VISITS

Switzerland

IMD –

Visiting IMD was one of the highlights of the trip for me. It was great to have the opportunity to visit one of the top graduate schools in the world. It was helpful to meet and interact with students. It was impressive to see the organization stick to high standards in order to increase the quality of the school. Because the school is traditionally very popular for top management in large companies, I was surprised to find out they have a strong emphasis in entrepreneurship. In fact, they host a competition every year bringing in business plans throughout the area to be judged. It got me excited and motivated as it helped me to really see that entrepreneurship is a worldwide focus. I am excited to stay in contact with IMD and keep in mind any opportunities to return to beautiful Lausanne!

Dean Anderson –

It was an amazing treat to have Dean Anderson spend time with us in Switzerland. As he spoke on strategy, it was great to be able to see his vision and direction for the school. I think one of the most interesting quotes he had was on humility and that "One of the hardest things to change is a winning formula." I think that strategy is something that I could take more time to learn about. I often find myself either waiting to long in the name of strategy or moving too quick. I should take the time to plan and strategize correctly and then moving swiftly and confidently. My favorite takeaway was the video on innovation at Ideo.

Credit Agricole –

One of my favorite things about having Marie Pascal talk was that she brought in up-to-date information on her company and its current merger. We were able to look and analyze what would be like to be a manager in that situation and faced with the difficult task of making sure all the stakeholders are happy. It was also interesting to see this because it's such a recent development in their company and we were able to feel like we were in a current situation. I also appreciated seeing what it's like to operate at a fund and all the technicalities that to go into developing products and their distribution channels. It was also interesting to hear some of the cultural differences about French investors and how they are more risk aversed.

Banco Itau/Don Linford –

Having Don Linford come and speak was definitely a reality check. At first he intentionally came in to intimidate and slightly belittle everyone, but as he interacted with us and spoke during the next few days it was clear that he was there for our benefit. He spoke about what it really takes to work in international business, and he didn’t hold anything back. He talked about his life and what it took to get where he is now. Many of these steps took great ambition and courage to pull off. Don also offered great tips and advice when he talked about career planning and networking. I have always known that networking is important, but never really understood what it meant.

WTO –

The World Trade Organization was great to visit. It was surreal to be in Geneva where so much is decided for world trade policies. Though we didn’t get to see around much, and it was difficult to stay focused during the presentation, I thought it was a very worthwhile trip. I wish we could have gone through a case with them or see the process. Even though the Doha round was in a bit of a hold, it was really great to be there while it was going on; it helped to bring meaning to what the WTO is trying to accomplish.

EFTA –

Before we were informed that we would be visiting EFTA, I had no idea what it was. It was interesting to find out that its history runs parallel to that of the European Union. Many of the countries that did not want to join the EU but still wanted economic advantages, gathered together to unite themselves in trade. As more countries joined the EU, the future of EFTA has been questioned over and over, yet today it still stands. However, Iceland, one of its last four members, is likely leaving to join the EU and EFTA will have to reevaluate whether it is still applicable or not. I wonder how long it will take if ever for EFTA to dissolve as an organization. Though they have done marvelous things for its members, it is absolutely clear that the EU is here to stay and continues to expand and pull in new members.

Swiss Wine & Cheese Industries –

Visiting Dominique’s Mazot was a great experience! It was fascinating to step into the beautiful vineyards and learn more about the industries that are so important to the Swiss people. Though Dominique spoke about the importance of the wine and cheese industry, being in the vineyard with Dominique and meeting his friend that came over later was a much greater teaching experience. It was great to see them in the countryside doing something they were obviously passionate about. I thought it was really impressive that the vast majority of production was for domestic consumption. But what I was more impressed by was the Raclette cheese, which is only produced when the milk of the cows is influenced by eating the high mountain blossoms. It takes great dedication and quality is the name of the game. After eating the cheese in the nations traditional dish Raclette (basically melted cheese over potatoes with meat), helped me appreciate why they wouldn’t want to let the word get out the Swiss have a good thing going at home without enough to go around.

Red Cross –

At first I wasn’t as interested in going to visit the ICRC because I figured it was a lot like the American Red Cross and we’d learn about a blood drive. However, it turned out to be one of the most memorable visits. From the It was interesting to see how the organization is a product of it’s the Swiss neutrality. It was also amazing to see all the areas of the world that the Red Cross operates and is on the front lines. They are in the middle of a large marketing campaign called Our World. Your Move. It is aimed at getting people more aware of their surroundings and how they can have a positive impact on the world.

