Business Xperiences

Aulia Tirtamarina from Surabaya, Indonesia studies International Civil Engineering Management. She is currently undertaking an internship with a consultancy firm. ‘No need to feel homesick in Groningen.’
 
Ever since her childhood Aulia Tirtamarina (22) wanted to study abroad to see how people in other countries live and work. ‘After finishing the Transport study programme at the Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) in my hometown Surabaya, I received a joint scholarship from the governments of Indonesia and The Netherlands. The scholarship provided the perfect opportunity to fulfil my international ambitions. The Netherlands pay for the scholarship because there is a lack of technicians. I will probably stay here for a while, but the world is wide and eventually I will go back to Indonesia to help build up the country.’

Models
Aulia’s parents are both lecturers at the Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember Surabaya. ‘My dad teaches marine engineering and my mom civil engineering. When I was little, my mother often took me to ITS and while waiting for her I often played with the models of civil engineering project like railway stations and bridges. Civil Engineering has fascinated me ever since. This is probably why I opted to study International Civil Engineering Management in Groningen and get a double degree. I’m in my fifth year now, four years in ITS and one year in Hanze

Shock
Aulia is happy that she came to Groningen now, but the first days in the Netherlands were quite a culture shock. ‘The Dutch are very straightforward. During one of the first days I was here, my classmates were not quite satisfied with my work and became a bit annoyed. I was really surprised. Indonesian tend not to show their irritation and anger, they will keep still.’
On the same occasion Aulia discovered that the Dutch also separate business and their private feelings. ‘Only five minutes after this incident, one of the classmates came up to me and offered me a cup of coffee in a very friendly tone. To me that’s weird! Another thing I found out is that ‘yes’ means ‘yes’, and ‘no’ means ‘no’. If you ask someone to help you, they either say ‘yes’, or ‘no, I’m busy’. In Indonesia the answer will always be ‘yes’, but at the end of the day it often doesn’t mean a thing.’

Who’s the boss?
Currently Aulia is the middle of a six-months’ internship with DHV, a consultancy firm in Groningen. ‘I make calculations about the water system for the Municipality of Haren, a town a few kilometres south of Groningen. The main objective is to make sure that the urban areas stay dry.’ She opens her laptop computer. The screen shows a complicated pastern of blue and pink dots. ‘The blue dots are the sewer system. The pink ones are open water like ditches, lakes and brooks. The open water system has to absorb the sewer water. I take measurements and work on as model that predicts how periods of rainfall will affect the water system. This is particularly important in summer when you have heavy periods of rainfalls over very short periods.’
‘I do not only gain technical knowledge and skills, I also learn a lot about how people work. What immediately struck me was that it is very difficult here to see who’s in charge. In Indonesia, the manager has a separate room with luxurious furniture and the best equipment. My boss does not have a separate office and his computer monitor is much smaller than mine. I expressed my surprise at this and he explained that – with the work I do - I simply need a better computer system than he does.’

Blue toes
‘I do miss Indonesia, obviously, but not as badly as I feared. I very much enjoy studying here. Teachers are always willing to help and it’s easy to contact them when you need them. I also made a lot of friends, for instance at the Blue Toes, the student dance club that I joined. I’m also a member of Persatuan Pelajar Indonesia Groningen, the student union for Indonesian students in Groningen. They help Indonesian students find their way in Groningen and they organise social events, like cooking Indonesian dinners. Every year they hold a sports tournament in Groningen in which Indonesian students from all over the Netherlands compete. No need to feel homesick in Groningen!

Elmar Friedrich about his internship for BMW in Beijing: I am working in the National Sales department. I assist an international team of Area Managers and, in addition, I have projects of my own. In my current project, I am planning a dealer incentive for the best sales consultant of each dealership in the whole of China. I am the project leader and responsible for everything: from deciding on a location to inviting the best dealer of every BMW dealership in China. This requires cultural tactfulness and a high degree of flexibility. On a more practical note, it means many business trips through China to get firsthand impressions of different event-locations and the expectations of highly qualified sales consultants.

In addition, I support my colleagues during their daily business, for example by arranging the re-allocation process of a specific car model from one dealership to another. Especially these tasks make my internship incredibly interesting. You never know what to expect today!

But of course working in China also brings along some difficulties. First of all, culture and language are a serious problem when living and working in Asia. Many Chinese, even general managers of companies, can not speak English. For my part, I don’t speak Mandarin very well but after studying one semester in Taiwan and thanks to my Chinese colleagues, I have always been able to understand the other side and express myself in a proper way.

From my point of view, working in a different culture is a great experience. Thanks to my university I was very well prepared for this year abroad. Not only the knowledge gained during two years at IBS but also working with and in international teams has provided me with the cultural sensitivity needed to be successful in Asia.
So if you want a challenge, Asia is the place to be!

Harry Huang from China studied at the International Business School until 2007. He met Corporate Human Resource Director Wim Zwetsloot of the Dutch packaging company Schoeller Arca while he was still in the Netherlands. Zwetsloot offered him a job and now he is their sales representative in Shanghai, China. 

What do you do for Schoeller Arca in China?
‘The most important part of my job for Schoeller Arca is focusing on Sales. Meanwhile, I also have to take care of some other business such as contacting various suppliers in order to get familiar with the raw material, making business plans for future development in China, and so on.’

What is the difference between doing business in China and the Netherlands?
‘In China, investments are usually made without caring for the short-term profits. The long-term profits always turn out to be the key point. In the Netherlands, business men are more cautious about their investment. The usual principle is: no orders from the customers, no investment from the company.’ 

What have you learned in your work so far?
‘Although I have only worked for Schoeller Arca for six months, I have learned a lot from my daily work such as sales skills, different ways of doing business, and about the packaging systems in Europe, which are different from those in China. Moreover, I also joined the Product Training in Hardenberg, which enhanced my knowledge of Arca products and its production processes. Last but not least, I finally realize the difference between theory and practice.’

