Developing Global Strategies.
Achieving Growth.
The Global Development Initiative - Building the Bridge between Academics and International Business
The Global Development Initiative (GDI) is a collaboration between the City of Richardson, Texas, United States and the Richardson Chamber of Commerce/Richardson Economic Development Partnership (REDP) and the Center for Global Business, part of the Naveen Jindal School of Management at the University of Texas at Dallas in Richardson, Texas.
The Global Development Initiative (GDI) started as an informal initiative started over four years ago to allow students to conduct market research for international small and medium enterprises (SMEs) planning to expand their operations to Richardson. Now the program has become a formal class known as IMS 4350 Global Market Entry Strategies, a 3-semester credit hour course that has become a core Global business course required for all Bachelor of Science in Global Business students.
This course focuses on developing market entry strategies for international companies and aims to equip university students with the necessary skills to succeed and navigate through the complex global business environment. In this course, students are partnered with foreign-based companies seeking to expand into international markets (specifically the United States market), learn how to conduct market analysis, apply global skillsets, and prepare recommendations for company consideration. This course utilizes a hands-on approach and provides resume-building learning experiences.
The GDI Partners
The Center for Global Business, Naveen Jindal School of Management at the University of Texas at Dallas is located in Richardson, Texas. The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) is a Carnegie R1 classification (Doctoral Universities - very high research activity) with over 140 degree programs and more than 5,000 international students, from over 100 countries
The City of Richardson - designated by the State of Texas at the "International Business Capital of North Texas"
The Richardson Chamber of Commerce, 5 Star Accredited Chamber of Commerce serving the needs of the Richardson, Texas business community
The Richardson Economic Development Partnership (REDP), a partnership between the City of Richardson and the Richardson Chamber of Commerce managing the economic development for the City of Richardson, Texas
The Richardson Innovation Quarter ("Richardson IQ" - "The IQ") is an amenity rich environment where start-ups and scale-ups can collaborate and thrive; and where nearby college graduates come to live, work, and invent
The GDI Program accepts pre-qualified companies from countries outside the United States that are interested in entering the United States market and setting up their United States operations in Richardson, Texas
Each semester (Spring: January-May & Fall: August-December) companies are selected based on their qualifications
Learn more about the qualifications and application process on the "Companies" page
