LEARN EXPERIENTIALLY

Your experience is unique. The opportunities are abundant. Through seminar-style courses, discussions with executives, company visits, consulting projects, country presentations, and guest speakers, you will increase your knowledge of business and industry, enhance your leadership and entrepreneurial skills, and develop a global network. Your learning experiences are enhanced as you interact with your fellow interns and develop an understanding of the many cultures represented in the Global Village.

GV 2010 Calendar

Learning Objectives
Increase Business and Industry Knowledge
Enhance Leadership and Entrepreneurial Skills
Develop Global And Cultural Networking

Seminar-Style Courses
Exposure to some of the most critical topics affecting companies of today and leaders of tomorrow is what the Global Village is all about. With more than 35 courses presented by 33 facilitators, including at least 16 international instructors, you will discover business trends and best practices needed to understand the global marketplace. Work with skilled practitioners to develop new leadership and entrepreneurial talents. Interact with your classmates and discover the thought processes of other cultures. Your personal guide will work with you to develop goals and select the learning experiences that will help you achieve success.

2010 Course Offerings

Executive Visitors
Founded in 1865, Lehigh University has developed a significant number of viable rewarding, and long-standing partnerships with important leaders in business and industry. During your stay at the Global Village, you will have the opportunity to interact with more than 30 executives who represent large and small corporations, family-owned businesses, start-up companies, and sole proprietorships. These interactions are a key feature of the program.

Through roundtable discussions, Q&A sessions with guest speakers, company tours, and project work, interns are encouraged to take advantage of these opportunities to meet influential executives who will assist them with developing their professional network.

Each week in the Global Village, top-level senior executives visit the program to spend time interacting with interns. During these visits, they meet with small groups of interns for informal discussions about business trends, corporate ventures, career paths, successes and failures, and the future.

More importantly, it is the interns themselves who direct the conversation by asking questions and by offering alternative points-of-view and the best practices of their respective nations.

Again and again, visiting executives tell us what a rare joy it is to have the opportunity to learn from others as well as to teach from their own experiences.

2009 Executive Schedule
2010 Executive Schedule Available June 1

Country Presentations
Business persons are being challenged to operate in an increasingly complex, interdependent, and dynamic global environment. To compete and succeed, firms must have knowledge of the strengths, opportunities, weaknesses and threats effecting businesses today.  Understanding the business climate, cultural nuances, and acceptable business practices of countries around the world is a cornerstone of the Global Village program and provides the foundation for Global Village Country Presentations.

As a Global Village participant, you will represent your home country during the Country Presentations by preparing a SWOT Analysis that will provide data for business leadership to ponder when considering your country as a new market opportunity.  You will present your findings to the Global Village in a PowerPoint presentation which will be evaluated by a group of your peers.  If you are the sole representative from your country, then you will develop this presentation on your own.  If you are one of two of more representatives from your country, then you will develop this presentation as a team.  Either way, you are encouraged to begin your research now!

More Information On Country Presentations

Consulting Projects
Throughout your weeks at the Global Village, you and your colleagues will be working on international project teams under the supervision of the sponsoring company's executives and your Iacocca Institute®  project mentor. The designs, demands, and deadlines are real and so are the expectations that your team's project deliverables will be a success. Everyone will learn basic project management techniques and be taught how to utilize project management tools. If you have thought about becoming a senior project manager, then this is your opportunity to experience the pressures and reap the rewards.

2009 Consulting Projects
2010 Consulting Projects Available for Interns on Selected Intern Web Site

Company Visits
You won't stand still! Included in your six weeks are trips to New York City and Washington D.C. Each week you may choose to visit local distribution and manufacturing facilities, nonprofit and governmental agencies, small entrepreneurial firms, and medical- and technology-related businesses.

2010 Company Excursions

Seminars and Panel Discussions
The Global Village staff recognizes that interns need a forum to discuss global "hot" topics. Time is built into the schedule to allow for these discussions to take place. These seminars can be arranged by staff or interns. In addition to seminars, the Global Village provides a series of panel discussions.  The topics of these sessions change each year and are dependent upon current global issues.  Past panels have focused on career assessment centers, global warming, servant leadership, immigration, and visa legal issues.

Customization 
The purposes of the Global Village are to expose interns to an array of cultural experiences and global business issues through company visits, executive networking sessions, facilitated seminars, team project work, and country presentations.  The offerings of each Village are designed to meet the predefined goals of our interns.  There are certain instances when a few of our interns have a specific goal defined which is not met by our curriculum.  In these cases, the interns work directly with their guide to

Team-Building
A typical Global Village is comprised of eighty-five interns, more than 20 staff members, and forty plus countries.  We are all introduced to one another on Sunday of our opening week and by the following Saturday, we are cohesive project teams, guide teams, country panel teams and dorm mates.   Through a series of team-building exercises led by external facilitators and guide staff, each working group learns about their team dynamics and cultural differences.

 

The Global Village for Future Leaders of Business and Industry ® is a leadership experience unlike no other. We believe that ethical leadership matters. We believe that knowledge of business and industry, skill in leadership and entrepreneurship, and a powerful global network are essential to success. We recognize the importance of cultural values and differences and believe that effective leaders must work to break down cultural barriers. We believe that the Global Village is the place where future leaders of business and industry are created.