2011 Europe Study Tour: It’s a wrap!

It has been a few days now since our group parted ways in Munich, Germany.  Our 2011 Europe Study Tour officially came to an end last Saturday May 14, 2011.  A few students continued on with their travels through Europe, some stayed in Munich to take in more sites, and the rest went home to resume their lives.  One thing is for sure, we are forever changed. 

This trip has been chock full of learning, bonding, and taking in the European culture.  We covered all kinds of unknown territory on this trip, including the topic of family business and entrepreneurship and meetings with executives and representatives from a number of European businesses and organizations.  Above all, this has been an experience of a lifetime because of the group itself.  Our group of 20 bonded quickly and managed to keep ourselves out of trouble (I am sure Peter is thankful for this!) while living the European way (walk walk walk walk walk).  We enjoyed the regional cuisine and bevies but also worked hard to fulfill our student responsibilities.  We accomplished a lot on our trip!

We’d like to thank Peter and Andrew, the Alberta School of Business and the various business leaders, hosts and lecturers for this opportunity to learn about European politics, banking, and family business and entrepreneurship.  This has truly been an enlightening experience for each and every one of us.

Finally, a huge thanks to our dedicated blog followers.  We hope you’ve been able to live vicariously through our blogs!

A picture speaks a thousand words.  So in closing, we present you with …. a million words! Here is a selection of some of our favourite highlights of our trip (in no special order).  Please feel free to add your reflections of our trip in the comments (we like comments)!  Until next trip…….enjoy!







From your blog team,

Thai, Patti, Anju and Sean

P.S. some quick facts about the blog team….we are:

– 75% IT experts
– 75% employed by the Government of Alberta
– 50% Asian
– 25% male
– 100% awesome!

Final Case Presentations

Our final couple of days in Germany (Wednesday, May 11 and Friday, May 13) were focused on studies and our group presentations that we have all been working very hard on.

The Technische Universität München (TUM) university in Munich welcomed us and we were very fortunate to have lectures on family business and a presentation from a local entrepreneur.  The lectures were presented through the Center for Entrepreneurial and Financial Studies (CEFS).  The CEFS seeks to transfer academic knowledge into practice through various projects. Research focuses on ownership structures and corporate finance in private and public capital markets including the following main research areas:

• Financing family firms

• Effects of ownership structures on corporate policies in listed firms

• Venture capital and private equity

• Social entrepreneurship and venture philanthropy

Stained Glass Window welcoming us to TUM

Technische Universität München - Technical University Munich

Statue outside Technical University Munich (TUM)

Finally! All the preparation came down to the final presentations – they were all excellent:

Hicki, Katelyn, James

Sean, Harry, Yue

Thai, Adam, Bartek

Nicole, Anju, Travis

Jarvis, Nella and Mike

Patti, Nick and Katie-Lynn

You made it guys!  Good job!

After surviving the presentations!

Your blogging team:

Patricia, Anju, Thai, Sean

More video updates from Nella

Our European adventures continue!

More memories from the Europe Crew

‘Never Again’: Dachau Concentration Camp

‘Never Again’: Dachau Concentration Camp

Our agenda has kept us all very busy thus far.  Happily busy.   We have toured many sites, received fabulous in-class lectures, dined in unique restaurants, enjoyed bevies of the region, walked many miles (even climbed a small mountain) and bonded as a group over the past 10 days.

We switched gears a bit today as we took a tour of the Dachau Concentration Camp and received a snap shot of Germany’s history.  It was an emotional experience for all of us.

Rewind to the time period between 1933-1945.

Dachau Concentration Camp was first established in March of 1933 by the Nazi Regime and is located near the historical town of Dachau (20km northwest of Munich).  Dachau was the very first concentration camp built and it was used by the regime for all sorts of unthinkable and inhumane atrocities until its liberation by the American forces on April 25, 1945.  Because it was the first camp established, it acted as the prototype for the rest of the concentration camps that followed.  During these 12 years, more than 188,000 were incarcerated.  The concentration camp was originally built to house between 8,000-10,000 people, but in reality, the numbers hovered at around 30,000 – three times the camp’s capacity.  As a result, people died from starvation, exhaustion, disease and the inability to withstand the unliveable conditions of the camp.  Other causes of death were the extreme conditions from forced physical labour and lethal medical experiments.

Today, the former Dachau Concentration camp serves as a memorial site for all the victims of Dachau during the reign of the Nazi government and as a reminder of what happened in Germany during the Holocaust.

We spent our time walking through the various sites of the camp and received a refresher on our German history (during this time period) from our gracious tour guide Mrs. Antje Roser-Huckle.  Thank you for taking the time to speak candidly about this horrific time in Germany’s history.  Today’s tour was an important and impactful experience.

