Global Business Practicum - Pula, Croatia

Company Sponsor: Pula Herculanea
Coordinator: Faculty of Economics and Tourism (FET), Pula, Croatia
Location: Pula, Croatia
Time: Term A, Summer 2006
Faculty sponsor: David M. Currie, PhD; Serge Matulich, Ph.D., CPA, Professor Emeritus
Number of students: At most, six Crummer students will be selected to participate.
Visas: Students with a US passport do not need visas. Students with passports from other countries may need three visas – Italy, Slovenia and Croatia. Students are responsible for costs of passports and visas.

Objective:

Pula Herculanea is the branch of municipal government responsible for parks maintenance, communal waste collection and disposal, and sewer system maintenance for cities in the region of southern Istria. The project’s objectives are to:

1. develop a brand identity,
2. improve communication with users of the firm’s services, and
3. produce a coherent image in all the firm’s markets.

In addition to business aspects, the project will involve aspects of ecology, recycling, historic preservation, and natural resource management, some of which are in nascent stages in Croatia.

Learning Outcomes:

Students will learn:

• how public services are provided in the US and in Croatia
• how culture influences attitudes toward public services
• how  to work on an international team. Crummer students will work with a group of students from the Faculty of Economics and Tourism in Pula.
• how lifestyle differs in a less developed country. Crummer students will live with host families in Pula.

Deliverables:

There are two deliverables:

1. Prior to coming to Croatia, Crummer students will research and prepare a written summary of how similar services are provided in the Orlando area and how the providers address issues such as brand identity and public communication. (In the US, these services may be provided by private firms, although many of the services typically are provided by municipal governments.) This will be a general document providing alternatives and examples of how things are done in the US. Crummer students will use this document as the basis for the second deliverable. Because the trip to Pula occurs at the beginning of Summer A term, this work must be completed during the Spring term, before the trip to Pula.
2. During the time in Pula, Crummer students will work with students from FET to particularize the general principles to Pula Herculanea. This will be the opportunity to apply the ideas developed in the research from the first portion. Students will have access to managers and facilities in Pula. At the conclusion of this work, Crummer/FET students will submit a written report to management and will make an oral / visual presentation to managers, faculty and students of FET.

Financial considerations:

This practicum is partially subsidized, reducing the cost to students. Crummer students will live with host students from FET during their stay in Pula. Many of the meals will be sponsored by FET or the client. Students are responsible for the cost of transportation to/from Pula and for some expenses while in Pula. The last two days of the trip will include a visit to Venice, Italy. Students are responsible for the cost of transportation, hotel and meals in Venice, which last year averaged about $200 per student. Students wishing to stay beyond the time of the project are responsible for their own expenses.

Timeline:

The duration of the visit abroad is two weeks, permitting time for cultural events and a day in Venice. The project is composed of two steps:

1. Preparing a background document concerning the provision of public services in the United States. This will be accomplished during Spring 2006, prior to departure for Pula.
2. Extending the analysis to Croatia and preparing and presenting the final report with the team from Croatia. This will be accomplished during the project period. The portion in Pula will begin on Wednesday, 3 May. Departure from Venice can be scheduled for any time after Friday, 12 May.

The practicum is scheduled so EAMBA students can go to Pula directly after completion of their Asian trip and so PMBA students can participate as part of Summer Term A. Flying into Pula requires that you first fly into Zagreb, the nation’s capital. There are at least two flights daily from Zagreb to Pula. We will meet you at the Pula airport. Access to Pula by train or ferry is not as easy. Trains run through Ljubljana, Slovenia, a lovely city that is not as accessible by plane as is Zagreb. It is possible to fly into Venice, and take a ferry to Pula or a city nearby, but ferry service at this time of year is unreliable.

The project will finish in Venice, Italy. You can arrange your return from Marco Polo airport in Venice, or take a side trip to Europe. At the conclusion of the practicum, the group will travel to Venice for an afternoon and evening before departing for the US. Students planning to stay in Europe beyond the practicum can make arrangements for transportation from Venice to their other destinations. Students should arrange all transportation so that they arrive in Pula on or before Tuesday, 2 May. Project work with FET students will begin the next day. Presentation to Pula Herculanea management will occur about Wednesday, 10 May. The group will travel to Venice on Thursday, 11 May, spend the day of Friday, 12 May in Venice, so transportation back to the US or to another destination can be scheduled for Saturday, 13 May.

Other information:

Pula, the Istrian Peninsula, and Venice are located in a beautiful and historic area – the northern Adriatic Sea coast. (An introduction to cultural aspects of the region is in Robt. D. Kaplan, Balkan Ghosts.) The Istrian people are very friendly and especially hospitable. Previous practicum participants in Pula have been uniformly enthusiastic about the experience. This practicum continues a relationship developed over the past six years with the Faculty of Economics and Tourism in Pula. The Faculty of Economics and Tourism has hosted three Crummer professors as Fulbright Fellows and more than 40 Crummer faculty and students on practica. The Crummer School has hosted more than 30 Croatian professors and students in the past six years as part of an exchange program initiated by the Fulbright Foundation.

Application procedure:

Complete the ‘Global Practica Application Form ,including your current resume and a statement of qualifications. In your statement of qualifications, write a paragraph explaining what you plan to contribute to this project and to the ongoing exchange between Crummer and FET. Faculty and students from FET will visit Crummer the following Fall, and you will be asked to participate by hosting or entertaining them during the visit. The complete applica:

FET “DR. MIJO MIRKOVIĆ”
INTERNATIONAL OFFICE
Preradovićeva 1
52100 PULA