Global leadership, local impact

Work directly with entrepreneurs in emerging economies around the world, giving them tools to tackle their unique business challenges. The Global Business and Social Enterprise (GLOBASE) program was founded in 2009 and has served more than 50 business and nonprofit clients in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Europe. Each year GLOBASE works with businesses in several different countries, which alternate year-to-year.

GLOBASE projects

GLOBASE projects are carefully selected to create positive impact on communities. Teams work with small to medium sized businesses that make vital contributions to their local economies. Students help clients overcome obstacles, expand their business, find new markets, hire the best talent, and plan for the future.

GLOBASE team members transform businesses in ways such as:

• Guatemala: Students undertook a Voice of the Customer analysis to understand the current brand image for a bakery and coffee shop. The project team also delivered options to update products and prices, including a recommendation for seasonal products.
• Indonesia: Working with a villa that was struggling to rebound from the pandemic, students explored how to promote the business on social media. The project team proposed brand style guidelines and how to get the most out of an online presence, including recommendations on weddings and booking reservations.
• Botswana: A student team worked with a milling company suffering from reduced profitability. The project team developed a plan to increase production capacity by reducing processing time and cutting waste, and created a cash prioritization plan and tool for financial forecasting. They also developed a plan to professionalize sales terms, contracts, and communication.
• Argentina (to be completed in 2024!): Students will be working on a B2B marketing strategy for a window manufacturing firm that just opened their second plant and is working towards an increased market share.

For partners, GLOBASE offers free consulting services by graduate MBA students focused on solving a business problem or improving business processes. Our students are trained in many areas such as marketing, finance, strategy, operations, supply chain, accounting, management and innovation (see sample projects above). Student teams provide high-quality recommendations tailored to their clients' needs by the end of the consulting period. Each GLOBASE consulting team is overseen by a second-year MBA student leadership team and a faculty advisor from the Kelley School, to ensure their work meets high standards of quality.