brand strategies.  We will also make a day trip to nearby Potsdam, having a special negotiation (and social!) experience with the students at Uni Potsdam.  From Berlin it is back on the train to Dr. Eckert’s “Deutsche Heimatstadt” (German Hometown) of Paderborn, home of WMU’s partner school; Paderborn University.  Here we will hear from Dr. Andreas Eggert, an expert in customer value, and interact with German Uni students via a couple of case experiences.  From Paderborn we will head to the Rhein river area and explore the castles and the wine industry that surround the Rhein River.  Included in this will be a stop in Köln (Cologne) which is home to the world famous “Kölner Dom” (Cologne Cathedral) and is often known as the center of the German festival industry (they take their festivals very seriously!).

The Negotiation Course (MKTG 4780): Integrated into the program is an intense negotiation course at the Uni Paderborn.  Side-by-side with German students you will learn the strategies and tactics of effective negotiation.  The course, taught entirely in English, meets six hours per day and requires work every evening, so it is definitely not a vacation!  However, negotiation skills are considered one of the most fundamental abilities for a successful business person and this course takes an intense, yet highly practical approach to teaching you those skills.  The course involves multiple negotiation cases where each student must put what they have learned to use in a head-to-head negotiation.  My German colleagues and the German students are excited to have American counterparts involved and the experience should be culturally interesting and enlightening for all.  During the weekend available during this part of the program there will be an optional trip to Hamburg, Germany’s largest port city with a vibrant cultural, social, and shopping scene.