Can you use what you have learned at IBS in your new job?
‘I can apply several things I have learned at IBS to my job. The communication skills that I acquired at IBS are very useful, for instance. Everyday I have to communicate with my customers in order to introduce our products and service. Sometimes I even have to contact customers constantly to remind them of our company, which might be annoying after some time. Therefore, it is very important to know the right time to call, email, or visit them. Those communication skills cannot be found in books, but have to be accumulated through IBS life.’

Sabine works in a luxurious five-star hotel on Mauritius

Hanze University offers many opportunities to study and do internships abroad. Third-year Facility Management student Sabine Schoen is doing her internship on the island of Mauritius, one of the new locations students can choose from. She is responsible for marketing and quality management at a luxurious five-star hotel.

‘I was looking for an internship of five months that has to be completed in relation to my third year of study. The internship had to be in any management field, as the study I am doing covers all management aspects. I particularly wanted to work with children, as in the past I have had a lot of experience with kids, organizing events, or do something in a hotel due to the fact that my study abroad is focused on the hospitality industry.’

What do you do exactly?
‘My internship is divided into two parts. The first two months I spent in the marketing department. This part of the hotel business in Mauritius is really interesting. The hotels here work in connection with tour operators. The hotel provides different rates in relation to the country in which the hotel rooms are being offered. I was mostly responsible for contracting, eductours, making sure the information on the brochure was correct, and so on. Later on I will also be involved in quality management.’

How do you like Mauritius?
‘The island of Mauritius is incredible in many ways. Not only is the nature amazing and rich. The people have a sense of friendliness and kindness which I have never seen anywhere else. Another exceptional thing is that all the cultures, from Hindu to Catholic to Islamic mingle and respect each other, which in my eyes is worth more than gold.’

What are the biggest differences between working in the Netherlands and here?
‘As an intern, you are treated as a real employee. You are given true responsibilities. You are not treated as a trainee, but as part of the team. Another element is that they take into account that your knowledge is more advanced due to the higher educational standard of Europe compared with Mauritius. Therefore your recommendations and qualities are respected and used accordingly.’

What is your best work experience so far?
‘The most amazing thing work-wise is actually everything I have done in the marketing department. They gave me so much confidence that I even consider doing more marketing in my career. Another amazing aspect was that I was allowed to host an eductour, a group of product managers and directors coming to visit hotels to offer hotel rooms in their home country later on. These people own tour operators or holiday organising companies. This is a great experience because you need to impress the hosts to the max, so that they leave the hotel thinking ‘I want to offer rooms from that hotel only’. It was the first Dutch eductour in Mauritius. So it came as a great compliment that the general manager thought I was capable of taking such a responsibility.’

What do you do in your free time?
‘In my free time I feel like I am on holiday due to the amazing location and great beaches. For the rest we party with the friendly and open locals untill early in the morning. It is great because drinks are cheap. We also rent cars and do sight seeing and adventure trips.’

A German shoe store owner asked them to measure feet, because he always got stuck with unsellable shoes. The reason for this, he thought, was that there was hardly any research material about feet sizes. He contacted German teacher Fenny Lücker from the school of Marketing and Management and the project was born.

The chance that people would take their shoes off in a shopping street was pretty slim, the students figured, so they chose swimming pools as their research territory. In the following month, they measured thousands of feet. The project caught the attention of the national media, giving the students their fifteen minutes of fame.

On 10 June the students presented their results in the German city of Leer. Even the international press was present this time. The students concluded that many people walk around on the wrong shoes, because only problem feet are measured and shoe store owners use hopelessly outdated measuring instruments.

The ‘feet project’ was a great adventure from the get go. I still needed some credits for my German language course and was asked to do this project. And then, all of a sudden, you are standing in a swimming pool in front of a camera, which was really special. While participating in such a project you learn a lot more than just improving your German language skills. Dealing with the media, a group of unknown students, conducting field research… Yes, I really learned a lot.’ (Tim Bodewes, CE student)

‘Suddenly you realize you are standing in Leer, presenting your research results in German. A year ago I would not think that I would ever be able to do this. It was really interesting to participate in this project. How to translate research results into reality is the main thing I learned. Its very special to see how the press copies your conclusions.’ (Ilse Aerts, SBRM student).

‘Oh yes, it was a German project, but it mainly dealt with being an entrepreneur and the barriers you have to deal with, really practical. An entrepreneur has a question and you need to start working on finding the answer. It was really special that our project got so much attention from the media. Overall I learned a lot from it.’ (Lennart Klomp, CE student)

Wim Zwetsloot is Human Resource Manager for Schoeller Arca, the global market leader in plastic packaging solutions for materials handling. They produce beverage crates, containers, and pallets all over the world. For their new branch in Shanghai, China, they were looking for a salesperson with knowledge about both the western and Chinese market. IBS graduate Jin ‘Harry’ Huang fit the profile.

‘I knew that there were a lot of Chinese students at the International Business School (IBS), all of them intelligent and motivated students. I met Harry by coincidence, through the dean of IBS, Paul Ganzeboom. He was very eager to learn and to start working. We trained him in Hardenberg, and now he is our sales representative in Shanghai.'

‘It is not easy for us to find a representative in China. It is a new market, and our Chinese branch is small. We do not have a recruiter and only a small group of employers. Plus, we were looking for someone with an understanding of the Chinese market, and of the Western way of doing business.'

‘Harry is young, he knows the West from his study period in Groningen, and he also understands Chinese culture. You can imagine we are really happy he works for us. In a way, IBS students are ideal employees, so I would really like to continue cooperating with IBS and recruit more talented students if possible.’