Integrating domestic field trips into international business education: exploring pedagogical issues behind a practical implementation

Porth (1997) argues that field trips are a useful pedagogical tool in business education for its experiential learning value of linking theory to practice. This study incorporated a qualitative, case study based approach to investigate the implementation of domestic field trips into a penultimate international business subject in an undergraduate course using observation and triangulation for data collection. An industry outreach program that complemented and reinforced pedagogical aims to develop an appreciation of the importance of international business strategies for domestic organisations operating internationally was integrated into the subject using Porth's (1997) three step process. Supporting activities for a negotiation with an industry outreach program were undertaken before the scheduled negotiation took place in order to ensure a greater likelihood of success. These activities included discussion of negotiations, simulated negotiations and feedback from teaching staff. It is believed that innovative experiential activities such as this will help graduates to meet the challenges of the professional workforce in a more complex and integrated economy.