Doing Business in Europe

Over the past few days I had the privilege of joining five NSCC business students during their first week of this year’s Doing Business in Europe (DBIE) summer program organized by Hanze University of Applied Sciences in Groningen, the Netherlands. This program consists of a combination of academic sessions (workshops, seminars, lectures, and student presentations), site visits to local companies in Groningen, Amsterdam and Germany, and various social activities. The purpose of the program is for participants to learn about the European business environment as well as to increase their professional and personal intercultural skills. NSCC has participated in this program since it was established three years ago, and so far a total of 19 students have participated in the DBIE.

Our hosts have prepared an exciting program with an interesting group of facilitators including faculty members from Hanze University as well as guest lectures from relevant industry sectors. The highlight of the program promises to be a "Dragon’s Den" session with the CEO of Philips and some of the young professionals from this Dutch company (currently employing approximately 122,000 people world-wide).

The Doing Business in Europe Program is organized by the Hanze University Institute for Marketing Management under the leadership and great support of its Dean, Paul Ganzeboom. Maris Keijser is the Program Coordinator and responsible for the excellent organization of the summer program. For the second year in the row, Robyn Wilkie has been hired by Hanze University to assist with the organization of the summer school. A NSCC participant in the first program back in 2011, Robyn is completing her second internship / work placement with Hanze as part of the NSCC International Business Program. Way to go Robyn!

This year’s NSCC participants come from three campuses (Pictou, Truro and Waterfront) and they are another very impressive group of students. It was a great pleasure to witness their enthusiasm, dedication and professionalism during the first week of the program. We have selected another fantastic team of Ambassadors for NSCC, Nova Scotia and Canada. Over the next few days all students will share their DBIE experiences through blog posts on this site. Stay tuned for exciting updates.

Zoran Kondali
Manager,
NSCC International