The purpose of this project is to provide an opportunity to integrate your study abroad experience with the academic research you did earlier. To accommodate the diversity of our group, the instructions that follow are necessarily, and purposely, general and flexible. The integrative research report is due on May 8th. The report should be focused exclusively on the context of each of the countries we visited.
Begin by identifying one or, at most, two central themes or subjects that are (a) of interest to you, and (b) that you feel you gained valuable insight and/or knowledge about during the trip. Then develop a discussion around that topic (or topics) that integrates earlier academic study of the region with your study abroad experience. Examples are: finance practices and conditions that are unique to Greece and Turkey; financial reporting issues and concerns faced by auditors and businesses in the region; the role culture plays in business management practices in these countries; the opportunities, challenges and impediments to foreign investment and foreign direct investment in Greece and Turkey; how culture and geography impact trade, and trade relationships, with Greece and Turkey; the economic crisis, its impact on Greece and Turkey, and how these countries are responding.
These examples are, of course, only examples. Many other subjects or themes are possible. The only requirement is that the topic(s) or theme(s) you choose (a) must be focused on business in some way, and (b) relate specifically to the context of Greece and Turkey.
One you have identified a subject or theme, next structure the report by developing a list of specific questions about that subject that were addressed during our recent visit. The goal is to (a) identify insights and learnings you gained from study abroad, and (b) integrate these into your earlier academic study, especially, perhaps, as these relate to your own career focus and interest.
The questions you choose should be well focused on the subject or theme, for they will serve as a kind of map to guide your discussion. As an example, if the topic is the impact of the economic crisis, and responses to that crisis, on the two regions, you might use these kinds of questions to provide structure to the discussion:
1. How did the economic downturn and recovery impact business in Greece and Turkey? How do these countries differ in that respect, and what economic, political, or cultural explanations might account for any differences?
2. Which industries seemed to be more (less) affected?
3. How are key industries, e.g., technology, banking, retailing franchising, being impacted and how are they managing?
4. How is the global downturn and subsequent recovery being shaped by the political, regulatory, and/or financial tradition and framework of each country? For example, how has membership, or non-membership, in the EU, impacted the business being conducted in each country?
5. How does financial and political infrastructure (e.g., auditing, taxation, reporting regulations, and state/community autonomy) interact to exasperate or mitigate the impact of global economics?
6. How does culture play a role in how the various businesses we visited seem to be responding?