efr-eclaire special 2011
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This is the Special Edition of the EFR-EclaireTRANSCRIPT
claireJAARGANG 31 > MARCH 2011 > NUMMER 3
GUIDE TO THE DREAM INTERNSHIP
YOUR THESIS
E F R - B U S I N E S S W E E K 2 0 1 1
WORLD LEADERS VISIT THEEFR-BUSINESS
WEEK
DE AVOND VOOR HET AFRONDEN VAN
HET FUSIER APPORT VOOR EEN
INTERNATIONALE BIERBROUWER
W W W.GA A AN.NU
© 2011 KPMG N.V., alle rechten voorbehouden.
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How to Take Charge in 9 days
Are you familiar with all those self-help tests, books and mo-
vies? You can’t open a magazine anymore without finding out
what the 7 steps are to quit smoking, how to find the love of
your life (and how to get rid of him/her after you get down
from cloud nine) or what type of friend you are. The tests offer
you all kinds of solutions and lead the way to a problem-free
life. But is that all you need to be, problem-free? Don’t you
also want to be in total control of your life and give it direc-
tion? Don’t you want to create your own goals, follow your
passions and make your own decisions? This much is clear;
a more professional self-help program is needed. Thank God
the EFR-Business Week 2011 came along to offer you a fool
proof solution to that and show you how to Take Charge of
YOUR life in just 9 days!
Day 1: Opening Day
Take Charge-features: inspires, enhances general know-
ledge, stirs up passions
On the first day of the EFR-Business Week, you will get a
chance to hear the inspiring stories of world-leaders and
other international guest speakers. Your own ambitions and
passions will be triggered. Perhaps you will develop an in-
genious idea yourself and become a leader of the future.
Day 2 and 3: Company Days and Dinner
Take Charge-features: offers career opportunities
During Day 2 and 3, you will be offered the opportunity to
meet some of the best employers in the world. YOU are in
charge of deciding what companies you would like to meet
and how you will develop your career opportunities.
Day 4: Day of rest
Take Charge-features: relaxes, helps finding inner self,
de-stresses
This day gives you time to reflect on all the new insights
you have gained during the last couple of days and decide
how you will implement them in your day-to-day life.
Day 5, 6 and 7: Business Week on Location
Take Charge-features: internationalizes, opens eyes
The Business Week on Location offers you an exclusive
insight in the business scene of London. It will help you
decide whether you aspire an international career or not.
Day 8: Conference Day
Take Charge-features: motivates, stimulates expressing
personal opinions
Day 8 is the most interactive day of the EFR-Business
Week. It offers you the chance to debate on current topics
with prominent national and international speakers and
express your opinion. You might be able to inspire people
and make a difference to the whole world!
Day 9: EFR-Business Week Party
Take Charge-features: fraternizes, intoxicates
During the last day of the week, the EFR-Business Week
Party will take place. Here, you can share you experience
with others, have a drink and party as long as you like.
Work hard and play hard; find out if that is something
that suits you.
After participating in every single day of the EFR-Business
Week 2011, you will be ready to go into the world and Take
Charge of every situation that is thrown at you. We guarantee
you that our program will be a success and I hope to welcome
you all on the 30th of March, when Day 1 of the EFR-Business
Week kicks off!
Phoebe Huurdeman
Chairman EFR-Business Week 2011
Letter
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Editorial address:
Burgemeester Oudlaan 50
3062 PA Rotterdam, Kamer CB-03
Tel. 010 408 1146/47
Fax. 010 408 9021
E-mail: [email protected]
Editor in Chief:
Kim van Adrichem
Writers:
Timothy Langstraat
Youvale van Dijk
Madina Ismailova
Katharina Dees
Nadia Zafi rah
Pieter van Notten
Want to be a freelance writer?
Mail [email protected]
Marketing Offi cer:
Hubert W. de Nie, [email protected]
Commercial Offi cer:
Bart van Heeswijk, [email protected]
Visual styling and printing:
OCC dehoog media partners
www.occ-dehoog.nl
Circulation:
26.000 units
EFR Membership:
Maarten Groen, [email protected]
Subscription:
Price: 29.-
Contact EFR-Eclaire at [email protected]
Frequency:
Sent fi ve times a year to all students of the
Economic Faculty at the Erasmus University
Rotterdam, including the one time special
edition: the EFR-Eclaire Special with a cir-
culation of 26.000 units.
Copyright ©2011, EFR
Colofon Index
C O L O F O N & I N D E X
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EFR-BUSINESS WEEK: COMPANY DAYS >24
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EFR-BUSINESS WEEK: CONFERENCE DAY >62
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JAARGANG 31 > MARCH 2011 > NUMMER 3
THE STRENGTH OF SOCIAL MEDIA
E F R - B U S I N E S S W E E K 2 0 1 1
WORLD LEADERS VISIT THE EFR-BUSINESS
WEEK
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This time around the Eclaire committee wanted to shake things
up, so instead of a letter, we decided to come up with our very
own Bucket List. Taking charge of life means that you do the
things you dream of. Below are some examples of the things we
would like to experience:
Enjoy this special!
Kim van Adrichem
Photo clockwise: Kim, Hubert, Tim, Nadia, Katharina, Madina, Youvale
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Editor-in-Chief
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7M
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Take ChargeDuring your entire life you will have to face many different
challenges. Some expected, some unexpected. Some you
will have to face unwillingly and some may be a long-awaited
desire. During all those challenges you will have to make
certain choices. Your life is the sum result of all the choices
you make, both consciously and unconsciously. If you can
control the process of choosing, you can take control of all
aspects of your life. You can find the freedom that comes
from being in charge of yourself. But how do you deal with
these challenges and choices? How do you take charge?
There are thousands of different test and management
trainings that try to help you with that question and with
‘managing’ your own life. In spite of that it still is hard to
determine what you want to make of your life when you are
still studying. So many students are wondering what their
true passion is, what direction is best to take and how they
can accomplish their goals. We must look for ways to be an
active force in our own lives. We must take charge of our
own destinies, design a life of substance and truly begin to
live our dreams. But that is easier said than done…
In order to inspire and encourage you, this EFR-Business
Week is all about taking charge. All kinds of different
speakers during the Opening Day will tell you more about
how they took charge of their own lives and what amazing
things that has brought them. You can debate interactively
with inspiring people during the Conference Day and you will
have the opportunity to find out what your career ambitions
are during the Company Days. Furthermore, the Business
Week on Location might stir up your international ambitions.
And last but not least, since life is of course not all about
working, the EFR-Business Week comes to an end with an
amazing party!
With all the challenges and choices you will have to make
during your time as a student, this week is a perfect way to
help you take charge of your life.
Therefore I encourage you to participate in the EFR-Business
Week; Take Charge is the symbol for YOUR ambitions!
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Naam Bouwe Taverne
Functie Head Sustainable
Developments Rabobank
Netherlands
Naam Marco van Kalleveen
Functie Senior Vice President
at BainCapital London
Naam Peter Mous
Functie IBM Managing
Director Integrated Account
Philips & NXP
Naam Rene Weijers
Functie Managing Director at
ING Wholesale Banking
Naam Tex Gunning
Functie Member Board of
Management of Akzo Nobel
N.V
Naam Jan-Willem Hoogeweegen
Functie Manager Marketing
& Business Development
Consumentenbond
Naam Deen Sonneveldt
Functie Partner at Deloitte
Accountants
Naam Lex Hoogduin
Functie Executive Director of
De Nederlandsche Bank
Naam Steven van Eijck
Functie Voorzitter Actal and
Chairman Dutch Advisory Board
on Administrative Burden
Naam Erik Hoving
Functie Board Member
KPN Asia
Naam Bart Schlatmann
Functie Chief Operating
Officer ING Retail Nederland
Naam Henk Schmidt
Functie Rector Magnificus
Erasmus Universiteit
Rotterdam
Board of Substance
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Mr. Achmed Aboutaleb
Mayor of Rotterdam
Former Prime-Minister of Spain
Drs. ing. Peter Bakker
Chief Executive Officer TNT N.V.
Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali
Former Secretary-General of the
United Nations
Prof. ir. Wim Dik
Former Chairman of the Board of
Management of KPN
Vice-Chairman Supervisory Board
Randstad NV
Mr. Tex Gunning
Managing Director Decorative Paints
Akzo Nobel N.V.
Dr P. Moerland
Chief Executive Officer Rabobank N.V.
Prime-Minister of Luxembourg
Dr. Alexander Rinnooy Kan
Chairman of the Social Economic
Council of the Netherlands (SER)
Mr. Frederik de Klerk
Former President of the Republic of
South Africa
Mr. Wim Kok
Former Prime-Minister of the
Netherlands
Former Rector Magnificus of the
Erasmus University
Director-General of the WTO
Prof. dr. Eric Maskin
Winner of the Sveriges Riksbank
Prize in Economic Sciences in
Memory of Alfred Nobel 2007
Mr. Michiel Muller
Dutch Serial Entrepeneur
Nobel Prize Laureate
Mr. Supachai Panitchpakdi
Secretary-General of the United
Nations Conference on Trade and
Development
Mr. Anton van Rossum
Former Chairman of the Supervisory
Board of Erasmus University
Rotterdam
Former Secretary-General NATO
Prof. dr. Schmidt
Rector Magnificus of the Erasmus
University
Former Chief Executive Officer Aegon
N.V.
Mr. Morris Tabaksblat
Former Chief Executive Officer
Unilever and chairman Committee
Corporate Governance
Mr. Michel Tilmant
Former Chief Executive Officer ING
Group
Former Chief Executive Royal Dutch
Shell plc
Mr. Ben Verwaayen
Chief Executive Officer Alcatel-Lucent
Mr. Hans Wijers
Chief Executive Officer of Akzo Nobel
N.V.
Board of Recommendation
I N T R O D U C T I O N
E F R - B U S I N E S S W E E K
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EFR-Business Week: Opening Day
Every year the EFR-Business Week committee faces
part of those questions, is ‘Take Charge’. With the recent crisis still circulating in our thoughts, it is crucial that individuals do not only dream, but also execute their dreams. Everybody has goals and ideals and is presented with opportunities to pursue them, so the real question is what you do with those opportunities and how
do you try to achieve your goals. With the speakers we invited to the Opening Day this year, we can promise you an inspiring beginning of the week. You will be enlightened by their stories, but more importantly, we hope you’ll be enthused and motivated to reach for your ambitions.
Opening Day Theme: Influence
This year’s Opening Day is not only about ‘Taking Charge’, but has an underlying theme as well: ‘Influence’. It is easy enough to tell people to reach and achieve their goals; the real question is how. What do you need to succeed, and who?
During the Opening Day we will present you with several examples of speakers who have achieved their goals. They will enfold through which influences they have established themselves in the market of today and, more importantly, which influences they still use to maintain their position. This year we have the honour to welcome Richard Newman, who is an expert on body language. In addition, Ray Zahab, an ultra marathon runner who has run through the Sahara in 111 days straight, running 70 km each day,
Date: March 30th, 2011Location: Auditorium, Erasmus University
ON MARCH 30TH, THE OPENING DAY WILL KICK OFF THE EFR-BUSINESS WEEK 2011. AS MOST OF YOU PROBABLY KNOW, THIS DAY HAS BEEN THE CHARACTERISTIC OPENING CEREMONY OF
THE EFR-BUSINESS WEEK FOR YEARS NOW AND HAS A REPUTATION TO ATTRACT MANY DISTINGUISHED, INTERNATIONAL INDIVIDUALS TO THE ERASMUS UNIVERSITY.
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will share his experiences! (Watch the Trailer: Running the Sahara) His unique story about expanding your own boundaries and achieving your ideals together with his personally experience, will truly be extraordinary.
Each year, EFR awards a World Leader Cycle (WLC) Award to prominent individuals, who have not only excelled in their profession, but also act as an ambassador between different nations in the world. Usually, this award is presented during the Opening Day and we even have the honour of awarding two WLC Awards on this day during the EFR-Business Week 2011. This year, we are proud to welcome Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Secretary General of the NATO, and Jakob Kellenberger, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross ICRC, at our university to receive a WLC Award.
For the presentation of the WLC Awards, we have developed a unique concept. We will introduce a hypothetical case, in which there is a food crisis in the world and, with that, all the facets such a crisis brings forth. Both Mr. Rasmussen and Dr. Kellenberger will address the topic and unfold how their organisations would handle the crisis at hand. What does NATO do when governments disagree and cannot present solutions? How do they stay neutral? Does the Red Cross aid the weak first? How do they cope with the extreme logistical challenge? If you have any question, you are invited to come and ask them after the WLC-speeches on the Opening Day. There will be time for Q&A, so make sure you do not miss this opportunity.
Interested in joining us? Sign up now at one of our promotional stands at the Erasmus University or online at www.efr-businessweek.nl.
Preliminary Programme Opening Day
11.00h Doors Open
12.00h Official Opening
12:30h Key Note Richard Newman
13.45h Mystery Speaker
14.10h Break
14.45h WLC-case introduction
15.00h Key Note Mr. Rasmussen
15.45h Key Note Dr. Kellenberger
16:30h Key Note Ray Zahab
17.30h Drink
E F R - B U S I N E S S W E E K
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EACH YEAR, EFR ORGANIZES THE EFR-BUSINESS WEEK, ONE OF THE BIGGEST AND MOST PROMINENT STUDENT CON-GRESSES IN WESTERN-EUROPE. THIS YEAR, WE, AS EFR-
BUSINESS WEEK COMMITTEE, HAVE THE PLEASURE OF ORGANI-ZING THE 27TH EDITION, WHICH WILL TAKE PLACE FROM MARCH 30TH UNTIL APRIL 7TH 2011.
The theme of this year’s week is ‘Take Charge’.
With this theme, we don’t only want to inspire
the students of the Erasmus University, but also
encourage and motivate them to take charge of
their own dreams and ambitions.
As EFR-Business Week Committee, we have
set the example by stretching our limits and
taking every opportunity to achieve our goals.
We are crossing boundaries, by organizing an
international Business Week on Location to
London, and have reached for the stars, by inviting
the biggest and most interesting speakers and
companies to the Opening Day, Conference Day
and Company Days. Also, our EFR-Business
Week will go out with a bang, with a big party on
an exclusive location in Rotterdam.
All in all, we had a great time organizing this event
and we hope you will enjoy it as much as we will.
EFR-Business Week Committee 2011
Phoebe Huurdeman- Chairman
Joost de Ronde- Commissioner Opening Day
Ellen Noordhof- Commissioner Conference Day
Mark Koppejan- Commissioner Company Days and Commercial
Officer
Jacqueline Markslag- Commercial Officer and Business Week on
Location
Pieter van Notten- Marketing Officer
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By Nadia Zafirah
EVER DREAMED OF WORKING IN AN INVESTMENT BANK? WOULD LOVE TO DO IT BUT HAVE NO IDEA WHERE TO START? ECLAIRE INTERVIEWED DENNES VAN DER VLIST, AN IBEB GRADUATE WHO RECENTLY DID A SUMMER INTERNSHIP AT GOLDMAN SACHS (GS) IN LONDON. DENNES SHARED WITH US HIS ENTHUSI-
ASM FOR ECONOMICS AND FINANCE AND HIS AMAZING EXPERIENCE DOING AN INTERNSHIP AT GS.
