Te Kura Umanga | UC Business School is currently looking for businesses to be part of its Summer Micro-Internship programme, which will run from 20 November to 8 December 2023.
Offered for the first time in 2021, this three-week programme involved groups of international students working in teams to undertake market research for local businesses focused on their home countries, supported by UC Business School staff and external experts.
The programme provides valuable real-world experience to participating students, while at the same time enabling Canterbury businesses interested in overseas expansion to benefit from their unique knowledge and expertise.
In 2022, 28 international students from five countries - China, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, and South Korea – took part, as well as eight domestic students.
New Zealand Truffle Company was one of the businesses to take part in the inaugural programme. They were keen for the students to help them research previously un-targeted Asian markets, likely consumer demand and, importantly, whether Halal certification would be needed in predominantly Muslim markets, as truffles are traditionally searched out by dogs. They were assigned a Malaysian team and an Indonesian team, which together provided a range of useful insights, including cultural and religious considerations, and guidelines for engaging with businesspeople in those cultures.
Find out more about the previous programme.
Domestic students are also invited to join the programme with the aim of providing participants with valuable experience working in diverse teams. At the same time, it is anticipated that this will further strengthen the insights produced by ensuring teams have both direct knowledge of the target market and strong awareness of the New Zealand context.
What does participation in the programme involve for businesses?
The programme is fully coordinated by UC Business School. Each team will be assigned an advisor who amongst other things will act as a liaison point between the team and their company.
The only commitments required from participating businesses are:
- To provide a short-written project brief that introduces your company and what you would like your team/s to focus on, including any specific countries that you are interested in
- To meet with the team/s working on your case at the start of the programme to introduce your company and brief in more detail, as well as to answer any initial questions they have
- A check-in meeting with your team/s during the second week of the programme to answer any questions they have and to give feedback on their direction
- Attendance at a final presentation
The programme will again be run virtually in 2022, allowing students currently outside of New Zealand to take part, and meaning it is not necessary for companies to come to campus.
Key dates
- 7 August 2023: Registrations open for companies to be part of the programme
- 13 October 2023: Registrations close
- 27 October 2023: Written project briefs due
- 20 November 2023: Programme starts
- 8 December 2023: Programme ends
