Strengths and Weaknesses of USCS

Interning at the U.S. Commercial Service has it’s perks; organizationally it’s built less like a traditional hierarchical bureaucracy and more like a modern network where agents build upon a collective mission spread across an international network. This allows for a great plethora of easily accessible contacts proficient in a vast number of trades and skillsets. Although we have a physical office with coworkers on site, due to the international nature of our work, most of the work day revolved around open communication channels amongst colleagues all over the world. This incredible network however has its drawbacks, particularly in building interpersonal relationship or engaging and meaningful professional relationships. Also, from my perspective the real value of the work of the United States Commercial Service would benefit if more research and development was focused on finding innovate solutions to enhancing interconnectivity amongst the vast network. Tools such as private social media websites, LinkedIn groups, and Facebook groups better can allow for these interactions.