IBEB pioneers. Compared to the
I’m a typical Dutch guy. I grew up in
Schoonhoven and have always lived in
Holland. I thought a great addition of
studying IBEB was to study amongst
international students. Besides, ever
since high school I knew I wanted to
study economics. It was my favorite
subject! After IBEB, my interest in
economics only increased, especially
regarding the finance sector. Currently,
I’m finishing my master in Financial
Economics, finishing my thesis at
the moment, and doing a master in
Financial Law.
Well, as you know, GS is one of the
most prestigious banks in the world.
How it happened actually is that in the
master course Pension Funds, a guest
lecture was provided by an employee
of GS (a girl that also studied at
Erasmus). I talked to her afterwards,
sent an email and had a few telephone
conversations with her. Then I decided
I wanted to apply. Luckily, I got through
all the interview rounds! I looked at a
couple of other banks as well, but
Goldman Sachs was the place for me.
I might be biased here as well because
I went there and I liked it a lot, but I
think it’s one of the most amazing
employers in the financial sector.
Can you tell us something about the
I had worked before, a couple of jobs
at the university as a student assistant,
but this was my first internship so I was
quite excited. For the internship, you
first send a CV and a motivation letter.
My contact person at GS, the Erasmus
graduate I referred to earlier, advised me
that at Anglo-Saxon firms, it is common
to send in a one-page CV (unlike what
most Dutch employers perhaps
expect). Furthermore, she gave me
advice on how to structure my CV (First
education and grades, then working
experience, languages and finally some
extracurricular stuff). After I applied,
GS scheduled a so-called ‘phone-
interview’ with me. In this interview,
I got interviewed over the phone by a
The Guide
to the Dream
Internship
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GS executive director calling from the
London office; we chatted for about half
an hour. Luckily, my performance in
that interview was convincing enough
and I got a call for my final interview
rounds! GS flew me over to London for
a day, where I got 5 or 6 back-to-back
interviews, which was quite exhausting.
Aside from your past working
Do you mind telling us your
It definitely helps. It’s difficult for me
to speak for the recruiters but in my
experience, not just for GS, employers
like it if you have a high average grade.
My current average grade for my masters
is 8.9 and for IBEB it was 8.6. I honestly
think it helps cause it shows that you’re
willing to work hard for your grades,
right? On the other hand, I noticed in
the interviews that they asked a lot of
questions about how I was as a person.
Therefore, I think it’s good to keep in
mind that it’s not all about your grades
but it’s good to have.
Did anyone from the university help
Not really. The internship was in the
summer and I did not get any ECTS
for it. From some friends, I received
certain guides that outline what kind
of questions you can expect during
interviews with an investment bank. Of
course, that helped me a lot.
What did you do during your
I started at the end of June until the end
of August. There’s a summer analyst
class and I was there in the investment
management division program with about
30 other interns. I was working on an
individual project and gave a presentation
on that at the end of the internship.
Furthermore, there were a couple of team
projects to work on as well with my fellow
interns. The most interesting was working
with the actual team I was interning with,
the Benelux Institutional Sales team. You
really get a good insight of what the team
does and how they operate; basically,
what GS is doing. Furthermore, we
received several training classes to teach
us more on finance.
You mentioned that you enjoyed
The working environment was actually
really nice! People are very friendly,
everybody focused on quality, which is
quite demanding but also something
that I liked. I think it is an experience
that you wouldn’t get here in Holland.
I should also say that it I had to make
long hours; 60 to 70 hours a week. I
guess it’s work hard, play hard. So you
have to be focused and willing to work
hard because it’s tough. At the end of
the whole experience I’m really glad to
have had the privilege to have such an
amazing experience.
You did this internship when
you were a master student.
Do you think it makes a difference
if you are a bachelor student or a
Actually in England, I know that the
British fellow interns hadn’t even
finished their bachelors yet. In Holland
however, you are a lot more interesting
to companies when you are busy with
your masters. I noticed, when I was in
the third year still doing IBEB, it was a
lot harder for me to apply to company
dinners or these kinds of events than
it is for me now that I’m in my master.
I think that when companies see you
are doing your masters, you’re almost
going to start working. If you’re in your
first year and you want to apply for an
internship, companies know they can’t
hire you for the next three years.
Any advice for students who
want to go in the direction of
It was probably the most valuable
experience in my career so far. I would
definitely recommend this to others!
AkzoNobel’s annual Masterclass takes place over two high-energy, mind-stretching days. You’ll learn about our products, our structures and our beliefs. You’ll meet top management and recent graduate employees. Above all, you’ll work as part of a multi-disciplinary team to see if you can crack a real-world business case.
When: May 16 & 17, 2011For: Masters students approaching graduation
Please visit www.akzonobel.nl/masterclass for more information and to apply online. But be quick - the deadline for registration is March 27, 2011.
AkzoNobel Masterclass 2011Give your mind a two-day workout
E N T E R T A I N M E N T
Singlish: An Outlandish LanguageBy Timothy Langstraat
At first glance, Singapore seems like
a place where you would encounter
perfect English. A former British co-
lony, it’s one of the wealthiest nations
in the region, with a GDP per capita
that’s in the top three of the world,
and a world-class education system.
On top of that, their official language
is English. So, when you get off the
plane, you’d expect people to speak a
language you at least recognize. Un-
fortunately, the opposite is true.
The local language in Singapore is
something called Singlish. It’s En-
glish, with bits and pieces borrowed
from the other dominant languages:
Tamil, Hokkien and Malay. But while
it’s normal to use local terms and
names, Singapore has refined it to an
art. Instead of adding a few words to
the existing dictionary, they’ve decided
to go overboard (as Singaporeans are
wont to do), and just create a new dic-
tionary altogether.
When you talk to the locals, it might
take a while to figure out what they’re
talking about. The ubiquitous ‘lah’
seems to appear every other word,
while its meaning is unclear to most,
even the locals. They’ll warn you of the
Ah Bengs in some parts of town, while
other spots are prime locations to see
the Ang Mohs. They’ll tell you to chope
seats in the kopitiams, whether you
have makan yet, and ask you to stop
talking cock. The students go mugging
until late at night, and yell walao when
they see the time. In short, you don’t
have a single clue what they mean.
That last bit is something the govern-
ment’s noticed as well. Their intensive
campaigns to get their subjects to speak
proper English have gone on for years,
without any noticeable improvements.
In the eleven years since the campaign
first took off, not much has changed,
and the scope of the campaign has
remained the same. But while the go-
vernment is trying their best to eradica-
te the Singlish language, Singaporeans
cherish it. In a show of how much they
care, the usually placid Singaporeans
have launched countermovements
protesting the government’s decisions,
claiming it’s part of Singapore’s culture.
And so far, Singlish is there to stay.
So next time you fly to Singapore, enjoy
the language. Talk to the locals, to the
aunties and uncles in the coffee shops
and hawker centers. Have fun while
you’re there, while trying to figure out
what they’re saying. Just go with the flow,
as long as you don’t talk cock.
IT IS SAID THAT, NO MATTER WHERE YOU GO, YOU WILL FIND SOME-ONE WHO SPEAKS ENGLISH. FROM THE ICY COLD OF THE SIBERIAN PLAINS TO THE SCORCHING HEAT OF THE SAHARA DESERT, THERE
WILL ALWAYS BE SOMEONE TO TALK TO. NO MATTER WHERE YOU GO, PEOPLE WILL SAY THEY SPEAK ENGLISH. BUT NO ONE EVER SAID, IT WAS ACTUALLY THE SAME LANGUAGE..
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How do you see your
future?I have always been an optimist. So the first word that sprang to mind was ‘bright’.
Although the Dutch like to whine, this never got the best of me. I believe we can
shape our own future. We are struggling with the world’s financial crises, the euro
is under pressure, and unemployment is lurking. However, we have enough to look
-
young professionals will arise. My Eastern investments will pay out and at the same
time the American and European competitive position will recover with revaluation
of the Chinese Yuan. Interest rates can only go up and money can be made again. A
big task lies upon us to reform our economy and financial system. A task for the new
generation. A task for us.
When a person asks you how you see your future, so many scenarios come to mind.
You can be anywhere, doing things you will not believe, or never thought would happen
to you. Nevertheless, it is really fun to look back at what you had planned for yourself.
In the future, I definitely want to be more educated and knowledgeable than I am to-
day – not like having a second master degree or PhD, but know more about the things
that surround us, expand my views of life, and have more time to read different types
of scientific books when I am done studying accounting and finance. Once I have read
them I want to never revisit them again. Plus, I want to learn some exotic language (but
not Klingon, even if there are many people in the world speaking it).
nd year Bsc IBCom
I am currently a second year student studying the International Bachelor of Media
and Communication (IBCom). In the future I would most definitely work someplace
in the media sphere. I originally come from Indonesia, but I have lived in the United
States and Singapore, which inspires me to travel around the world. My aspiration
is to work in the ICT and development field in order to help less developed nations
such as Indonesia become technologically savvy, especially in rural areas. This
goal of mine could be reached by learning the current state and trends in the media
and technology sphere by working in a prominent multinational media corporation.
Afterwards, I would like to start-up my own business, which covers the ICT and
development field and also entertainment field such as a publishing company. This
is in order to keep a balance between doing something for the community and fol-
lowing my own interests.
nd year Bsc International Economics and Business
I have actually been thinking about this a lot lately. Of course I would like the
basic things; a job and a family. I would like to have children, but I do not want to
be the dad who does not have time for his kids. I want to stimulate them to live
up to their potential. That is what my parents did for me and I think they did a
good job. Currently, I am in charge of this part of my life and hopefully I can give
a similar upbringing to my own kids someday. Besides that, I have no desire to
become extremely rich, I just want a job to take care of my basic needs and give
me the opportunities to explore the world. I do not want to live in the Netherlands
my whole life, I would like to live in at least a few different places. Particularly, I
would not mind living in Australia or USA for a few years just so that I can experi-
ence different cultures by actually living them.
nd year Bsc International Economics and Business
Ever since you were little, family members would always ask you what you
would like to become when you are older. Back then, you always had a pro-
fession you admired, like a firefighter or doctor. Now, my answer would be
that I do not precisely know, nor do I want to know. Setting a long term goal
is very difficult, and the chance of reaching it is very slim, while failing might
feel disastrous. So I have set my goal on the most desired outcome there is:
to be satisfied with whatever destination I reach. So, how will I get there? By
finishing my Bachelors degree, choosing the appropriate Master, and ending
up working as a marketing strategist for a multinational firm. If it's actually
possible, I don't know, so let me get that Bachelors degree first, one step at a
time, and then I will see how bright my future will be.
st year Bsc Bedrijfskunde
It’s a tough question, how you see your future. People try not to
dream too much, because they think their dreams won’t ever come
true. To be honest, I sincerely hope mine will come true. My dream?
Starting my own restaurant, someplace sunny and by the beach,
maybe in the Caribbean. It won’t be a very large restaurant, but it’ll
be large enough that I can live comfortably. You might ask, why do a
bachelor of business then? That is to make sure that if all else fails,
I have skills and experience to fall back on. And these same skills
will help me on my way to my dream, making sure that any hurdles
on my path are taking with ease. So far, my future is looking up.
And with hard work, and just a bit of luck, my future will hold that
restaurant on the beach.
U N I V E R S I T Y
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E N T E R T A I N M E N T
It makes little difference which part or edition of these
games you buy, presented here to you are first-person
shooters (FPS). The main goal is simple – shoot all the
enemies in range of your sight. Although the shooting
games are always called stupid, you may encounter some
challenges in handling an enemy invasion. You need to
think clearly, manipulate the camera and turn around
quickly, aim accurately and the most important thing –
never stop. Shooting games develop a lot of skills, most
noticeable of which is quick reaction to the environment.
The player can be equipped with lots of different types
of weaponry, from a pocket knife or a shovel to a long-
range sniper rifle or a bazooka. So you have to know how
and when to change the weapon. It’s so intriguing that
teenagers (and sometimes adults) of both genders spend
hours competing with real players over the internet or just
drowning in the world full of extremists and terrorists.
Only slaughtering monsters on a secret base can be more
entertaining than shooting people, in an underground
or underwater facility, or throughout an entire timeline,
travelling from one age to another. Endless labyrinths of
laboratories with corpses of people in white coats, a long-
abandoned city with radioactive zombies, large-scale, hi-
deous boss monsters and a crowbar or an army knife as
a companion can make a wonderful escape from difficult
reality and hard studying.
Attention the Biggest Distraction!
AT THE BEGINNING OF EVERY SEMESTER STUDENTS GET A GLIMPSE OF THEIR PREVIOUS GRADES. HAVING DISCOVERED THAT THINGS ARE NOT WORKING OUT AS WELL AS EXPECTED, EACH OF THEM GIVES A SOLEMN VOW: “I WILL START
STUDYING FROM THE VERY FIRST DAY”. UNFORTUNATELY, IT IS QUITE COMMON FOR THE PROMISE TO BE BROKEN. WHAT IS THE EVIL CREATURE THAT TAKES ALL THE DETERMINATION AWAY? WHAT IS IT THAT DISTRACTS A LOT OF GOOD STUDENTS FROM STUDYING? THE ANSWER IS PRETTY EASY: COMPUTER GAMES. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN IN A SITUATION WHERE A PLANNED 15 MINUTES OF RELAXING GAME TIME TURNS INTO HOURS AND SOMETIMES DAYS? HERE YOU WILL FIND A SHORT LIST OF THE MOST POPULAR GAMES THAT WE LOVE SO MUCH, BUT TAKE SO MUCH TIME AWAY FROM THE IMPORTANT STUDYING (AND OFTEN SOCIAL LIFE AS WELL).
By Bauyrzhan Dosmakov and Madina Ismailova
The screams like:
that no one can be blamed for drowning in the
world full of extremists and terrorists.
We bouwen bij de gemeente Rotterdam aan de
stad én aan de samenleving. We houden de regie
goed in handen, maar geven veel ruimte voor
initiatieven. Met 13.500 medewerkers zijn we een
grote werk gever in het Rijnmondgebied. En met
een paar duizend uiteen lopende functies ook een
veelzijdige. Samen werken wij voor bijna 600.000
Rotterdammers aan de stad.
“Dit traineeship is voor mij een uitgelezen kans om
ervaring op te doen en een stevige basis te leggen
voor mijn carrière. In twee jaar tijd rond je vier
opdrachten af bij vier onderdelen van de gemeente.
Een dag per week krijg je training of bezoek je een
gemeentelijk bedrijf. Ik zit nu bij Audit Services
Rotterdam. Deze interne dienst voert onder andere
fi nanciële controles uit en doet intern onderzoek.
Een onderdeel van het traineeship is, dat je samen
met je collega-trainees een zelf gekozen sociaal
project organiseert. Hiervoor zijn we ons nu aan het
oriënteren bij Bureau Frontlijn. Dit bureau doet allerlei
projecten in probleemwijken en biedt onder andere
hulp aan gezinnen met jonge kinderen. Voor ons
project denken we aan het organiseren van een dagje
uit voor deze gezinnen of het geven van training aan
de ouders. Wat me zo aanspreekt aan Rotterdam is,
dat het een stad is die durft, die uitprobeert. En
daardoor een echte voorloper is op vele gebieden.
