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L.S.
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Editor-in-chief
Gijs van Hunsel
Coordinator
Fatima Abasari
Lay-out
Christian Markwat
Editors
Pei Hun Chee
Gijs van Hunsel
Igor Madzura
Christian Markwat
Karolina Maslowska
Renate Neyndorff
Jeff Repko
Marleen van Dijsseldonk, 25 jaar
Junior adviseur KPMG Advisory
“Onderweg naar een opdracht bij een klant
in #Barcelona. Weekendje shoppen eraan
vastgeplakt met vriendin daar.”
Contributions
Janneke Brugman
Rob Eken
Henk van Gemert
Lissa van der Heijden
Paolo Herde
Ruben Hoefnagels
Dirk-Jan ter Horst
Sophie Hulshof
Gijs van Hunsel
Jeroen Lamers
Zhengyu Li
Monique Lousberg
Frits Mahovic
Maarten Mies
James Small
Lieke Snoek
Mark Vitullo
Eelco van de Wiel
Miranda van Zijl
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The FIRST Quarterly you are holding in
your hands right now is the first edition of
the promising year 2012. I sincerely hope
that all your exams went well and you can
fully set your mind to this new year. A year
where you hopefully will perform even better on your exams than last year, where you
achieve all your previously set resolutions
and where you will develop yourself on every other desirable field.
When thinking of one of the most debated
topics of this moment, people tend to come
up with the current economic situation
around the world, which arose after the banking crisis of 2008. At that particular point in
time, most countries were not able to sustain
any economic growth and even in the year
after, only few countries did well. The BRIC
countries, Brazil, Russia, India and China,
on the contrary, did extremely well in GDP
growth. For that reason, we chose the rising
power China as the main topic for this 17th
edition of the FIRST Quarterly.
Most people tend to have very superficial
opinions about China, which are, obviously,
most of the time not correct. For that reason,
the background article and the professor article in this edition will give you some preliminary information about observations of the
China of nowadays. Dr. van Gemert explains
how different policies and five-year plans
have changed the position of this country in
the world. Next to that, trade and structural
adjustments of policies which made China
the country it is right now will also be discussed in this article.
Zhengyu Li, on the other hand, discusses
how Chinese firms’ high-tech collaboration,
both domestic and foreign, show that nonstate-owned enterprises are becoming more
and more active in technology acquisitions.
Additionally, he elaborates on the role of foreign domestic investment as an instrument
for reforming state owned enterprises and
their desired result.
When one wants to prepare itself for life and
an international career, one should consider
studying abroad. To get an insight in how it
is to live and study in China, read the Study
Abroad Article which elaborates on the experiences of Ruben Hoefnagels. He studied
in Hong Kong and tells about his adventures
and the differences with the Netherlands he
experienced.
The Chinese market is elaborated upon in
the column by Mark Vitullo. He came up
with the idea that western countries should
possibly push their markets slightly more towards the Chinese regime, as they grow when
the rest of the world is in a recession. James
Small, on the other hand, gives his vision on
perceptions of China and how they are influenced by the media.
Additionally to the general background and
insights of our two columnists, economists
are looking at how growth can be sustained in
times of economic turmoil. This total different way of looking at China is touched upon
in the opinion corner; the question is whether the European economy can benefit from
the Chinese strong economic power? This is
very topical, since China is still one of the few
countries in the world which is sustaining almost double digit economical growth. As the
growth in Europe is almost zero at the moment, it is desirable to know, whether Europe
can benefit from China. Two students and a
professor will present their thoughts on this
subject.
I wish you all the best for the coming year and
hope you all will enjoy reading this China
edition!
Gijs van Hunsel
Editor-in-chief
January 2012 edition
3
table of contents
contact
ARTICLES
6
Background Article: Who is running faster on the track of
technology upgrade?
24
Professor Article: Changing a horse into a zebra
QUESTION PIECES
Board Asset | FIRST International
Jelle Wien
Chairman
[email protected]
Simone Heesbeen
Vice-Chairman
[email protected]
Eline Rombouts
Secretary
[email protected]
8
Company Focus: Achmea
Denny Koster
Treasurer
[email protected]
16
Interview: Dutch Embassy in Beijing
Fatima Abasari
Public Relations Officer
[email protected]
COLUMNS
15
22
23
Small: When you travel, you travel a thin line
Vitullo: The rise of the Market Marxists
Achmea: Sophie Hulshof
OPINION CORNER
18
Topic: “China is one of the largest economic powers
in the world. This is also beneficial to Europe!”
REGULAR FEATURES
Committees
Exposium Committee
[email protected]
Consultancy Day Committee
[email protected]
Design Committee
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European Travel Committee
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FINALS Committee
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Finance Expedition Committee
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FIRST Impression Committee
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FIRST Quarterly Committee
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First-Year Committee
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Career Path: Two students, two careers
Intercontinental Travel Committee
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19
InBusiness: LiveWall
International Committee
[email protected]
20
Starter’s Experience: Nyenrode Business University
Starter’s Experience: AkzoNobel
30
Study Abroad: Hong Kong, China
32
Event Report: Exposium Committee
34
Internship: Fuzhou New Oriental School
4
FIRST Quarterly
31
JANUARY
GENERAL MEMBERS
MEETING
The GMM will take place on the 31st of January at
‘t Pakhuys. The board will evaluate the activities of the
past semester, discuss the association and its policy
for the upcoming semester and every board member
will give an update on his or her function. Furthermore,
the board of 2011 will be discharged and the new ViceChairman and PR-Officer will be installed. The GMM
will be followed by the Monthly drink at Café Babbus.
Activities Committee
[email protected]
12
28
upcoming activities
International Business Administration Committee
[email protected]
Master Committee
[email protected]
Quest Committee
[email protected]
Yearbook Committee
[email protected]
25
FEBRUARY
INTERNATIONAL WEEKEND ACTIVITY
The next International Weekend Activity will take place
on Saturday the 25th of February. During this activity international students get the opportunity to get
to know the Netherlands and its surroundings. More
information on the destination will be announced.
29
FEBRUARY
IBA EXCURSION
The IBA excursion is organised on the 29th of February for first year IBA students. During this day you will
get the opportunity to get a better insight in production
and operations management as we will visit the Coca
Cola production site in Antwerp, Belgium.
EXTRA TRIP
27
MARCH
INTERNATIONAL DINNER
& MONTHLY DRINK
Are you going on exchange to Colombia, Canada,
Hong Kong, Spain or any other country? Then we organize the International Dinner for you! During this evening you will get the opportunity to talk to students who
have been to the destination you will be going. You can
get to know more about where to live, where to travel
and which courses to take.
29
MARCH
QUEST
Are you the best IBA Student? Find out during the
Quest who the best IBA Student is! During four rounds
of questions and discussions in the fields of Marketing,
Strategy & Organization, Finance and Accounting you
can show that you are the best IBA Student of 2012.
31-15 MARCH/APRIL
ITC TO CHINA:
BEIJING AND SHANGHAI
The ITC of 2012 will go to Beijing and Shanghai. During
this trip we will visit companies, so that the participants
get insight in the typical Chinese style of Business,
and participate in social and cultural activities to get involved in the Chinese way of living. This study trip is
a unique opportunity to experience Chinese business,
culture, and night life!
On the 1st and 2nd of March we organize the EXTRA
Trip for first year IBA students. During this two-day excursion we will visit, amongst others, the Coca Cola
production site in Antwerp, Belgium.
January 2012 edition
5
BACKGROUND ARTICLE
BACKGROUND ARTICLE
WHO IS RUNNING FASTER ON THE TRACK
OF TECHNOLOGY UPGRADE?
BY ZHENGYU LI
During the past three decades, China’s
rapid rate of development has been
widely acknowledged as a new successful example of industrial “catching-up”.
Large-scale production capacities have
been established in the country, with
a result that China is often termed as
“the world’s factory”. Over this period,
foreign direct investment (FDI) and
the bottom-up model of technological
learning have been significantly encouraged by the Chinese government. External sourcing of new capabilities through
acquisitions, joint ventures, and purchase contracts helps a firm to develop
new capabilities that both guard against
obsolescence and resolve organizational
inertia (Capron & Mitchell, 2009).
Technological capability building is crucial
for Chinese firms’ developments. What lies
in the center are the organizational and institutional learning systems, which frame
the technological capability building with
regards to the learning activities. My research
based on the Thomason Reuters SDC PlatinumTM database from 1985 to 2009 about
Chinese firms’ domestic and international
high-tech collaboration activities shows
that Chinese non-state-owned enterprises
(NSOEs) are becoming more and more active in technology acquisitions. In addition, I
found an evolutionary trajectory of the Chinese firms’ technology acquisition activities,
which evolved along with their increased
technological involvements.
Around 2004-2005, an important controversy arose among Chinese industrial leaders and policy-makers. The emergence and
rapid growth of NSOEs provided a strand
of thinking regarding the idea of catching up
for the society as a whole. In 2005, “indigenous innovation” and “quality of growth”
were put forward by Chinese central government. However, even though Chinese
policy-makers have realized the difference
between “production capacity” and “technological capability” (Bell & Pavitt, 1993),
technological capability does not emerge automatically (some scholars, such as Bell and
Pavitt (1993) point out that, in developing
6
FIRST Quarterly
countries, the growth of production capacity
does not automatically lead to the building of
technological capability). The Chinese government has supported a series of projects.
However, many of them are confronted with
difficulties in attaining rapid industrialized
outputs; few of them have achieved their targets of technological innovation until now.
SOEs vs. NSOEs
Chinese policy-makers had FDI as an important instrument for reforming their stateowned enterprises (SOEs) and promoting
technological learning. In practice, SOEs
were encouraged to set up Sino-foreign JVs
with foreign MNEs under the “trading market for technology” policy (TMFT ), which
dated back from the mid 1980s, and played
a leading role in China’s industrial development policy till 2004. These Sino-foreign
JVs enjoyed the large domestic market and
a steady growth of production capacity under the TMFT framework. They also gained
substantial benefits from the favorable policy
“China’s rapid rate of development has been widely acknowledged as a new successful
example of industrial
catching-up”
treatment provided by the government. To
enhance the TMFT framework, Chinese
government invested in its elite resources,
and provided a series of special treatments.
In this way, Sino-foreign productive JVs established many large-scale manufacturing
bases in China. However, China also faces
serious challenges to meet its catching-up
targets. As mentioned above, the growth
of production capacity alone does not lead
to the growth of technological capabilities.
Even after more than two decades practice of
implementing TMFT policies, technological capabilities -- i.e. the capability to “generate and manage technical change” (Bell
& Pavitt, 1993: p159) -- have not been obtained by these backbone SOEs and relevant
Sino-foreign JVs. Even, on the contrary, most
of the previous capabilities in product development have disappeared from backbone
SOEs in a number of industries since, in order to upgrade corporate governance, many
SOEs passed the dominance of their organizational learning systems over to foreign
partners, which means they reformed their
organizations and underlying institutions
according to the advice favoring “advanced
models” suggested by MNEs. Consequently,
for many industries, China has obviously
played a dependent role in corresponding
global production networks. Take the TV
set sector as an example: Chinese TV set
manufacturers get core components, namely
the Integrated Circuit (IC) chips and the
Liquid Crystal Display (LED) panels, from
some international suppliers. However, if
the subsystems are upgraded, Chinese firms
cannot get a supply of updated components
until 4-6 months later. Suppliers provide the
new subsystems to Japanese producers first
because they are affiliated to, or have quasipermanent technical cooperation with these
Japanese TV set producers. The lack of inhouse development capability has Chinese
manufacturers continually being placed in
a position of dependency, even though they
may have larger manufacturing bases with
regard to their Japanese competitors (Feng,
2010).