Belgium

Huntsman Chemical –

Visiting the Huntsman Chemical Factory was one of the greatest parts of the entire trip! It was a culmination of everything we have talked about and fit perfectly into the trip. It was amazing to see how much the Huntsman Corporation does with its products. Because Mr. Huntsman is from Utah and the company is so successful it was an honor to visit the European Headquarters. We got to receive a sneak peek at what it is like to operate as a manager responsible for all of the European operations and see some of the responsibilities involved. I think one of my favorite parts about this visit was when they talked about the environmental laws that were becoming more stringent, and the company rather than using all of its resources to fight the policies actually spent its time resolving how they can operate within the specifications and assist other companies to do so as well with the help of its products.

InBev –

InBev is a large Brewery, and at the particular site we visited makes the well-known Stella Artois beer. It was an extremely large plant with many safety precautions, both for the people visiting and working, and for the product and thus, the consumers. I think one of the best parts of this visit was to see some of the other students who are not very comfortable around alcohol get a view of another culture. I have been around beer and alcohol enough that it was interesting to see the manufacturing process and to tie in the European culture.

European Commission –

I think this was the visit I looked forward to the most out of our time in Europe. I thought it was a great experience still and I learned a lot, but I don’t think that it lived up to what I was hoping for. I especially had a love hate time with the person that spoke about the CAP. It was fascinating to learn more about the agricultural policies but it became frustrating when he continued to assert his socialist views. I think it was interesting to learn about how they got rid of excess food by using it for foreign aid rather than crash prices.

NATO –

I had long heard about NATO without really knowing what it was. It was really interesting to learn about its background with the post World War II era and moving on into the cold war. It seemed fitting to visit there because it is on the brink of trying to stay alive as an organization, and it brings up a lot of tough questions to ask. Is it better for an organization that has lived out its intended purpose to dissolve and move on, or should they restructure and find new purpose? As the cold war has been over for some time NATO is battling to find its place. It is currently in charge of the military operations in Afghanistan, but it will be really interesting to see what happens when they are no longer needed there.

Bruges –

Bruge was the old port and trading capital of the Dutch empire when the Dutch was the world trade super power. All that is left of the trading power now is the medieval remnants and architecture. It was a beautiful city and neat to visit but in all a little touristy. It is interesting to reflect on the city though as today’s cities like New York and other financial centers may not be permanent, and many thngs can change over long periods of time.

Rashid Khatib Shahidi –

Rashid was an amazing person to meet and talk to. He has been educated in a high profile institution and has worked with and started several large companies. I think what I found the most draw to with Rashid is he was unashamed to do what he wanted to with his life. He has currently been running the Impact Investing section of a major bank in Lagos, Nigeria, where he is paid an extremely handsome ex-pat package and gives him the freedom to work on projects that will benefit others greatly. He is always more than willing to talk and give advice. I think he will be a great contact and mentor for years to come.

France

OECD –

Out of all the visits, I think the OECD is the one I struggled to take any takeaways from. It was an interesting place and the work that they do and data they collect is really interesting, but the speakers we received didn’t speak to anything I found particularly interesting. They merely discussed some of the aspect of some educational studies they were involved in.

Microsoft –

Microsoft was an amazing opportunity to go behind the scenes of the daily work of a corporate employee there. We started by getting a briefing of operations and current trials and we were able to tour the facility and see some of the cool technologies they are creating and promoting, including some pre release Window’s 7 and Office 2010 stuff. It was interesting to hear about their focus on the mobile phone market and their recognition that much of the future lies in tapping into it because they have fallen so far behind it. My favorite takeaway from Microsoft is the quote “If you give people great tools they will accomplish amazing things.”

Disney –

I was a really interesting visit to Disney. I am by my nature not a “Disney” Person therefore, I thought I would be fairly bored and stick out as we went met there. But we were graciously accepted by their staff and had a great opportunity to hear about the way they are able to balance and maintain such a divers work staff. It was also really interesting to see some of the changes that have been implemented since the park first opened to make it more European friendly and match the culture.