Als trainee ontmoet ik heel veel mensen, bouw snel
een groot netwerk op. En ik kom overal in de
organisatie. Als je ziet hoeveel mogelijkheden je hier
hebt! Zelf heb ik economie gestudeerd, maar met
elke achtergrond kun je hier boeiend werk doen.”
Wat bieden wij je? Een veelzijdig trainee-
programma in een interessante stad die durft!
Het traineeprogramma start jaarlijks op 1 november
en 1 mei met elke keer tien trainees. In twee jaar tijd
werk je aan vier projecten bij vier verschillende
diensten of deelgemeenten.
Afhankelijk van je leeftijd en opleiding ligt het
aanvang salaris tussen 2.300,- en 3.000,- bruto
per maand bij een 36-urige werkweek.
Durf jij? Ben je geïnteresseerd en heb je een (bijna)
afgeronde universitaire of HBO-opleiding? Solliciteer
dan via de website www.rotterdam.nl/werkenbij
Meer informatie over het traineeprogramma vind je op
www.rotterdam.nl/rotterdamse_traineeprogramma
Rotterdam is in veel
opzichten een voorloper,
een stad die durft.
Zonder durf had de
modernste haven ter
wereld niet in Rotterdam
gelegen. Zonder durf
was Rotterdam de
wolken minder dicht
genaderd. Zonder durf
waren veel debatten
over grootstedelijke
problemen niet in
Rotterdam gestart.
Rotterdam zoekt
medewerkers met
bezieling, die hun
verant woordelijkheid
nemen en ook de minder
gebaande paden durven
te betreden.
rotterdam.nl/werkenbij
De stad die durft, geeft initiatief de ruimte.
“Als trainee ontmoet je heel veel mensen en bouw je snel een groot netwerk op!”
Ruud den Haak, 24 jaar, trainee bij de gemeente Rotterdam
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Farm Ville
It’s probably not as popular as last year, but in honor
of hard working farmers from Facebook we would like
to mention it, too. The game is not very difficult. All you
need to do is to plow a field, place the seeds and harvest
them after a certain time. There are side quests such as
decorating the farm and keeping various animals that do
not need to be taken care of much. As crazy as it sounds,
Farm Ville got very popular among users of Facebook.
Many users received requests from their friends to fertili-
ze their crops or send them a detail for the house building
and eventually got stuck with their own farm. That’s how it
starts: plow, seed, and harvest for the years to come. And
people did enjoy it…amazing, is it not?
Sometimes people are not happy about who they are and
they try to become someone else. The most popular and
easiest way to do it today is entering a Mass-Multiplayer
Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG). They have enor-
mous worlds full of non-playable characters (NPCs), who
give you all kinds of quests for a remuneration; monsters
to slay, dragons, beasts and horses to ride, houses to
from all over the world to compete with. You can become
a powerful mage, a strong warrior, a quick and invisible
thief, an accurate archer, or you may combine those clas-
ses as you wish. This is how people try to create a perso-
nality they wish to be and run away from cruel reality. All
they need to do is pay a certain amount for the game and
then keep paying for the online registration and enjoy a
whole new world. Endless upgrades, secret hideouts, a
lifetime of gameplay and you may become a local cele-
brity, find friends with common interests and meet them
in real life.
E N T E R T A I N M E N T
Attention the Biggest Distraction!
[Continued].
Games are love, sometimes passion for some
people, and life itself for the others. Personal
computers open a whole lot of different worlds
and dimensions, turning into their best and
only friends. Although computer games do
help to put problems aside and relax, it is
highly recommended to spend more time in
real life. Virtual reality is a great place to play,
and only to play. Do not immerse yourself too
deep, otherwise you might end up losing your
actual life. While your friends learn to play the
guitar and speak Chinese, don't be the only one
with abilities of performing Guitar hero and
knowledge of fluent elvish.
E F R - B U S I N E S S W E E K
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Inhouse days
Each in-house day gives you the opportunity to get a feeling of a company’s
culture, working environment, opportunities for starters and day to day
activities. Some companies choose to show you around in one of there
factories and others give you the experience of solving a real life case.
Want to know what the company you’re interested in has planned on the
31th of March or the 1th of April? Take charge and look on our website:
www.efr-businessweek.nl or drop by our stand and fi nd out!
Company Days
MARCH 31TH & APRIL 1TH
THE COMPANY DAYS ARE A TWO DAY RECRUITMENT EVENT CONSISTING OF IN-HOUSE DAYS AND A COMPANY DINNER. IT IS THE PERFECT CHANCE TO, AS WE SAY IN DUTCH, “TAKE A LOOK IN THE KITCHEN” OF THESE INTERESTING
COMPANIES. DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOU WILL START YOUR FUTURE CAREER? THE COMPANY DAYS IS THE PLACE TO FIND OUT! WITH ORGANIZATIONS VARYING FROM BANKING, GOVERNMENT, CONSULTING, AGRICULTURE, CHEMICALS, SPORTSWEAR, ACCOUNTANCY, ENERGY TO TELECOMMUNICATIONS THERE IS SOMETHING FOR EVERYBODY!
25
E F R - B U S I N E S S W E E K
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Company Dinner
Hungry after the fi rst day of impressing recruiters? The EFR-
Business Week has the solution the Company Dinner. The goal
of the Company Dinner is to meet recruiters and professionals
of companies you’re interested in, and talk in an informal
setting about the opportunities for you. During the dinner
you will dine with a different company during appetizer, main
course and dessert. So in one evening you will meet three of the
participating organizations and have a nice diner on a location
you won’t forget! So simply give your preference when signing
up for the Company Days and we will see you there!
Important
The deadline to subscribe for the Company Days is
March 13th!
If you subscribe before March 4th you have the chance
to win some pretty cool prices! So subscribe and send
your CV on www.efr-businessweek.nl or drop by our
stand in the C-hal or the T-3.
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1C B S
AFTER HIS STUDY IN MAAS-TRICHT, FLORIS JANSEN DID NOT WANT TO BEGIN
HIS CAREER AS A TRAINEE, BUT WANTED TO START WORKING STRAIGHT AWAY. TAKING CHAR-GE OF HIS CAREER, HE APPLIED AT STATISTICS NETHERLANDS (BETTER KNOWN AS ‘CENTRAAL BUREAU VOOR DE STATISTIEK’, CBS), WHERE HE HAS WORKED FOR THE PAST THREE YEARS. SOME PEOPLE MIGHT CALL IT A NUMBER CRUNCHING FACTORY, BUT ACCORDING TO FLORIS, THIS IS NOT ALL THERE IS TO WOR-KING AT CBS.
When Floris started at CBS, he got used
green when I started at CBS. I had this
feeling I was constantly asking ‘foolish’
questions. However, as you go, you le-
arn so many things that I eventually
laughs. Soon even the old hands started
to ask Floris for his opinion, coming as
it were from a new point of view.
Floris has always had the drive to teach.
During his study he was a mentor and
this habit continues. Some articles he
has written have also been published in
national newspapers and popular news
responsible job. Not only are the topics
very complex, but they have to be un-
As a national accountant, Floris analy-
ses national and corporate budgets to
calculate relevant figures for the go-
vernment’s stakeholders. He does not
achieve this just by looking at facts and
from interaction with my colleagues. It
is important that we communicate the
best and most effective ways to calcu-
late figures, but also exchange ideas
regarding factors that influence the
Next to his day to day tasks, Floris is
also a member of ‘YoungCBS’. Young-
CBS is an association that allows new
employees to use their network to get
to know other people at CBS. Quite an
addition in such a large organisation.
am a pretty active member myself. For
instance, we have organised a debate
for YoungCBS members. The concept
behind the debate was to get original
insights in the running of CBS from the
perspective of new employees. Without
any preconceived notions about CBS,
we came up with several innovative ide-
as regarding our internal operations. In
all, YoungCBS is a good way to do more
Do you want to rack your brains to fi-
gure out the figures? Maybe CBS is the
right place for you!
Figuring out CBS
BIG HOLES IN THE GROUND, TREES BEING CUT DOWN AND NEW
BUILDINGS RISING UP. THIS IS THE VIEW WE NOW HAVE ON THE CAMPUS OF THE ERASMUS UNIVERSITY. ALL THESE DEVELOPMENTS ARE NOT BEING DONE WITHOUT A REASON. THE ERASMUS UNI-VERSITY HAS DEVELOPED A MASTERPLAN TO BRING RE-NEWAL TO THE UNIVERSITY. NEW BUILDINGS WILL RISE UP, CARS WILL BE PARKED UNDERGROUND AND AN EN-TIRE STUDENT PAVILION WILL BE CREATED.
The preparations for a plan like
this take a lot of time. For the
Student Pavilion, more than 35
architects have sent in a proposal
for the design of this architectural
eyecatcher. In the end the choice
was made for the most sustainabi-
lity and lively design proposal. But
it not only the architects that are
concerned with the Masterplan.
Many other parties like national
and local governments are also in-
volved in the huge plans. On smal-
ler scale, the neighbors of the EUR
have been involved in the project
too. The impact of these stakehol-
ders are not small either. In deli-
beration with the neighbors it has
been decided that in the Master-
plan most of the new buildings are
situated on the south side of the
campus. On the north side of cam-
pus the current parking area will
be replaced by an attractive park
with ponds and places to study
here as well.
Not only new buildings will rise, old
ones will be renovated too. The C-
building will undergo a complete
makeover to facilitate the modern
needs for learning. As a result of
this renovation the C-building will
be closed during the next academic
year. As a large proportion of the lec-
ture rooms are situated here, these
will not be available for the lectures.
This problem will be solved in se-
veral ways. On the parking area op-
posite to the M-building, a tempo-
rary building is now in construction.
Besides the new ‘V-building’, the
lecture times will also be different
in the next academic year; more
lectures will be in the early morning
and in the end of the day.
All these plans are nearing now and
we can clearly see this on campus.
For now the campus may look like a
building excavation but soon we will
see the first results of the Master-
plan ate the campus of the Erasmus
University Rotterdam.
Re- modeling the University28
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Prepping
In the Netherlands 105.000 people,
out of 2.5 million people who consider
starting their own business, actually
take the leap. The attraction of owning
your own business often comes from
independency, being your own boss
and being able to do what you really
want. However, just 50% still exist af-
ter five years. The 50% that fails are
often caused by a bad preparation. It is
said that a good preparation is half the
battle. It does not have to be difficult,
as it takes on average only ten days to
meet the legal requirements of starting
a company in the Netherlands. Howe-
ver, starting prepared might be the dif-
ference between success and failure.
Just answer three things: what, whom
and how.
W O R L D
A good preparation is half the battle.
IN 1995, COMPUTER PROGRAMMER PIERRE OMIDYAR STARTED AN ONLINE AUCTION WEBSITE, KNOWN TODAY AS THE SUCCESS STO-RY EBAY. HE TURNED HIS IDEA INTO A COMPANY, WITH GOODS SOLD
WORTH $60 BILLION IN 2009. HIS STORY IS ONE OF SUCCESS, BUT WHEN IT COMES TO STARTING A COMPANY IN THE NETHERLANDS, JUST 50% STILL EXIST AFTER FIVE YEARS. FAILURE IS CAUSED BY THE MANY PITFALLS ALONG THE WAY AND THEREFORE PREPARATION IS A KEY ELEMENT IN SUCCEEDING. BUT OF WHAT SHOULD STARTING ENTREPRENEURS BE AWARE?
By Youvale van Dijk
GO!
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Every successful entity has to start with
a good idea: a good or service for which
there is a need and you have a passion.
It can be considered the hardest part of
the process, since creating something
new, different or better requires creati-
vity and expertise. Google, for example,
took an existing service, a search engi-
ne, and made it better by creative thin-
king. They started capturing customers
and gradually took over the market.
Which points out a second element of
preparation: Who needs to buy or use
the product? By mapping the niche of
interest you get information on what
your customers really want, and there-
fore need. Furthermore, it gives an in-
sight into what your main competitors
are offering. With this information com-
panies all over the world have diversi-
fied themselves from competitors, and
tried to convince customers that their
product is what they need. However,
wondering what the customer really
wants is an ongoing process. Google
did not stop after making their search
engine and Nike did not leave it at just
producing shoes.
The third question is to how the compa-
ny gets started; funds, name, structure
and more. In the Netherlands the Ka-
mer van Koophandel (chamber of com-
merce) exists to help you with this and
to inform you about starting your own
business. Moreover, you can check with
them whether the intended name of
your company already exists. The name
has to be recognizable, stick and cla-
rify what you offer. Further, make sure
there is an available domain on the In-
ternet, which gives you the possibility of
starting an Internet site with the same
or a similar name.
Business plan
All your plans and business goals should
then be summed up in a business plan.
Writing a business plan might take
some time, but as stated earlier prepa-
ration is half the battle. Besides being a
big help to you, it is also used by banks
to determine if you are worth a loan. As
some people are not eligible for a loan,
there exists ‘micro finance’ in the Ne-
therlands. 30 million Euros is available
for micro finance, with a maximum of
35.000 Euros per person.
Running
Once up and running you are dealing
with taxes, administration, and insu-
rance. When it comes to this you can
choose to hire someone, which will cost
you money (Do you have money to spend
on this?), or you can do it yourself. In
the Netherlands the federal tax ser-
vice does not mind how professional
the data is presented. They only want
to receive four things: invoices; bank
statements; contracts, agreements and
other deals, and proof of you meeting
the requirement of working hours.
Besides meeting all the legal require-
ments, it is also a good idea to write
down any deals you make with part-
ners, if any. The Kamer van Koophandel
warns people against partnerships with
friends and family without contracts.
When things go wrong you are not only
dealing with a failing business, but of-
ten also with a failing friendship.
Pitfalls
However, being prepared does not mean
that you will not encounter pitfalls. A
common pitfall is unclear agreements.
For example, you are doing catering and
you buy the food and drinks in advance.
You will charge the invested money to
your client, but have not made clear
agreements on this. When the client
cancels, you have a problem. So try to
make agreements on prepayments, on
cancellations, and so on.
Also diversify your risk by having more
than one client. A lot of small busines-
ses tend to focus on one big client,
which makes them dependent on this
one client. When this client is not able
to pay or goes to a competitor, your
business is doomed to fail.
Starting your own business takes time,
courage and creativity. It is a long road
with pitfalls and no guarantee for suc-
cess. Your chances of success will for
sure be higher if you prepare yourself
by writing a business plan, contracts
and gather information. Just do not be
afraid of the hard times, and begin your
journey. GO!
W O R L D
Being prepared does not mean that you will not encounter pitfalls.
Harrods is committed to helping its people achieve their ambitions, because that’s what helps Harrods to achieve its world-class reputation. The company works hard to build the greatest department store in the
world and recognises that it needs exceptional people working as a team to deliver excellence every day. Every member of the team goes to incredible
lengths to create the ultimate retail experience, which is why our graduate programme is focused specifically on achieving this.