On the contrary, the indigenous advance of
technological capability building has actually been led by some new entrants. Their
development has been independent of the
advocacy of TMFT. The rise of new indigenous firms has heavily challenged traditional
policy thinking. By comparison with the
backbone SOEs and related JVs, they grew
up independently of the central planning
economic system, had not established Sinoforeign productive JVs, received less governmental support in their early phase, and had
not followed the bottom-up pattern which
emphasizes the stretching of manufacturing capacity as a primary task. The most
important distinction is that NSOE firms
have continually carried out indigenous
product development and constructed their
competitiveness on such a process of technological capability building, which has not
yet been realized by SOEs. NSOEs relied on
in-house developed products since the very
beginning of the entry into the correspond-
ing industries and succeeded in building
sustainable competitiveness. For example,
in the car-making sector, prior to 2001, the
entries of NSOEs were blocked by the licensing regulation system; it was necessary for the
firms to get license for every model of theirs,
“The growth of production capacity alone does not lead to
the growth of technological
capabilities”
either imported or locally developed, before
corresponding models were launched on the
domestic market. Even through the license
regulation stressed product models, it actually was a barrier to industry entry, and if a firm
was not accepted by regulators as automobile
producer, it would be kept far from the catalogue in spite of anything in the technical dimension. Such a system was the legacy of the
former command economy in industrial entry administration, by which policy-makers
aimed to bring about national champions by
providing them with the market protection.
Although the regulation for domestic firms
has been changed in 2001, the regulation
for foreign investment in the car-making industry still remains. The foreign investments
in Mainland China are subject to two rules:
First, MNCs must cooperate with Chinese
firms if they want to establish productive
firms in China; secondly, the maximum
amount of productive JVs they can establish
is two. Therefore, with such a regulation,
MNCs would not choose NSOEs as their local collaborators when NSOEs were in their
infancy and did not receive the equitable
treatment from the Chinese government.
The limited collaboration opportunities with
foreign MNCs within domestic market, thus,
compel NSOEs to choose an alternative way
of seeking complementary firm-specific advantages (FSAs) they need – that is seeking
cooperation overseas – in order to compete
with indigenous as well as foreign MNEs in
their domestic market.
Therefore, compared with SOEs and their
associated Sino-foreign JVs, NSOEs carried
out a completely different pattern of technological learning process. Their learning was
implemented not through establishing JVs
with foreign MNEs in order to upgrade
their technological capabilities, but through
in-house product development and industrialization. They do not rely on specific JV
partners, but rather made use of technological resources globally. NSOEs started their
businesses under tough market competition
not only from foreign rivals but also from domestic incumbents, including SOEs and their
associated Sino-foreign JVs.
Conclusions
I cannot affirm that important features relating to technological learning of Chinese firms
have all been covered by the limited space I
have. At least the features in question are
closely pertinent to the learning patterns of
firms. Certainly, these differences did not occur in an isolated manner. They were deeply
interlinked with each other, and are connected with their differences of activities that
worked as the foundation for the “organization-technology-product” platform of firms
regarding capability-building. They were as
well relevant to the dissimilar evolution of
strategic intent. In line with the gradual shift
of strategic intent, SOEs had their knowledge
“Technological capability
building is crucial for Chinese
firms’ developments”
search localized because the development of
“proximate” technologies only did not oblige
them to change their recipes for organizing
research (Kogut & Zander, 1992: p392). By
contrast, the strategic intent of NSOEs directed their resource allocation, learning organization and knowledge accumulation.
Some may argue that the differences between
SOEs and NSOEs just reflected the dissimilar inclinations between incumbents and new
entrants. However, considering their macro
context, both SOEs and NSOEs were latecomers in terms of technological capability
by comparison with international frontiers. In
particular, Chinese SOEs had not had historical advantages of technological capabilities as
legacies for their rigidity, even if we take core
rigidity as the other side of the coin of core
capability (Leonard-Barton, 1992). In other
words, SOEs were becoming rigid as regards
building new technological capability, not
because of the negative symbiotic legacies of
being strong, but because of the inertia of being weak. Consider the fact that for stretching their production capacities (such as
building up new JVs repeatedly) SOEs were
continually transforming their organizations
during a long period, which suggested their
flexibility of organization in a pure sense.
Meanwhile, it is also unreasonable to argue
that the weakness in technological capability building was brought about by specific
organizational rigidities when firms focused
on other strengths, unless we admitted that it
was in general very difficult for firms to build
ambidextrous organizations good at both
production capacity and technological capability simultaneously. However, even without accounting for the international giants,
the success of NSOEs also has rejected this
hypothesis.
References
Bell, M., & Pavitt, K. 1993. Technological Accumulation and Industrial Growth: Contrasts
Between Developed and Developing Countries.
Industrial and Corporate Change, 2(1): 157-210.
Capron, L., & Mitchell, W. 2009. Selection Capability: How Capability Gaps and Internal Social
Frictions Affect Internal and External Strategic
Renewal. Organization Science, 20(2): 294-312.
Feng, K. 2010. Catching up or Being Dependent:
The Growth of Capabilities among Indigenous
Technological Integrators during Chinese Development. Working Paper.
Kogut, B., & Zander, U. 1992. Knowledge of the
Firm, Combinative Capabilities, and the Replication of Technology. Organization Science, 3(3):
383-397.
Leonard-Barton, D. 1992. Core Capabilities and
Core Rigidities: A Paradox in Managing New
Product Development. Strategic Management
Journal, 13(Special Issue): 111-125.
January 2012 edition
7
COMPANY FOCUS
ACHMEA
COMPANY FOCUS
INTERVIEW WITH LIEKE SNOEK
Could you briefly tell us something about
yourself and your career so far? Where did you
study and how did your studies affect your career?
My name is Lieke Snoek, I am 25 years old
and I am originally from the south of Holland; from Weert. I have lived there until I
graduated high school and when I did, I decided to do a language year at schools in Boston, USA and Perth, Australia. That year was
a really interesting year for me. It taught me to
become more independent and I found out
what I actually wanted to study.
When I came back, I went to Maastricht
and studied International Business and afterwards I did a Masters Degree in Finance.
I really enjoyed my studies because they offered a broad range of courses and they were
international.
During my bachelor programme I went
abroad to Indianapolis in the USA. I followed
a couple of courses there that were very different from courses offered in the Netherlands.
They were not as structured and scientific as
compared to what I was used to. I did like the
fact that I could take courses that were not in
my study field, such as Violence & Media and
Sociology. The American students were very
open minded and friendly and I had a really
good time over there.
After my studies I backpacked through Australia for four months and afterwards I started
applying for a job. I wanted a challenging job
with good prospects and many opportunities. I found what I was looking for at Achmea. I am doing the Achmea Financial Management Traineeship, which consist of four
assignments of six months. At Achmea I also
went abroad for half a year, thats part of the
traineeship. I went to Greece where I worked
for a Greek insurance company that is owned
by Eureko/Achmea. I recently started my final assignment and I look forward to finding
a nice job within the company when I finish
my traineeship.
What did you do besides your study and how
does that benefit you nowadays?
I always liked to do more than just studying
so I joined a Student Association in Maastricht. I was member of a year club and a
sorority and I participated in committees.
Basically my whole social life in Maastricht
8
FIRST Quarterly
was already working for DSM and didn’t have
enough time anymore to join a study association. Still, I think it could have been a good
learning experience for me.
about a large HR workshop that is coming
up. In the afternoon I will try to think everything over and process it. I will also call
some people who can help me with my tasks.
How did you start working here at Achmea,
how did you get in touch with the company?
A friend who was in the middle of selection
process told me about Achmea. He thought
it would be really my cup of tea. I had some
knowledge about Achmea and what kind of
company it is and I knew that the traineeship is very popular because of the responsibilities you get. I applied for it and at the final
selection day I met a couple of trainees that
already worked for Achmea. The atmosphere
was very open and friendly but ambitious at
the same time and at that moment I became
convinced that Achmea was the company I
wanted to work for.
Next to the work that I do in my trainee assignments, I also attend trainee activities
like courses about personal development
or leadership. I am currently the chairman
of the trainees committee as well. So for me
each day is very different and I enjoy that very
much.
Could you briefly explain what Achmea does?
Achmea is the largest Dutch insurance company and offers a wide range of insurance services for health care, life, car, house insurance
and pensions. Achmea differs from other
insurance companies because it has a very
diverse insurance portfolio and represents
many brands and insurance lines. In addition,
Achmea differentiates itself from the competition by focusing on outstanding service
for clients. Many Dutch brands are part of
Achmea like Agis, Centraal Beheer Achmea,
FBTO, Interpolis en Zilveren Kruis Achmea.
“I still benefit from my time at
the student association, I learnt
a lot of social skills”
revolved around my Student Association and
I really enjoyed my time there.
During my masters I worked at DSM, the
chemical company from Limburg. This parttime job really offered me the chance to put
my studies into practice, so I was really lucky
to have that opportunity. At DSM they have
their own pension fund and I worked at their
Back Office. I performed administrative tasks
and gained a lot of knowledge about investments.
You did not join a study association, why not?
Looking back, I should have done so, to be
honest. I had some friends who joined in
their second or third year and they asked
me to join as well. At that time, I was very
busy with my Student Association and I reclined their offer. Later on in my studies, I
started looking more towards my future and
I learned that a study association is a good
way to get in contact with companies and to
expand on your capabilities. At that time, I
Can you describe the regular working day
at Achmea?
All days are different, mainly because all
four traineeship assignments are different
and my work is very diverse. Usually my
day starts around 8.30 AM. I come in and
check my e-mails, have coffee with some
of my colleagues and discuss the work that
needs to be done during the day. At the moment I work at a HR Department, so my
meetings are about Human Resource issues. Today, for example, I have meetings
Can you give us some insight in your assignments?
There is a specially designed website where
trainees can find assignments they can
choose from. However, usually trainees find
assignments trough their internal Achmea
network. Trainees at Achmea can choose to
work at whichever department they prefer,
as long as there is a suitable assignment for
them. For me this allows me to really walk
my own path through the company and to
choose assignments in departments I think is
most interesting for me. This really differentiates the Achmea traineeship from other ones.
As a financial management trainee the focus
of my assignments is on finance. Though I
noticed throughout the traineeship that I
cannot concentrate on controlling tasks or
numbers only. I am growing to a managing
position so besides the financial aspects I also
focus on the managing side.
The traineeship finishes after two years. What
I see is that a lot of financial trainees go back
to one of the four departments were the’ve
done an assignment. But it is also possible
to search for a job somewhere else in the
company.
How are the traineeships assessed?
At each assignment, I draw up a work plan
that includes my responsibilities, goals and
tasks. After three months and at the end of
each assignment, my manager and I evaluate my performance. We discuss my performance, but also my personal development.
In addition, there is a career officer for the
trainees, who coaches trainees and who
monitors their development throughout
the traineeship. The career officer can also
assist in looking for assignments or a job.
