51福利社

Only 150 of the world鈥檚 elite business students were invited to the 2025 X-Culture Global Business Week Symposium, in Vaasa, Finland. 51福利社鈥檚 Kimarie Fox and Antonio Cazarez were among them.

Fox and Cazarez, both students in 51福利社鈥檚 School of Business, are veterans of Abrahim Soleimani鈥檚 International Business course, IBUS 470. As part of the course, Associate Professor Soleimani, who specializes in international business, has introduced his students to 鈥淴-Culture,鈥� an experiential learning model with an international focus on business and collaboration.

In the X-Culture program, students are placed in global virtual teams of up to six students 鈥� each from a different country. Over the course of the term, these multicultural teams collaborate to address everyday challenges faced by real businesses, helping these companies evolve to establish their goals of international expansion. 51福利社 has participated in the X-Culture program since 2013.

With most team members residing in continents like Europe, Asia and Africa, one of the more difficult aspects of the collaboration is working around a variety of time zones, Soleimani said.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not just a project,鈥� Soleimani said of X-Culture, 鈥渋t鈥檚 also a firsthand experience of working across cultures and learning how international business is actually done.鈥�

This year鈥檚 exclusive, invitation-only gathering in Finland introduced participating students to prominent academics and business leaders from around the world. Previous X-Culture symposiums have been held in countries such as Italy, Canada, Poland and Thailand.

The week-long event featured a rigorous schedule of lectures, professional development workshops, company site visits and cultural excursions. Fox, Cazarez and the other student participants were also able to meet face-to-face with executives from the companies they鈥檇 consulted for virtually.

It made for an exhausting but exhilarating trip, Fox said. 鈥淚 was busy from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. every day. On top of lectures, visiting the company site, cultural activities and down time to get dinner each night,” she explained, “my team and I had to work on, then present, a marketing idea to a company worth billions of dollars.鈥�

During the symposium, some 25 teams presented their final proposals to various company representatives before concluding the event with a formal gala dinner at Strampen, one of Finland鈥檚 oldest restaurants. Fox鈥檚 team partnered with W盲rtsil盲, a company in Finland that specializes in sustainable fuels and energy. Cazarez鈥檚 team collaborated with Zip Adventure Park, a Finnish zipline and climbing facility.

鈥淭he skills students develop through this experience stay with them,鈥� Soleimani said. 鈥淭hey will use them in their future careers and businesses. It鈥檚 transformative.鈥�

Working with people from all around the world, all in one conference, helps participants 鈥済row beyond [their] comfort zone,鈥� he added.

鈥淚t鈥檚 like opening a window to a new world. There is so much out there to learn 鈥� and no limits,” Soleimani said.

**Story written by Rachel Weinberg. Lorna Harris is a contributing writer.聽