How the Tepper School Takes Consulting Beyond Borders

For undergraduate students at the Tepper School of Business, learning often goes beyond the classroom. The International Consulting Experience (70-457) is a unique example of this as it brings together students from Carnegie Mellon’s Pittsburgh and Qatar campuses to work in global teams on real client engagements. The course is taught by both Assistant Teaching Professor of Strategy at the Tepper School of Business in Pittsburgh, Rima Bhattacharyay and Hussein Fadlallah, Assistant Teaching Professor of Management at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar.

Over the semester, students have the opportunity to partner with companies based in the Middle East, gaining hands-on experience that connects strategy, analysis, and cross-cultural collaboration.

"The course is unique in that it offers our Tepper students a truly rare opportunity to work directly with leading companies in Qatar, such as Armonico, Snoonu, and Wafer, and to engage with senior leadership at the CEO level," explained Rima Bhattacharyay, Assistant Teaching Professor of Strategy. "This kind of real-world exposure—combined with the chance to collaborate with peers from different cultural backgrounds—creates an incredibly rich, eye-opening learning environment that goes far beyond the traditional classroom.

The course is designed to reflect the realities of consulting work. Students engage directly with companies that are navigating active business challenges, ranging from startups developing go-to-market strategies to established brands exploring expansion opportunities. They are also responsible for defining the problem, structuring their approach, and delivering recommendations to real decision-makers.

“The simple answer is that the stakes are real,” said Hussein Fadlallah, Assistant Teaching Professor of Management. “Students are not working on a hypothetical case, project, or a simulation. They are engaging with actual companies, on actual strategic problems, with real decision-makers waiting for their recommendations.”

Students are taught that responsibility shapes how students approach their work. They learn how to scope a problem, align with a client, prioritize data, and develop recommendations that are specific and actionable. The structure of the course reinforces this process, with teams producing a scoping document, a midpoint progress presentation, and a final recommendation deck.

Collaboration is central to the experience. Each team includes students from both Pittsburgh and Doha, who get to meet each other in person at the beginning and ends of the semester, while also working together across an eight-hour time difference. This requires a level of coordination and communication that many students have not previously experienced.

“Working across Doha and Pittsburgh also added a cross-cultural layer, where alignment, communication, and coordination mattered just as much as the analysis itself,” explained Abdurahim Jamshodov, a student at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar.

This approach allows students like Jamshodov to develop a deeper understanding of how business decisions are shaped by context. Working with international clients requires them to think through market dynamics and cultural expectations, while also considering user needs that may differ from what they have previously encountered. This pushes them to ask more thoughtful questions and approach problem-solving with greater awareness.

For many students, the course brings together concepts from across their Tepper experience. It provides an opportunity to apply skills developed in areas such as business communication, strategy, and analytics in a setting where outcomes matter.

“This experience expanded how I think about what makes a recommendation effective,” said student Serena Ploeger. For her, that shift came from applying classroom concepts in a real-world setting. “It’s not just about having a strong analysis, it’s about ensuring your solution actually works in the context and environment where it will be implemented.”

The pace of the course reflects the demands of real consulting work. Students navigate evolving client needs, tight timelines, and the need to adapt their approach as new information becomes available. That environment encourages growth in both technical and professional skills.

One moment stood out to Jamshodov. “We received last-minute feedback from our faculty mentor the night before presenting to the client, so everyone went back to their sections. Some of us focused on incorporating the feedback, while others reviewed and polished the deck, and we worked until early morning, wrapping everything up. The presentation was at 8:30 a.m., so we had to be at the building by around eight. It was a busy night with very little sleep, but it paid off in the end.”

Throughout the experience, students develop confidence in their ability to navigate ambiguity and take ownership of their work. Faculty observe a clear shift over the course of the semester as students move from looking for direction to making informed decisions and standing behind their recommendations.

“The biggest shift I see is from passive to active,” Fadlallah explained. By the end of the course, he notes, the strongest teams have taken ownership of the problem. “They are not just executing a checklist. They are making judgment calls about what matters most, what to cut, and how to tell a clear story with their findings.”

The course concludes with travel between campuses, bringing teams together in person to finalize their work and present to clients. This final phase adds focus and reinforces the collaborative nature of the experience.

Students leave the course with a stronger understanding of consulting and a clearer sense of how to apply their skills in a global context.

“I would definitely recommend this course,” said Jamshodov. He points to the opportunity to gain hands-on experience while working across campuses as a key benefit. “It’s a great opportunity to get real, hands-on experience in consulting, working together with a team across CMU Qatar and CMU Pittsburgh on an international client project, along with the chance to travel to one of the campuses as part of the course.”

For many, it becomes one of the most meaningful experiences of their time at the Tepper School.

“It was one of the most meaningful ways to connect what I’ve learned at Tepper and apply it in a global setting,” said Ploeger. She adds that the experience builds lasting confidence. “You leave the class with a much stronger sense of confidence in how to approach ambiguity, work across different perspectives, and contribute to real client work.”