Goodbye Fall 2010

The semester has come to an end, and it's time to say farewell. It has been a very stressful, but also truly educating and interesting fall. In my business communication class we finished our semester with a big research project. Me and Nathalie Hildingsson, decided to research the issues of globalization regarding fair reward systems. It was an interesting research which resulted in a model, called Mixentralization, that we believe can be a valuable tool for companies.

The research paper has been a valuable project both for my learning and future references. It has been interesting to research different cultures and behaviors, and I am surprised with how much I acctually didn't know about differences around our globe.

To read our entire report, follow this link. (Please download it as a word document since the format in the Google document does not fully support our research. Download as a word file in the upper left in the Google document)

 Also, to your left you can find my resume and cover letter

Thank you for this semester, and who knows-
maybe I'll be back in the Spring!!

Best Regards

Beatrice Enckell

Finals

Teachers are often talking about time management. If we are able to manage our time, we will also be able to manage our school work. Okey, sounds fair enough. However, sometimes it feels like my teachers are gathering together to make it as hard as possible. For example, I have two weeks of no homeworks or exams, and then the following two weeks I have three exams. Thank you!

Even worse is during finals. In the time spam of six days (finals on Saturday), I have four exams; one essay, and two quizzes. Not to mention the following three days where I have an additional of three exams, one research paper and two assignments. The school is overwhelming. I come to school at eight a clock in the mornings and I leave at the earliest at eight in the evenings.

So my question is why? Why are my teachers doing this to me? Is it a  try for the real world? Do they want me to know what stress really means? If so, I promise, I know now!

I am not here to complain, I take one step at the time and I know Christmas is coming up, I can see the light. I know I will make it and when it's over I can be proud of myself. However, I do think that teachers need to come up with a better system where the students are able to provide their work in a fair time manner.

Presentation

Yesterday, me and Nathalie presented our project about our recommendation report to the class. The day before our presentation, I found a video of culture differences that I thought would work with our presentation. It seemed like most people in the class enjoyed the short movie. Instead of introducing the video, I think it would probably been gaining more attention from the audience without an introduction.

Even though English is not our main language, neither me or Nathalie find it difficult to speak in front of an audience. However, I do get nervous. When I present in English I want to be well prepared in order to use a professional language. By standing in front of the audience my nervousness sometimes make it hard to come up with the right words to use. I feel that I could have been more prepared of my presentations and been presenting in a more professional manner. However, I provided the class with all the information I wanted to share, and our time was well planned.

Overall I am satisfied with our presentation and I feel that me and Nathalie are presenting well together.

Industry Career Expo

For three days in a row, companies have been visiting Embry Riddle for recruiting students. All students have had the opportunity to show their skills and apply for an intern ship. The yearly Career Expo is not solely a chance for students to get a heads in to companies, or for companies to get the best students, it is also about developing the students skills of job searching. I have worked and improve my resume every day this last week, and my adviser has been a great support with feedback and brainstorming. Many students I know have been doing the same thing. We have now forced our selves, or the expo has, to create a resume that are not only useful for the event, but also for future references. These efforts are valuable. It is our future we are trying to make as successful as possible and our resume is our first step there.

Many companies was, however, here and we all got a chance to talk to them. What else is better than personal contacts for a job? The Expo makes it possible for us to create a network of great contacts that can be used in the future. Some companies also take their time to come in to the class rooms and talk to us; how we can become successful, what we should include in our resume, and what we should and should not say in an interwiew. I personally think these kind of events are very valuable for the schoool in general and the students in particular.

Get To Know Your Audience

It is interesting how we use our languages differently regarding who we are trying to influence. The other day, we had to make remarkable changes of a text on the Kentucky Fried Cruelty's web page (to read, click here) to make it suitable for the Noble Price Committee. The language on the website was cheap, tacky and very inappropriate for the formal reader.

We were divided into different groups, each had a specific audience to cover. All of our writings were different. However, they all worked. By using different styles we can all be more effective in our writing. Who do we want to influence, and how is this group of people most likely to accept our message? We need to be careful in our choice of language, if not, our message may result in having the opposite effect as we are looking for. People can easily get offended, and create a dislike towards the company behind these words.

I always try to work on enhancing my writing skills since I want to be able to reach and convince all different types of readers.

Culture Differences

Individualism vs. Collectivism. US. vs. Europe. I wonder, are my opinions totally European? I am well aware of my culture being different compared to the American, but I have always liked the idea of doing business in the US. But after a discussion in class today I had a change of thought. Never would I believe our ways of thinking could differ that much. I don't want to generalize, but after being me against everyone else, me being the only European, I discovered how different we can observe our world.

No one agreed with me in today's discussion about Social Responsibility, in my marketing class. For me it is obvious, all companies should care and be responsible for their society. My professor, however, explained for us that it is all about Profit Responsibility. If the company forgets about their economy, everyone else will suffer. An example is GM. They lost track of their economy, many people became unemployed, and small retailers had to end their businesses. The society lost. I can agree this far. But who says that company can't care about their profit AND their society? Why can't companies be responsible for their production at the same as they make sure their numbers are profitable?

My professor continued: "it is up to the costumers to decide". The companies will produce after demand, and if their customers are requesting a fair and responsible production, such as sustainable, environmental etc, the businesses will follow. My question is then, what if the costumers don't ask for it, they don't know what to ask for? Who is responsible for keeping the market educated? How will we make sure there is no child labor, animal abuse, or other horrible working conditions? Who will be responsible if the businesses aren't?

Free Market was what my teacher referred to. A market where we have no specific regulations from the government, a market where demand and supply controls.


In my opinion, we can't rely on the customers. We can not trust the people in the market to be educated enough to make the right decisions to affect our suppliers to have an ethical behavior. We are all human, and act for our own best. We rather choose a cheap option if the outcome is the same. And once again, why is there always a cheap option?

Welcome

It took me ten days of vacation in Daytona Beach to be convinced to enroll at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. As a second semester sophomore, I am very pleased with my decision.
My name is Beatrice Enckell. I am majoring in Business Management with a minor in Communication at Embry Riddle Aeuronautical University. I grew up in Sweden with my parents and two siblings. At the age of 15, I got accepted to a high school focused on business and track and field. Since I always liked doing sports, but also had an interest in business, I found this as a great opportunity. Even though the decision included moving away from home I accepted the offer.
Living by myself was a great experience, and I learned quickly to better appreciate the small things. After three years in high school, graduating with top grades, I got a job offer at a bank in Sweden, Nordea. I received education in finance and the stock market, and after a couple of weeks I worked with customer service, including financial investment advice. I stayed with Nordea for one and a half years until I decided to begin my bachelor degree.
I had one specific goal with my university degree: to improve my English. The world is globalized and appropriate and professional English skills will be required from me wherever I apply for a job in the future.
I came to Daytona for vacation with my family in the spring of 2008. After a meeting with the president of Embry Riddle, and the head coach of Track and Field, I was not only convinced but also very motivated to begin at the university.

This is the first message on my weblog. When I come across something that interests or surprises me, I will post an update. Welcome to my page, I hope you will find what you are looking for. Feel free to leave comments or contact me through my email.

Best Regards
Beatrice Enckell