Dachau Concentration Camp

“Work is honorable”

Flowers at Dachau Memorial Site

Roll call

View from roll call grounds

Hallway of the bunkers

Inside the bunkers

Entrance to gas chamber

Dachau crematorium

After the tour, we headed back to the hotel to work on our case presentations (assigned to us last week during our classroom time at WHU).  Tomorrow, we are back in class to learn more on Family Business and then present our cases.  All in a hard day’s work!

From your blogging team: Thai, Patti, Anju and Sean.

Better late than never…

Here’s a video of our first weekend in Europe by our lovely video blogger, Nella. We know it’s a bit late into the trip to post this up, but we promise it’s definitely worth a watch!

BMW!!!

Today we visited the BMW Welt and the BMW Factory.  If you don’t want to buy a BMW then we suggest that you stay away from all BMW facilities in Munch.  The presentations and tours were so well done, we had several students inquire about purchasing one of the many amazing models on-site.

We started out in BMW Welt (BMW World for the English speakers out there).  This building was awe inspiring.  Designed by architects Coop Himmelb(l)au for BMW Group, the facility was constructed from August 2003 through summer 2007. Originally conceived to be open and ready for World Cup 2006, it eventually opened on October 17, 2007, and deliveries commenced on October 23, 2007. This is where BMW showcases new models and delivers cars (and an amazing purchasing experience) to its customers.

Among the showcases were:

Bartek is running for the train

BMW World

A BMW Z4

Sweet Ride!

Body Paint Selections

Another amazing storage facility

Inside the Cyclone

BMW Headquarters

Walking back to BMW World

A GIANT!

Following BMW World, we went for a tour of the BMW production facilities.  With up to 80% automation on the car assembly lines, the tour was not only interesting, it was downright amazing.  There were literally 200 robot arms moving, welding, glue-ing and measuring pieces of new BMW cars.  The robot arms also painted the cars.  Watching the cars get assembled was like a scene from the Matrix.

We were also lucky to have seen a BMW motorcycle in action.  He drove up and down the stairs inside BMW World.  A description does not do this justice so here is a video:




Until Tomorrow,
Anju, Thai, Patti & Sean

Oh, for Pete’s sake!

On Saturday May 7, we celebrated a very special event – Peter’s birthday! Peter, we hope you had a memorable day celebrating with us and all the great food, drinks, and dancing! Alles Gute zum Geburtstag!

After two days of hard work at WHU on Thursday and Friday, Peter rewarded us with … mountain climbing. Literally. We were forewarned about this “small mountain” that we would be climbing and true to his word, he delivered us said mountain. However, we did not exactly go from classroom to mountain. Here’s how our day went:

Niederwalddenkmal

We started out our day with a bus trip to Ruedesheim, a town famous for their wineries that is located along the Rhine River. We were dropped off near the top of the valley and we walked through some hiking trails to see some spectacular aerial views of the wine country and the Rhine. We then took a gondola ride down to the quaint old town.

Rudeisheim

View of the wineries from the gondola




After lunch and some free time for souvenir shopping, we all boarded a boat for a cruise down the Rhine River to St. Goarshausen and the cliffs of Lorelei. We relaxed and enjoyed the views of the many charming towns along the banks of the river and majestic castles that have withstood historical times.

Group shot on the boat tour along the Rhine

The "small mountain" at Lorelei

When we reached the cliffs of Lorelei, we disembarked and proceeded to hike up what Peter described as a “small mountain”. Oh for Pete’s sake! Even though it wasn’t the easiest time under the hot weather, we were happy that we all made it to the top and enjoyed the beautiful views of the town of St. Goarshausen. In hindsight, it was probably a good idea to do some physical activity since we have been eating and drinking VERY well here in Germany.

We ended our day with a celebration for our Peter. Hope you had a lot of fun!




Andrew at the Biergarten

The boys

We left Koblenz on Sunday May 8th and we are now in Munich, where we will be spending the latter half of our study tour. First stop in Munich?  Augustiener Keller Biergarten.

Stay tuned for more adventures ahead!

Until next time,
Anju, Thai, Patti & Sean

Love, Trust and Money – Emotional Values and Costs in Family Business

The last few days have been very busy for all of us.

We spent 2 days (Thursday, May 5th and Friday, May 6th) attending lectures at WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management.  The topics relating to family business gave us a fascinating window into the challenges and opportunities that arise out of family business succession.  We were very privileged to hear a very real case presented by Prof. Dr. Sabine Klein and her brother Mr. Hubertus Rau.  The Rau Case – Succession in a Family Business – is their family’s story and it clearly demonstrated how passing a family business from one generation to the next is a complicated and emotional process.

WHU

Katelyn & Katie-Lynn

Prof. Dr. Sabine Klein and Nella

After the lectures were complete, all of the Europe Study Tour group piled into a fabulous old room on the WHU campus for a presentation and wine tasting from the Hans Wirsching family winery.  Andrea Ebert gave us an informative, animated and entertaining overview of her family’s winery and allowed us to enjoy tasting each one as she walked us through the history, process and passion of wine making.