Troy and Anita Oldham –

Listening to Troy and Anita talk about their families experience living as expats was a really interesting topic for me. Especially to hear Anita talk about her experience, as I am always concerned about how my wife might feel about moving outside of the country. They had a great experience living in Australia and experiencing a different culture as a family.

Versailles –

Versailles was another interesting visit to an old capital. It was interesting to see the palace especially given the history of treaties that were made like the Treaty of Paris and the Treaty of Versailles that ended the American Revolution and World War I respectively. I think it was interesting to see the seemingly visual disparity between the extreme wealth of the ruling class and their subjects.

All in all I was extremely pleased and excited to have had the opportunity to visit such amazing places that we learned about in class. Even though each of the organizations and speakers are extremely different, it was amazing to see how they all fit into an aspect of the learning that we had been doing.

LOCAL CONVERSATIONS AND VIEWS

In all the conversations I had with people about the European Union the biggest benefit that the people saw about the EU was the conveniences of traveling and living in Europe. Almost every person discussed how great it was that they didn't have to stop the trains to stamp passports at every border. They also appreciated the Euro for the most part so they didn't have to continually exchange currency.

One interesting conversation I had was with a German citizen who was living and working in Switzerland. He loves Switzerland and has been living there for a number of years. Like many others he really liked the EU and the fact that it was easier to travel around, and he wished that Switzerland would join, not for the economic binding or the furthering of the cause of an integrated Europe, but so he didn't have to change money when he went out of the country.

It almost felt like I was never going to get to the heart of what the EU stands for in conversation. Number one it was hard to find those who spoke enough English, and two, it was hard to find people that would talk long enough. Those who did talk, wanted to show how much they knew about US politics, which was quite impressive. I think many Europeans would do well on Jay Leno's "Jay Walking" show on US info. It might be fun to do a US versus Europe show... Other than some local politics (which I didn't know anything about) there was seemingly very little knowledge of the EU and its institutions.

I think one of the reasons that the EU goes unnoticed is partially due to the fact that there is no permanent front person to look to, and it is perceived as a bunch of lawyers in Brussels and detached from the countries. As we traveled through Europe I saw constant updates on the Lisbon treaty. As part of the treaty the Europe would have a single president for a longer period of time and a more unified foreign policy, both of which would add more recognition and legitimacy. I think in the future many more people will be educated in European politics.

Of course, I spent quite a bit of time with Rashid, and he was extremely knowledgeable with the EU, and it was great to gain many of his insights. We were able to talk about everything from the environmental regulations on cars to the Shengen and Euro Zones and UK perspectives.

DAILY LIFE

I have always been amazed that languages follow geographic borders so closely, and I wondered how it would really be traveling throughout different parts of Europe. I think one of the best things I did was just to be a little flexible especially when ordering food. Though I mostly got what I wanted, the times I didn't because of language differences didn't matter as much. I also tried to do my best to show I valued and appreciated their culture by learning as much of the day to day things as possible. Weeks before we left I had downloaded multiple language applications to my iPhone in Italian, German, and French (these really helped a lot!). While we stayed in mostly in French speaking parts of Europe with the exception of some Dutch areas of Belgium with the group, during our weekends off we traveled around and experienced other languages. Though I felt like I would never be able to absorb all of the French that Kaden was teaching, I am glad that I went. French is entirely different than it looks, and without having a little exposure to it I would have had a hard time with it. On our first weekend we went to Bern and Interlaken where the predominate language is Swiss-german. I had taken german in middle school so I was less intimidated by german, even though I remember next to nothing from classes, butI am able to understand and pick up lots of different words and get around ok. Italian was a different story. My brother had taught me the basics of Italian but had little more to go off of. But I was traveling with Bill who speaks Spanish and was able to get around for the most part by using Spanish. We also stayed with a family in Bergamo, Italy. They all spoke fairly good English and helped us get around.

On our weekend trips it seemed that all we did was church hop, that is in every major city we would hop out of the train station and find the famous cathedral and walk around it, in it, and sometimes on top of it. Then we would meander our way back to the train station and on to the next city. It was amazing to see all of the grandeur and wealth that the cathedrals had. Now days it seems like the large cathedrals are used as a symbol of what Europe is built off of. Churches seem to be on every corner each with its own patron saint and story; however, It seemed that they weren't attended very well when the bells rang calling in mass. Even though most buildings were overly touristy complete with shops, it was worth visiting all of them. I also visited the LDS ward in Paris which was interesting mostly because it was slightly hard to find as it was in an inconspicuous building and not a giant church at all. It was also interesting to see how they balanced all the different languages spoken with little microphones and earpieces.

