Speaker Reflection 1 - Dr. Olaf Rathjen- Monday, July 21
Dr. Rathjen presented on behalf of Siemens and focused on teaching us about energy systems and new energy resources in Germany. As a green pioneer, Germany is leading the way in energy efficiency and innovating new technologies to create power sources. Germany has a goal of closing all of their nuclear power plants by 2022. In order to create new energy, Germans are installing solar panels and windmills across the country. Even with new ways of capturing energy, these two tools do not create enough energy to last.
For Germany to increase their energy supply, they have built several fossil power plants (coal, etc.) to provide back-up to new energy sources. As with the goal for energy efficiency, Germans wanted to lower their CO2 emission rate. The implementation of these new power plants actually raised CO2 rates.
Even though this may seem like a set-back, Siemens is constantly looking for new ways to improve the energy supply of Germany. Dr. Rathjen shared that in order for Europe to achieve a successful energy turnaround, there must be a balance between economics, climate protection, and a reliable power supply. He also suggested that Europe needs to work together for energy reform and not separate.
Siemens, along with several other companies and private investors, have created wind farms 80km off the shore of the Baltic Sea. The wind from these off-shore windmills are more efficient, but expensive to build. Also, companies have teamed up to provide more electromobility. BMW and a local car rental company have set up Mini Coopers around Germany that can be rented for a fee. Using an application on your phone, you can find, start, and pay for the car.
Dr. Rathjen's presentation provided insight into energy efficiency in Germany and how Siemens is on the forefront of developing new ideas. It was interesting to hear that they face similar issues with activists like we do. Green activists advocate for better energy resources, but do not want to compromise on where the new resources will be placed. The off-shore wind farm is 80 km off the sea, just past the horizon, to be out of the view of tourists. Tourism is a large industry and Germany and they are not willing to "sacrifice" their landscapes for the energy resources they are asking for.
One thing that stood out to me about the Siemens organization and that I really respected was how they are willing to finish out a project from start to finish. Some companies may see energy efficiency as a burden, but Siemens is open to the challenge. He mentioned several instances where projects were not received well, so they changed their approach and continued until they got the best result.
Overall, Dr. Rathjen was a great Speaker with an incredible amount of knowledge. He gave tremendous insight as to how Germany has become an energy leader and the struggles they have faced to get there. It was interesting hearing him discuss his internship in California and some of the cultural barriers he faced there. Siemens seems to be a great company with a global mindset.
There are a multitude of benefits for corporations to be aware of social responsibility. When companies have a perceived "good" social responsibility, consumers will have a better perception of their business and will be more likely to purchase their goods/services. This also ensures that people will continue to buy from them. Good CSR can help companies differentiate themselves from their competitors and manage their risk. They will be more attractive to new talent and they will have better stakeholder relations. It also helps businesses develop new opportunities and improve operational and cost efficiency.
One way that German companies are hoping to improve opportunities while displaying CSR is a new innovation called "Car 2 Go." BMW and a rental care company have teamed up to offer Mini Coopers around the city for drivers to "borrow." Drivers can download an app to find a car close by. Once they find a card, they pay a fee to get a chip that will start the car. Younger people are utilizing this opportunity to have the use of a car, but not have the burden of purchasing one.
Dr. Fifka mentioned that most German companies say focus on their stakeholders. Business provide a large amount of health care coverage to their employees and also give their employees opportunities to sit on the board of directors. While these are great initiatives for employees, that is the only stakeholder the companies are focusing on, but the shareholders are not taken care of that much either. I believe that there are a lot of companies that have a similar viewpoint. While they look socially responsible from the outside, it is not easy to see what happens on the inside. A company may be praised for making a large donation to a non-profit organization, but their bank statements could be incorrectly reported. The bank statements may be overlooked since they did "such a great thing" for society by making the donation.
Corporate social responsibility is a great ideal for businesses to hope to achieve, but it is difficult when the full story is not being told. Being in public relations, I understand the importance and value of a good brand reputation. Companies strive to achieve a good reputation. Every company has their issues and the "dirty laundry" is not always aired in public, but it is good that companies have adopted CSR as part of their culture. Little steps make a big difference for the environment, company, and society.