Our graduates demonstrate a passion for retail, integrity and a
customer-focused approach to business. For information about our graduate programme, visit www.harrodscareers.com/graduates
World-class careers
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E N T E R T A I N M E N T
The Strange Misconceptions that Only Exist in
WE ALL KNOW THAT MOVIES LIE, FROM THE CONSIDERABLY OLD DETECTIVE WHO HARDLY DIES TO WEARING SPRING CLO-THES IN SNOWFALL. HOLLYWOOD MISLED TO BELIEVE THAT
THE THINGS THAT HAPPEN ON SCREEN CAN HAPPEN IN REAL LIFE. WE KNOW THAT THE CHANCE OF SITTING NEXT TO SOMEONE HOT ON A PLANE RARELY HAPPENS, LET ALONE FALLING IN LOVE WITH HIM OR HER. REGARDLESS OF HOW OBVIOUS THE LIES ARE, THERE ARE THINGS THAT SOME OF YOU MAY STILL BELIEVE.
The recent infamous apocalypse movie,
2012, told us that if we knew the world
is going to end in three years, we could
still prepare for that. Unfortunately, that
is not exactly true. I’m not talking about
the possibility of a massive escape plan
unknown to most people nor how an
airport could be the last thing to go
down in an earthquake. I’m just going
to discuss the basic things that would
make the plans impossible. Some of
you might remember how the modern
arks were built on, they were built on
a gigantic dam structure. Building
the structure made of cement alone
in three years is impossible, let alone
manufacture giant ships on it. Besides
waiting for the first cemented section to
dry before you can continue and so on,
you also have to factor in the possible
cracks and supply shortage. That’s how
impossible it is.
Action movies probably lie the most.
They always have exploding things ran-
ging from the extreme, such as atom
bombs, to the more common things,
like the car. One of the exploding scenes
that you see a lot in action movies is the
one with a flame catching up with the
car due to leaking petrol, causing an
explosion. Mythbuster, the tv show on
Discovery Channel, proved this wrong.
Even as one of the hosts drove the car
slowly, ordinary petrol could not make
a flame move fast enough to catch up
with the car. Shooting into the gas tank
won’t do the job either. Regardless,
don’t try this at home.
Even in ordinary movies, Hollywood still
feels the need to make us believe the
unfeasible. In Easy A, Olive, the main
character, is seen wearing corsets to
school and shoes with really thin high
heels. Those of us who have never been
to public schools in the US may won-
der if they can really do that. From real
life experiences that I’ve heard, some
schools only allow tops with no less than
two fingers wide straps, and do you still
think they allow students to wear cor-
sets? Besides that, wearing killer high
heels for the whole day is painful. The
star probably wore flip-flops or flats
when the camera was not rolling.
All in all these unfeasible things are
what make movies interesting besides
a good story line. Hopefully they will
come up with something new and not
maintaining the obvious clichés.
becomes possible
only creates
By Nadia Zafirah
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1E F R - B U S I N E S S W E E K
-
lity for your business and feeling responsible for the people
around you. Taking charge is not only something for the lea-
der of a group, but it is important for everybody. Be and feel
responsible for what you are doing, take charge of your own
I’m doing in my work is what I’m passionate about. Honestly,
you can’t be successful in general if you don’t have a passion
Which decision in your career had the biggest impact on
my work and to follow my passion. At one stage in my life,
when I was already successful in my job and economically
independent, I became a mother. At some time my husband
decided to start his own company, which meant that I was
responsible for the family income. It was no longer possible
for me to quit my job if I didn’t like it. Therefore I decided that
I should make my work something to feel good about, resul-
What advice would you give to students on how to follow
very easy for all students, since most of them don’t have a
clear picture of what they want to do. Give yourself time to
explore what your dream is and go after it. Don’t be impa-
tient and climb the ladder too fast, but take time to broaden
yourself and get experience. After that, you will accelerate in
Interview Eclaire Special: Annerie VreugdenhilHead of ING Commercial Banking Netherlands
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36
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1W O R L D
THE JOURNALISTIC LANDSCAPE IS CHANGING. NEWSPAPERS, ONCE POWERFUL INSTITUTIONS, NOW SCRAMBLE TO ATTRACT NEW READERS.
REPORTERS, ONCE FEARSOME SEEKERS OF TRUTH, ARE NOW TIMID, UNWILLING TO TAKE A STAND. IN THIS VOID, A NEW MEDIUM EMERGED: THE POLITICAL BLOG.
BLOGS HAVE TRADITIONALLY BEEN PART OF THE PRIVATE LIFE. THEY HELD THE DETAILS OF PERSO-NAL LIFE, STORIES PEOPLE WANTED TO SHARE WITH THE WORLD, AND THEY WERE AMONGST THE FIRST TYPES OF WEBSITES. THE NEED TO SHARE THEIR INNERMOST THOUGHTS, EVEN WITH COMPLETE STRANGERS, COMPELLED SOME TO POST ON PUBLIC WEBSITES. THEY BROUGHT THEIR PRIVATE LIFE INTO THE PUBLIC DOMAIN, AND THESE ONLINE DIARIES, COMBINING THE STORIES OF ORDINARY LIVES, BE-CAME BLOGS.
A Fierce Start
For a long time, blogs were indeed online diaries. But that
all changed with the dawn of the new millennium. Due to si-
tes such as blogger.com, founded in 1998, blogging became
much easier. The improved interface made blogging less of
a hassle and, due to the ease of access, more people started
blogs. And as blogs became more ubiquitous, so did their
importance grow.
But until 2002, the power of blogs was vastly underestimated.
Back then, they were seen as interesting quirks, something
no one should pay attention to. Political discussions were
not unheard of, as blogs facilitated the sharing of opinions
with vast amounts of people, but mostly they were ignored.
That was, until 2002. In that year, the Senate majority lea-
der made a mistake, praising the 1948 presidential candi-
date Strom Thurmond, who ran on a platform of racism and
segregation. At fi rst, the media ignored this. However, after
blogs started writing about the speech, mainstream media
started reporting it as well. In the end, under mounting pres-
sure from blogs, the mainstream media and political oppo-
nents, the Senate Leader stepped down. It was the fi rst time
that blogs infl uenced national politics.
And so, the importance of blogs continued to grow. Around
the world, blogs sprung up, some private, some more open,
but all with the intention of promoting freedom of speech.
In Holland, Geenstijl opened its site in 2003. The site, where
only a select few were allowed to post, became the driving
force behind anti-establishment thinking, even going so far
as ousting a minister of state. In Singapore, another for-
mat was adopted. The Online Citizen is a website where
people can go and post news that the mainstream media
will not post. In the United States, the Huffi ngton Post is
one of the most important blogs, attracting contributions
from many prominent people, such as Robert Kennedy, Dan
Rather and Barack Obama. Blogs, once run from private
The Ne The Evolu
By Timothy Langstraat
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W O R L D
bedrooms, have become institutions, and their importance
has grown with every passing day.
An Uneasy Role
There is but one question that remains: what is the role of
blogs in modern society? They’ve long been seen as the out-
siders in the journalistic fi eld. Newspapers represented the
‘good’ journalism, reporters who were trained years to know
how to research, how to write articles, and were impartial,
while blogs were seen as their unprofessional, brusque
cousins. But nowadays, blogs have become journalistic in-
stitutions by themselves. Not all of them, as most blogs are
still the public diaries held by so many, but a few important
ones have become established. Their quality has increased
a thousandfold from their humble beginnings, and are as
much part of the mainstream media as their well-establis-
hed printed brothers.
So in terms of quality, they are the same, save for some
minor edits made by editors, but why do people see such
distinct differences between blogs and newspapers, if they
both deliver news? The biggest difference is in the way the
news is delivered. Every single day newspapers have to rush
to deliver a large amount of news before a certain dead-
line. Because of this, they are often limited to the most basic
news, rewritten from ANP or Reuters news feeds. Some-
times, for special editions, they write more in-depth articles,
but more often than not are they regular reports. However,
blogs are unbound by this. Ignoring the fashion blogs, and
their related brethren, political blogs can often write in-
depth articles about topics they think are important. Instead
of ten articles a day per person, they only need to write one
or two articles. So instead of rushing through the articles,
they spend a lot more time researching and writing them,
evaluating situations rather than describing them. Bloggers
are unbound, and so can write any way they please.
Unbound Blogging
That last bit, however, might not always be a good thing.
Bloggers are not only unbound in terms of time restraints,
but also in their own expressions. Newspapers are big in-
stitutions, whose entire business relies on their reputation.
Not just the reputation they have towards their readers, but
also the reputation they have with the subjects. Ruining this
reputation means either losing readers or, even worse, los-
ing their sources of information. Blogs do not share those
worries. Their readers expect the behaviour that newspa-
pers shy away from, and they are seen as vessels of opinion,
not fact. Their readers give them a carte blanche to do what
they want, and the sources do not care in what way infor-
mation is presented. They can present things as fact, wit-
hout the need for nuance that newspapers so often seek.
But if the power of blogs is so great that they can unseat
major political players, while having little to no accounta-
bility for what they do, why are they then important? Blogs
are important because of the role they have in society. They
are still, in essence, those private diaries made public. They
are the voice of the people, though a select group, and in
that they play a very important part. They pick up informa-
tion that the newspapers and news networks might deem
unworthy, and they give ordinary people a voice.
After all this, the role of the blog in modern society is clear.
It will never replace newspapers and proper news websites
as a major source of news. The staffi ng of such websites is
far greater than that of most blogs. But blogs do fulfi ll an
important role: they give the common man a voice, an op-
portunity to give their opinion and to address wrongs they
feel they have been done. And that empowerment is some-
thing that nothing, no matter how bad it is perceived to be,
can outweigh.
w News:tion of Blogs
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Interview KPN: Michael Maasdam
E F R - B U S I N E S S W E E K
Because KPN is a former state ow-
ned company, the perception of the
company is often that of a culture that
is a bit slow, with a workforce that is
comprised of older grey haired people
and with a lot of red tape. That is why
Michael went to the assessment for the
KPN traineeship without any expecta-
tions: ‘To be honest, KPN didn’t make
an impact upon me during my studies
here at Erasmus University. But as
soon as I stepped into their head office,
it turned out that my prejudices were
all wrong. My assessment turned out
to be the most challenging and inspi-
ring interview during my job hunt and
that’s one of the main reasons I turned
down traineeship offers in the FMCG
TRENDY MOBILE PHONES, FAST INTERNET AND INTERACTIVE TELEVISION. THE TELECOM INDUSTRY IS RAPIDLY CONVER-GING WITH THE MEDIA AND ICT INDUSTRY. WITH THE RISE
OF GOOGLE, APPLE AND FACEBOOK, TRADITIONAL OPERATORS ARE FORCED TO LOOK FOR NEW WAYS TO GROW. KPN IS ONE OF THEM. IN THIS QUICKLY CHANGING INDUSTRY MICHAEL MAAS-DAM (27) IS A TRAINEE IN KPN’S YOUNG POTENTIAL PROGRAM. WE SPOKE TO MICHAEL ABOUT HIS FIRST YEARS AND HIS FRESH OPINION ON KPN.
39
E F R - B U S I N E S S W E E K
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and Banking Industry. Working for KPN
for almost 2 years now, my perception
of KPN has changed into that of a young
and dynamic organization which is not
afraid to take bold action to secure fu-
ture profits.’
Michael studied IBA at the RSM, and
during his Master Management in In-
novation he wrote his thesis on Innova-
tion in Business Models. After being se-
lected for the Young Potential Program
with KPN, they put a real effort to get
him started into a function that mat-
ched his capabilities and aspirations.
That is how he became a strategist at
the business unit responsible for KPN’s
operations. ‘In this job I was given the
chance to contribute towards KPN’s
search for innovative new business mo-
dels to tackle the challenges the com-
pany is facing in its industry.’ How does
activities? ‘Next to the endless hours
spent on putting together the optimal
pack of sheets to convince the board
on which future strategic directions to
pursue, I took the initiative to kick-start
new business development initiatives
based on methodologies I discovered
during the writing of my thesis at RSM.
Besides this, I have conducted a project
with fellow trainees which links the im-
pact of Social Media to the strategy of
KPN. All of the above made sure that
I got to know the internal organization
within a short matter of time.’
Being professionally involved in the Te-
lecom industry means being in contact
with technical experts too. What about
Michael’s technical skills? ‘Especially
in my first function, I had to deal with
technical experts a lot. They overloaded
me with abbreviations and techtalk. Af-
ter two weeks I was able to show my
manager an excel file with 200 abbre-
viations which I came across but had
no clue what they meant. Thanks to my
patient colleagues my learning curve
was substantial in these first months.
As of January 1st Michael started as
Account Manager at the Wholesale
division of KPN. This division sells the
network of KPN to third parties. Micha-
el describes this as: ‘A completely dif-
ferent function, but a deliberate step.
This function puts me in the middle of
the everyday business action.’
So it can be held that KPN offers a gre-
at challenge for trainees. But what sets
the KPN program apart from nume-
rous others? ‘When talking to friends I
realized that within the Young Potential
Program I’ve received a lot of freedom
to pursue my own interest. Starting in a
proper job, normally done by a person
with at least 5 years of working experi-
ence means that a lot of responsibility
is given to you’.
During Michaels first function, KPN
has given him the opportunity to ac-
quaint himself with corporate culture
and decision making on strategic and
new business development issues. Mi-
chael is optimistic about his future: ‘My
current job will boost my business skills
and deal-making capabilities. In 5 years
time, this puts me in an ideal position
for a management position within KPN
or another company in the industry, but
also equips me with the experience to
be able to run my own company.’
Concluding, it can be stated that KPN
seems a good match for a student loo-
ambitious individual willing to work in
a dynamic environment, be sure to visit
KPN at the Business Week and take a
look at www.seriousbusinesscourse.nl
40
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EFR-Business Week:
Business Week On LocationDate: April 3rd – April 5th, 2011Location: London
TRADITIONALLY, THE BUSINESS WEEK ON LOCATION TAKES PLACE AT SPECI-AL LOCATIONS AND ORGANISATIONS.
PREVIOUS YEARS HAVE SEEN STUDENTS VISITING THE EU HEADQUARTERS IN BRUSSELS, THE EUROPEAN SPACE AGEN-CY AND SCHIPHOL, THE DUTCH TRANS-PORTATION HUB. THIS YEAR, WE WANT TO OFFER STUDENTS THE OPPORTUNITY TO LOOK BEHIND THE FACADE OF EXCLU-SIVE AND INTERESTING ORGANISATIONS IN THE FINANCIAL CAPITAL OF EUROPE: LONDON. WE OFFER OUR PARTICIPANTS A DIVERSE AND CHALLENGING PROGRAM-ME. IN ORDER TO DO SO, WE HAVE LOO-KED FOR PARTNERS THAT ARE THE BEST IN THEIR FIELD, RANGING FROM 5-STAR HOTELS TO HARRODS, THE NUMBER ONE LUXURY STORE IN LONDON. MAYBE YOU HAVE HEARD OF THESE ORGANISATIONS AND THE PRODUCTS OR SERVICES THEY DELIVER, BUT HOW IS THE ORGANISATION RUN? WHAT IS THE STORY BEHIND THE SUCCESS? THESE AND OTHER QUESTI-ONS WILL ALL BE ANSWERED DURING THE BUSINESS WEEK ON LOCATION.
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E F R - B U S I N E S S W E E K
Interested in joining us? Sign up now at one of our
promotional stands at the Erasmus University or online
at www.efr-businessweek.nl.