Does your work reflect what you have learned
at your university?
University provides you with a theoretical
background and it expands your knowledge
by learning cases and models. It also helps
you to look at problems from different angels
and to have a theoretical way of approaching
things.
Still, university is theoretical and work is
practical. At Achmea I noticed that working
is not only about doing your work well but
also about getting in contact with colleagues,
pitching your ideas, standing up for what you
believe. In this respect, I would have liked to
have learned more ‘soft’ skills at university.
“Achmea is different from
other insurers mainly because
we have a wide portfolio of
So how do you experience the business culture
and your colleagues at Achmea?
The culture is the main reason why I wanted
to work for Achmea. The culture is very open,
friendly, warm and employee focused. A
sharp comparison to many other companies
that are mainly focused on profit. At Achmea
the employee is more the centrepiece of the
organization because in the long-term having
satisfied employees brings a company to new
levels. I really enjoy that way of working and I
know that there are many opportunities here
to work on my personal development. Besides that I, of course, have to deliver results
and work hard.
What kind of students is Achmea looking for?
Achmea is looking for students that are focused, ambitious, open-minded, responsible,
active and open to new opportunities. Students that are more than ‘just their grades’.
For example who have joined a student or
study association, who went abroad or who
have done an internship.
I feel that we do not have a ‘standard‘ type of
trainee in the company. At the moment there
are 35 trainees in the traineeship and we all
have very different characters. Still I think
January 2012 edition
9
COMPANY FOCUS
ACHMEA
Kunnen we jou een balans­
totaal van 100 miljard
toevertrouwen?
INTERVIEW WITH LIEKE SNOEK
that we share some general characteristics
and I really enjoy working and hanging out
with my fellow trainees.
What are the international opportunities?
In the traineeship, the international opportunities are focused on going abroad for half
a year. Working at a Euroko/ Achmea insurance company is a mandatory part of the
traineeship and I think it is the best learning
experience of the traineeship. Trainees can
work in Greece, Russia, Romania, Bulgaria
or Ireland. Working abroad is completely different from studying abroad because you are
totally immersed in the culture and there are
no international students to hang out with.
When I went to Greece for half a year, I noticed the cultural differences immediately.
For example, Greeks usually show up half
an hour late for a meeting, while I am very
punctual. Another example: I am very direct, while in Greece people express their
feelings in a more subtle way. I had to adapt
to that and learn to be very patient. But I
really enjoyed it and I learned to appreciate
the Greek mentality and way of living.
and discuss during the tutorials. Still, working is very different from studying because it
is not only your work that counts but also the
way you present it. I always felt that people
who are very good at their jobs will succeed
in their careers, but that is not always true. If
you have a great idea, but you do not dare to
tell it, it is hard for people to know about that.
Do you have any advice for our student
readers?
My main advice is to never let fear get in the
way of what you would like to achieve. Sometimes a new job or an assignment or even
pitching an idea can be intimidating. Still I
think you should always just try it.
There were times in the traineeship that I
thought; this is going to be tough. For example, last summer I was asked to work together
with the chairman of Interpolis on a organizational project and that prospect was quite
intimidating for me. I wondered how I could
be value-adding to a person with so much
more working experience. Still, I decided to
do it anyway because challenges like this only
make you stronger. I’m proud of my decision.
And I can really say: things are not as scary
when you just undertake it.
“So if you really want something, just do it!”
“I feel that we don’t have a
‘standard‘ type of trainee in
the company, we are all differWhat kind of skills did you learn at Achmea?
First of all, there are the specific skills that
you learn while working at four different
departments. I worked within finance, HR,
operations and in a call center. Very diverse
and I learned very diverse skills there.
Next to that, working life teaches you how to
interact with people, how to behave in meetings, how to connect with your colleagues,
how to give good presentations. It are more
the soft skills that are crucial. This is also
the reason why personal development and
leadership is an important part of the traineeship: it is one thing to be right, but people
have to acknowledge that as well.
Did you also learn these skills during your
studies or at your student association?
No, not really. I gave many presentations
during my studies and learned to debate
10
FIRST Quarterly
Met een eigen vermogen van ruim €10 miljard en een premieomvang
van €20 miljard zijn we het grootste verzekeringsbedrijf van Nederland.
Dat betekent een enorme verantwoordelijkheid als Financial Management
Trainee bij Achmea. Een uitstekende start van een veelbelovende carrière
bij Achmea. Kijk op www.werkenbijachmea.nl voor meer informatie.
Kunnen we jou
onZe Klanten
toevertrouwen?
solliciteer als Financial management trainee
AGIS
AVÉ RO ACH MEA
C E N T R A A L B E H E ER A C H M E A
FBTO
I N T E R PO L I S
Z I LV E R E N K RU I S A C H M E A
CAREERPATH
STUDY MATES MONIQUE AND PAOLO TALKING
ABOUT THEIR CAREERS AFTER THEY GRADUATED
consultancy was always appealing to me, I decided to apply for a consultancy job.
Although the crisis just arrived I luckily got two job offers, one from
Deloitte and one from Capgemini. I chose for Deloitte where I could
work directly for the board of Directors as an (internal) project manager. I managed projects within the field of Process Optimizing, Human Resourse and Finance. Usually I headed a team consisting out
of six to eight subject matter experts. It was my job to ensure that
the projects where delivered in time, budget and with a sufficient
amount of quality. Important components of my work were related
to change management and operational excellence. For example we
implemented a Mass Career Optimalisation tool within Deloitte (impact 5,500 employees). This tool enabled employees to manage their
work-life balance. During this project I was responsible for process
and organizational design leading to functional design and I organized ‘Train the trainer’s session’ to train all employees.
“Usually I headed a team of six to eight
subject matter experts”
Name:
Study:
Year of Graduation:
Current Employer:
Monique Lousberg
BSc International Business
Msc Marketing Management
2006
BearingPoint
Just like Paolo I started studying International Business in 2001.
Paolo and I were both an active member of one of the predecessors
of FIRST International, called VITE International, and together with
some fellow students we founded the student association Awake.
After having enjoyed a good student life in Tilburg, I graduated from
the Master Marketing Management in 2006. While I was writing my
thesis I decided my student life should not be over yet and I began a
(pre)master European Private Law at Amsterdam University. After
my graduation in Amsterdam, I saw this as the perfect opportunity to
live and work in Argentina for a while in order to get my first working experience and improve my Spanish language skills. I worked
for a few months at a Dutch Real Estate agent (Casa34) where I was
responsible for the marketing and sales. After visiting some peers in
New York and Ecuador I returned to the Netherlands and was ready
for a ‘real job’.
During my study International Business I already visited a lot of
STEP Inhouse days which gave me a good impression what companies I did, and especially did not want to work for. Since management
12
FIRST Quarterly
After three years at Deloitte I decided it was time for a change and
wanted to work for an external customer instead of the internal customer. Furthermore I wanted to work in a more international environment. During my studies I already heard of BearingPoint through
a friend of a friend who worked there and was very enthusiastic about
it. Therefore I decided to apply. Within a month I had a job offer and
now I am working here for over a year already. My main field of expertise is Operational Excellence (Lean), but there is enough freedom to
explore different areas as well. I am involved for example in setting up
a global Center of Excellence in the field of Customer Experience and
specialising myself in Change Management.
“At the end of December my project ends and
hereafter it will be another surprise which project
I will do and where… “
BearingPoint is a very ambitious and young entrepreneurial firm
with a pan-European network. Projects can be internationally oriented. The spirit is entrepreneurial; the culture is co-operative and the
structure is flat. Currently there are working 70 people in the Netherlands, but over 3,500 in Europe.
We get a lot of trainings. There are two large training events twice a
year and every two weeks there is a consultancy academy, where core
consulting skills and specific in-depth training is given. Currently
I am working and living in Brussels for a project for the European
Commission. At this project I work in an international team where
we help improving the Program Management processes of a large
Joint Initiative (a Public Private Partnership). At the end of December my project ends and hereafter it will be another surprise which
project I will do and where… I love it!
TWO STUDENTS, TWO CAREERS
Upon graduating in 2005, like many of my peers I was thoroughly confused as to what my first steps in professional life
should be. Not because I did not know what I was interested
in, but because I was interested in so many different things.
It was therefore not all too odd that after a short spell studying abroad and an internship doing research in the public sector, I chose to start the ORMIT Multicompany Management
Traineeship. The traineeship program consisted of performing
three projects at different companies over a period of two years.
This experience provided me with the opportunity to better
understand what working in different functions and in different industries was like. After completing the ORMIT program
in 2009 I had a much clearer view of where I believed I would
perform at my best and more importantly, what I would enjoy
doing: management consulting.
Working at ORMIT in many different projects I had come
across management consultants at my clients, often envying
them as they got the largest share of the ‘juicy projects’. I wanted my share in these projects.
“Later, I had a much clearer view of what I
would enjoy doing: management consulting”
Knowing that I wanted to work in consulting was just the first
step. As I quickly learned, not only are there a large number of
consulting firms, they all have a significantly different approach
to consulting, with different cultures and different type of projects. I, eventually, ended up at a small consulting firm which
operated predominantly in the public sector, as this had been
the sector I was most interested in. I was very excited about
the many projects I was going to do in the public sector. An
economic downturn, however resulted in one of the biggest
pitfalls of working in consulting, not having projects. All firms
have a name for the consequence, being on the beach, on the
bench. Being on the beach lead to an utmost frustrating period
– not being able to work or get the experience I was looking
for. I quickly felt I was not developing and became increasingly
frustrated. Given that one of the most important reasons for
me joining the consulting industry was to get as much experience as quickly as possible. It was therefore that later that year I
once again started orienting myself on the opportunities in the
employment market.
Although I felt bad about having to leave an organization
where I had spent less than a year working, at the beginning
of 2011 I chose to move on. Having stayed in contact with
Monique after graduating, I was well aware of the fact that she
had started working at BearingPoint at the end of 2010 – and
that she was very happy there. She informed me that BearingPoint was still actively looking for candidates for their Operational Excellence practice. I did not know much more about
BearingPoint, other than that in the Netherlands the practice
Name:
Study:
Year of Graduation:
Current Employer:
Paolo Herde
BSc International Business
MSc Strategic Management
2005
BearingPoint
was relatively small, but growing fast. In the interviews that followed I
grew increasingly intrigued and impressed by the people I met; so much
so, that when I was offered a position, I could not say yes fast enough.
Now 10 months after moving to BearingPoint I can firmly say that I made
the right decision. BearingPoint’s approach to consulting is very different
to what I have seen elsewhere. At BearingPoint we combine helping our
clients develop their strategy with working with them to execute it – what
we call Strategy Execution. It sounds easy enough, but has very significant
consequences. Anything we say on Friday, we need to be able to help them
execute the Monday after. It creates a great dynamic, one in which we really need to work with the client. This vision and way of work is embodied
well in the company’s slogan, to get there – together.
At the moment I am working on a project at a UK client, a large vehicle
leasing company, with our colleagues from BearingPoint UK. From Monday to Thursday I am at the client’s site in London, where we are working on a project combining Operational Excellence with IT Strategy. On
Friday’s I am working from the Amsterdam office, working on both the
client’s project, but also trying to contribute to internal projects happening at BearingPoint. It is a great dynamic, one which I was looking for. In
consulting I have realized it is as they say in Dutch ‘hollen of stilstaan’,
famine or feast.
