Global Trade Mission: Back to School Again

TROY, MICHIGAN — August 21, 2008

With “Back to School” advertising in full swing, that can only mean one thing. Another school year is set to begin.

It used to be that young people went to school, mastered the basics and moved on to college or technical school and then to a career. Not anymore.

The basics are no longer enough. Today’s students must have at least a basic understanding of how things work in today’s global economy. They need it to understand the oil crisis, economic challenges facing our state and what it will take to be successful in the ever-changing global marketplace.

Automation Alley’s Global Trade Mission program is a perfect example of the experience and knowledge students are gaining today that will make them that much more prepared for the world. My company, Lighthouse Consulting Partners, has the opportunity to work with several very bright students this year in the Global Trade Mission program.

The Global Trade Mission (GTM) was launched as a county-specific answer to questions raised in 1998 by President Bill Clinton’s Export Council, where leading CEOs lamented regarding a lack of American high school students’ understanding of exporting and the current trade environment.

Approximately 100-150 students from across Southeast Michigan school districts are placed in teams of four and assume Corporate Roles to help guide their research and are issued a Trade Challenge: to research, develop, and market a product for consumers in another country

This year, the Lighthouse team is working with students assigned to Challenge 4: Three R’s in the Global Economy: “utilize communication and information technologies and a partnership with international learning institutions to deliver a “global citizenship” course for the new global economy.” It is a blast! We learn together with the challenge teams about how to research international learning options; then we offer our experiences in business and marketing planning, course development and delivery, global citizen challenges and typical training costs and revenue models. It is an amazing collaboration! I have witnessed teams uncover political country-specific constraints and turn them into an advantage by asking the tough questions of a cultural coach. They immediately adapt the business plan and moved forward. They have an ‘adapt or die!’ enthusiasm I wish we could bottle. Maybe these students will put me out of business some day and the need to teach managers global collaboration skills will become an obsolete need. Adapt or die, I say to myself.

We are amazed at what we saw and learned by the students we work with. Not only are the kids happy to hear what we have to share, but they also demonstrate the kind of “thinking outside the box” that future employers will look for in top notch candidates

Lighthouse Consulting Partners is proud to be a part of Automation Alley’s tenth annual Global Trade Mission program. I encourage companies in the area to get involved in this tremendous program and students; tell your teachers you want to be part of the Global Trade Mission program in 2009.

The knowledge student gain is “must have” for Michigan kids.