At SMU, as many as 86% of undergraduate have the opportunity to gain some form of overseas exposure during the course of their undergraduate programme, be it through study missions, international student exchange programmes, overseas community service, or overseas internships.
Most recently in December 2014, a group of 24 SMU undergraduates taking the Business Study Mission (BSM) New York course had the unique opportunity to visit leading communications and digital media companies in New York, USA. The BSM brought them to companies in New York City, including Google, Tumblr, ProductionPro, Anomaly, BBDO, VaynerMedia, Siegel+Gale, Goldman Sachs, Broadway League, Mason Jar Music, Pentacle Danceworks, Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music and New York University. Under the mentorship and guidance of Associate Professor of Corporate Communication (Practice) Mark Chong, our young undergraduates gained invaluable exposure and insights into the creative industries of one of the world's creative capitols.
Read more about the insights here.
About the Business Study Mission
The Business Study Mission, or BSM, is a 13-week programme offered by the SMU Lee Kong Chian School of Business, which examines the rapidly developing business environment and the available opportunities in a particular city or region. Particular emphasis is placed on the socio-political, cultural, legal environments, and the influence they exert on business practices. Students gain a strong foundation of knowledge about a particular region/sector through interactive discourse in the classroom; the programme then culminates with a two-week overseas study trip. Once on internaional soil, a host of site visits, networking sessions, and presentations by prominent individuals from both private and public sectors serve to further facilitate the students’ understanding of the region/sector.
SMU is the forerunner in Singapore to introduce such a course (from 2002) at the undergraduate level. To date, about 2,500 students have embarked on BSMs to a diverse range of countries in Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the USA. The BSM is open to all SMU undergraduates.
[Photo: Assoc Prof Mark Chong (back row, 1st from right) and his BSM students taking in the sights and sounds of Times Square. Photo by 4th year business student, Flo Yeow, 1st from left.]
[Featured photo: SMU undergraduates visiting BBDO, New York, as part of their BSM trip. Photo by Flo Yeow.]
