DePaul MBA student John Abendroth so impressed his bosses during his internship as a consultant with the Rating Agency of Malaysia that they asked him to represent the firm with the Malaysian press regarding his project work.

While interning for Motorola in Bangalore, India, classmate Monique Gibelli convinced her bosses she could organize the launch of a new technology product in that market.

Meanwhile, as an intern for a Bankers Trust unit in Australia, fellow student Stacey Marino produced debt market research reports which were published for the financial institution's clients.

Abendroth, Gibelli and Marino earned their valuable, hands-on experiences in the global business world as students in a unique 18-month graduate business program offered by DePaul's Kellstadt Graduate School of Business in Chicago. Called the MBA in International Marketing and Finance (MBA/IMF), the program combines classroom instruction in international finance and marketing, taught by DePaul faculty and business leaders, with study abroad seminars and lengthy international business internships.

All students in the program are required to obtain and complete 10-week internships with multinational firms in another country. Abendroth, Gibelli and Marino are among a class of 29 MBA/IMF students who recently completed their internships and will graduate in mid-March.

About two-thirds of the MBA/IMF students are Americans and the other third are foreign students. American students in the program intern with units of corporations, banks, financial institutions or advertising/marketing agencies in Europe, Asia and Latin America, while foreign students intern with similar firms in Chicago and other U.S. cities. Many of the global businesses involved in the internships have Chicago ties, including McDonald's Corporation and Motorola.

"DePaul launched the program in 1994 with advice from business leaders who stressed the importance of employees having a global perspective on business," said Ashok Batavia, MBA/IMF director. "It's an international marketplace today, and business education must reflect this."

Students gain valuable global work experience and develop important business contacts through the foreign business internships. The arrangements also allow students to demonstrate their ability to immerse themselves in a foreign business culture.

Because internships in many countries abroad are rare and less structured, students in the program said they were often successful in convincing their internship bosses to allow them to tackle projects with considerable responsibility.

As an intern for the Rating Agency of Malaysia (RAM) in Kuala Lumpur, Abendroth analyzed the corporate profiles of the 373 largest, publicly-listed companies listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange to determine the growth rate of Malaysian private industry and what fueled that growth -- debt, equity, or internally generated funds. The information was particularly important to RAM because of its interest in sponsoring the development of the local Malaysian bond market. His information was published and sold to clients.

"It was a fantastic experience that gave me a great snapshot of the whole country and its economy,"Abendroth said. His work and Western education from DePaul also convinced RAM to position him as a spokesperson with reporters covering Malaysian business trends. Abendroth was quoted and pictured in Malaysian newspapers, including The Star and The New Straits Times.

While interning with Motorola in India, Gibelli said her education and initiative helped her gain valuable experience in marketing a product in another country. As a product manager, she organized the launching in India of the E-Page, a new paging device involving e-mail and the Internet. Gibelli managed product testing, trained the sales force and customer service representatives, wrote the press release and redesigned sales kits for the product launch.

"At first, they were reluctant to give me responsibility, assuming that I did not have very much experience" she said. Most Indian interns do not have prior work experience. "But after a week, I began explaining to them what I could do and they gave me everything. Using my marketing and finance skills, I developed a business plan and model for the project."

Gibelli said the international business experience will be valuable for her as she enters the job market. "Anyone can say they can do the job, but if you can assimilate within a foreign culture and do the job, then you become very attractive to global employers."

Marino, who worked for the investment banking unit of Bankers Trust in Australia, arranged her internship through an MBA/IMF graduate who had been hired by the bank. Marino proposed a project that fit the needs of the company and her work interests, producing reports on asset allocation and credit analysis of bond issues that were published for clients. "I had experience working in asset management in the United States, but I can now market myself as a global asset manager," said Marino, who is a certified financial analyst.

"With the globalization of business, whether you work in the United States or abroad, you are going to have international contact involving customers and other business people," she said. "The MBA/IMF internship provides 10 weeks to submerge yourself in a culture and learn about the subtleties of business people working in different levels of management in that culture. The experience can be very valuable to your career."