After having two speakers discuss the topic of renewable energy in Germany, it really gave an insight into the importance of this topic. The German government offers multiple options for consumers and businesses to utilize and invest in renewable energy resources, like wind and solar. Wind power is more of an investment from larger companies while majority of the country's solar energy comes from households. The implementation of these energy programs was done with great planning. Consumers that invest in solar energy receive a fixed tariff for 20 years. The tariff guarantees them the same energy price for the next 20 years and takes away the risk of the investment for the investor. Also, the tariff assists the government with energy planning. Since the government knows how many fixed tariffs they will receive, they can better plan and understand the energy usage as well as more knowledge on how much money they will receive.
Dr. Grimm's presentation led me to wonder about the usage of energy by American companies, specifically restaurants. She mentioned that most of their energy usage happens around noon, but during the World Cup they saw a spike in energy usage at the end of the day when the games were broadcasted. I immediately thought of the restaurants we have visited while in Germany. Majority of the restaurants did not have television programming on or they did not have a television in the restaurant . In America, we have a multitude of "sports" restaurants that have multiple television sets that are constantly running throughout the day, like Buffalo Wild Wings or Chili's. The World Cup spiked energy usage in Germany, but at home these restaurants must experience monstrous energy bills for providing entertainment to their consumers. If these companies have not considered renewable energy options, they may be able to lower their monthly energy bill by utilizing these alternative resources .
The two presentations regarding renewable energy gave me great insight into the complex nature of research and implementation of these sources. There are many plans for renewable energy, but the real challenge is coming up with a way to reform the system, but not completely tear it up.
At the Department of International Management at the University of Nürnberg, a group of scholars is conducting Indigenous Management Research focusing on the correlations between local embeddedness of culture and decision making in the business world. Ritam Garg and his team currently are researching this topic because of the desire for managers to have hard evidence to understand a culture. In global business, managers interact with members of multiple cultures. Some even move to another country for managerial positions in their company. As business students, we are taught how various cultures embrace business differently, but this is not always the case in the "real world." Many managers still question why another culture acts a certain way and they do not try to embrace the culture they are in. These managers want hard empirical evidence that explains how they should act and why. They want charts, graphs, and numbers just to explain these ideas rather than just being open to them. Garg and his researchers are trying to do just this.
To start their research, they interviewed two groups of volunteer students from the University of Nürnberg. One was a group of German students and the other a group of Chinese students. Both groups were shown the same pictures from the German media. The media images depicted Chinese and German relations. All of the articles that accompanied the photos were negative, but these were not shown to the students. The researchers then asked the students what was the first thing that came to their mind when they saw the pictures. Majority of the German students displayed negative reactions about China after seeing the photos. On the other hand, the Chinese students just made generic comments about the photos and did not have the reaction of China being a "threat" to Germany.
This is just the beginning of their research and while they have more to go, I believe that this will make a great impact on the business world. We all know and understand that culture has some affect on how you make decisions, but what we need to learn is to what extent we need to step back and take a more global perspective. The most difficult challenge to face is how to act in another culture, while still embracing your own, and having your "host" country be open to your culture as well. Other challenges include brand management and global perspective of a company. Companies from certain countries have difficulty getting consumers to purchase their products/services because of how other cultures view that country.
Culture is not the only barrier that businesspeople experience. Age is often a common hurdle. In my position, I market various services within three hospitals. Hospitals, nurses especially, are known to stay at a company for most, if not all, of their careers. When I work with nurses, we often do not see eye-to-eye on new campaign tactics because they just want to stick with what they know. Garg's lecture opened my eyes to multiple barriers in the business world and the importance of looking past them and working together, without preconceived notions.
Nespresso was a revolutionary innovation for several reasons. At the time it was introduced, there was no market for this type of machine, which has its own advantages and disadvantages. Second, Nespresso was a brand new product that completely changed the way people view espresso. For the first time, they could make it easy and quick at home. It was a radical change, but also incremental as well. At the end of the day, it is still just espresso.
