Field Work: Helping Businesses (and His Boss) Set Up Shop in Asia

International trade student Tom Short knows Spanish, but his work in Vietnam required fluency in something else.

“I came to Middlebury Institute to help me rebrand myself,” Short said. “With my experience here, I can be someone who can speak the languages of both geopolitics and business.”

After earning his MBA and serving as a military intelligence officer, Short realized he desired a job with an international consulting aspect. For his practicum at the Institute, Short worked for Dezan Shira & Associates, one of the largest professional services firms in Asia helping companies establish compliant businesses on the continent.

Helping Businesses Expand Beyond China

Over several months, Short helped businesses of all sizes “set up shop” in Asia, from small entrepreneurs to a large multinationals like Apple. Many global businesses are increasingly looking to establish operations beyond China.

“For numerous reasons, these companies are looking elsewhere to set up shop in Asia,” Short said. “Decisions now, post-pandemic, are not just being made based off of the bottom line. Especially with international business and supply chains, [decisions are] being made off of geopolitics.”

Knowing the requirements for entering the business market of a particular country is essential to running a compliant business smoothly. But this information is not always easy to find, Short said. 

He experienced this firsthand during a practicum project when he worked on the other side of this challenge—hunting down the answers for how Dezan Shira & Associates could expand to Malaysia.

“Malaysia is getting a lot of tech business from diversification away from China. And that is one of the few places we don’t have an office,” said Short of his practicum employer, which operates more than 40 locations globally, from Australia to Laos.

Short researched market entry requirements for the company to set up an office in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur. He contacted lawyers for advice and even sought out potential competitors who would help him get started.

The Fort Lauderdale, Florida, native said this approach made sense to him, although it did result in plenty of rejection. But Short’s pragmatism helped fuel his work on this ambitious project.

“A lot of times we got turned away,” he said. “But our mentality is [the competition is] going to figure out a way to get into the market anyway. We might as well start on the right foot.”

The View from Vietnam

Short pulled his research together into a PowerPoint presentation that provides future entrepreneurs and investors with the essentials on how they can establish businesses in Malaysia.

In addition to this tangible outcome of his practicum, Short also enjoyed the chance to experience Vietnam during a dynamic time. 

“There is a lot of divestment from China to Vietnam,” Short said of the country that the World Bank describes as a development success story. “It’s a crucial time period to be in Vietnam and see that change as it’s happening.”

Short said he experienced this change through the investment his practicum made in his personal development. He said he didn’t expect to attend seminars and lectures or receive high-impact networking opportunities, including meeting with Australian, British, and American Chambers of Commerce.

“Meeting with them, I picked up some nuances,” Short said. “It was explained to me how the Australians are looking to divest out of China almost as much as the Americans are.”

Short, who graduated in December, said his experience in Vietnam helped him reach his goal of achieving fluency in geopolitics and business.

“Being there and meeting different people from all parts of the world who are providing different services [shows] there’s a really vibrant ecosystem that is initially small but growing.”