ebf prospect magazine 5.2

Yanis Varoufakis“What is going on now, is part of a domino effect”

Tex Gunning“Je studententijd is bij uitstek de tijd om jezelf te ontwikkelen”

Interviews with:

ProspectProspect / November 2011 / Volume 5 / Issue 2

Magazine of Economics and Business student Faculty association Groningen

Recruitment Days / Small Affairs / Hollands Glorie / Faculty News / In the News

Consulting • Corporate Finance • Management

“Meer voor een klant betekenen dan waar hij oorspronkelijk om vroeg. Dat geeft een kick.”

Ben jij benieuwd hoe het leven van een Young Executive bij Boer & Croon er uit ziet? www.boercroon.nl

Adv_BoerCroon_Kick_A4_def.indd 1 11/2/11 2:52 PM

/ November 2011

New Opportunities

In the previous edition of this magazine, my predecessor asked himself whether the Prospect would ‘Reboot’. In my opinion, this edition is not a Reboot. The magazine is, however, subject to change, just like any activity organised by the EBF. One of these changes is a new editor-in-chief.

I will not say that a new editor-in-chief causes change, because the changes are not initiated by me, but by you! Last summer, we reviewed the magazine and looked for ways of improvement. The major outcome of this questionnaire is that the Prospect is read to gain insights in what the main developing researches are within the Faculty, and what one can do after graduation to boost his or her career. I hope that during this year we, as a committee, will answer to the demand of the reader and provide you with all this information and try to answer all your questions about future career opportunities.

In this edition, we will reflect on economic events across the globe, and elaborate on the financial crisis in an interview with Yanis Varoufakis, who went in debate with one of our professors at the faculty. Additionally, we will also inform you about the upcoming EBF activities. One activity in particular, the Recruitment days, will get extra attention. This is the ideal event to get to know your career opportunities better within the Netherlands and you might meet your future employer here!

Lastly, as the new editor-in-chief, I would also like to bring the rest of the committee to your attention. This year, Pieter Lindeman, Wendy Plakke, Liesbeth Luimes, Rick Lotterman, Vincent Bergsma, Marieke Snijders, Remko Mooi and Marriël Edzes will be providing you with interesting stories about politics, business, economics,as well as activities in and around our faculty. We hope to make the magazine better suited to your needs.

Kind regards,

Harmen ClaassenEditor-in-chief

ColofonProspectVolume 5 / Issue 2 / November 2011

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFHarmen Claassen

EDITORIAL BOARDPieter Lindeman, Liesbeth Luimes, Wendy Plakke, Marieke Snijders

AUTHORSVincent Bergsma, Ingemarie Kroesen, Joost Lensen, Pieter Lindeman, Rick Lotterman, Liesbeth Luimes, Remko Mooi, Roel van Tartwijk

LAY OUTPieter Lindeman, Marieke Snijders

SPECIAL THANKS TO Tex Gunning, Hanno Koeslag, Eva Kool, Lars Langhout, Rutger Peters, Jeroen Pul, Jan-Willem Stoffer, Yannis Varoufakis, Lara Wagenaar

EDITORIAL ADDRESSEBF | ProspectP.O. Box 8009700 AV GroningenT: 050 363 73 01E: [email protected]

ADVERTISEMENTS, TESTIMONIALS & EXPOSUREEwoud HelderT: 050 363 71 43E: [email protected]

CIRCULATION7000 copies

CHANGE OF ADDRESSAlumni can communicate changes of adress to Jeanette v/d Waal ([email protected]) and students can communicate changes of adress to the Centrale Studentenbalie ([email protected]) or adjust it themselves through Studielink. Companies can contact Ewoud Helder for their changes of adress.

PUBLISHER Economics and Business student Faculty association, www.ebfgroningen.nl

COPYRIGHT PROSPECTArticles and pictures from this edition can only be reproduced with written consent of the editor in chief.