January 2012 edition
13
Al eens aan
Accountancy gedacht?
Opleiding tot
registeraccountant
Start 1 september
Drs. R.C.W. Eken RA (coördinator en studieadviseur van de opleiding), tel.: 013-466 3404, e-mail: [email protected]
Secretariaat Opleiding tot Registeraccountant, tel.: 013-466 34 22, e-mail: [email protected]
www.tilburguniversity.edu/ra
School of Economics and Management
SMALL
WHEN YOU TRAVEL,
YOU TRAVEL A THIN LINE
They say that “when you travel, you travel a thin line”,
meaning that your experiences and impressions of a city,
or even a whole country, are made of just the things you
see and experience at that moment in time and in that
place. So for example, if you stay in a city where there is
a special festival with music and parades you may have a
very positive impression. However, if you had been there
the week later, you may have seen police officers forcefully removing protesters from a street, leaving you with
the idea that this is a place of social unrest.
In June of 2011, I travelled to Beijing in China. Beijing is
a city with more than 19 million inhabitants, which is of
course more than the whole of the Netherlands put together. I was lucky, in a strange way, to end up in a rather
cheap hotel in the north west of the Dongcheng district,
and not one of the international tourist hotels in the city
centre. Lucky, because the city centre hotel district has
the same hotel chains, high rise office blocks, shopping
malls and restaurants that you find in other cities all over
the world.
Given my location, I was able to walk around the local
parks and the Hutong district, which is a hotchpotch of
old and new, and narrow alleyways. To my great enjoyment I could wander around without any sense at all of
being unsafe. This was a big contrast with my experiences
of other cities, such as New York and Rome, where you
have the impression that you constantly need to keep
your guard up to avoid getting into trouble. In general, I
was very impressed with what I saw in Beijing, from the
temples to the opera house as well as the hospitality of
people.
While there, I visited a company in the city of Tianjin
which lies south of Beijing. Along with a colleague and
our Chinese hosts, I took the high-speed or bullet train
from Beijing south railway station. This was quite amazing. The station itself was new, and designed like a modern airport. Boarding the train felt like stepping into an
airplane and economy class felt like business class here
in the Netherlands. A digital display announced proudly
that we were traveling at more than 300 km/h, but just
like in an airplane you could not tell how fast you were
going. Beijing to Tianjin is roughly the same as that between Den Bosch and Maastricht (120 km) and the train
can cover this distance in around 30 minutes!
On my thin line in China this was a high point and reinforced a growing impression I had of a modern China
with advanced technology, modern infrastructure that is
outstripping the West, and a vision of a country with a
special history and a clear vision of their future.
Just one month later 2 high-speed trains collided near the
eastern city of Wenzhou, killing 40 people. The investigation led to rumors of corruption, top railway officials
being fired, and it showed that corners had been cut in
the rush to build the world’s largest high-speed train network.
We read often, certainly too often, of corruption, and
technology and human failures. Take the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan. This brought into the media
spotlight corruption and falsification of test reports on
regarding the construction and maintenance of Japanese
nuclear reactors.
“We all travel a thin line every day,
but while we need to be critical
we also need to remain positive and
look beyond the thin line of our
own experience”
One other theme in the Western media coverage of the
train accident was China’s export of this high-speed
train technology. Chinese companies had gained access,
through joint-venture agreements, to technology and intellectual property from European, North American and
Japanese high-speed train manufacturers. It is claimed
that Chinese companies copied this technology and
know-how and now try to export this to other countries.
The Chinese companies, in turn, claim that they have not
stolen the technology, but made their own innovations
and patents, extending the existing knowledge.
One thing is certain; the accident has put the brakes on
the development of China’s high-speed train network
and worries about safety and quality have led to the postponement of new trains and tracks. I presume it has also
made it more difficult for Chinese firms to export their
train technology to other countries. Given what I saw of
high speed trains in China, this seems a pity.
I cannot help, but wonder what my impressions would
have been if I had been in China the week of the train
accident. But then again, what if I had been a tourist in
New York in November of 2011, when the police cleared
away Occupy Wall Street protesters, injuring 17 people?
On reflection, we all travel a thin line every day, but while
we need to be critical we also need to remain positive and
look beyond the thin line of our own experience. So, do
travel, and go and see China for yourself!
January 2012 edition
15
INTERVIEW
DUTCH EMBASSY IN BEIJING
INTERVIEW WITH HEAD OF THE ECONOMIC DEPARTMENT JEROEN LAMERS
What fascinates you about China?
First of all, I find it fascinating how a country of such scale and immense diversity goes
through a period of high-speed growth, and
rapid social changes as a result thereof. My
interests lie with economic development
in the East Asian region, and how we as the
Netherlands can make sure that we are wellpositioned to benefit from the enormous
economic developments in this region.
“I find it fascinating how
China goes through a period of
high-speed growth and rapid
social changes as a result”
Did you know a lot about the Chinese culture before you took this job?
Originally, I have a background in East Asian
Studies, though my main focus as a student
was on Japanese Language and History. I did
follow some courses on Classical Chinese,
but that is quite some time ago. What helps
is that I have spent seven years previously in
Japan and Korea, since there are many similarities (as well as differences) between these
countries, especially in their underlying economic model for catching-up.
Could you point out some major differences in the way Chinese and Dutch people do business?
It is important to remember that China has
a very deep-rooted commercial tradition. It
is not that trade and industry came to China
only as a result of its encounter with the West,
“Having a clear goal can help
to deal with differences in the
way of doing business”
or started with Deng Xiaoping’s reforms in
the late 1970’s. So it is only logical that there
are differences in the ways people do business
in China and in the Netherlands. The cultural
and political environment is also entirely different, as is the role of the government in the
economy. What is very important, for anyone
coming to do business in China, is to realize
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FIRST Quarterly
“The importance of the Chinese will no doubt increase dramatically in the years to come”
that things are really different, and to have a clear picture what he or
she wants to achieve in China. Having a clear goal can help to deal
with differences in the way of doing business.
How substantial is the trade between China and the Netherlands?
The Netherlands is the second largest destination in Europe for Chinese exports, and Europe as a whole is the most important export
market for China. The Netherlands is a major investor in China, and
we are roughly taking a share of 5% of European exports to China.
The economic importance of China is growing, and there is also a
substantial employment generated in the Netherlands as a result of
our economic dealings with China.
What role is the current credit crisis in Europe taking there in
China? What is the view of it in China?
Given the importance of the European market and the EURO to
China, the Chinese have continually expressed a hope that the
EURO-crisis will be speedily resolved.
In what way should Dutch students prepare for the Chinese
economic dominance in the next decades?
The importance of the Chinese will no doubt increase dramatically
in the years to come. It is important for the Netherlands to be well
aware of what is happening in China and for Dutch companies to
determine whether they should be a part of the Chinese growth
story.
Work hard and be ambitious!
How does the Netherlands benefit from the rise of China and
could you point out some areas where it could be improved?
As said, the Netherlands economy has a strong trade and investment relationship with China. With the economic network in China we are trying to promote and strengthen all areas of industrial
expertise that are outlined in the Top sector approach of the current
cabinet. In particular, there is great interest on the Chinese side in
Dutch expertise and know-how in the agriculture and water sectors.
Do you believe that the Chinese language will eventually take
over the English language as the most dominant language in
business?
No, I think that the dice has been cast in that respect and that English will remain the lingua franca for international business. Nevertheless, the importance of Chinese will certainly increase. For anyone who wants to make serious work of China, it is a prerequisite to
speak the language.
What could Dutch students learn from the Chinese students?
Work hard and be ambitious!
January 2012 edition
17
INBUSINESS
LIVEWALL
OPINION CORNER
CHINA
BY FRITS MAHOVIC AND EELCO VAN DE WIEL
The development of the world to how we know it nowadays is manifold, a lot of things have changed. Only to mention that remote
regions have opened up to the world increasing the exchange of knowledge and other resources internationally. From an economic
perspective we also see that regionally-oriented ventures explore beyond their geographical boundaries and amplify exchange with
foreign partners. This shift from the regional economy to an international one is yet one of the first steps into a global economy.
This partly explains us that the Asian world and China opened up to the rest of the world. As our European economy is one of the
world economies we asked three people about their opinion, each having completely different academic and social backgrounds.
“China is one of the largest economic powers in the world.
This is also beneficial to Europe’s economy!”
FABIAN VRINS
YUNHAI SU
GEERT DUYSTERS
There is no doubt Europe can benefit from other large economic powers in the world. Europe
its longtime relationship with the U.S. is living
proof of a mutually beneficial relationship between two economic power blocks. However,
it is clear the biggest challenge in developing a
comparable relationship with China is not an
economical one, but one of a more cultural/political nature. The reforms implemented under
the rule of Deng Xiaoping, that have opened up
the Chinese economy in the 80s, have already
brought both worlds closer on one level. To
open up on another level, the question remains
how willing and able, are both parties to transcend cultural differences and balance each other’s political power. According to the increased
western entrepreneurial activity in China, more
western people are looking beyond the red,
communistic label and are seeing the opportunities that this huge market has to offer. Due to
the export of low priced, mass produced products, China has become more prosperous. Now,
with increasing disposable income to spend,
demand for more sophisticated products rises.
Europe its economy can enrich the lives of the
Chinese people with products that answer to
new demands in terms of quality and convenience to take the Chinese standard of living to
the next level. The great opportunity therefore
lies in the complementarity of both economies.
China will be the world’s largest economy in
the near future. This benefits Europe, especially
the knowledge-oriented economies like the
Netherlands. Export by innovative industries to
China ought to grow substantially. There come
increasing interests from China regarding sustainable energy, modern warehousing and life
sciences. Other specialised areas like environment protection, food safety solutions, luxury
and leisure goods, creativity industry, etc. have
a bright future, too.
Interestingly, it has been a long-lasting discussion as in whether the emergence of China poses an opportunity or a threat to Europe. Two
camps enjoy debating on this topic. Maybe the
“threat” supporters feel discomfortable due to
ideology differences or lack of self-confidence?
For someone who calls both continents home
I wouldn’t know why one will or should be a
threat to the other. China was historically the
world’s richest country during the Tang dynasty
(618-907 AD). We all know how the Silk Road
contributed to the peace and prosperity back
then. History repeats itself.
Those who were troubled by the debate have
witnessed the success of e.g. Volkswagen. While
some are trying to figure out “when” or “whether” to enter the Chinese market and bothered
by the physical distance between opportunities
and home, the reality on the other hand, however, is that the leading enterprises are steadily
(re)locating their decision-making power to
China.
Who will be the next one to catch the boat in
this new era?
Napoleon once said “Let China Sleep, for when
the Dragon awakes, she will shake the world”.
Over the past years the China has indeed awoken and the world is trembling.
Is this a blessing or curse? In my view it is primarily a blessing.
These companies make active use of the supplier and design base in Europe providing labor
for thousands of European employees. Whereas
China has already become known as “the factory floor of the world” it has made inroads on Innovation too. Leading Chinese companies such
as Haier and Huawei have successfully transformed themselves from low-cost producers to
key innovators. Major multinational companies
in the West do not have access to sufficient high
quality engineers to fulfill their employment
needs. In China there is an abundant supply of
millions of high quality engineers. These engineers are now often hired in China or are employed in Europe by European firms.