Sunday April 3nd, 2011
00.00h Departure for London
08.00h Arrival The Green Man Hostel, London.
Time to freshen up and have breakfast
10.00h Company visit to Harrods with a private tour,
company presentation and business case
16.00h Guided tour at the London National Gallery
18.00h Dinner
19.30h Start social drink with EFR alumni now
working in London
Monday April 4th, 2011
08.30h Breakfast
10.00h Company visits in groups to one of the 5-star
hotels
13.00h Time off to explore London
18.00h Dinner
20.00h Start West End musical ‘Chicago’ at
Cambridge Theatre
Tuesday April 5th, 2011
08.30h Breakfast
10.00h Company visit to Transport for London
15.00h Departure from London
24.00h Arrival in Rotterdam
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43
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E N T E R T A I N M E N T
Even more than the years before, 2010
was the year of social network sites.
While FB beat Google as the most visited
website, Twitter was the site that upda-
ted its business tools. It is not a coinci-
dence that Time Magazine named Mark
Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, Per-
son of the Year 2010. With Smartphones
and a constant connection to the World
Wide Web, social networks are part of
our lives 24/7. The online population
exists of teenagers, businessmen, cele-
brities and grandparents. Each of them
having their own incentives, but the
same underlying need: interaction.
Most people interact on a social level,
exchanging daily information, sha-
ring pictures and events, making new
friends and joining subgroups. Though,
only a few of us consider our personal
page, whether it is on FB, MySpace or
LinkedIn, as a way to sell ourselves. But
a personal page is the perfect oppor-
tunity to brand oneself. It has become
a modern equivalent of the business
card, though it adds a new dimension:
the constant link of connection.
But why is it then that we do not present
ourselves online as a brand, while all the
big brands, like Coca Cola and Barack
Obama, use social network sites to add
value to their brand? The big names use
the sites, because they know it is the
best way to keep contact with followers
nowadays. One can hardly think of a bet-
ter way to deliver the message and get
exposure. So, if a personal page is a tool
to add value to a brand, it must be true
that it can also create a brand. So what
are the key points in branding oneself?
Branding oneself
How straightforward it might appear,
one of the most important things to
remember is that the World Wide Web,
and with it the network sites, is availa-
ble to anyone, almost anywhere. It is not
just your ex-partner checking up on you,
also future employers and even the tax
department. Therefore, you have to de-
cide what you want others to know and
what purpose sharing this has. We all
see the pictures of great weekends, with
lots of alcohol. But remember if your
boss sees pictures of this every week,
and on Monday you cannot keep your
eyes open to do your work, it will not be
long before you are off the payroll!
A second key point is ‘be concrete
about yourself and your skills’. Brands
have slogans and mission statements,
a quick and clear way to communicate
where they stand for and what they of-
fer. Our education, work experience and
so on, are our assets, and with them
we can offer a service. But there are a
thousand others out there offering the
same service, therefore: be concrete in
what sets you apart from the rest. Re-
gard your personal page as a mix of an
online business card, which serves as
an introduction, and a C.V. for those who
might want or need to use your service.
‘Be up to date’ is another key point. The
Internet is able to make life faster, to
connect people quickly, and it is up to us
to follow the speed and not fall behind.
These days it is almost expected of you
to always be available, or at least react
within 24 hours. It gives the brand, and
therefore you, credibility. However, ha-
ving an online network is also a must-
have for people in their forties and fi f-
ties. More and more employers expect
this, as it is the modern way of doing
business and communicating.
Quantity vs. quality
Having a clear and up to date profi le is im-
portant, but you need a network to share
it with. When do you know your online
network is complete? And whether you
made the right trade-off between quan-
tity and quality? Of course, a network is
always in progress, never fi nished. As
time goes by, you change, your business
does and the environment you work is in
does. Constantly create new business re-
lations, but do not forget the old ones!
As concerns popularity under followers,
it is said that in the online world ‘it is
quantity, not quality that counts’. Howe-
ver, quantity gives exposure, but qua-
lity makes friends, especially business
friends. Find the trade-off that creates
the most value to you or your business!
While it seems like online network si-
tes take charge of our lives, it is time
that we take charge of them. We have
to start focusing more on the business
side of our personal pages, which will
result in an advantage to our business
activities. Turn yourself into a brand
everyone wants to be in contact with.
Your online business card needs to be
concrete, clear, up to date, and most
of all; consist of contents you want to
share. Quantity does matter, but quality
does too! And do not forget: your net-
work is going to be the most important
asset of your career!
Facebook-Generation: Business Friends
WE ARE THE FB-GENERATION, THE GENERATION THAT ‘PINGS’ AND POSTS ‘TWEETS’ EVERY SINGLE MOMENT. NOWADAYS WE SOCIALIZE THROUGH ONLINE NETWORKS, WHERE WE USED TO DO THAT BY LETTER. LOOK AROUND, WHEREVER YOU ARE, AND YOU WILL SEE PEOPLE WHO ARE STUCK TO
THEIR SMARTPHONE. WE HAVE TOOLS TO CONSTANTLY INTERACT WITH EACH OTHER. AND EVEN THOUGH THE TOOLS HAVE NOT BEEN AROUND THAT LONG, THEY ARE ALREADY INCORPORATED INTO OUR DAILY LIVES. BUT HOW DO WE MAXIMIZE THE BENEFITS OF THESE TOOLS, WHEN IT CONCERNS NETWORKING ON A BUSINESS LEVEL? IT IS TIME THAT WE ‘TAKE CHARGE’ OF OUR BUSINESS FRIENDS!
By Youvale van Dijk
ey.nl/carriere
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E N T E R T A I N M E N T
Japanese anime is a part of the en-
tertainment industry. There are even
professionals that specialize in dub-
bing the animations. They are often
trained in special schools and are
called voice actors. Anime industries
also led to creation of some Japa-
nese rock and pop bands. Although
people are aware of the popularity of
some types of anime, not many know
that the anime industry represents a
small part of the Japanese economy.
For example, ICv2 estimates that the
North American anime market for
2010 will fi nish with sales between
$160 and $200 million. Because Wal-
Mart, which is one of the major DVD
retailers with a huge percentage of
total DVD sales, doesn’t re-
port its sales, it remains dif-
fi cult to pinpoint the exact
dimensions of the market,
which accounts for the wide
range in ICv2’s anime market
size estimate. And according
to the Association of Japa-
nese Animations - the industry group that puts
on the Tokyo International Anime Fair, revenues
for 2007 were reported to be 239.6745 billion
yen (approx. US$2.26 billion) in 2007. Yet, that
amount is a 7.4% decline from 2006's 258.7 bil-
lion yen (US$2.41 billion).
are often made fun of, because of their love for
the childish animations. It may not be wise to
look down on consumers who bring billions of
dollars of growth to the Japanese economy.
Those who can make use
of knowledge about
other people’s hobbies
may become rich. What
is source of laughter
for one, may become a
source of wealth for ano-
ther. So don’t laugh
at lovers of endless
series of Naruto!
By Madina Ismailova
Big Eyes; Big Money.
Japan is now known as one of the world’s leading economies, mostly because it experienced a “miraculous” growth in 1960s and 1980s. However, Japan is also a source of interest
as the motherland of the anime industry. Anime is an animation genre that gained worldwide popularity. Anime characters have huge eyes, long legs, and unusual hair colors, such as green and purple. They lie, betray, smoke and drink, fall in love, and get jealous. It is rather different from other animations, for example Disney, because it is a more realistic way of portraying life. The animation is often criticized for the violent scenes, and in some countries, like the US, undergoes a strict censorship. Its audience varies in age, from little children to grown-up adults. Some of anime series such as Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon, Pokemon, and Naruto have become very popular.
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If you have ever walked through a
supermarket, there is a high chance
that you stumbled across a Dr.Oetker
product, like baking powder or frozen
pizzas.
Dr.Oetker is a German family owned
business, currently headed by the fourth
generation. It was founded in 1891 by
Dr. August Oetker, a pharmacist who
had the idea to sell baking powder in
a pre-packaged amount for one 500g
cake. The product was and is still called
products ever, and has maintained
its popularity until nowadays. The
introduction of Backin spread very
quickly, supported by print advertising
which went around cities and villages
to promote the baking powder in live
baking shows.
Back then, the gender roles were more
traditional, and women usually were
housewives, supposed to please their
husband with delicious food. The baking
powder in combination with the promise
to be more successful than expected
and the company rose at a fast pace.
Soon after vanilla sugar and pudding
mix were introduced, quickly becoming
very popular. At around 1900 Dr.Oetker
acquired the first manufacturing facility
and opened its first food production
plant soon after.
The company´s key to success has
been the continuous innovation of new
products and their placement on the
market. With the introduction of the
television a new possibility for advertising
had opened up and so the first Dr.Oetker
airing around 1950. Between 1944 and
1980 the enterprise started to become
more international and also experienced
its biggest growth rate.
An interesting fact about Dr.Oetker is
that they were the first to introduce the
frozen pizza in 1970 as we know it today.
Since the eighties Dr.Oetker widened
its portfolio by investing in shipping,
brewing, high class hotels and banking.
A remarkable fact is also that the
company has remained in the hands of
the family Oetker and is hence one of
the last big family owned businesses.
The family puts a lot of emphasis on
social values and environmentally
friendly production. By focusing on the
consumers needs and meeting them in
combination with continuous innovation
Dr.Oekter has grown into one of the
biggest food production companies in
the world.
Dr.Oetker – A Family Dynasty
key to success
has been the
continuous
innovation of
By Katharina Dees
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The Importance of Tradition
The first and most significant influence, as men-
tioned before, is the diverse tradition and culture
of Asia. This affects how people behave and in-
teract in the office. Being respectful to the el-
derly, seating positions, and the way you dress
are some of the traditions that are still preserved.
In Japan, you have to wait until the head of the
meeting stands up before you can stand up and
do so and you should never write one’s name in
red ink. Another example, in Indonesia, although
the dress code is fairly liberal, women should
not wear tops that are too low or short skirts to
work. These customs might sound trivial but are
essential to making sure your business deals go
smoothly. As the world becomes more connected
these days, traditions may be fading or blending
with the outside influence but they still exist as
the businesses are still held by the elder gene-
ration in majority. Besides that, the elderly are
holding on to the traditional values even stron-
ger because they fear that those values will erode
with the increasing Western-dominated interna-
tional culture.
Knowing the Religions’ Values
The second influence is the presence of Gods
and beliefs, which play a big part in the majority
of Asian society. For example, Buddhism is pro-
minent in Asian countries such as Japan, South
Korea and China. Do not forget smaller countries
such as Thailand and Cambodia whose famous
Buddhist temple Angkor Wat has attracted tou-
rists from around the world. Indonesia has the
largest Muslim population in the world, India has
the largest Hindu population in the world and the
Asian Business Ethics – The Discussion
SOME OF YOU MAY KNOW THE ADVERTISEMENT THAT SHOWS A JAPANESE MAN GIVING A HANDSHAKE WHILE AN ENGLISHMAN BOWS AND BOTH OF THEM DOING THE
REVERSE THE NEXT MOMENT. THE CATCHY ADVERTISEMENT IS ONLY ONE OF THE DIFFERENT COMMERCIALS FOCUSED ON THE DIFFERENT CULTURES IN THE WORLD BY AN INTERNATIONAL PRIVATE BANK. THE NARRATOR USUALLY ENDS THE ADVERTISEMENT REMINDING HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO UNDERSTAND THE BACKGROUND CULTURE OF THE CURRENT AND FUTURE BUSINESS PARTNERS. THE COMMERCIALS SHOW EXAGGERATED STEREOTYPES THAT MAY NOT EVEN BE PRACTICED BY THE MAJORITY OF THE PEOPLE IN THAT SOCIETY. NEVERTHELESS, IT STILL REMINDS US OF THE MISUNDERSTANDING THAT WILL OCCUR IF WE DO NOT UNDERSTAND EACH OTHER’S CULTURE OR EVEN BUSINESS ETHICS ESPECIALLY WHEN IT HAPPENS BETWEEN EAST AND WEST.
ASIA IS KNOWN FOR ITS RICH CULTURAL BACKGROUND AND JUDGING BY THE SIZE OF THE CONTINENT ALONE, THERE ARE POSSIBLY NUMEROUS ETHNICITIES AND TRIBES AND DIFFERENT TRADITIONS THAT ARE VERY DIFFERENT THAN IN THE WEST. EVEN IN ASIA, THERE COULD BE SOME MISUNDERSTANDING ABOUT THE BUSINESS CUSTOM AND WHAT IS CONSIDERED POLITE AND IMPOLITE. FURTHERMORE, BUSINESS ETHICS ARE NOT ONLY ABOUT CULTURE BUT ALSO THE SOCIAL SITUATIONS THAT AFFECT PEOPLE’S BEHAVIORS. WE WILL SEE MORE ON HOW THESE SOCIAL ETIQUETTES AFFECT BUSINESS PRACTICES AND HOW TO DEAL WITH THEM.
By Nadia Zafirah
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Philippines are devoutly Catholic. Most professional
business players do not mix business with religion,
but knowing the customs of religion can aid in winning
the hearts of future business partners. For example,
it will be convenient to not hold a meeting on a Friday
afternoon in Muslim countries, as the men have to at-
tend mosque at the same time. Although religions do
not fade with time, globalization may cause the belie-
vers to shift in practice. Some of them may be more
open to atheism or they are more relaxed in applying
the values they hold. People are growing more accep-
ting of the outside influence and try to find a balance
between the two worlds.
The Frustrating Second World Attitudes
The third influence is the political state of the coun-
tries. In the developing Asian countries, many Wes-
tern businessmen are confused and frustrated by the
vague and inconsistent rules that may be present. Nu-
merous red tape and bureaucracy can drive you crazy
especially when you are not prepared of it, not to men-
tion the corruption. The markets are promising but the
process of setting up business there and dealing with
the locals can be complicated. For example, you have
to be immensely patient, because tardiness is prone
to happen, especially with the poor infrastructure and
laid-back attitude. As for bribery, it is not an offense if
you reject it but you may have to do it on someone else
to get the work done quickly and easily. The key word
is flexibility. You have to be flexible to do business with
such society. It is indeed not easy to let go of some
of your values but adjusting to them is necessary to
reap the sweet fruit of labor. In the mean time, you can
sneak your ways in and win their hearts so that they
adjust to your principles instead. Before that happens,
adapting to the locals might be the only way to work.
In the end, it is up to us on how we carry ourselves
in doing businesses. The best way is to take the best
of both sides, East and West, and implement them in
our business ethics. Regardless of the culture, every
person is different and not every Asian businessman
falls into the stereotypes. With globalization, more and
more people, especially young Eastern businessmen,
are greatly influenced by the Western values. In the
future, doing business in Asia may not be so diffe-
rent than in the West. As for now, do your background
check and do not let a cultural misunderstanding get
in the way of taking part in the growing economy.
"People
are growing
more accepting
of the outside
influence and
try to find
a balance
between the
two worlds."
For fi nance students who think ahead
www.asml.com/careers
How do you controla global business in the volatile chip industry?
Join ASML’s Finance Team and help us adapt to a fast-moving world.