While they have been experiencing success, they are facing some struggles. Some of the patents have expired or some of them are expiring soon. With their parents expiring, more machines are entering the market. Machines, like Keurig, offer a variety of products at varying costs. Also, Keurig has partnered with large coffee companies, including Starbucks, to provide a wide array of coffee choices to their consumers. Their market share is decreasing. It has gone from 32 percent to 24 in just a few years. They also face issues with environmental groups complaining of the ecological damage of the aluminum capsules. In March 2013, their CEO left the company. They attempted to introduce a new tea brewing product, but it has not been very successful.
At the start of his presentation, there was a quote on his slides that I thought was good motivation for following through on innovative ideas. "The best idea has no worth, if it is not executed" (W. Alteiby). Nespresso did not have the greatest start, but it was started. Someone had an idea to bring espresso directly to the consumer in their home. Even though they saw some struggles, they did not give up. Now as they are starting to see a decline in sales, the company needs to be innovative again. Their brand and products need an overhaul to reach new markets and not to solely focus on the "upper class."
Dr. Brem also discussed the advantages and disadvantages of innovation between the United States and the European Union. Innovation barriers include the differing regulatory environments, cultural attitude toward risk and uncertainty, access to complementary assets, and organizational ability to acquire new knowledge. Even with the differences between the U.S. and the EU, there are many benefits to being innovative and both are in the top 5 on the innovation rating scale.
Speaker Reflection 2 - Dr. Matthias Fifka - Monday, July 21
Dr. Matthias Fifka discussed sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR). Over the past decade, sustainability and corporate social responsibility are becoming more popular topics. Some of the reasons why these have become so popular is because consumers have become more knowledgeable and intrigued by how companies are spending their money and the increase in global business. Also, there is a strong relationship between businesses and some of the environmental issues. Some of the issues that the world and companies are concerning themselves about are climate change, resource scarcity, and demographic (culture and age) change.
Speaker Reflection 3 - Dr. Veronika Grimm -Tuesday, July 22
Dr. Veronika Grimm presented on possible solutions to the renewable energy initiatives in Germany. With their bold goal of shutting down all nuclear power plants by 2022, Germany needs to completely reorient their power supply schemes. Currently, 25% of the country's energy comes from renewable resources, which are weather-based and not always reliable. Also, another issue with renewable energy is not having the storage to contain it when it is not being utilized. Some local positions are pushing for 80 to 100 percent renewable energy usage. While this is "ideal," it is not a simple task to come up with the solution. Energie Campus Nürnberg is developing solutions, but there are negatives and opposition to these ideas, including transmission lines throughout Germany. They have developed a framework where a planner chooses transmission line investment and competitive firms invest in generation facilities.
Speaker Reflection 4 - Ritam Garg - Tuesday, July 22
To start their research, they interviewed two groups of volunteer students from the University of Nürnberg. One was a group of German students and the other a group of Chinese students. Both groups were shown the same pictures from the German media. The media images depicted Chinese and German relations. All of the articles that accompanied the photos were negative, but these were not shown to the students. The researchers then asked the students what was the first thing that came to their mind when they saw the pictures. Majority of the German students displayed negative reactions about China after seeing the photos. On the other hand, the Chinese students just made generic comments about the photos and did not have the reaction of China being a "threat" to Germany.
This is just the beginning of their research and while they have more to go, I believe that this will make a great impact on the business world. We all know and understand that culture has some affect on how you make decisions, but what we need to learn is to what extent we need to step back and take a more global perspective. The most difficult challenge to face is how to act in another culture, while still embracing your own, and having your "host" country be open to your culture as well. Other challenges include brand management and global perspective of a company. Companies from certain countries have difficulty getting consumers to purchase their products/services because of how other cultures view that country.
Culture is not the only barrier that businesspeople experience. Age is often a common hurdle. In my position, I market various services within three hospitals. Hospitals, nurses especially, are known to stay at a company for most, if not all, of their careers. When I work with nurses, we often do not see eye-to-eye on new campaign tactics because they just want to stick with what they know. Garg's lecture opened my eyes to multiple barriers in the business world and the importance of looking past them and working together, without preconceived notions.