The rapid growth of the Chinese middleclass is
providing a large market for the West. Without
the Chinese market these companies would
face serious problems surviving in the shrinking European markets. Chinese investments in
Europe are exploding. Near-bankrupt firms in
Europe are brought to life by Chinese investors,
thereby saving thousands of jobs all across Europe. Many European governments and firms
are eagerly waiting for China to come to the
rescue.
Of course the rise of China as a political power
provides major challenges in terms of human
right and ideological issues. These issues are not
easy to solve but many companies have argued
that is easier to embrace a dragon than to fight
it.
Geert Duysters (1966) is a professor of entrepreneurship at Eindhoven University of Technology
and Tilburg University. He currently acts as the
scientific director of the BCE.
Fabian Vrins (1984) is a student of business
economics at Tilburg University. He is currently working on his graduation as a Master of
Business Administration in both Strategic and
Supply Chain Management.
18
FIRST Quarterly
Yunhai Su works at Corporate Finance & Accounting of DB Schenker BV. He studies Bedrijfseconomie in his part-time at the Tilburg University,
as well as the IEP Program of the BCE.
Young, ambitious, courageous and full
of preservance. Those are qualities
people often attributed to us, Frits Mahovic and Eelco van de Wiel, when we
started our business: LiveWall. A new
and modern company that is trying to
be innovative every day. LiveWall offers
the opportunity for direct contact with
everyone involved in your Social Media
environment. But what motivated us to
become entrepreneurs and to start this
business?
A while ago, Eelco van de Wiel on the board
of the Academic Business Club, was looking
for new board members. He immediately
thought of me since we have been colleagues
at the local café called Brandpunt in Tilburg.
Once meeting up for a cup of coffee, we suddenly started talking about something else
than the Academic Business Club. I told
Eelco about a “little idea” I came up with a
while ago: the first version of LiveWall. I
asked Eelco about his opinion and his help.
Only a few hours later, the ideas were written
down on paper and just a week later the first
client called in! The ‘Glazen Huis’ at the Tilburg Fair, ran by BNN Radio, approached the
new-born LiveWall to deliver a social media
experience. From that point LiveWall was a
fact, and moreover, a success in my opinion.
stance Tweets or Facebook updates. These
updates pop up at big screens and even online,
so that people are able to check out an event
before their departure. Since Social Media
is being accessed by an enormous group of
people on a daily basis, there are probably no
easier ways of advertising than via Social Media. Therefore LiveWall combines advertisements with the interaction of the public. In
addition, live video streams, photos and news
updates are added to the LiveWall.
By offering companies the opportunity to
advertise on LiveWall, the message of the
advertisement is more credible. People rely
on their friends and when people receive
updates from friends or other event visitors,
they tend to be more receptive for advertisements that are connected to those updates.
“There is probably no easier
way of advertising than through
Social Media”
Where will LiveWall go next?
The “Glazen Huis”, which is this year situated
in Leiden, is a unique opportunity for LiveWall to grow nationally. The “Glazen Huis”
is a fundraising charity event that is yearly
visited and followed by millions of people.
However our limits are not bound to the
Netherlands. This year we are planning to
provide a LiveWall for the Olympic Games
in London. Although that may sound overly
optimistic for some, we believe it is possible.
Nothing in the past decade has grown as
fast as social media and that is exactly what
we have in mind for LiveWall. What started
in a small pub in Tilburg three months ago,
has now grown into a business that does work
for ABN Amro Bank, Pathé, Gogo, Phillips,
Rabobank, 3FM and the Chamber of Commerce amongst others.
Besides LiveWall, there are more applications
the company provides: MedicWall, LoveWall
and LiveTable. Every event will be made into
a unique experience, because the Livewall
concept is designed in such a way that it can
be adapted to several occasions. Our goal is
to provide a personal touch for every client.
Students at LiveWall
LiveWall also offers internships to students
with a fresh, new mindset. LiveWall offers
them the opportunity to grow in a creative
company. The company is open to new ideas
and concepts. So feel free to contact us.
Idea behind LiveWall
LiveWall is an application that creates a
unique interactive environment by combining several forms of Social Media into one
“Wall”. The main purpose of LiveWall is connecting people at events by allowing large
groups to communicate by means of for in-
January 2012 edition
19
STARTER’S EXPERIENCE
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT STUDENT
AT NYENRODE BUSINESS UNIVERSITY
BY MAARTEN MIES
quickly. Furthermore, the program is tailor
made and adapted each year as a result of
previous years’ evaluations, which increases
the quality. Furthermore, teachers are often
working as managers and they will as a result
focus on practical and actual events rather
than academics.
Within my study, I have chosen the Financial Management track, since I wanted to
specialize more after my somewhat general
Bachelor. Altough almost every student at
Nyenrode thinks that their own track is the
toughest; the Financial Management track is
seen as the toughest at Nyenrode. The exams
at Nyenrode overlap between all tracks so after the exams there is time for great parties!
Career so far:
2011-present
2011-present
2005-2010 2007-2010 2006-2009 2008 2009 MSc. Financial Management, Nyenrode Business University
Committee member Jazznight & Zolderbar, NCV
BSc. International Business Administration, Tilburg University
Various committees, MAK Mentorship System
Waiter/Job coach, Mise en Place Tilburg
Board member as treasurer, MAK Mentorship System
Erasmus exchange, Copenhagen Business School
My active life in Tilburg
During my study Business Studies, which was
renamed to International Business Administration later on, at Tilburg University I have
been active within the MAK Mentorship
System as a committee member and later as
a board member. I have always enjoyed every bit of my life in Tilburg! After 5 years of
Bachelor it was time for me to choose a Master. The main question for me was whether I
wanted something completely different, or
wanted to stay in Tilburg.
Why Nyenrode?
During my study abroad in Copenhagen I
studied at the Copenhagen Business School,
Besides my interests for Business Schools with
more entrepreneurial and practical focus,
I felt that 5 years of Tilburg University was
enough for me. The question rose, whether I
should go abroad again, or whether I could do
something different within the Netherlands
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FIRST Quarterly
that fits my needs? From an ex-colleague I got
to know more about Nyenrode as a Business
University, I also got acquainted with Nyenrode during my job at Mise en Place. I signed
up for an information session and from the
very first moment I felt I wanted to study at
Nyenrode. The lovely campus, the whole atmosphere, living on campus, the very tight
network and the connection with business
attracted me.
Studying
With a degree in Business or Economics you
should be able to go through the tough program. The big difference with Tilburg University is not the level of difficulty, but it is
the tightness of the program. In this program,
you get less time per course which makes
your semester very packed with courses,
cases and exams. As a result, learning to deal
with strict deadlines and time management
is something you have to and will learn quite
“After graduation I will look
back at a wonderful experience
and I will be connected with
Nyenrode as a worthy Nyenrodian for the rest of my life ”
Student Association (NCV)
Our student association is different from
the ones you know in Tilburg. At Nyenrode,
there is only one and everyone is automatically member of this association. Various
committees arrange great events such as the
Race of the Classics, a ski-holiday, a winetrip, business trips, company visits and many
more activities.
When you do not feel like studying for a couple of hours, Nyenrode has a bar on campus
where you can relax after all your hard work.
As a result work hard, play hard definitely fits
Nyenrode and its student association.
Next step?
At this time I am writing my thesis at
MAN Truck & Bus (part of PON Automotive). This process lasts for 10 weeks, but
luckily we write our thesis with a partner..
Fortunately, we are able to choose our partner ourselves. . The 20th of January the graduation will take place for everyone who successfully finishes their thesis. After the 20th
I will look back at a wonderful experience
and I will be connected with Nyenrode as a
“worthy Nyenrodian’ for the rest of my life. ”
SOPHIE
HULSHOF
THE RISE OF THE MARKET
MARXISTS
In truth, this is not surprising to most economists
working today. First of all, centrally-planned economies are singularly incapable of the creative destruction needed to make possible the implementation of
technological and organizational innovation required
to sustain growth in an economy. In other words, there
may be technological development in communist societies, but there is no real mechanism in the economic system for clearing out obsolete methods in order to
actually benefit from these advances.
Secondly, hard-line socialism of the Marxist variety
actually assumes a fairly abstracted but profound form
of altruism among the populace. Essentially, workers
at all levels are supposed to, on a fairly regular basis,
divorce themselves from their own selfish needs in efforts that benefit “the greater good.” Workers, read human beings, do not actually work that way.
“Essentially, workers at all levels are
supposed to, on a fairly regular basis,
divorce themselves from their own
selfish needs in efforts that benefit
“the greater good”
At the other end of the spectrum, however, are the
free markets themselves. They too are far from perfect.
Markets are capable of ignoring issues that demand
address, even issues that involve vast numbers of the
parties involved in commerce in the same said markets. Witness the paradox of a financial system that
seems to repeatedly trend towards rewarding the very
behaviors that conceivably could lead to its destruction. Additionally, there is something vaguely objectionable about a system that views the humans participating in it as a commodity, though admittedly this
may be more of an objection to economies as such.
Still, it is a trait that is disturbingly amplified in free
market systems.
In short, humans are self-centered creatures who do
their best work when provided with tactile rewards
of the type best provided by free-market commerce,
22
FIRST Quarterly
while at the same time those markets are capable of
steering away from solutions to problems that plague
both the participants in the markets as well as the markets themselves.
For me a traineeship at Achmea means working,
developing and adventures. I have only started
working here the 1st of May, and I have already
been witnessing so many beautiful projects,
seminars, gatherings, activities and parties.
VITULLO
ACHMEA
VITULLO
Communism, as history has established, does not
work. Basically, despite whatever insights Marx
may have had into the flaws of capitalism, and it
can be argued that he did have quite a few, the economic practice derived from his philosophy fell
flat on every occasion it was applied to an actual
national economy.
In this respect, China may have hit on something.
While a variety of reasons are given for China’s booming economy, it is not currently en vogue to attribute
it to the peculiar hybrid of free market aspects and
central planning that make up the present-day Chinese economic system. Yet, it could be argued that it
is this attitude of embracing market economics while
keeping a stern and wary eye on it that form one of the
“At the end of the day, a more Marxist hue to our capitalist green might
just keep all of us out of the red”
key ingredients to China’s success. Keep in mind that
recent data published by such august organizations as
the IMF, the OECD, and the World Bank, if drawn together as was recently done in Time magazine, make
clear that those economies based in highly-regulatory
systems but with free market attributes and aspirations are out-performing most of the traditional bastions of capitalism. To wit, the United States, ranked
the fourth-easiest place to do business, is being outperformed in terms of economic growth by China,
India, Brazil, and Russia, all nations with increasingly
capitalist orientations but high degrees of government
regulation and coordination.
As such, China would be wise to tread lightly as it
pushes towards greater degrees of deregulation, in emulation of the traditional economic powers, and look
also to its rising brethren in the market. It could be
that the experiences being gained in the other BRIC
nations are more relevant than what can be learned,
at this point in time, from the United States, et al.
Similarly, the Western countries, as they attempt to
extricate themselves from the persistent economic difficulties of recent years, might do well to look to those
nations that are less reticent in their regulatory impulses. At the end of the day, a more Marxist hue to our
capitalist green might just keep all of us out of the red.
Mark Vitullo is a lecturer at the Tilburg University Language Center and a regular contributor to FIRST Quarterly. He wishes to thank Stephen Gandel of Time magazine for the succinct and insightful “The Deregulation
Myth,” as published in the November 14, 2011 issue.