SUBASSOCIATIONS

Persoonlijk Personal

/ November 2011

Blijkt de universiteitineens een vooropleiding.

Een succesvolle carrièrestart is meer dan een goede cijferlijst. Het begint met karakter en inzicht in jezelf. Ontdekken wie je bent, weten waar je naartoe wilt groeien én hoe je dat voor elkaar krijgt staat altijd aan de basis. Ernst & Young coacht jou actief op weg naar jouw succes. We bieden je volop kansen in de wereld van assurance, tax, transaction en advisory. Ontdek ze op ey.nl/carriere

Diederik van de ScheurConsultant TAS

Piet-Hein TouwStaff FSO

E&Y_210x297mm_potentials.indd 2 23-09-10 14:50

/ November 2011

In Bedrijf BusinessHollands Glorie 34Entrepreneurship 36

Verbreding In DepthIn the News 04The Ten 05Daylight Saving Time 12The Greek Failure 22Searching for the pot of gold 30The consultancy practice 32

Studie StudyFaculty News 44

Persoonlijk PersonalPreface Editor in Chief 01Faking the News 11New Nordic cuisine’s rise to fame 20Angry Bosses 21Not everything has a price 38Fat Tax 39

Kopstukken

14Yanis Varoufakis Tex Gunning 06

Inhoud Content

EBFColumn Chairman 40Spotlight 41Committee Item 42Activities 43Agenda 48

Recruitment DaysRecruitment Days 2011 24Testimonial 26Deelnemende bedrijven 27

/ November 2011 page 5 / November 2011

Dutch government presents expected State Budget of 2012

As tradition prescribes, every year on the third Tuesday in September, Her Majesty Beatrix, Queen of the Netherlands, delivers her ‘Speech from the Throne’. In this speech, the government’s proposal for the upcoming year’s State Budget is presented to members of parliament and the Dutch citizens. This year, the government budget deficit is within the European ‘3% of GDP’ limit. Nevertheless, deficit cuts have become mandatory. In harsh financial times, the government wants to implement actions now, instead of handing it over to the future generations. This means that the average purchasing power will decline by 1%, whilst one income families and people with high incomes will lose 2.8% of their budget. Spending in the healthcare sector will decline, but ‘vulnerable citizens’ will be spared as much as possible. On the other hand, taxes for small businessmen and families will be cut. Overall, the general tone of the speech was dark and the Dutch will have to prepare for another year of financial austerity..

Steve Jobs died Co-founder and former CEO of Apple Inc., Steve Jobs, passed away on October 6th, aged 56. After suffering from pancreatic cancer for several years Jobs resigned in August 2011, due to health complaints. Nonetheless, Jobs’ death still surprised the world. Apple announced his death on its website, causing worldwide media attention. In the days that followed his death, people from all over the world mourned through social media like Twitter and Facebook. According to many people, the world has lost a significant pioneer in the technology industry, whose vision lead to groundbreaking products. Jobs was a CEO who understood marketing extremely well. Under his management, Apple became the most valuable brand in the world with a product line admired and demanded by millions. Some have compared Jobs with other visionaries such as Thomas Edison. If Jobs will also outlive and become such an icon in world history, one can only hope..

Occupy Wall Street A diffuse group of activists began protesting in front of the New York City’s Financial District on September 17th. Their loathe of corporate greed, social inequality and disparities between rich and poor caused this protest. Within a week, the popularity of the group grew and it attracted a few hundred other protestors. It was the first public manifestation of discontent in the past years of economic unrest. Due to growing media coverage, the protest spread to other cities across the United States, including Chicago, Boston and Los Angeles. Even though the protests are leaderless, their goal is common: they represent the 99% of the people who do not tolerate the corporate greed of the 1% of the people who own everything. Political responses are weak and indirect so far and interest is spreading across the globe. No matter what the outcome will be, the protests may be one of the most interesting phenomena manifested in the current economic crisis..

