In addition to delivering qualifications to trade and customs professionals, our specialists are highly sought-after to prepare up-and-comers about to enter the industry.
Keen to pass on their expertise, the Institute of Export and International Trade’s (IOE&IT) senior trade and customs specialists, Garima Srivastava and Arshad Dadabhoy, and academy education delivery team lead Ray Burgin, visited Anglia Ruskin University’s (ARU) to contribute to a master’s course on international business strategy.
Responding to an invitation from senior lecturer Parminder Summon, an economist whose academic interests include minimising the theory-practice gap within business education, the team delivered two lectures to students on 3 and 5 October.
Trade focus
The specialists covered two modules. The first: global business environment and international strategy. The second, meanwhile, focused on international business strategy.
Srivastava explained that the team focused on the “essential topics” that underpin international trade, such as the impact of trade policies, trade barriers and agreements on expansion of businesses.
In their whistle-stop tour of trade essentials, this also included import and export strategies, regulatory environment and cultural considerations. Continuing the emphasis on real-world application, case studies were used to illustrate key points as well as theory.
Srivastava says these concepts are “crucial for understanding how businesses navigate the global marketplace.”
Expert insight
Considering why IOE&IT was selected to speak to students, Srivastava describes its perspective as “immensely valuable” for them, emphasising the wealth of industry experience the academy’s experts offer.
“We bring real-world insights and expertise to the classroom.
“Students gain access to current industry practices and international business trends, which is essential in preparing them for a dynamic and competitive global business environment.”
This complements the ethos of the ARU course, which aims to address the gap between theory and practice when students move from academia to industry.
Summon champions collaborative learning in teaching, and draws on his research into 'transformative sustainability education’, a pioneering approach to education that emphasises practical skills-based learning in order to enact change in the world.
Student engagement
The lectures were a hit with students, who Srivastava praised for their “enthusiasm and curiosity” during the lectures, saying she enjoyed having “stimulating conversations about the challenges and opportunities presented by international business”.She adds that students were “particularly interested in case studies, practical examples, and interactive discussions” in a strong endorsement for the course’s collaborative, industry-focused approach.