I went to Zurich for the One Young World conference where I, at the invitation of the Crown prince
of Norway, HRH Prince Haakon, committed myself
to Global Dignity. Moreover, I have been present at
different leadership seminars, including one where
the world renounced Stephan M.R. Convey (Speed
of trust) spoke and where Louis van Gaal and Ali B
also shared their vision on leadership.
Besides this, there are also many activities which are
organized by the trainees. There is a company hockey
team and we participated in The Race of the Classics
for Young Professionals, a sailing competition with
at least 680 young talents participating on 23 classic
sailing ships. This is a sailing race to England, where
England is almost never reached because of the severe weather conditions in October. This year I was
also one of the participants.
After months of preparation (clothes, sponsoring,
etc.) we departed from the Veerhaven in Rotterdam.
The sight of the 23 ships together immediately put
us in the right mood. The overloaded suitcases and
bags filled with warm sweaters, thermo underwear,
ski socks and sailing suits were loaded. The team was
complete and we started this adventure with a party
in Rotterdam, which involved a lot of drinking. Unaware of the fact that the next day we had to cross the
see with waves that were, according to the skipper,
between two and four meters high. This meant that
the next day we had to pay for it!
Early the next morning we were the first team to leave
the harbor with the Zephyr. At this moment all the attendees were still enthusiastically enjoying the waves
and the amazing view of the Rotterdam harbor. For
the next 24 hours, we would stay on the ship and sail
to England at once.
Now you probably think this trip looked like a nice
sailing experience or like a holiday. The opposite is
true. From the moment we left the Maas and the ship
entered the North Sea, people hung on all sides over
the railing sick to their stomachs because of the high
waves, including the managers as well. Old fashioned
life jackets, which made sure moving was almost impossible, had to be worn for safety reasons. Everyone
was so focused to keep looking at the horizon just to
not get seasick. In no time the crew of our Zephyr
halved, because some could not take it any longer and
went to bed. However, some others were not able to
loosen their focus at the horizon in order to cook,
hoisting the sails or be of any other added value. This
amazing sailing trip had become for the seasick among
us a horror holiday!
“What will be the next adventure
during my traineeship?”
After approximately sailing for ten hours, the organization decided that the weather conditions were too
severe and therefore changed the direction to Bruges.
The next morning there was finally solid ground underneath our feet! My co-trainee Frank and I made
a visit to the local pharmacy, where they luckily had
strong motion sickness pills. Due to healthy common
sense I asked what would happen if one of us would on
accident take two pills instead of one, whereupon the
pharmacist made clear that this would be extremely
unwise.
The retreat to the Netherlands went excellent with
calm weather conditions and no seasickness. Going
like a streamlined machine, even the sixths sails was
hoisted resulting in catching up with the other vessels. At the point that we wanted to start shouting and
screaming at them the halyard broke and from an outstanding position in the standing we slipped back to
one in the middle. All in all, it was a fantastic return,
with a special touch to it for me, because my fear of
seasickness came back and I decided to take a sickness pill as a precaution. The pharmacist was right, as
I had an extraordinary night not knowing where in the
world I was and looking like a red fury with my red
cheeks. I was definitely hallucinating, but at least I was
not seasick!
“Go to werkenbijachmea.nl for my
personal blog!”
In short, an exciting adventure during which we suffered, worked, but also enjoyed and partied. It was a
great combination and a nice way to get to know your
colleagues better. What will be the next adventure
during my traineeship? Go to werkenbijachmea.nl for
my personal blog.
Sophie Hulshof (24)
Achmea Management Trainee
January 2012 edition
23
PROFESSOR ARTICLE
CHINA: CHANGING A HORSE INTO
A ZEBRA
China’s transformation over the last
three decades has been amazing in strategy and results. The country’s emergence as a world economic power is built
on a mixture of economic liberalization
and political engineering. The gap between plan and market has partly been
closed by heavily managed reforms but
has to a large extent also been integrated
in the country’s redesigned institutions.
This article briefly summarizes my observations and study.
Contradictions
For western observers China is a country
of contradictions and researchers often get
desperate when trying to understand the
mechanics of the country’s socio-economic
system. Ownership structures are opaque
with local governments and local bankers
often playing a powerful role. Market forces
and administrative decisions coexist. The
legal framework looks strong and fair, but
the solution of conflicts and the control of
market behavior still take place along traditional channels like ‘guanxi’ (personal connections) and ‘zhongjian ren’ (intermediary
person). Newspapers tell hidden messages.
Managers are accountable to party secretaries, and so are trade unions. In financial
matters, the People’s Bank of China is ‘independent under the leadership of the State
Council’ and commercial lending frequently
follows policy instructions. The system has
been labeled a socialist market economy with
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FIRST Quarterly
old and new rules competing and formal and
functional features difficult to distinguish.
Clearly, China has its own culture, tradition
and political priorities which materialize in
miraculous characteristics.
Strategy
The transformation of China was announced
by Deng Xiaoping during the 3rd Plenum of
the 11th Party Congress in November 1978.
Since then a unique and historic process unrolled. Unlike the transition of Central and
Eastern Europe in the 1990s, China’s approach to the modernization of its society
“China has its own culture,
tradition and political priorities which materialize in miraculous characteristics”
did not include a rapid removal of restrictions and planning tools, nor did it aim for
an overhaul of the political system. Instead,
transition in China has been a gradual and
pragmatic process, strictly orchestrated by
the Communist Party in terms of speed, direction and measures.
China’s long term goal is to become wealthy
and efficient without giving up the control
over strategic sectors in the economy and
without challenging the country’s social
PROFESSOR ARTICLE
BY DR. HENK VAN GEMERT (TILBURG UNIVERSITY)
and political stability. To achieve this goal
China’s reform policy is firmly anchored in
three principles: one party rule, an eclectic
approach to free markets and a big and permanent role of the state.
Suppose the command economy is a horse
and the market economy a zebra, then transition in China is not simply replacing the
zebra for the horse but rather letting the zebra gradually emerge by a creative process
of drawing black and white stripes on the
horse’s skin. All the time reformers are busy
to paint the horse with ambitious pencils
and perfect the picture while evaluating the
intermediary results. At a certain point of
time, which might take many steps and attempts, the economy looks like a zebra. Yet,
the horse is still inside and nobody is sure
about the real nature of the animal.
An even larger part of the population had no
access to medical care and public utilities.
Thirty five years later, it is nearly as hard to
believe how dramatic the reform has been
able to improve these living conditions and
enhance the volume and quality of products.
Indeed, over the years China managed to increase per capita income by an average rate of
9.8 percent per year (a twelvefold increase),
create 370 million new jobs and lift 240 million individuals out of absolute poverty.
Growth and prosperity
It is hard to imagine how poor China was after the ending of the Cultural Revolution and
the death of Chairman Mao in 1976. In rural
areas 270 million people (28% of China’s total population) lived in extremely miserable
conditions, often in unheated places, eating
just home-grown grains and greens, possessing just a few sets of clothes per household.
Early experiences
Domestic reform began in the agricultural
sector with the introduction of microeconomic incentives to raise efficiency and to
mobilize labor. The leadership recognized
that, in order to develop China, it should
exploit the comparative advantage of abundant low-skilled labor. Farmers were allowed
to produce for the market, to start small and
collectively owned firms in townships and
villages or to set up commercial activities in
the cities. This policy set into motion a huge
reallocation of workers away from unproductive employment in agriculture to new productive employment in manufacturing, construction and the service industry. Over time
the employment share of the primary sector
declined from 71% in 1978 to 43% in 2006.
In parallel, the proportion of the population
in rural areas declined from 82% in 1978 to
“China’s reform policy is anchored in three principles: oneparty rule, eclectic free markets
approach and a big and permanent role of the state”
56% in 2006.
Opening-up policy began along the east
coast. Five special economic zones and 14
coastal cities were assigned in the early 1980s
to attract foreign investment and bring in
capital, management skills and technological knowledge. Later, foreign access was expanded to the inland. FDI came in either
to assemble and export industrial products
(with the benefit of cheap labor) or to serve
the domestic market (with the benefit of
scale economies). Trade relations were established incrementally with full current account convertibility and a unified exchange
rate realized in 1995 and WTO membership
in 2001. The foreign trade ratio,export plus
import as a percentage of GDP, increased
from 9.7% in 1978 to 67% in 2006. Today,
China is the biggest recipient of FDI, the
largest manufacturer of the world and the
second largest exporter of the world.
The year 1992 is an important milestone.
Three years after the suppressed student
protests at Tiananmen Square, Deng reformulated the scope and ideology of the transformation by announcing the concept of the
socialist market economy. This was an interesting step. The phrasing implied that market
forces were allowed to govern economic interactions while at the same time the socialist character of the society was preserved by
leaving the control over the most important
means of production in the hands of the public sector. A new period began. Expectations
about China’s future triggered a wave of optimism. Growth accelerated and the economy
developed like an engine. Investment,both
domestic and foreign, was booming, exports
expanded at double digit rates and the government initiated huge projects to improve
the country’s infrastructure and human capital. The state speeded up the further liberalization of prices and markets, the drafting of
commercial laws, and the establishment of
a macroeconomic management system. The
horse became more difficult to recognize.
“Expectations about China’s
future triggered a wave of
optimism”
The misallocation of savings
One important issue remained unresolved
for a long time. Four state owned banks
(SOBs, established in the mid 1980s) had
been channeling sharply rising savings into
thousands of unreformed state owned enterprises (SOEs, a legacy from the pre-reform
period), of which at least one third was loss
making. As a consequence, capital accumulation had resulted in a tremendous misallocation of savings and a repressed financial
system. The ratio of non-performing loans
in the balance sheets of the four banks was
estimated at 25-40%, all of this financed by
household deposits. Liquidity was abundant
so banks could go on doing their crony business, but technically they were bankrupt.
Enterprise restructuring had been delayed as
the Party could not tolerate the level of urban unemployment that would accompany a
widespread closure of SOEs. Consequently,
the SOBs were badly needed to finance the
SOEs with ongoing policy loans. This unsustainable situation of an emerging non-state
sector combined with a large, unhealthy and
inefficient state-owned sector reflects China’s ‘unfinished economic revolution’ by the
end of the 1990s.
January 2012 edition
25
PROFESSOR ARTICLE
Zhu’s bold approach
Of course, the government realized that
structural adjustments could not be postponed forever. Already in 1993, plans were
formulated to commercialize the SOBs and
to change the governance structure of the
SOEs, but policy makers did not hurry to
implement these initiatives. The Party feared
instability and was not prepared yet to take
over all the public facilities like housing,
health care and pensions which were traditionally offered by SOEs to their workers (the
‘iron rice bowl’). The government was also
reluctant to give up the financial system as
a powerful instrument, available on request,
to drive the economy into the preferred
direction; a desire which is still relevant today. Only after the shock of the Asian Financial Crisis a serious and systematic policy was
initiated by Prime Minister Zhu Rongji. His
commitment was bold and comprehensive.
His approach sought to attack three interconnected weaknesses at the same time: the
accumulated inefficiencies in the allocation
of savings (stock problem), serious shortcomings in the performance of the SOEs and
SOBs (flow problem), and thirdly, the need
to provide public goods and social security
through the budget (rather than through the
SOEs). Altogether, these measures represent
a well-determined and aggressive attempt to
rebalance the nation’s deeply impaired financial system.