Andrea Ebert presenting her family's wines - Hans Wirsching

Wine tasting

Thai & Bartek

Great day? You can ‘bank’ on it….

Today, our study group ventured into Frankfurt, which is not only the financial centre of Germany but also the largest financial centre in continental Europe (impressive). In addition, it is home to the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, the German Federal Bank, and many large commercial banks.

Our Europe Study Tour group had the extremely privileged opportunity to visit one of the world’s most important central banks – the European Central Bank (ECB). The ECB is responsible for administrating the monetary policy on behalf of the 17 EU Euro Area member states.

ECB group shot

We spent a large part of our day on the 36th floor at the ECB building and had the privilege of meeting with a number of ECB officials. First was Mr. Phillippe Rispal from the Press and Information Division. We gained valuable insight into the inner workings and functions of the ECB. Our second talk was with Mr. Thomas Westermann from the Euro Area Macroeconomic Developments Division. He presented information on the economic developments in the Euro area. We are very grateful for the time you took to answer all our questions today. And a huge THANK YOU to Ms. Iris Mayer for organizing our visit to the ECB – what a wonderful learning experience it was for all of us!

Thank you to Ms. Iris Mayer from Peter

Peter presenting a thank you gift to Mr. Phillippe Rispal

Mr. Thomas Westermann and Peter

Getting ready for presentations

Hicki making monetary decisions

Before our drive back to Koblenz, we winded down the day with some free time to explore Frankfurt and enjoyed some sightseeing, shopping, and ……fabulous pretzels! Enjoy our snapshots of Frankfurt and stay tuned for more of our unfolding adventures.

We are spending the next two days at the WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management (or WHU Vallendar) which is a German business school. The blogging team will be back in a few days to give you an update of our wonderful trip.

Bull and Bear in front of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange

Roman Bath

Peter goes to the mall

Sean, Mike, and Peter

A German pretzel

St. Bartholomeus’ Cathedral

Old Opera House

Peter presenting a thank you gift to Mr. Phillippe Rispal

Mr. Thomas Westermann and Peter

Thank you to Ms. Iris Mayer from Peter

Gute Nacht – Patricia, Thai, Anju and Sean

The Merck Way

When you are reading this blog (provided you are using a flat screen), you are reading this through Merck’s liquid crystal technology.  If you are eating a gold shimmering ice-cream treat (called a Magnum Gold)  you are also experiencing The Merck Way.

Magnum Gold ice-cream with a gold coating made from Merck's pigmentation product

From the Moon landing, makeup and makeup containers, soccer world cup balls and Audi paint to vitamin C, MS drugs and oncology drugs, research and development is done at the Merck Darmstadt facilities.

Sustain. Change. Grow. These three words published in Merck KGaA 2011 Corporate Responsibility Report sum up the focus of this dynamic family’s corporate strategy.

Magnum Gold moment with honourary U of A Europe Study tour member Tobias

The Merck Way http://www.merck.de/en/company/merckway/the_merck_way.html brings to life the Merck Values:  courage, achievement, responsibility, respect, integrity and transparency.

Our gracious host, Ms. Gudrun Pressler-Rickert, facilitated our visit to the Merck location in Darmstadt, Germany.  We had a chance to have an overview of their product lines that include pharmaceuticals and chemicals.

Picture of the U of A Europe Study Tour group at Merck

For the chemical business line of Merck we had the opportunity to walk  through the manufacturing area for litmus rolls.

We transitioned to the other business unit of Merck’s focused on pharmaceutical innovation. We also had a chance to walk through the laboratory technicians utilized gas chromatographs to determine the  chemical composition of materials.

The team was very fortunate to attend a presentation and Q&A session with Dr. Jon Baumhauer who is the head of the family board of Merck. We were honoured to have the opportunity for discussing the family history, evolution and current Merck strategy with  Dr. Baumhauer.

A few quick facts:
1/3 of family business makes it to the second generation and 1/10 make it to the third generation – Merck is already in there 12^th active generation (the 13^th generation is up and coming) and have 133 active family partners in the business. The governance structure is established as the Merck family owning 100% interest in Merck KGaA.  The family maintains 70% ownership in Merck KGaA with 30% ownership by shareholders.

The Merck family is very interesting, it applies a very solid governance structure to not only their business but also to their family.  This governance structure really embodies the Merck principals of courage, achievement, responsibility, respect, integrity and transparency.

The staff that we met at Merck appeared to really love being a part of the Merck family business; in fact, our gracious hostess recently received a 25 year service award.

For the more technical students a draw was the Merck warehouse. 6 aisles wide and 19 storage ports high, this fully automated warehouse was like the machine k-nex toys that we played with, but on steroids.  Wait… Steroids aren’t enough for this technological marvel.  It was like a storage site worthy of Star Trek.  We were mezmerized….