Project Leaders: Dr Stella Nalwanga and Mi-hwa Kang Yoon
Partner University(s)/Organisation(s): Jean Moulin Lyon 3 University (France)
Project Overview:
French students at Lyon Business School will be working with our students at Coventry University London to develop an eco friendly device for watering plants when one is not at home. Coventry University London students take on the role of business development consultants for the their French colleagues contributing to the below activity:
Product Research
Looking into sustainable/eco-friendly product materials for the plant pot packaging
Comparing price, availability & eco-friendly value of the products
Writing a comparison summary for the French students to decide on the product to use
Logo Design, Advertising Campaign & Speech
Providing feedback & alternatives to the teams ideas for logos and slogans
Helping the team re word their speech to make it flow better to become more persuasive
Marketing
Generating a marketing report for the team’s social media channels, advising them on things such as:
Instagram posts best time of day
Instagram Reels best time of day
Taking the team through the STOSTAC marketing method
Image: Final Company Logo
Online Tools Used: Aula, Email, Google Docs, Zoom, Microsoft Teams
Partner University(s)/Organisation(s): Makerere University (Uganda)
Image: Uganda TeamImage: Coventry University TeamImage: Coventry University Team
Project Overview:
The “Harmonizing Stakeholder Interests” COIL initiative comprised two distinct projects:
1. Wakiso Ministry Zonal Office Website Development Project:
➢ Objective: Enhance communication and information sharing between the public and officers at the Wakiso (Busiro) Ministry Zonal Office, specifically regarding land-related matters.
➢ Approach: Design and implement a website where the public can submit concerns related to property and land ownership and registration.
➢ Deliverable: A functional website developed and tested by a student from Makerere University, intended for use by the Ministry of Zonal Offices and the Ugandan population.
2. Livelihood Assessment of Project-Affected Persons (PAPs) in Kykaboga Village, Hoima District, Uganda:
➢ Objective: Evaluate the impact of development-induced displacement and resettlement on PAPs.
➢ Approach: Conduct a thorough assessment of affected households’ livelihoods.
➢ Deliverable: provided recommendations
Provide PAPs with skills that promote self-resilience and sustainability post resettlement. Suggest methods to minimize adverse effects on PAPs’ livelihoods during resettlement.
Students on the MBA Global Healthcare Management and Leadership course at Coventry University London provided consultation to the Ugandan student teams at Makerere University, Kampala, throughout the course of the two projects. They advised on website design and functionality, conducted research on United Nations’ policies regarding Accountability to Affected People following a resettlement and displacement due to a new project initiative.
Online Tools Used: Aula, Email, Google Docs, Zoom
Student Testimonials:
“This experience boosted my confidence in time management and dealing with intense work pressures, demonstrating my ability to handle multiple projects alongside coursework and to prioritize deadlines”. (THEERTHA SASEENDRAN, Coventry University London)
“The COIL project provided me with valuable real-world connections. As a consultant, I delved into extensive research to understand the structure, operations and culture in Uganda and at Ministry Zonal Offices in order to provide valuable feedback to our peers in Uganda.” (SRUSHTI SAKPAL, Coventry University London)
“I learned collaboration…working with a team that you are not sharing the same physical space with. How can you candle things together, how do you align your goals at both ends. That is something I learned from working with students from Coventry University and I feel other students should experience this at least once.” (OSMAN OBEDMONT, Makerere University Kampala).
Partner University(s)/Organisation(s): University of Applied Sciences: Windesheim (NL); Dokuz Eylul University (TR); North-West University (ZA); Coventry University London (GB)
Project Overview:
Working across time zones national borders and pedagogical cultures, a diversity of twelve Coventry students were appointed to one of ten student groups to research and complete a stakeholder analysis of several countries’ stakeholders, to investments in their respective countries by Huawei telecommunications company of China.
Image: Some of the participating students, happily and proudly showing their certificates; accompanied by Roman Puchkov and Callum Morrison
Each group comprised a mixture of students from four partner universities who quickly established working relationships, divided responsibilities, learnt the power/interest framework and divided the parts of a stakeholder analysis between group members. This was the second time Coventry had participated in this project and we sought to prove scalability & the project’s appropriateness for a diversity of undergraduate and postgraduate students.
Over a period of five weeks, the students progressively completed their stakeholder analyses, and meantime, frequently reported their progress to a committee of academics; particularly their working relationships and interactions in the context of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, and Lewin’s change model. Some 45 students and 15 nationalities took part in the International Relations (Stakeholder) Project #2.
In conclusion, the project proved its scalability and appropriateness for a diversity of student courses. It developed the students’ hard and soft skills. For instance, the skills of establishing relations, networking, communication, intercultural, and teaming skills. All the students were very pleased with their participation.
Image: A photo from a stakeholder analysis training session, showing a whiteboard and the Power/Interest framework
Online Tools Used: Teams, Outlook, Google Docs, PPT
Partner University(s)/Organisation(s): University of Applied Sciences: Windesheim (NL); Widener University (US); Coventry University London (GB)
Project Overview:
Working across time zones, national borders, & pedagogical cultures, eight Coventry postgraduate students were each appointed to one of six student groups to research and complete a stakeholder analysis of US stakeholders to an investment in the USA by Huawei telecommunications company of China. This was the first time Coventry had participated in this project, and thus it was a trial run.
Image: The eight participating students proudly showing their certificates; accompanied by Hanna Yakavenka and Callum Morrison
Each group comprised students from all three partner universities who quickly established working relationships, divided responsibilities, learnt the power/interest framework, and divided the parts of the stakeholder analysis between their group members. The Coventry students were all postgraduate, final term dissertation students.