At ASML we bring together the most creative minds in physics, electronics, mechatronics, computer science,software and precision engineering to develop lithography machines that are key to producing cheaper,faster, more energy effi cient microchips. Our machines need to image billions of structures in a fewseconds with an accuracy of a few silicon atoms.
At ASML fi nancial planning and strategic control are critical to the success of our business. Fast-moving consumer electronics and mobile communications markets can see the demand for ourlithography machines soar, but economic downturns that slow consumer spending can equallysee it fall. As a result, structuring our business to cope with volatility is a must.
If you’re a fi nance student with the ingenuity to stress-test operations against theunexpected and the creativity to come up with strategic solutions, you’ll fi nd workingat ASML a highly rewarding experience. We offer exhilarating learning curves,inspirational team spirit, and a culture to get things done.
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Marketing Officer
09:00 – Arrive at EFR, have
breakfast.
09:30 – Meeting with designers to
design EFR-Business Week
Logo.
10:30 – Brainstorm about stand
design and promotional
activities.
12:00 – Quick lunch: ‘Broodje
Kroket’.
12:30 – Update EFR-Business Week
website: upload company
profiles, committee
pictures, etc.
14:00 – Meeting with Pieter’s Party
Crew (PPC) about the
organisation of the EFR-
Business Week Party.
15:00 – Post updates about the
EFR-Business Week on our
social media channels.
16:00 – Stalk commercials to hand
in advertisements for the
Eclaire Special.
16:30 – Have a coffee.
17:00 – Order gadgets and goodies
for the promotional period.
.. : .. – Time to go home? Depends
on how busy the day is!
Commercial Officer
09:00 – Arrive at EFR, have a
sandwich and Milk&Fruit
Mango.
09:30 – Call companies about the
EFR-Business Week.
11:00 – Sales Meeting with
Company Days Officer and
Commercial Officer EFR
Board.
12:00 – Quick lunch, sometimes
behind the computer.
12:30 – Leave EFR for an
appointment in Amsterdam.
Prepare for appointment
and call more companies in
the train.
14:00 – Appointment in Amsterdam.
15:00 – Travel back to Rotterdam.
Reflect on appointment in
the train and brainstorm
about Business Week
on Location (also your
responsibility!).
17:00 – Complete and send
contracts to companies.
.. : .. – Time to go home? Depends
on how busy the day is!
Chairman
09:00 – Arrive at EFR, go to the
Coffee Corner and order a
big Café Latte.
09:30 – Answer emails.
10:00 – Appointment with Metro at
the university, to maintain
press relations.
11:00 – Meeting with Activity Officer
EFR Board to discuss
progress of the EFR-
Business Week.
12:00 – Quick lunch.
12:30 – Leave EFR for appointment
in Amsterdam with a
member of the Board of
Substance. Prepare for
appointment in the train.
14:00 – Appointment with a
member of the Board of
Substance.
15:00 – Travel back to Rotterdam.
17:00 – Discuss progress with other
committee members and
see if anyone needs help.
.. : .. – Time to go home? Depends
on how busy the day is!
Join the
EFR-Business Week
Committee next year!
DID YOU GET ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT OUR PROGRAMME? WOULD YOU LIKE TO ORGANISE THE EFR-BUSINESS WEEK YOURSELF NEXT YEAR? CHECK OUT WHAT A DAY IN THE LIFE OF OUR MARKETING OFFICER, COMMERCIAL OFFICER AND CHAIR-
MAN LOOKS LIKE BY TAKING A SNEAK PEEK IN THEIR CALENDARS AND DISCOVER IF THE EFR-BUSINESS WEEK COMMITTEE IS SOME-THING FOR YOU!
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Bauke Bakker is a management trai-nee at Alliander. Before joining Allian-der, Bauke studied ‘Bestuurs en Or-ganisatie Wetenschappen’ and chose the Master ‘Public Management’. But Bauke did more than just study; he was a full time board member of his study association, and he worked as an adviser in the public sector. Des-pite Bauke’s many extracurricular activities, he finished his study in five years. However, because he was still so young, he didn’t want to start a full time job yet. In his search for what to do next, he came across a project to improve healthcare and clean water
-filling to really do something for the local people. […] This is also why the public sector has always appealed to
When Bauke finished his Cameroon project, he wanted to start his career and began applying to several compa-nies. Bauke first came in contact with Alliander during one of their in-house days. He immediately felt at home in the fun and open atmosphere at Al-liander and entered the application process for their traineeship shortly hereafter. The application procedure
applicants for five vacancies. The ap-plication procedure consisted of six rounds. I still remember the round where I had to prove myself in front of the Young Talent Manager and two other managers. Very impressive, but a good way to learn what is really hap-pening inside the company. And I no-ticed that you have a lot of interaction
explains. In the first year of the ma-nagement traineeship trainees fulfill two assignments in different depart-ments of Alliander. After this, in year 2 and 3, trainees become team leaders or work in other managing positions. One of the reasons why Bauke is deve-loping so swiftly is easy to explain: at Alliander all trainees have two days of training every six weeks. Besides that, you will be appointed a senior contact
for all the answers, but he encourages you to find out things yourself. This way you get a much better understan-
As a team leader at Alliander, trainees manage a team of (mainly) technici-ans. This can be quite challenging, es-
technician became the manager. Now this has changed and there is a new
that technicians also prefer to focus on their specialty instead of mana-ging. That is why Alliander aims to put the right people on the right positions and to help management trainees make well-thought-out decisions.
What attracted Bauke most to Allian-der was the openness they demon-strated. Besides the Alliander Annual Report, written as the annual reports we all know, the CEO of Alliander, Peter Molengraaf, explains the most important excerpts in a film clip of a couple of minutes. Next to this eve-ryone, from colleagues to managers and senior executives are easily ap-proachable. Both examples illustrate the very open atmosphere which re-presents Alliander.
To find out more about working at Alli-ander, apply online via www.alliander.com/werk or subscribe now for the EFR-Business Week where Alliander will participate in the Company Din-ner. Subscription can be done both online and at our promotional stands at the Erasmus University.
A team leader at
Alliander in one year!
Bij een duurzame toekomst hoort elektrisch vervoer;
dat scheelt de maatschappij enorme hoeveelheden CO2-
uitstoot. De komende jaren bouwt Alliander duizenden
oplaadpunten voor elektrische auto’s. Maar hoe zorg je
ervoor dat het netwerk niet overbelast raakt? En hoe
beveilig je de opladers? Als trainee werk je daaraan mee.
Ben jij een ambitieuze starter die, samen met ons, de
samenleving vooruit wil helpen? Dan investeren wij
graag in jouw ontwikkeling. Met intensieve traineeships,
toegesneden op jouw professionele en persoonlijke groei.
Goed vooruitzicht? Ontdek ons technisch, management en
ICT traineeship op alliander.com/werk. Of neem contact
op via [email protected]
iedereen energie
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TODAY THE FIRST THOUGHT YOU HAVE WHEN YOU HEAR THE WORD MONOPOLY: A COMPANY
HAVING EXCLUSIVE CONTROL OVER A SERVICE OR GOOD. NOT SUR-PRISING, AS YOU ARE TRAINED TO THINK AS AN ECONOMIST. BUT DO YOU REMEMBER THE FIRST THING YOU THOUGHT WHEN YOU WERE 10 YEARS OLD? YOU PROBABLY THOUGHT ABOUT THE POPULAR BOARD GAME. DID YOU KNOW THAT MONOPOLY IS SO POPULAR THAT MORE THAN 275 MILLION GAMES HAVE BEEN SOLD WORLDWIDE AND THAT IT IS AVAILABLE IN 111 COUN-TRIES, IN 43 LANGUAGES?
Monopoly is the successor of ‘The
Landlord’s Game’, a game designed
by Elizabeth Magie. With the game she
wanted to show people the effects of
monopolies on the economy. Monopoly
is a commercial board game published
by Parker Brothers. The intention of the
game is to bankrupt the other players.
You have to buy real estate, and try to
own monopolies of certain properties.
The squares on the board stand for real
estate one can buy. When another play-
er is on your square you collect money.
But be careful: you can go to jail, where
Jake the Jailbird has already been sent
to by Offi cer Edgar Mallory!
Over the years the game has not been
altered a lot. However, there are vari-
ations with the names of the squares:
from popular sport teams, cartoons, to
television series. They also designed a
special version for younger children,
called Monopoly Junior. With more and
more technologies, Monopoly is also
published for the iPhone, the iPad, the
PS3 and more. Furthermore, they are
active on Facebook.
To keep up with the changing environ-
ment of economics, they even replaced
the paper money with credit cards. The
changes and the updates help, because
the board game is still very popular un-
der children and their families.
This game is perfect proof that econo-
mics and money is integrated into every
aspect of our life!
“More than 275 million
games have
been sold worldwide”
E N T E R T A I N M E N TE N T E R T A I N M E N T T
MonopolyBy Youvale van Dijk
FEEL THE PASSION, DEDICATION
AND DIVERSITY, AND JOIN OUR TEAM!
>>> For students: INTERNSHIP
Working within the adidas Group is much more than a job. It’s where you have the opportunity to shape the future of sport.
Bring to life ideas and innovations that will animate athletes or everyday people somewhere in the world to make their dreams a reality.
Be a part of a brand you have admired since stepping out on the fi eld for the very fi rst time.
Experience a career so fulfi lling, you will go home every night with a win, and wake up every day ready to play another game.
>>> www.adidas-group.com/careers
>>> For graduates: FUNCTIONAL TRAINEE PORGRAM
SHAPE THE FUTURE OF SPORT
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Our City,
Our Sports
Our sports
Rotterdam could be seen as the sport
city of The Netherlands. Not only has
the city hosted big onetime events, like
the start of the Tour de France and the
fi nal of Euro 2000 football champion-
ships, it has also hosted lots of other
annual sports events. The yearly Fortis
marathon, Bavaria city racing with For-
mula 1 cars, the Red Bull air race, the
Davis and Fed cup, ABN Amro World
Tennis tournament and the Champions
hockey trophy are just a few of them.
Add to that three professional football
clubs and you also have a city of der-
bies. Sparta Rotterdam is located in
Spangen, Excelsior in Kralingen and
Feyenoord in Rotterdam Zuid.
Feyenoord stands out with its stadium
De Kuip. On March 27th 1937 the fi rst
football match was played in De Kuip,
and over the years it established a
reputation of being a stadium of the
JULY 3RD 2010, THE START OF THE BIGGEST CYCLING TOUR, THE TOUR DE FRANCE, IS IN OUR CITY. STARTING FROM ZUIDPLEIN, VIA THE ERASMUS BRUG, EVENTUALLY ENDING
ON ZUIDERPARKWEG. THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE STACKED ALONG THE ROADS TO WATCH THE BRAVE MEN CYCLE A PROLOGUE, THE START OF THREE WEEKS OF HELL. ALL OVER THE WORLD THEY ARE WATCHING OUR CITY, OUR SPORTS.
By Youvale van Dijk
57
W O R L D
people. Today it is still seen as one of
the greatest stadiums, if not the grea-
test, of the Netherlands. Furthermore,
it plays a central role in Rotterdam’s
sport and event life.
Stadium-park
To boost the infl uence of sports and
events on Rotterdam, the city plans
to make De Kuip part of a new central
point for sports and events, fi nishing
around 2030. The Stadium-park is
going to be the base for the existing
Kuip, a new stadium, an ice rink and
Topsportcentrum Rotterdam. The park
has to become a place for people of
all ages, races and sport levels. Sport,
business and education will gather
here to create an environment that will
um-park offers the possibility to watch
sports and to exercise yourself, both
according to Jan Geuskens, process
manager of the project.
The new stadium will be the biggest
challenge. From 2017 onwards Feyen-
oord is supposed to play in this new
multifunctional stadium, one that has to
make its own history. With a part of it on
the Maas, the new stadium has to func-
tion as a location of education, events
and sports. It will become 100 percent
carbon-neutral, with energy generated
by 30.000 square meters of solar pa-
nels and windmills in the Noordzee.
Invest
However, there are still some doubts
about the new Kuip. Especially the
costs of realizing the plans are an
obstacle for the political parties in
the Maas-city. The 482 million Euros
investment needed is, according to
them, not justifi ed in a time of fi nancial
distress. Especially since one third has
to be fi nanced by a loan from the com-
munity Rotterdam. And with Feyenoord
in debt, the political parties want to re-
view other possibilities.
By investing in the new stadium and
the park around it, the city will retain
and increase its good reputation as
sport city. For a relatively small city,
Rotterdam hosts a lot of big events.
With competition from other cities and
abroad, it needs to continue investing in
their facilities to keep attracting these
big events. The new stadium was part
of the bid for the world cup football of
2018, and can also be a key point in the
bid for the Olympic Games 2028.
The city will be more attractive once
the plans are executed, especially from
a sports and events perspective. Stadi-
um-park will be a central point in Rot-
terdam Zuid and Rotterdam. But mo-
ney is money, and politics are politics,
so we have to wait and see whether
Stadium-park will light up the shores
of the Maas in 2030.
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It is all about the way you behave, having authority and wor-
king together. You have authority, not because you say you
have, but because other people see you as an authoritative
person. Make sure people see you like that, by being disci-
plined and always asking the most of yourself. Being talented
isn’t just a gift or favour; it comes with certain responsibili-
ties and obligations.
By being empathic, you create a foundation for others to
get the most out of their strengths. It is important to feel
an honest affection for the people you’re working with. Team
work is essential when you want to create a dynamic working
environment and when you want to get processes running.
Also, I think it is really important to be optimally balanced
yourself: by this I mean your body and soul, and your work
and private life.
I implemented this by always following my ambitions and st-
riving to complete authentic goals, in which I really believe
myself. This is something I have done all my life and I can
truly say I love it! When I was working at the Erasmus Uni-
versity and Open University, I enjoyed expanding my own and
my student’s knowledge by having interactive meetings and
discussions. During these meetings, respect was always the
key factor. Working with young people is important for me and
is something I have enjoyed doing throughout my career. Also
in my other positions (within companies, politics, etc.), I’ve al-
ways strived to improve and develop the things I was working
on and to make the most out of every situation.
and even in politics. Is this something you prefer over
I’m afraid I just have too much energy and a too broad varia-
tion of interests… It is something I’ve learned to live with, but
I’m still waiting for the rest of my family and friends to adjust
to it as well.
You also worked as Chairman Rotterdam European
I think Rotterdam is the best world city I know and it will al-
ways be just that. The city has an unlimited potential. But I
don’t believe our biggest strength is the harbour. I think we
have our own secret weapon: the combination between di-
versity and youth we have in this city. The biggest misper-
ception I’ve heard is that immigrant and native youngsters
are a problem in Rotterdam. By empowering them, I think we
can unleash a big energy within them, through which Rotter-
dam can become the most sustainable city in the world. But
I must warn you: I tend to exaggerate a bit when it comes to
my hometown…
As a member of the Board of Substance of the EFR-
I think it is a shame that you won’t realise what an amazingly
fun and useful association the EFR is and what an unpre-
cedented line of Business Weeks the EFR-Business Week
Committees have organised until later. But fortunately, this
year you have been warned in time, so you won’t miss out on
participating in the EFR-Business Week 2011!
