Introduction and Statement of Purpose For my final product, I plan to create a consulting matrix of my own. This will enable me to showcase the skills I have researched and developed this year in a compact project. I would be analyzing the data and information provided in the articles I have researched to gather the main business culture practices, societal values, and norms of the major global regions and how businesses adapt to them. This is important for businesses to consider since a lack of cultural alignment could be the difference between a successful image or financial loss and public dissatisfaction. My purpose is to utilize my current knowledge to gain an understanding of what real-life application of such international business skills would look like. Beyond that, my overall goal with studying international business is to blend the best aspects of each region’s businesses, creating a more empathetic and interconnected world. My plan is to create lists of the major components, including cultural situations, that factor into consulting approaches. Then, I will use the skills I have learned to analyze these factors in a few example cases and structure my matrix based on the BCG one. This matrix or flowchart will allow me to practice not only solving business like human-resource efficiency and financial optimization, but also understanding and applying problem-solution relationships to common consulting tasks. Review of Skills and Research A majority of my research this year so far has been focused on the psychological implications of language and basic multinational expansion scenarios. These will give me an indication of how to approach consulting cases. I also completed numerous research papers on the principal skills and techniques utilized by consultants, like SWOT analyses, during ISM 1, so I can keep those in my mind as I work through creating my matrix. Some important aspects I have read about, involve hours of operation and punctuality, appropriateness of discussing business affairs at parties or social gatherings, and the key values that each culture’s community and its businesses prioritize. A couple of sections of the articles I have covered give specific examples which I could also use as a basis for solutions to common industry problems. I am aware that every consulting case looks a little bit different, but my reasoning behind making this matrix is to highlight a few strong solution ideas to recurring problems based on past successes. Recently, I have had the privilege of connecting with multiple professionals who are well versed in global roles, so they will also be able to give me some insight about the realistic effectiveness of my matrix. Methodology Participants: For my methodology, I do not plan to use any participants, since my idea only involves me, my research, and my case studies. Materials: The materials I expect to use are my research papers, more region-specific articles, notes from conversations with professionals, Google Docs, and Canva. Description of Process and Procedures: My first step would be to make a list of all the scenarios I would like to include in my matrix. While I would ideally love to study every case and company’s nuances, that simply isn’t feasible for the time-being, so I will stick to 6-8 major situations that can be characterized as the most commonly dealt with in management consulting. I would like to finalize this list by January 25, 2026. After that, I will start writing short sections regarding the possible solutions along with pros and cons for each with respect to each major problem. I would like to complete my research and writing for half of the issues by February 7, 2026. I will finish the other half of my general research for each part of the world by February 23, 2026. The entire matrix should be fully done by March 1, 2026. If time permits, I will add a presentation portion in which I summarize and analyze my takeaways to present them to a diverse audience to do a litmus test of sorts. That will be completed by March 20, 2026. Utilization of High-Level Thinking Skills I will need to focus on several high level thinking skills throughout my original work timeline, including analyzing data, synthesizing research, problem-solving, effective communication, and cultural awareness. With typical case studies related to consulting, some quantitative or qualitative data is given. I would need to pick apart this data to identify a few key issues I will address. I can select keywords or data points which are relevant to the problems at hand and then reflect on potential causes and solutions for these issues. However, in this project, I cannot opt for the instinctual, specific solutions that only address the problem at hand. Instead, I will have to evaluate the recommendations via a bigger picture lens to see if they fit in with the different possible circumstances under which a company, or individual, may encounter such an issue. Thus, I will need to utilize the significant parts of industry or even company-specific research and apply them to the issue, making me practice synthesis. Looking at qualitative aspects like customer happiness and quantitative metrics like return on investment, I will be able to deeply analyze information. Once I have solved the identified problems, I will have to use my soft skills to summarize the content into a digestible matrix for myself and my audiences . I have learned that some important parts of cross-cultural communication are being aware of different connotations, the implications of certain hand gestures, and the language of preference. Thus, I will be utilizing multiple thinking skills as I have detailed above. Conclusion To conclude, I am anticipating to gain a much clearer idea of how to consult internationally by teaching the techniques I have learned about through a matrix and applying them to real life situations. I think that at the moment, it is primarily to benefit my learning and my ISM journey. However, in the long run, I see myself sharing this matrix to help future high schoolers understand international business better, since it contains information that would have been helpful to me when I did not know much about this topic. This would enable me to create an impact on other students in the long run, while furthering my own knowledge at the same time. I can get further feedback on this initiative by sharing it with people of different nationalities in my network for more accuracy and personal experiences. This idea differs from what already is available because there are not many resources which support high school students in understanding global case studies. Most resources are targeted at college graduates and industry professionals, therefore they are too complex for a beginner to fully comprehend. Also, apart from the BCG matrix there are not many universal consulting frameworks, especially ones focused on international contexts, so hopefully with multiple revisions mine could become one used by several consultants one day. This would help make the consulting process a bit more systematic and efficient, allowing the scope for focusing on more nuances. My goal is to compile my learnings into a matrix which is simple but thorough, and can help high school students understand how to approach and solve international business cases. I am looking forward to getting started on creating my final product soon.