{"id":35099,"date":"2020-12-04T16:00:36","date_gmt":"2020-12-04T21:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/?p=35099"},"modified":"2021-01-19T13:18:49","modified_gmt":"2021-01-19T18:18:49","slug":"fiu-business-students-develop-a-marketing-research-project-with-counterparts-in-poland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/2020\/12\/fiu-business-students-develop-a-marketing-research-project-with-counterparts-in-poland\/","title":{"rendered":"FIU Business students develop a marketing research project with counterparts in Poland."},"content":{"rendered":"
Marketing students at FIU Business digitally crossed the ocean to conduct research alongside students from Poland\u2019s Poznan University of Technology (PUT) as part of the university\u2019s Collaborative Online International Learning program FIU-COIL<\/a>.<\/p>\n Throughout the semester, students worked on a marketing research project<\/a> that analyzed small businesses in Poland and Florida, assessing the economic impact from COVID-19 on family-owned businesses.<\/p>\n \u201cThey took it to the next level, connecting to the other side of the world,\u201d said Anna Pietraszek, an assistant teaching professor of marketing who applied for a COIL grant through the Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER)<\/a> at FIU Business. \u201cNo student walked away without learning.\u201d<\/p>\n One of the program\u2019s objectives, noted Pietraszek, is for students to build intercultural communication, virtual teamwork and critical thinking skills.<\/p>\n Over the course of six weeks, the 110 participating students worked in 17 international teams, each with three students from FIU and PUT. Every week, team members presented an infographic highlighting their findings to Pietraszek and PUT faculty member Ewa Wiecek-Janka.<\/p>\n Students had to work via Zoom and Google Docs to conduct surveys as well as to prepare and rehearse for their presentations. \u201cThey were able to see each other, to get to know different people,\u201d said Pietraszek. \u201cThey established a human connection.\u201d<\/p>\n The students found that despite cultural differences, small businesses in both Florida and Poland began to feel the economic impact of the coronavirus at similar rates, yet micro and small businesses in Poland describe their economic condition worse than those in Florida. By contrast, medium and large companies in both places describe comparable results.<\/p>\n