Over a period of five weeks, the students progressively completed their analyses and considered their working relationships and interactions in the context of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, and Lewin’s change model. Some 25 students, and 13 nationalities took part in the International Relations (Stakeholder) Project #1 – the students and I were very pleased with their participation in this COIL project, and therein, the university decided for future participations. (Callum Morrison)
Image: The respective national flags and the university trademarks of the three partner universities
Online Tools Used: Teams, Outlook, Google Docs, PPT
Image: Project productImage: Students from the partner institutionImage: Students from Coventry University
Academic Year: 2022-23
Project Leaders: Stella Nalwanga, Mi-hwa Kang Yoon
Partner University(s)/Organisation(s): IAE Lyon School of Management (France)
Project Overview:
In this COIL project Coventry University students acted as consultants who carried out a market research for the Lonely Socks mini-company created by 9 students from IAE Lyon School of Management as part of a university project.
Within this project, the French students tried to find a solution to a reoccurring problem of losing socks, especially when managing the laundry, and came up with an idea of creating a little clip that keeps socks together. They produced these simple but innovative clips themselves using a rubber cord and wooden beads which made them not only environmentally-friendly but also profitable.
The students then worked together on a product marketing strategy. They designed a survey which targeted 200 people both in France and England and gave them an idea of what distribution channels could be used if the product was to be commercialized. The brand image and product were promoted via various social networks.
Online Tools Used: Google Docs, Microsoft Teams, Padlet
Project Leaders: Dr Kemi Chukwuma-Nwuba, Tanya Vidanagama
Partner University(s)/Organisation(s): Cape Peninsula University of Technology in South Africa (CPUT), University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI), University of CEMA in Argentina (UCEMA), American University of Ras Al Khaimah in United Arab Emirates (AURAK)
Project Overview:
This Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) project involved all ICTE (International Centre for Transformational Entrepreneurship) students from Coventry University and students from four international institutions in Africa, Asia, Europe, and South America respectively. The aim of the project was to identify a problem in any community and create a hypothetical venture to solve that problem. In doing this, the following ingenuity process questions were to be applied: Who is affected by the problem? What are the consequences? When does it occur? Where is it prevalent? How is the problem manifested? The Business Model Canvas was used to present the plan of the ventures including an audit of the skills needed for the venture.
Image: Screenshot of students participating in a zoom conference with a keynote speaker
The project lasted for five weeks with a total of 123 participants assigned into 15 groups. Each group presented their projects on creative posters. Subsequently, the best three projects were selected by the panel of judges comprising of two academics and two business owners in Coventry, who are the executives of Business Network International (BNI).
The participants had the opportunity to collaborate internationally on the project, share ideas with others which helped them develop confidence in their own knowledge while additionally increasing their social capital. Despite the varying time zones, we were still able to manage the project effectively.
Project Leaders: Kiev Ariza, Kate Barnett-Richards
Partner University(s)/Organisation(s): Anahuac University (Mexico)
Project Overview:
This project brought together multidisciplinary students from Coventry University and Anahauac University in Mexico to work collaboratively researching and refining an international business project. Through the delivery of masterclasses and online interaction, teams prepared online materials- a video presentation and optional brochure/electronic portfolio. These materials were subsequently presented to a ‘Board of Directors’ for a company of their choice with an overview of the market potential and specific issues from the external business environment.
Students used a mix of synchronous and asynchronous communication to complete their project and gained knowledge of the main concepts related to intercultural competence and relationships between culture-specific stereotypes.
Partner University(s)/Organisation(s): University of Bremen (Germany), GISMA Business School (Germany)
Project Overview:
This COIL project enabled the undergraduate students to work on the general quantitative methods for business, while the postgraduate students explored Machine Learning and its application in different business sectors and industrials.
11 topics including the applications of Artificial Ontelligence/ Machine Learning in retail, banking, marketing, transportation industry, sport industry and education sector were explored by the MSc students.
The students also learnt about the healthcare industry in USA, UK, Canada, Portugal and Japan, as well as the automotive industry in USA, France and Japan; waste management in India; telecommunication in USA; fashion industry in China and chocolate industry in Belgium.
As the outcome, three best presentations were selected by the supervisory team.
The whole COIL project was a great collaborative experience.
Partner University(s)/Organisation(s): Berlin School of Economics and Law (Germany)
Project Overview:
76 students from 15+ countries participated in online activities to help them develop a greater understanding of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on career and professional development plans. Drawing comparisons between the UK and Germany, the students were allocated into carefully selected cross cultural teams and used Zoom breakout rooms to consider the impact of the pandemic on their everyday life before discussing the effect on their professional development and career plans.
This COIL project formed a part of the assessment for the module. The Coventry students had to complete a diary entry reflecting on their contribution to the online interaction and also write 500 words answering the question ‘How has the Covid-19 pandemic affected your professional development/career plans?’
Online Tools Used: Zoom
Things to remember:
We always evaluate but not always assess-we evaluate every COIL project by implementing the reflective element at the end and gathering student feedback, however, we do not always assess the students.
A COIL project can run on mandatory basis and be linked to assessment.
Partner University(s)/Organisation(s): Emirates Aviation University (United Arab Emirates)
Project Overview:
In this COIL project, the students studying at one of our partnership institutions in Dubai interacted with a member of staff on campus at Coventry University. Adopting a leadership role, they created a communication plan, responded to staffing problems facing the client, made real time decisions to resolve issues and delivered a presentation to tender for a refurbishment project.
This project enabled the students to demonstrate the use of a range of visual and verbal communication skills appropriate for project management within a specific simulated HR scenario as well as understanding the risks associated with managing a project. It was unique as the students had to work under time constraints to complete key deliverables appropriate for a real-life activity. They received real-time responses to each of the tasks and had to make quick decisions based on new information they were provided with.
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