Structural adjustments
Not surprisingly, it took more than a decade
for China to implement Zhu’s third phase of
the reform. SOEs were partly restructured,
partly sold and partly closed down. The
guiding principle was ‘to seize the large and
release the small’. A modern management
26
FIRST Quarterly
system was set up and the social obligations
of the SOEs were either adopted by the government or privatized. Financial repair of the
SOBs took place in four successive steps. The
first and most difficult one was restructuring
and recapitalization. Asset quality was restored by moving RMB 1,400 billion of bad
loans to four Asset Management Companies
(one for each bank) and capital adequacy
was upgraded by a series of capital injections worth RMB 720 billion. At the same
time, the China Banking Regulatory Commission initiated measures to promote commercial behavior, such as a loan classification
scheme, a loan loss provisions scheme, reporting requirements, accountings standards
and professional training programs for staff.
China’s economic success has
been based on capital accumulation, labor mobilization and
catching up technology.
The other three steps of the banking reform
included a transfer of the wholly state-owned
to a shareholding systevm (with the state remaining the largest shareholder), the establishment of strategic partnerships with foreign investors (up to a stake of 25%) and the
successful listings on the international stock
market. All four SOBs have now become part
of the world top-10 by market capitalization.
Structural adjustments since the late 1990s
have been radical and far-reaching. Yet, direct
state intervention keeps playing a large role
even in sectors that have been granted autonomy on paper. This may partly be explained
PROFESSOR ARTICLE
by gradualism and inertia, but to a larger extent it is also a deliberate choice of the leadership to satisfy its deep desire to control the
country’s development and avoid social and
political unrest.
One example to illustrate this feature is China’s response to the recession of 2008/09. To
compensate for the sharp drop in exports,
China decided to stimulate domestic output.
This stimulus, however, was not organized
by fiscal expansion but rather by ‘inviting’
the banking sector to be flexible in credit
expansion and accommodate the financial
demands of local governments and building societies. Another example can be found
in China’s industrial policy as laid down in
its Five Year Programs (the term Plan was
overpainted in 2006). According to the last
program (covering the period 2011-2015),
seven strategic industries have been selected
to receive a major boost. These industries,all
in the field of health care, energy & environment and technology, will get easier access
to finance and preferential treatment in borrowing conditions, procurement policies,
administrative procedures and taxation. Corporations in these industries are expected to
succeed on a global scale, moving the coun-
try away from its initial specialization (‘factory of the world’) and ahead in the world’s
production chain.
“There is little doubt that Chinese reformers will continue to
perfect the zebra in the future.”
Imbalances
China’s economic success story has been
based on capital accumulation, labor mobilization and catching up technology. Although
miraculous, the story also has a back side.
First, the improvements of material wellbeing have been accompaniedand facilitated by
serious political repression and a limitation
of civil rights. For the great majority of the
Chinese, this is just the price of prosperity
and stability, but, along with the emergence
of a middle class, feelings of unhappiness and
opposition are increasing. It is not clear yet,
how the Communistic Party of China will
deal with this emancipation trend.
Another concern is inequality. The benefits
of economic growth are distributed unevenly
and have created large income gaps between
the east and the west, between urban and
rural areas, between employed workers and
farmers. The government has been aware of
this gap for a long time and made many efforts to distribute wealth to a greater proportion of the population. The ‘go west’ policy
was initiated in 2000 and in 2006 planners
decided to start building a few hundred new
cities in the countryside. However, the differences in income and wealth are persistent
and most probably it will take another one or
two decades of further industrialization and
urbanization to reach the poor and develop
the remote areas. ‘To become rich is glorious’, as Deng Xiaoping once stated, but the
realization of this great vision takes much
time and effort.
A third drawback of China’s economic progress is connected with the environment. Until recently, not much attention has been paid
to the green consequences of the growth
model. ‘Blind’ industrialization, the reliance
on coal and a lax attitude towards pollution
have resulted in a severe degradation of the
country´s air, soil and water resources. The
government recognizes that this terrible
situation is not sustainable both from an
economic and a social perspective, so policy
priorities seem to change slowly. The 11th
Five Year Program (2006) put forward the
concept of ´scientific development´ and the
12th Five Year Program (2011) speaks about
´inclusive growth´. The translation of these
concepts into effective laws and regulation,
however, is a hard job, especially since local
agencies and other vested interest groups are
not very cooperative.
Growth over the last decades has also been
unbalanced in terms of composition. Driven
by exports and investment, private consumption has been growing at a much lower
rate. Although this bias is understandable in
terms of China´s development ambitions,
the current consumption-to-GDP ratio of
35% is remarkably low according to international standards (by comparison the ratio is
currently 71% in the US, 63% in Brazil and
54% in India). At this point the leadership
made a strong commitment to reset the
growth model and organize a shift of spending towards consumption. This, however,
requires a comprehensive mix of measures,
such as the creation of a country-wide social
security system (to reduce precautionary
savings), an appreciation of the currency (to
change the terms of trade and promote the
growth of the service sector), a further reform of the financial system (to improve the
access and supply of financial services), and
more. Obviously, the shift to consumption is
interconnected with China´s overall development policy.
Future
There is little doubt that Chinese reformers will continue to perfect the zebra in the
future. Markets will further expand. The
domestic industry will facilitate higher consumption and use new and cleaner technologies, while big firms and banks go on penetrating other countries and continents. In
parallel, there is also little doubt that China
will maintain its deeply institutionalized control system and preserve the horse’s bones
and lungs. An unusual animal has emerged.
This is China.
The author is Associate Professor in the Department of Economics and Honorary Professor in
the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. He has
done research on China since 1995.
January 2012 edition
27
STARTER’S EXPERIENCE
MID-MARKET DEVELOPMENT MANAGER AT AKZONOBEL
BY DIRK-JAN TER HORST
My name is Dirk-Jan ter Horst, I am 30
years old and have been working for
AkzoNobel since July 2007, just after
graduation. I will briefly describe which
steps I took to accomplish my goal to work
abroad – in Singapore – within 5 years,
and how it is to work for AkzoNobel.
In 2001 I started the study Business Administration at the University of Groningen
and specialized in Small Business & Entrepreneurship. I graduated from International
Business at the University of Mannheim,
Germany. During my study I was lucky to get
to know AkzoNobel from different angles.
Study Project and internship
First I was introduced to AkzoNobel as a
participant of the International Study Project China in 2006: Together with another
student I conducted market research for our
decorative paints business in China. Before
going to China my supervisor, the General
Manager of Decorative Paints in Asia, shared
his knowledge about the Chinese paint market and made sure that we could visit different important stakeholders. Besides, my partner and I were invited to Sassenheim to meet
several international marketing managers and
“Even though I already had a
good impression of the company,
I learned new things about
AkzoNobel”
for a guided tour in the factory.
Second, as an intern for AkzoNobel Salt Specialties. I developed a business model for a
new product (Double Fortified Salt) targeting the Bottom of the Pyramid in India. This
time I had a chance to get to know a completely other business of the company in another country. On my own, I went to India for
10 weeks to find a way for AkzoNobel to set
up the local business.
Masterclass
When I was back in Holland, I heard about
the AkzoNobel Masterclass and since I had
several questions concerning career opportunities and talent development, I applied.
After several selection rounds I was invited to
participate, together with 24 other students.
28
FIRST Quarterly
Even though I already had a good impression
of the company, I learned new things about
AkzoNobel. We worked on a business case,
with board members, senior management
and starters, and had a lot of fun. At the end
of the Masterclass I was lucky to receive a
voucher for a job, together with 4 other students. The only thing I had to do was to find
the right job. After several interviews I chose
to start as Product Manager for Trimetal.
Product Manager
Trimetal is a professional Decorative Paints
brand that is sold in The Netherlands, Belgium and France. My motivation to work for
AkzoNobel was based on the responsibility I
was given from the start, the diverse group of
people I could work with and the entrepreneurial spirit that I experienced.
As Product Manager for the Netherlands, I
was responsible for the communication and
promotions of the brand, keeping the assortment up-to-date, and several (international)
projects, like developing a new color tool,
implementing a CRM system, and renewing
the website.
Innovation Manager
After 2.5 years I was ready for the next step
in my career. I joined the European Decorative Paints team as Innovation Manager. In
that role I was responsible for creating and
delivering concepts, mainly in the field of sustainability. The fact that AkzoNobel asked a
young professional like me for such a responsible position shows the high value it puts to
developing its people’s talents.
At that time the company was transforming
rapidly, partly caused by the acquisition in
2008 of ICI, a large global chemicals company, based in the UK. The subsequent integration process was aimed at becoming a ‘real’
global player in the decorative paints market
that uses its scale in a better way. This process
is still at full swing. I realize that not everybody will get the opportunity to experience
a transition on this scale during the first years
of working, so I have been very eager to learn
about the impact of it.
Leadership program
Besides learning on the job, AkzoNobel values training its people in different areas. During my time as Innovation Manager I was
given the opportunity to participate in the
Sustainability Leadership Program, a program for future company leaders from all
over the world. During the course, which was
held partly in Europe, and partly in India, we
learned what it takes to being a leader and
how sustainability is linked to this. Being part
of this community and feeling valued by the
company makes me feel proud.
“Being part of this community
and feeling valued by the company makes me feel proud”
Next step: Singapore
My dream was and still is to work in Asia and
help grow business targeting the upcoming
mid-market. You can imagine how lucky I
felt when the job Mid Market Development
Manager was offered to me! After visiting
the region to get to know my colleagues and
the business I prepared for my relocation to
Singapore. Now all of this is done I can start
enjoying life in the most dynamic region in
the world!
It’s not about
having all
the answers.
It’s about
having all the
questions
AkzoNobel’s company line is ‘Tomorrow’s Answers
Today’. But we can only arrive at those answers
by constantly looking beneath the surface to
question the way the world works and the way
that we work.
This spirit of intellectual adventure has led to an
endless variety of innovative and sustainable
solutions. They include coatings that make
ocean liners more fuel-efficient, environmentally
responsible paints, and chemicals that enhance
the performance of countless every day products.
We’ve even started using renewable ingredients
such as potatoes to develop adhesives.
Asking ‘Is there a better way?’ and discovering there
usually is, has enabled AkzoNobel to become the
world’s largest coatings and specialty chemicals
company. Feel free to contact us if you have any
questions about a career with AkzoNobel.
www.akzonobel.nl/careers
STUDY ABROAD
HONG KONG, CHINA
BY RUBEN HOEFNAGELS
An exchange is the perfect combination of preparing yourself for an international career and having
a wonderful time meanwhile. Hong Kong is definitely the place where you can excel in that combination. Hong Kong is a city where a lot of action is
going on, both businesswise as in general life.
“Where the average constructor in
The Netherlands gets freight of height,
the constructors in Hong Kong
have just started!”
Imagine that you walk out your room in Hong Kong
(and imagine it is a small one!), you will see that you
step in an active surrounding immediately: Places are
quite crowded and buildings are high. Where the average constructor in The Netherlands gets fear of heights,
the constructors in Hong Kong have just started! Especially in the central-district the buildings are amazingly
high and specially designed. Crossing the river by the
so-called ‘Starferry’ will give you a great opportunity
to enjoy this wonderful skyline. Besides, there are lots
of fancy (sky)bars, beaches, shopping malls and markets
where you can have a good time for sure. If you are in for
a bet, you can go to either Macau or to the horse races
in Happy Valley. Chinese people like to gamble and are
quite superstitious, red means luck and numbers have
meanings as well.