We used a taxi a few times and had a mostly positive experience every time although, because I have had terrible experiences with taxis in foreign countries before, I was much more careful. It was interesting to talk to our taxi driver in Cologne, Germany, who was from Iran. He seemed to really like the European Union but mostly because of the conveniences of travel.

CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

During the trip we used both Swiss Francs (CHF) and Euro (€). The CHF stayed fairly constant hovering around a one-to-one exchange with the dollar, with the best being at $1=.9622 CHF near the beginning of the trip, and gradually climbed until we left Switzerland to $1=.9823 CHF. Because the CHF and the dollar are so close to value, it would be easy to think that it is fairly easy to visit Switzerland; however, everything in Switzerland costs significantly more than it does in the US. Therefore, it wasn't necessarily an advantage. The Euro is definitely a different story from an exchange rate perspective. The Euro has been stronger than the dollar for a couple years now, and over the trip it hovered around $1.5=€1. I entered Italy, the first eurozone country I visited, on Wednesday, October 14, and exchanged at the lowest rate of our time in eurozone countries at $1.4881=€1 (other than the day we flew out). The Euro hit a high for our trip on October 23, with $1.502=€1, and has since gone closer to $1.47=€1 rate of exchange. It was difficult to remember that even though the prices didn't seem to bad when they were presented in Euro it in reality was 1.5 times that to get to a price in USD that we would really be spending. Thus, I found Europe to be extremely expensive to travel and live in, but in the little bit people shared about salary information it seemed that in general European workers are payed more to be able to compensate for cost of living.

Going to grocery stores in Europe were quite different. There weren't any superstores or giant stores; rather, the stores were much smaller in comparison. My favorite part was the bread and section of the Coop stores where there was always fresh bread and croissants. Presentation was important as well as even the cheaper options (comparatively) looked to be well packaged and higher end. The grocery stores also had the customers buy any bags they used, in addition to having a trough that your groceries slid down so you could bag them all yourself.

FOOD

Although I am not sure if it is because it was less expensive food or because they offered free wifi, but I ate at McDonald's more during our month in Europe than I have in over two years in the states. It is always interesting to see how the menu is different from country to country and Europe definitely has its own unique options. In general the stores were well designed and felt much nicer than in the US, and the menu had what I perceived to be more gourmet options.

I also visited many local cafes and restaurants as well. In these experiences I found both the stereotypical poor European service and the very helpful nice experiences as well. One of the funniest examples of this is when we went for mussels with Dr. Shahidi on Sunday night in Belgium. For both lack of hunger and to share costs the six students decided to share the meal. When it came time to order our waiter got worked up and looked away in disgust explaining that he could not do it. I'm not sure why the shift came, but we got a new waiter who ended up being far more helpful, but by far the worst dining experience I had was on our l

ast day at Disneyland Paris, where I was again with Dr. Shahidi. We were confronted with horrible food that must have spent at least a few days under a heat lamp, a lady behind the counter that was unhelpful if not incompetent, and a manager that was totally clueless as to anything customer service oriented.

Overall, I tried to eat something important to each area, crepes in France; mussels, frites, and gaufres in Belgium; gellato and pizza in Italy; and raclette and lots of chocolate in Switzerland. I can honestly say I loved all of those, but my favorite is raclette. I really enjoyed how fresh all of the food was and that a lot of it was natural food that wasn't over processed.

Pre-trip Thoughts

Though I have been excited for the trip to Europe since I first learned about the Huntsman Scholar Program, as it grows closer I am struggling to know how I can ensure I make the best of the experience. I realize that it will be up to me to make this happen. I am extremely excited for all of the wonderful opportunities that we have to visit such high profile organizations and for the the people we get to meet. Of course, I am also excited to travel through Europe and experience life there; however, I am slightly concerned that the demands of travel will add further stress and take away from my ability to fully take in everything. Overall, I expect to get to talk to people and understand how their organizations work and what they do, and I want to travel through Europe and better understand the political and cultural differences that affect business there.