2012 USA Study Program Highlights

From 20 June to 1 July 2012, the Deakin Graduate School of Business conducted its first ever study tour to the United States of America. It was a unique opportunity for eighteen students to travel to the birthplace of marketing, and to study two postgraduate marketing units - Marketing Management MPT732/MPT932 and International Marketing MPT736/MPT936.

In addition to discussing case studies from multinational companies, students also visited leading American universities and heard about cutting edge developments in the theory and practice of marketing and business research.

Students participating in the 2012 USA study program found it to be a greatly beneficial experience.

I found the US Study Tour to be a wonderful way to be introduced into the world of marketing. The variety of companies which we visited opened my eyes to the importance of marketing within organisations. I especially enjoyed the visits to the high tech companies of Google and Microsoft. The differences in corporate culture and the focus on innovation was refreshing. Having had no background in Marketing, I found the program a great way to get up to speed and to complement marketing theory, all whilst visiting new cities, world famous universities and making new friends.

Melina Hayashi, Test Analyst, Victorian Electoral Commission

Deakin University's 2012 USA Study Tour provided an exciting, inspirational, unique and practical appreciation of the marketing strategies used by some of the world's most prominent organizations. Boardroom meetings were well-coordinated for the tour group in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles to meet with corporate marketing professionals at the head offices of Google, Microsoft Advertising, Hermes, Yankees Stadium and Disney Studios, just to name a few. The university lectures held at UCLA and the University of Columbia, regular teamwork sessions with the tour group, dinners with marketing academics and insightful coaching from the DGSB marketing professors made this study tour an amazing experience which I would recommend for anyone aspiring to add exceptional value to their overall business knowledge.

Brett Muhlhauser

I was privileged to be a part of the 2012 US Study Tour with such a wonderfully diverse group of students. The tour was intensive, rewarding and a thoroughly worthwhile learning experience. We were fortunate enough to visit a number of companies (including Google, Microsoft, Hermes, The Walt Disney Company, and the Yankees) and spent some time at Columbia University and UCLA. Learning from senior executives, along with being briefed on current marketing trends and contemporary marketing theory was particularly insightful, an experience which would be difficult to recreate in a classroom environment, or from a textbook.

I would urge all students to strongly consider the US Study Tour as part of their overall postgraduate program. The study tour broadened my mind, and was simply an unforgettable experience.

Matt Delmenico

Study Tour Leaders' Comments

Lasting experiences for us were the students' reactions as they participated in the 2012 study tour. They were amazed and delighted with each of the visits. Many commented that it was a definite highlight of their educational experiences.

The tour provides students with the opportunity to hear from the directors and senior management of some of the top global organisations in a frank, honest and personal manner. This certainly took the theory off the pages of the text book and lecture notes and brought it to reality before their eyes. The students obtained insights into how these organisations operate from senior, experienced executives and students were generally blown away by this experience; they found this to be an incredibly rewarding and stimulating experience from which they were able to learn in ways that is just not possible to experience in the classroom.

Considerable planning and teamwork is invested in the study tour to ensure that the participants have a lasting international learning experience. As leaders we have had extensive experience in conducting marketing education programs and international study tours. We combined our knowledge and experience of business with the expert assistance of our colleagues in International Study Programs (ISP) who, as tour operators, use their local guides to ensure the smooth conduct of the study tour as we travel from one location to another.

We hope you can join us for the 2013 study tour as it is shaping up to be even better than the last tour as we continue to plan and improve the learning experience.

Professor John Hall and Associate Professor Wayne Binney