Contradictory to The Netherlands, the weather is
mostly pleasant. Walking around on your flip-flops is
therefore great, although you might feel like ‘the tourist’ when standing at the traffic lights next to some properly dressed businessmen. It is clear that Hong Kong is
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FIRST Quarterly
a good place for business, especially since it is the easiest
and safest entrance for doing business with China.
At the university, I noticed that people have more respect towards their professor and that lectures are given
in smaller classes. A smaller classroom stimulates the interactivity, but also creates more control on attendance,
which gives some restrictions on your freedom, to say
it friendly. Though study results are important, I think
that the most added value of an exchange comes from
the experience and impressions that you take home. Get
in touch with the local culture, see some other countries
and challenge yourself in new situations. Besides, one
thing that I would advise you is to get impressions of
the business world as well. In a city like this, there are
always conferences, tradeshows, etc. that you can attend.
They are really inspiring and open up the world where
the serious stuff happens. An internship is to my opinion
the best way to discover the real business world in Asia.
Therefore I am spending quite some effort in finding
one, and I hope to start as soon as my exams are finished
here.
Hong Kong is also a good starting position to discover
Asia. Countries like Japan, Mongolia, Vietnam are all relatively close and worth seeing. A trip to inner-Mongolia
gave me the opportunity to do some horse-back riding
on the grasslands, to sleep in a yurt and to live with a
local family. In Guilin (China) I have seen a beautiful
show on a lake, directed by the person who created the
opening ceremony of the Olympic Games of 2008 in
Beijing. Sometimes, you might get (almost) in trouble
when making trips like that. Especially taxi drivers in
mainland China, tend to be quite chaotic! In Guilin, we
had the pleasure to drive against the traffic on a highway
because the taxi driver knew a shortcut. In Hohhot, our
taxi driver left us alone in the taxi because he got fined by
the police and had to come to their office. As long as you
can laugh about it, those are all fantastic experiences that
give some extra thrill in your life.
“The most added value of an exchange
comes from the experience and impressions that you take home”
The only things that you will probably miss are your
family and friends at home. Apart from that, an exchange
is a wonderful experience. And, especially if you stick to
the in Hong Kong much heard expression “Work hard,
play hard” you will definitely add value to both your personal as well as your professional life.
“‘Work hard, play hard’ and you will
definitely add value to both your
personal and professional life”
EVENT REPORT
EXPOSIUM COMMITTEE
EVENT REPORT
BY GIJS VAN HUNSEL
The Exposium committee of 2011
consisted of five enthusiastic students, two guys and three girls, from
the study associations Asset | FIRST
International and Asset | Economics.
These five heroes worked under the
skilled lead of two coordinators from
April till October extremely hard to
put a new concept together: The Exposium.
On Thursday the 13th of October
2011, Asset | FIRST International
and Asset | Economics together organized an Exposium about trust.
In the early morning of the 13th of October the whole committee came together
at the FIRST room at 9 o’clock to have a
nice champagne breakfast together. This
all was necessary to start our D-day fresh,
confident and with a full stomach to be
able to cover the whole Exposium day.
The whole committee was a bit nervous and
tension was clearly seeable on the committee’s faces. Obviously, this had several reasons. In the final week, the whole committee
had to do the last tasks for the Exposium.
All the goodie bags had to be packed in the
last week which meant that the committee
worked as an assembly line wherein we had
‘30 minutes later we opened
the doors of DZ1, the big stage
of our event’
a water bottle guy, a booklet guy, a pen guy
and an art tape guy. Furthermore, the badges
had to be prepared and the group schemes
had to be adjusted over and over again as
the last minute registrations were booming.
After finishing our breakfast we had to
prepare the lecture room where the big
show would take place. After this was
done, the committee had a couple hours
to rest before the first ever held Exposium would start. At the moment that our
keynote speaker, Piet Depuydt, arrived,
a wave of optimism was clearly seeable
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FIRST Quarterly
speakers. The first one was Chris Snijders,
he is a professor at the TU Eindhoven and
works there in both the fields of Mathematics and sociology. His lecture showed the
‘What made him in a couple of
seconds the less beloved member of the association’
and we knew that we were able to start.
Around a quarter past twelve, the first visitors arrived in the D-Building and we started the registration and handing out the
name badges, while also handing out our
goodie bags. Approximately 30 minutes
later we opened the doors of DZ1, the big
stage of our event, and guided all the teams
of participants to their colored team seats.
The Exposium started with Jan Stoop, the
chairman of the day. In his short opening,
he explained the whole program of the day
and gave a short introduction to our keynote
speaker. This first speaker, who was thrown
to the lions, was Piet Depuydt, the financial
editor of the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad and writer of ‘de kloof ’. His lecture
was about the Fortis case. From the start,
where Fortis became the biggest bank and
Insurance company of the low lands, till the
collapse in 2008 where the Dutch government had to purchase the Dutch part back.
The participants reacted enthusiastic on his
speech and his vision on the Fortis merger.
After this keynote speech, it was time to
start the main event of the Exposium: the
experiments, under the skilled lead of our
Chairman of the day, all the different teams
started with several economic experiments
all in the field of behavioral economics and
trust in particular. After every experiment,
the background and empirical results of
the experiments were discussed. Since concentrating for 2.5 hours is too much for
more social aspects of trust on human behavior and applications in real life. After this
intriguing speech Ivo Thijssen took over. He
is a young talent at the department control
groups financial companies of the AFM. In
his talk, he explained how the AFM worked
on rebuilding trust confidence after the financial crisis and in particular what methods the AFM uses for achieving that goal.
Last but certainly not least, Timon Bo Salomonson, Counselor of the Belgian Embassy
in The Hague gave maybe the most inspiring
speech of the day. During his lecture, called
‘Trust Matters’, he explained from a counseling point of view why trust is one of the most
import things in life, by giving anecdotes out
of his working experience and personal life.
In the meantime twenty-five Exposium participants were blessed to participate in the
workshop which a dynamic duo of the Nyenrode business University organized. Next to
the basic info about what Nyenrode did and
why you should study there, they brought an
interesting case study for all the participants.
In the grand finale of our Exposium, it was
finally time to let the winning team of 6 participants fight each other in a final experiment. Unfortunately for the committee, this
6 stage experiment ended in a draw, so the
coordinator had to come up with a decision.
Eager as he was, he decided to let the prebreak experiment results count as well and as
a result, our Exposium finally had a winner.
The Exposium ended with the final speech
given by the chairman Gijs van Hunsel,
with a little shake in his voice he thanked
all the four fabulous speakers, Nyenrode
and the other hardworking committee
members. Although he thanked Asset |
Econometrics instead of Asset | FIRST
International, what made him in a couple
of seconds the less beloved member of
the association, he recovered and closed
this memorable day full of experiments.
After this exhausting but fun day, all participants were invited to the informal drink in
Tilbury’s, where they could prepare their
livers for the COdE Beer cantus which was
planned later that night. Although this predrinking should be the most optimal way of
preparing for most students, only few people
showed up since most students do not believe in pre-drinking just before a beer cantus.
Looking back at the 13th, we can conclude that
the first-ever-held Expsoium was a good organized, interactive and educational day for all.
‘Timon Bo Salomonson, gave
maybe the most inspiring
speech of the day’
the average student, a well deserved break
was planned after these experiments where
everybody was able to discuss the outcomes of the economic experiments themselves. After this break, the parallel session
and the workshop of Nyenrode started.
During the parallel session, there were three
January 2012 edition
33
INTERNSHIP
FUZHOU NEW ORIENTAL SCHOOL
BY LISSA VAN DER HEIJDEN
After having said goodbye to my family and
friends, my adventure to China could finally
begin. The flight took almost twelve hours
and when I arrived in Xiamen my Chinese buddy was already waiting for me. She
showed me around Xiamen and helped me
overcome the culture shock.
In the beginning, I was very surprised by everything I saw in China; all Chinese people
were holding umbrellas to protect them from
getting sunburned, the definition of sunbathing was just sitting on the beach while wearing clothes, there were millions of people in
a hurry and no one spoke proper English. I
was supposed to be staying in Xiamen for
two weeks to learn some Chinese, but things
turned out differently. On the fifth day, I
was informed that my internship in Fuzhou,
which is two hours away from Xiamen, would
start early. My internship consisted of teaching English to Chinese students both at the
Fuzhou New Oriental School and in summer
camps arranged by the school. I went to Fuzhou by train where Chinese teacher assistants picked me up to bring me to the school
for an introduction. There, I found out that I
was going to stay with a host family until the
first summer camp would start. The host fam-
“I was not allowed to pay anything, as the tradition is that
Chinese people pay for their
guests”
ily was amazing and I experienced the real
Chinese life. I was staying with a girl of eleven
years old and her grandparents, because her
parents lived far away from the school. The
little girl’s level of English was quite good and
improved a lot during my stay. The grandparents were really sweet and took good care of
me. I was not allowed to pay anything, as the
tradition is that Chinese people pay for their
guests. In the evening, I taught English to
Chinese students from 16 to 23 years old. The
focus was on improving their oral skills, so
we talked a lot, mainly about cultural differences and our private lives. In the beginning,
it was hard to achieve a lot of activity in class
as Chinese students are very disciplined and
used to listening and writing only. However,
34
FIRST Quarterly
after a few days, they saw me as their friend
and they kept on talking and asking me and
each other questions about numerous topics.
After twelve days, the first summer camp of
ten days in a row started. I moved from the
host family to the summer camp where I
shared a room with two other female foreign
teachers, one from the United States and one
from England. Also, there was a male teacher
from Poland. We were all of the same age,
had a lot of fun and could help each other out
“By being open minded and
making the most of it myself, I
enjoyed every minute to the
fullest!“
in times we could not see the wood for the
trees. We had a heavy work load of 6 hours
teaching a day, excluding the time to prepare
for the classes. Besides, we were supposed
to talk and play games with the students in
the evening. Things were not arranged well
by the school and more students than expected joined the first camp. I had to teach
to 40 students, which was way too much as
it was impossible to improve the oral skills of
all students at the same time. Moreover, the
level of the students differed a lot. Two Chi-
nese teacher assistants helped me out in case
the students needed Chinese translation. Together we managed to control and entertain
the class and the first camp turned out to be
successful. The second, and last, camp started
four days later. We decided to go to Shanghai
in the meantime. A train ticket to Shanghai
was really cheap and the trip took only six
hours, so we had enough time left to explore
Shanghai. It was really great and much needed after the intense 10 days of teaching. Back
in Fuzhou again, the second camp started,
which was fortunately better arranged than
the previous one. Fewer students joined and
the camps were more structured. The internship was a very good learning experience and
I met a lot of new people, who I am still in
touch with.
After my internship, I stayed in China for
three more weeks. I travelled to Beijing with
another foreign teacher, visited one of my
Chinese teacher assistants at her parents’
house which was situated in a very small
town in mainland China and I spent my last
days in Hong Kong. My summer abroad was
great and I am very glad that I have decided
to do it. By being open minded and making
the most of it myself, I enjoyed every minute
to the fullest!
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