Imagine having an assignment to get to know a foreign country well enough that you would consider selling something there.
That’s just what students in Melissa DerPilbosian’s class have been doing.
“The focus of this assignment was to basically focus how to perform businesses internationally,” the Shawnee High School teacher said.
DerPilbosian teaches entrepreneurship, sports entertainment and hospitality marketing, study skills and career awareness, and accounting.
Now in the third chapter of the entrepreneurship course, students have been discussing the economy and businesses entering foreign markets.
They see some of the obvious differences, such as changing labels and marketing.
The class found businesses online that operate abroad and printed out pictures showing how they look there.
For example, Starbucks looks the same in Australia as it does here, while Burger King in Russia and Subway in China are markedly different in the kind of buildings in which they are housed.
Students chose products and countries where they might sell well.
They needed to consider demographics, cultural backgrounds and climate of countries to figure what would sell there and why.
“A couple of the kids’ projects were really, really thought out and kind of seemed like they would really do well in those other countries,” DerPilbosian said, pointing to a pair of students’ idea to sell heated jackets in Iceland.
She said it was difficult to find an American company that doesn’t already operate abroad. So, if necessary, students could choose a company with a foreign presence that is not already in the chosen country.
DerPilbosian said research is the most challenging part of the assignment.
“They can only get so far with the Internet,” she said.
And the most rewarding part of the project?
“When they hand in great work and it shows me they really understand what they’re doing,” DerPilbosian said, especially when discussing foreign cultures. “Sometimes, it opens up their eyes a little bit because we’re not a heavily diverse school in general — so it kind of helps them to look at other backgrounds and things like that which I think is important for them as well.”
Senior Caitlin Heinkel, 18, was one of the pair who came up with the idea of selling heated jackets in Iceland.
She said she did some old fashioned research in books and went online to check the demographics and weather of Iceland.
Heinkel, of Medford, said the population and economy of Iceland surprised her.
She also said it was difficult, in part, trusting data because of its potential age and sources. Heinkel said she found Icelandic culture closer to American culture than other nations.
She also wants to study abroad while in college, preferably in London or somewhere in Italy.
“I’ve always been fascinated by that area of the world,” Heinkel said.
Senior Kelly Schroeder, 17, was the other half of the pair.
The Medford resident said she learned Iceland has a free-market economy with relatively low taxes.
Schroeder said it is the perfect place to export heated jackets because of its cold climate.
She said she also learned a lot about economies of other countries and how cultures factor into marketing techniques.
Schroeder wants to visit Australia some day.
