Los Poblanos recently had the opportunity to host a team of students from Harvard Business School for one week as part of a required course called the FIELD Immersion. Los Poblanos was one of 171 FIELD Immersion Project Partners spanning 15 cities across 15 states. Together these Partners combined to host more than 1,000 Harvard Business School students in all.
“It was great to work with Harvard Business School to provide students with a real-world learning experience,” says Matt Rembe, Los Poblanos Executive Director. “It was a pleasure working with this group of students and we feel certain that they were able to gather insights here that they would never be able to glean from a classroom discussion alone.”
The FIELD Immersion is a course designed to strengthen and develop students’ ability to manage and operate effectively in a variety of business contexts. Los Poblanos leadership had been working with the team remotely in the months leading up to their arrival. While here, the students pitched their ideas to the leadership team, conducted field research with consumers around Albuquerque and presented their final recommendations to management. The purpose of this immersive experience is to provide students with the opportunity to ‘learn by doing’ through the challenge of introducing a new product, service or customer experience for their partner company. This requires students to also focus on building contextual intelligence and team effectiveness skills while delivering value in an unfamiliar context.
Harvard is quick to acknowledge that this important learning experience would not be possible without the Project Partners. “We are extremely grateful to Los Poblanos and all the FIELD Immersion Project Partners organizations for all they do on behalf of our students,” said Carrie Elkins, Professor of Business Administration and Faculty Chair for the FIELD Immersion. “The students benefit immeasurably from this experience, and we hope the partner organizations do as well.”
Educational projects play an important role in Los Poblanos’ ongoing mission of preservation through hospitality, organic farming and artisan botanical products. Past collaborations have included working with students from the University of New Mexico’s School or Architecture and Planning and Anderson School of Management, Arizona State University, United World Colleges and the Bosque School.