Interview Eclaire Special: Steven van Eijck
Member Board of Substance EFR-Business Week 2011
Chairman Dutch Advisory Board on Administrative Burden58
Belangen afwegen… daar weten wij alles van.Hoe los je schijnbaar tegenstrijdige zaken op? Liever een biertje drinken met je vrienden of toch maar het tentamen
voor morgen leren? Het lijkt misschien een makkelijke keuze, maar welke kant je ook kiest, beide kanten hebben
gevolgen. Dilemma’s oplossen is bij het Rijk alledaagse kost. Je bent steeds weer bezig met het verenigen van
belangen en het samenbrengen van (ogenschijnlijke) tegenstellingen, op elk terrein, voor de hele maatschappij.
Bij het Rijk kun je dus alle kanten op. Zowel tussen de ministeries als binnen de ministeries. De beleidsterreinen
bij het Rijk zijn enorm gevarieerd: veiligheid op straat, afvalbeheer, wachtlijsten, internetcriminaliteit,
klimaatverandering, voedselveiligheid, infrastructuur en nog veel meer. Er werken onder meer economen,
accountants, auditors, bedrijfskundigen, beleidsmedewerkers, controllers en fi nancieel specialisten.
Nieuwsgierig? Kijk dan op onze website wat je mogelijkheden zijn, bijvoorbeeld bij ‘stages/afstuderen’ of
‘vacatures’. Of word jij een van onze nieuwe rijkstrainees?
Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Car-
ter, started out as an underground rap-
per, but has become one of the most
infl uential, and richest, people on this
planet. He learned to be responsible
for himself, because his father left the
family when he was only 11 years old.
From then on he developed a strong
character, and the willpower to reach
for the stars. As a young man he star-
ted to rap in order to escape his violent
New York surroundings, earning him a
reputation as a talented underground
rapper. In the New York underground
rap scene he networked with other
rappers, growing important insights in
how the music business worked. He
did not want to be signed to a big re-
cord label, so instead, together with two
friends, he found his own record label;
Roc-a-Fella Records. Def Jam records
became their distributor and Jay-Z
later became president of the record
label, which he remained until 2007.
His rise to the position of an executive
of a major league record label was an
extraordinary happening in the music
business. In 1996 he also released an
album which became a big success in
1996. After that he soon became a fa-
mous rapper, producer, and spotter of
new talents such as Rihanna.
Jay-Z and
Beyoncé
A Music(al) Empire
IN 2010, JAY-Z MADE THE COVER OF THE FORBES 400 NEXT TO WARREN BUFFET. IN THAT SAME YEAR, BEYONCÉ KNOWLES RAN-KED #1 AS FORBES’ HIGHEST-EARNING FEMALE IN THE ENTER-
TAINMENT BUSINESS BY GROSSING $87 MILLION WITH ENDORSE-MENT DEALS AND HER WORLD TOUR.
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By Katharina Dees
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In 1999, Jay-Z started his career as an
entrepreneur when he co-founded the
sells urban clothing and accessories.
The label became very popular in the
US and made enormous revenues. He
sold the rights for a total of 239$ mil-
lion in 2007. Until today Jay Z remains
actively involved in the company, super-
vising product development and mar-
keting. Once in the fashion industry, he
diversifi ed his portfolio and also beca-
me a stockholder in other companies,
like the 40/40 clubs (luxurious sport
bars) and the New Jersey Nets NBA,
a baseball team. His reputation as an
entrepreneur also got him a contract
company, for which he manages mer-
chandising, touring, and promotion. To
make his empire complete, he invested
was released in 2010. Looking at Jay-
Z´s rise from the streets of Brooklyn to
the Forbes 400 list, his enthusiasm, the
passion for what he is doing, and the
detailed involvement in his projects are
remarkable and probably were the key
to his success.
Jay-Z´s Empire became even big-
ger when he married the R&B super-
star Beyoncé Knowles in 2008 whom
he had met while working on her fi rst
solo album. Together the couple has an
estimated net worth of $ 850 million.
Beyoncé is a multi-talent, just like her
husband.
When Beyoncé was still very young she
already worked on her later career ex-
tensively by taking singing and dancing
lessons for hours, every day. Her hard
work has paid off; nowadays, she is
considered to be one of the best con-
temporary singers with a vocal range
of about 3,5 octaves and her singing
technique is marked by many melis-
mata (singing one syllable of text over
multiple notes) which is unique to her
style and rather diffi cult to imitate.
Starting her career as the lead sin-
in 1990, she remained with the group
until 2003. After becoming famous as
a singer of the best-selling girl group
and winning multiple important music
awards, including two Grammies, she
started her solo career in 2003. She
went on to release 2 more solo albums
and has so far won a total of 16 Grammy
awards. In 2002, she started pursuing
a career as an actress and appeared in
an Austin Power fi lm. Since then she
took on more roles, including Deena
singing and movie career she appeared
in many advertisements and commer-
cials for brands such as Tommy Hilfi -
ger, L´Oréal, and Pepsi.
Beyoncé has always been interested
and fascinated by fashion, so she foun-
had already designed the tour costu-
mes for Destiny´s Child and her solo
tour) in 2004. The label is successfully
selling jeans and other apparel as well
as delivering Beyoncé´s stage outfi ts.
In 2009, her mother and she published
stage personality Sasha Fierce, a more
daring and outgoing person than she
is). In 2010, she diversifi ed her projects
The Empire Beyoncé built is different
from Jay-Z’s, as she also involved her
family in her projects (her father was
the manager of Destiny´s Child and is
still her manager today; her mother de-
signs her stage outfi ts), but most of the
credit still goes to her, as she actively
and very ambitiously worked hard on
her career. Beyoncé was even ranked
"Remind
yourself.
Nobody built
like you,
you design
yourself."
"I will not
lose, for even
in defeat,
there's a
valuable
lesson
learned, so
it evens up
for me."
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E F R - B U S I N E S S W E E K
DID YOU EVER PICTURE YOURSELF CONVERSING ABOUT CURRENT AFFAIRS WITH PROMINENT FI-
GURES FROM ALL OVER SOCIETY, WHILE ENJOYING A CUP OF COFFEE? THE CONFERENCE DAY WILL PROVIDE YOU WITH THE OPPORTUNITY TO GET IN TOUCH WITH OUR DISTINGUISHED GUESTS AND TO SHARE YOUR VIEWS ON PREVALENT DISCUSSION-TOPICS. WITH THE EXTRAORDINARY VIEW FROM THE 44TH FLOOR OF THE MAASTOREN AS A BACKGROUND SETTING, YOU WILL BE IMPRESSED BY THEIR INSPIRATIO-NAL SPEECHES AND INNOVATIVE PER-SPECTIVES.
THE CONFERENCE DAY, WITH INTER-ACTION, CONTENT AND A PERSONAL SETTING AS ITS KEY-ELEMENTS, IS DIVIDED INTO THREE SEPARATE COM-PONENTS: ROUND TABLE CONVERSA-TIONS, A DISCUSSION PANEL AND THE GRAND DEBATE.
EFR-Business Week: Conference Date: April 6th, 2011Location: Maastoren, 44th floor
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E F R - B U S I N E S S W E E K
Round Table Conversations
The Round Table Conversations consist of small group
discussions, during which you and your fellow students
sit around the table with a couple of our guests. Topics
for discussion will be introduced centrally by means of
images, video material and speeches from our speakers,
after which all groups will discuss the topics amongst
themselves. At the end of every discussion round, the final
conclusions of each table will be highlighted publicly. The
discussion statements will all concern current affairs
and are related to our theme ‘Take Charge’.
The informality of the Round Table Conversations allows
unique perspectives to be expressed and will lead to
lively conversations!
Discussion Panel
After an exquisite lunch, it is time to give the floor to
a panel of experts who will provide you with the latest
insights on the topic: ‘Women in Charge’. (Note to all
male students: this discussion might also contain some
surprising elements for you…!)
Day
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E F R - B U S I N E S S W E E K
Grand Debate
During the Grand Debate, all participants will be divided
into two groups, who will compete against each other in
lively discussions and exciting game rounds. The variety
of topics and different components of the debate will
create an informal setting in which you will be inspired
to participate. Furthermore, you can be chosen by a
professional jury to become the Conference Day’s best
debater and yes, of course this title will be rewarded
with a spectacular price.
Interested in joining us? Sign up now at one of our
promotional stands at the Erasmus University or online
at www.efr-businessweek.nl.
Preliminary Programme Conference Day:
09.30h Reception
10.00h Round Table Conversations
12.30h Lunch
13.30h Discussion Panel
14.00h Grand Debate
16.30h Closure
17.00h Drink
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Of heb jij een beter idee om je toekomst zelf vorm te geven?
werkenbijpwc.nl
© 2011 PricewaterhouseCoopers B.V. (KvK 3412089) Alle rechten voorbehouden.
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The fi rst thing that comes to my mind is responsibility. It
means that you take responsibility for doing what it takes
to explore and use the talents you have, to manage your
career, relationships or health. No one can make decisions
for you or make you change your behavior. Only you can do
these things.
I’m interested in many things and you can’t have it all. But
giving up a passion in order to pursue your career seems to
me an awkward trade-off. If you’re not passionate about what
you do, which includes your career in whatever setting, than
you should rethink your choices.
Which decision in your career had the biggest impact on
My decision to end my contract with ExxonMobil and go the
entrepreneurial route had an impact in many ways. To leave
behind a successful career and a secure salary to start taking
more (personal) risks opened up many new opportunities to
develop and use my talents. It also created much more dyna-
mism in the experiences around successes and failures.
I will be involved in (starting up) new ventures and promoting
the power of entrepreneurship along the way. For the future
these entrepreneurial endeavors will also be geared towards
making the world just a little bit better place to be.
What advice would you give to students on how to follow
Having a dream is a gift and taking the fi rst step to live that
dream is the most important one: get into action and take
charge! You might have to take risks to fulfi ll that dream but
if you really believe in it, you’ll be able to make it, as long as
you’re prepared to persevere. If you don’t have a dream, start
doing something that gives you energy and of which you can
be proud!
Interview Eclaire Special: Michiel Muller
E F R - B U S I N E S S W E E K
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CAREER IS OFTEN CONSIDERED AS A VERY IM-PORTANT PART OF THE HAPPINESS IN PEO-PLE’S LIFE. A SUCCESSFUL CAREER IMPLIES
HIGH SALARY, WHICH ALLOWS FOR A BETTER LE-VEL OF LIFE. WE ALL DREAM OF BEING RICH. HO-WEVER, IT DOESN’T HAPPEN WITHOUT ANY EF-FORT. IT’S NOT ALWAYS THE CASE, BUT TO MAKE A CAREER, TO MAKE MONEY, EDUCATION IS OFTEN NEEDED. BUT WHEN IS THE TIME TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR OWN FUTURE? TO GET A CHANCE TO WORK FOR A POWERFUL COMPANY, YOU HAVE TO BE THE COMPETITIVE STAR. SO WHEN DO PEOPLE START PREPARING THEMSELVES FOR THIS REALITY?
Life can be divided into parts: childhood, teens, adulthood,
and old age. Each of those has its own specifi c events. Lit-
tle children learn to read, write and play hide and seek,
teenagers develop their identity via music, fashion, par-
tying. Adults work to earn money for a living, and their
retirement. The steps and events may vary with culture,
country, and personality.
In different countries there are different ways to approach
success. Let’s look at American culture. There they believe
that it’s very important to develop social skills. Schools offer
children many subjects to learn various things, from baking
a cake to constructing a robot, depending on the abilities and
interests of the child. In kindergarten, schools, and univer-
sities, students learn how to live independently, creatively
life via hard work.
Asian parents believe that it is never too early to start pre-
paring their children for the future. In primary school they
Struggle For
Success, Struggle For
Education.
By Madina Ismailova
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W O R L D
focus on main subjects, such
as mathematics, languages,
basic science, and literature.
They have primary schools
where students study from 8
am to 5 pm. Many Asian stu-
dents also learn to play music
instruments. The talent doesn’t
matter as much as the effort.
Practice makes perfect, and
Asian students work very hard.
Children are under stress of
keeping up with their peers.
They are always told to be the
best, and therefore the pres-
sure of being the best is huge
from an early age on.
Separately, we can see the post Soviet education system.
Here schools teach many subjects from different fi elds to
students, not only the fi elds of interest they enjoy. The idea
behind it is to give children broad knowledge, so that if he
decides to radically change his career he knows the basics.
Unlike the US schools, they focus on teaching rather than
helping children with social problems. Education here is
not as well fi nanced as in Europe or America. However, stu-
dents achieve higher results even with insuffi ciently equip-
ped schools. Many smart students left post-USSR countries
to make money. But as a matter of fact the Soviet system of
education created those prodigies.
The approaches to education as a key to success are different
worldwide. It seems that Asian youngsters are more stressed.
For example, unlike the Dutch primary school students, Asian
ones have to do homework. Although Asian students appear
to perform better in science, it’s still unclear if the stress
students go through during the
teen years is worth it. In Japa-
nese culture many men work
hard to provide for the entire
family. They take important po-
sitions in business companies
and government institutions,
but their workdays are much
longer than those of their Eu-
ropean colleagues. They work
hard to achieve a certain positi-
on and then have to work twice
as hard to hold onto it. They do
not seem to have much time
for enjoying their earnings, en-
joying themselves, or spending
time with their family.
During their studies in university, many students from dif-
ferent countries decide what to do with their future. Some
see university as a time to have fun with friends, drinking,
and partying. They learn a lot during their study time, mostly
about bar locations in the city and free drinks party schedu-
les. Others see university as the means to their successful
career, and miss out all other parts of university life. At this
stage students are old enough to make their own decisions,
disregarding their cultural background. They can stop and
think whether they are doing the right thing. Maybe now is
the time to change your life: start studying hard or take time
to enjoy student life. And if things do not always go accor-
ding to plan or you don’t know what to do, do not worry,
you don’t know what you want to do with your life, the most
interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wan-
ted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40
Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life, the most interesting people
I know didn’t know at 22 what
they wanted to
do with their
lives, some of the
most interesting
40 year olds I know
still don’t.
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Social Media @ Deloitte
ONE OF DELOITTE’S MAIN STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES IS TO IDENTIFY AND ATTRACT TOP TALENT! THAT’S WHY
DELOITTE INTRODUCED OUR ONLINE EM-PLOYER MARKETING TEAM WHICH SUP-PORTS OUR RECRUITMENT PROCESS. CREATIVE, INNOVATIVE, BUT MOST OF ALL EFFECTIVE…! TOP TALENT IS NOW MORE THAN EVER ONLINE,… AND SO ARE OUR RECRUITERS! FINDING AN INTERNSHIP BY A SIMPLE TWEET? IT’S ALL POSSIBLE!
Our Online Employer Marketing Team focuses on
Deloitte’s requisitions and events through online-
marketing. Building a new career site, creating a
first social media strategy and measuring all on-
line activities were the first online steps. By that
time there was little frame of reference. Today this
team is working on a daily basis on content ma-
nagement for the career site and all social media
platforms. Everything is being monitored by Google
Analytics, which results in optimization as a never
ending process. The Online Employer Marketing
Team is preparing the Deloitte Recruitment Team
to adopt these new online recruitment sources
and make it part of their daily routines. That’s why
you will find our Recruiters on LinkedIn, Twitter,
Facebook, Hyves, YouTube and Google.
Take a look at our pride and joy:
http://www.werkenbijdeloitte.nl/
and see what’s in it for you!
Facebook, Twitter, Hyves, YouTube, LinkedIn: there are a lot of Social Media. Which ones are you using? But more importantly: how are you using them? By knowing how to make use of them in the best way, you can definitely increase your own personal value. If companies know who you are and what you are interested in, you have an advantage over other students.
That’s why EFR and Deloitte decided to organize a
training Social Media for students of EUR. Of course:
when you organize a training about Social Media,
you must have a trainer who is specialized in this
subject. For Deloitte this is no big deal, because they
have their own Social Media department, which is
just focusing on how Deloitte can make use Social
Media in such a way that it creates advantages over
the other companies of the Big 4.
In the training, we learned a lot about these Social
Media. With a presentation, movies and interactive
games, we were convinced about one thing: SOCIAL
MEDIA IS NOT A FAD!!! Want to know why? Check
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIFYPQjYhv8.
With using Twitter, Deloitte makes it very easy
for students to get in contact with the company.
Just tweet and you will have an answer within
some seconds! Want to apply for a job? Just put a
message on Facebook, and then Deloitte will check
your LinkedIn account and can directly decide to call
you for a first interview. Social Media = Personal
Branding!
Deloitte is making use of all the Social Media:
LinkedIn: 39.000 members
Facebook: 600 fans
Twitter: 900 followers
Hyves: 1700 members
Wanna know how to use Social Media as a student?
Here are some tips:
> Make use of the networks that are in your interest.
Are you good in making movies? Use YouTube.
Aren’t you that much active on internet? Then
don’t use Twitter;
> Use networks as CV, so companies can see who
you are, what you’ve done in the past and what you
are interested in;
> When using LinkedIn, make sure your account
contains enough information about you or
your jobs to get a good overview of who you are
exactly;
> Keep your Social Media accounts always updated.
Are you done with Hyves for years? Then quit it.
And the most important one:> Watch out with putting pictures on your Facebook
or Hyves account! Pictures of you when you were
drunk will definitely not increase your chances on
that job of your dreams…
WE ARE GENERATION Y. KNOW HOW TO USE
SOCIAL MEDIA. ESMEE DENTERS DID…
P S Y C H O L O G Y
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Intrinsic and Extrinsic
Motivation comes in two fl avours: extrinsic and intrin-
sic. The difference between the two is relatively simple:
extrinsic motivation comes from outside, in the form of
rewards. Maybe it’s money, maybe it’s that promotion
that you’ve been aiming for for the last year, but it’s so-
mething that you can struggle to get. Intrinsic, on the
other hand, comes from within: the need to accomplish
something stems only from your own personal desire to
see it happen. If extrinsic motivation is a carrot dangling
in front of you, intrinsic motivation is the sense of ac-
complishment at fi nally reaching the carrot.
Intrinsic motivation is one of the most powerful forces in
a human being. The need for accomplishment can push
a person to perform better than anyone else. That’s why
most entrepreneurs don’t say they went into business
for the money, but for the satisfaction of accomplishing
something. Would you gather the world’s richest men
on the planet, they wouldn’t just have a keen sense of
Psychin’ Out: Motivation Mayhem
By Timothy Langstraat
IT’S 8 PM, THE NIGHT BEFORE YOUR EXAMS. ONCE AGAIN THEY HAVE CREPT UP ON YOU, AND NOW YOU’RE SCRAMBLING TO STUDY. IT’S A SCENARIO WE ALL KNOW. BUT WHY DOES THIS HAPPEN, AND WHAT CAN YOU DO TO PREVENT IT?
MOTIVATION IS A VERY FICKLE THING. ONE MOMENT YOU MIGHT FEEL LIKE YOU CAN CONQUER THE WORLD, AND THE NEXT YOU’RE SITTING ON YOUR COUCH WATCHING YOUR FIFTH CONSECUTIVE SEASON OF MYTHBUSTERS. MOTIVATION HAS A KNACK OF DISAPPEARING AT THE EXACT MOMENT YOU NEED IT MOST, AND THEN ONLY REAPPEA-RING UNDER THE HEAVIEST PRESSURE OF TIME. IT CAN ALSO PROPEL YOU TO GREAT-NESS: SOMETIMES YOU FEEL THE SURGE OF MOTIVATION, AND GAIN STELLAR RESULTS, AND ACHIEVE EVEN MORE THINGS THAN YOU EVER COULD IMAGINE. IN SHORT, MOTI-VATION IS IMPORTANT.
BUT EXACTLY HOW YOU GAIN MOTIVATION, IS UNCLEAR. MANY PEOPLE HAVE WRITTEN ABOUT IT, AND MOST HAVE COME TO A DIFFERENT CONCLUSION THAN THEIR PREDE-CESSORS. ONE THING THEY ALL AGREE ON, THOUGH, IS WHAT MOTIVATION IS. IT IS THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND PURSUING A GOAL OR, SIMPLY PUT, IT IS WHAT MAKES A LAZY MAN RUN WHEN A HUNGRY LION CHASES HIM.
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business in common, but also a passion for what they do.
Intrinsic motivation alone can push someone to the top of
their fi eld.
Intrinsic motivation might be the best way to motivate so-
meone, but it’s defi nitely not the easiest way. The easiest is
via extrinsic motivation. The adage ‘everyone has his price’
springs to mind, and it’s the general theory behind extrinsic
motivation. It’s a cure-all for any motivation ails: as long as
you set the reward high enough, people will do whatever you
want them to do.
Motivational Problems
However, there are also downsides to extrinsic motivation.
Give too many rewards, and people get jaded. Intrinsic mo-
tivation vanishes in the sight of extrinsic motivators, and
usually they don’t come back as strong as they were before.
Give a person a carrot often enough, and they don’t feel like
getting the carrot is such an accomplishment anymore.
It seems, then, that extrinsic motivators should be avoided
at all cost. They shouldn’t. In every case there is an ideal
mix of circumstances: sometimes it’s better to set yourself
rewards, and sometimes you don’t need rewards because
you truly enjoy what you’re doing. But if you are lacking in-
spiration on motivation, then there are a few simple tips on
how to improve things.
How to Improve
First off, intrinsic motivation. The biggest problem with in-
trinsic motivation is something entirely different: focus. If
you want to improve this kind of motivation, fi nd something
about the topic that interests you. If you’re interested in
cultures, but have to study development economics, fi nd a
book that deals with both. If law isn’t all that interesting, but
the quirky lawsuits that led to them are, read up on those,
and pick up the laws along the way. The point is that nothing
is truly boring; there are always good parts to anything. It
just might take a bit of searching to get to them.
The best way to deal with external motivation is to be strict.
A lot of people give in too easily, and reward themselves too
often. Set very clear goals: don’t say that you get a reward
after x hours of studying, but after a certain percentage of
work done. That way you can’t procrastinate for hours and
then claim your reward. Also, set realistic rewards. Don’t
work for half an hour and then go on a shopping spree for
two, because that’s just overcompensating. But most im-
portantly, don’t do it all the time. The reward needs to be
a one-off thing, a boost when you can really use one. That
way, it’ll stay special.
In the end, you yourself are responsible for doing your work.
But whether you motivate yourself by fi nding an interesting
angle, or giving yourself a hefty reward, that’s up to you. You
now know the principles behind motivation, and what you
can do to make things better. It’s in your hands, and all it
takes now is a little bit of motivation.
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U N I V E R S I T Y
Your Thesis…
Writing Your Thesis with
a Company
My name is Marc Julianus and
last year I wrote my bachelor the-
sis at Ernst & Young. Writing your
thesis at a renowned company is
of great value for your personal
development and career. E&Y pro-
vided me with a personal mentor,
laptop, excellent workspace, ge-
nerous fi nancial support, and an
enormous database to make my
thesis a success. Besides wri-
ting your thesis effi ciently, I got
to know many people of E&Y as
well, giving me a good insight into
the E&Y culture. I ran into this op-
portunity during an E&Y Business
Course, but you can also fi nd
these opportunities through cor-
porate websites and EFR. I can
highly recommend you to write
your thesis at a company, since it
is a fun and valuable experience!
Third year Bachelor students face
choices such as which minor to choose,
which major is suitable, and of course,
what to write your thesis on. As a fourth
year student at the ESE, I have already
been confronted with these choices, and
would like to share my thesis experien-
ces with you.
The fi rst part of successfully writing
your thesis is choosing a major semi-
nar, corresponding with your interests
in economic theory. Your major semi-
nar will ultimately set the foundation
for your thesis. It will delve deeper than
you have ever gone into a certain area
of economics, be it corporate fi nance
(like I chose), management accounting,
or marketing strategy.
During your seminar, you will explore
various topics within your chosen fi eld
of economics, and hopefully stumble
upon a specifi c topic you would like to
do further research on. Once you have
formed your ideas into a thesis problem,
and have found a supervisor, you can
start the extensive process of data col-
lection, and continue on from there.
The biggest problem students always
have is the issue of postponement. The-
re is always something more exciting
or (at the time) more important to do.
Cleaning your desk is a popular one you
see a lot, or constant coffee meetings.
If you sit down for a month straight (we
are talking 60 hours a week), without
distraction, you should be able to com-
plete your thesis (although I have heard
rumors of people fi nishing their work
within two 80hr weeks).
If I could leave you with one piece of
advice regarding your thesis, it’s this;
start on time and stay focused! Your
thesis won’t write itself.
EVERY YEAR, ROUGHLY 400 STUDENTS ENTER THEIR THIRD YEAR AS EITHER AN IBEB STUDENT, OR AN ECONOMICS STUDENT, AT THE ERASMUS SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS. ONE OF THE THINGS
THAT SETS THE ESE APART FROM OTHER FACULTIES IS THAT YOUR THIRD YEAR IS YOUR PLAYGROUND. I DON’T MEAN THAT IT IS ALWAYS FUN AND JOY, BUT THAT EVERY THIRD YEAR STUDENT HAS THE PO-WER AND THE RESPONSIBILITY TO FILL THAT YEAR WITH WHATEVER INTERESTS THEM.
By Hubert W. de Nie
MA
RC
H
20
11
77
EC
LA
IR
E
Las Vegas is the city of entertainment – and not
just the illegal kind. Each of the hotels on the Strip
offers an assortment of activities; from huge wa-
terparks, to galleries fi lled with artwork, to roller-
coaster rides. One of the amazing things about the
Strip is that everything is connected. There is a sky
route that connects all the major hotels and as you
follow this route it’s like you are walking through
a fantasy world where all different types of empi-
res are situated right next to each other. On one
end of the strip you fi nd the Luxor (a hotel shaped
like a pyramid), Excalibur (a castle), MGM (movie
star inspired), New York New York (the name says
it all!). Then you walk on to the Bellagio (Italian
classic), Caesar’s Palace (ancient Rome), the Ve-
netian, Paris, and the old classic hotels such as
the Flamingo and Tropicana, where Frank Sinatra
used to perform.
If you are looking for the crazy, strange, or im-
possible then Las Vegas is the place to be. Every
turn you make, you will fi nd something unexpec-
ted. There are bright lights and colors everywhere
and recognizable pop culture is promoted. When
you go to Las Vegas, you go there to experience
the bizarre and extreme. You can just take a seat
in one of the hundreds of restaurants with a view
over the casino of the hotel and watch bizarre
events unfold as people pass by. Because eve-
ryone in Las Vegas passes through the casinos.
Vegas hotels don’t just have a lobby, their entire
ground fl oor is often dedicated to casino slot ma-
chines and tables. People of all ages are allowed
to walk through the casino, but only if you are 21
can you actually play.
Las Vegas. You either love it or hate it. But one
thing is true; what happens in Vegas, defi nitely
doesn’t always stay in Vegas.
What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. This is one of those expressions you hear often enough, but what makes Las Vegas so special? Located in the middle of the dessert, it’s a city that attracts millions of people from around the world. Sin City has a reputation of catering to the fantasies of men with vari-
ous types of adult entertainment, but there’s more to this city. When I tell people that I visited Las Vegas when I was 10 and 14 years old, people look at me like I’m crazy and are internally already blaming my parents for being irresponsible. You will most likely imagine wedding chapels, strip clubs, and lots of addicted gamblers standing behind slot machines all day. All of these features are present on the Sunset Strip, but there is so much more to Vegas than just debauchery and wedding specials.
Viva Las Vegas!By Kim van Adrichem
more than just drugs,
sex, and
E N T E R T A I N M E N T T
"EFR-Business Week Party"
"Closure of the EFR-Business Week in style"
"7th of April"
de kansen voor trainees bij kpnd k t i bij k
sprong
Ik zal niet zeggen dat ik mijn studie niet leuk vond. Integendeel. Maar op een zeker moment ben je klaar voor het echte
werk. Voor de grote sprong. Zo kun je het wel noemen. Want vanaf de eerste dag draai ik hier als volwaardige kracht mee.
Krijg ik direct eigen verantwoording. Niet kinderachtig ook. Dat voelt goed. Bovendien sta ik er niet alleen voor. Ja, het voelt
als het begin van iets moois. Lees meer op kpn.com/werken
Apply now!Full-time positions at EFR:
- EFR-Board - EFR-Business Week
Committee - Erasmus Recruitment Days
Committee
Applications open from April 8th
Send your motivation and CV to:[email protected]
Apply now!Full-time positions at EFR:
- EFR-Board - EFR-Business Week
Committee - Erasmus Recruitment Days
Committee
Applications open from April 8th
Send your motivation and CV to:[email protected]
Apply now!Full-time positions at EFR:
- EFR-Board - EFR-Business Week
Committee - Erasmus Recruitment Days
Committee
Applications open from April 8th
Send your motivation and CV to:[email protected]
Eigen projectontwikkeling Duurzame kantoorlocatiesInternationale risicospreiding Lokale kennis en aanwezigheid
Wereldhave N.V. Nassaulaan 23, 2514 JT Den Haag - tel. (+31) 70 346 93 25, fax (+31) 70 363 89 90 - [email protected] - www.wereldhave.com
Wereldhave N.V., beleggingsmaatschappij met veranderlijk kapitaal, is geregistreerd bij de Autoriteit Financiële Markten.
Shopping Centre Belle-Ile, Luik, België
Dominante winkelcentra
Wereldhave is een internationaal opererende belegger in vastgoed met een beleggings portefeuille van circa � 3 miljard.
Wereldhave belegt in winkelcentra die dominant zijn in hun verzorgingsgebied. Door een actieve opstelling van de eigen managementorganisatie werkt Wereldhave aan de verdere versterking van de marktpositie van haar centra, gericht op een toename van bezoekersaantallen, winkelomzetten en huuropbrengsten. Hierbij investeert Wereldhave ook in de aantrekkelijkheid, kwaliteit en duurzaamheid van haar winkelcentra. Met als doel een stabiele groei van het direct resul taat en het dividend aan aandeelhouders te realiseren. Zo wordt waarde gecreëerd voor de aandeelhouders.
Aandelen Wereldhave zijn genoteerd op NYSE Euronext Amsterdam. Het dividendrendement van het aandeel bedraagt thans circa 6,5%. Wereldhave. Waarde voor morgen.
058.537 Adv WH Eclaire Special 297x210.indd 1 09-02-11 13:16