In the NewsAuthor: Pieter Lindeman

In Depth Verbreding


Interestingly, concerning the countries of origin, this Top Ten is very diverse. It includes universities from no less than eight different countries. However, the Netherlands is missing from this list.

Looking at the Top 100 (to be found at http://business-schools.webometrics.info), the first Dutch institution to appear in the list is the Rotterdam School of Management (Erasmus University) at the 27th place. So to add extra experience and quality to your education, you may want to consider attending some courses (or an entire programme) at one of these ten universities..

Author: Roel van Tartwijk

Are you thinking about spending a semester of your study abroad? Or do you want to earn a degree at a foreign university or business school? If you ambitiously want to attend one of the more prestigious institutions of Europe you should have a close look at this Top Ten. This list was constructed in July 2011 by the Cybermetrics Lab, a research group belonging to the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), which is the largest public research body in Spain. The Cybermetrics Lab is devoted to the quantitative analysis of the Internet and Web contents, especially those related to the processes of generation and scholarly communication of scientific knowledge.

Given that the list was generated by a Spanish institution, one may question the number one and number three ranking of Spanish business schools, but let us give them the benefit of the doubt.

The Ten best business universities in Europe

04 INSEAD Business School

09 Norwegian School of Management 07 Athens University of Economics and Business

06 Universitá Commerciale Luigi Bocconi

02 Copenhagen Business School

05 Bucharest University of Economics

10 Warsaw School of Economics

03 Universidad de Navarra IESE Business School

08 Hautes Etudes Commerciales School of Management

01 Instituto de Empresa Business School

Verbreding In Depth


Yanis VaroufakisThe Euro Crisis: A Greek tragedy?Authors: Pieter Lindeman

Still, I really enjoyed writing it and I received some good reviews that encouraged me to write my second book, which has just come out. I am particularly proud of this book, because this can be read by the wide public and I was surprised that I was able to accomplish that. In terms of sales, it is also a success, since it was already reprinted after the first week in which it came out.”

The Greek crisis is hard to understand for many people. Can you give us a small summary of what caused the crisis, in your opinion?“What is going on now, is part of a ‘domino effect’. The reason why Greece was the first domino to fall is that the rich Greek people do not pay taxes. And because of that, the poor members of society thought it was a matter of personal class pride and started avoiding paying taxes too. They felt it was unfair to pay taxes whilst rich people did not. Therefore, the Greek state traditionally had a tax shortfall of approximately fifteen billion euros. This caused the debts to pile up. However, since in the 1990s and in 2007 Greece was experiencing a very healthy growth rate of between 4 and 5%. Despite of the rising debts the growth rate made it possible to refinance those debts Traditionally, Greek governments either spend a lot of money or makes drastic budget cuts. You can see it as hitting the accelerator or pressing the brake. The Greek government that was formed in 2004 hit the accelerator instead of pressing the brake, which was a few years before the international financing crisis happened. At that moment, Greece had a greater debt overhand than normally. When the crisis occurred in 2008, the problems were irreversible.”

At the peak of the Euro-crisis, Greece is the country that received the most attention. With the threat of bankruptcy because of an improper monetary policy and gigantic debts, Greece is now in a position that can make or break the success of the Euro. Due to his Greek nationality and the fact he is a worldwide renowned economist, the EBF invited him for a speech After an inspiring speech about many problems in the past, present and future concerning the Euro and Greece, Prospect was able to discuss these features further, so all readers have access to the extent of mr. Varoufakis’ knowledge.

Which studies did you follow?“I did all my studies in Britain. First, I enrolled at the University of Essex, where I studied mathematics. After receiving my Bachelor’s degree there, I moved to the University of Birmingham where I followed a MSc programme in Mathematical Statistics. After reading an article about econometrics, I was eager to improve my knowledge on this subject, since I was enraged by the findings of the study. This led me to write a dissertation on economics. I was trapped in the ‘world of economics’ and later I received my PhD in Economics, which has been my core subject ever since. I stayed in Britain to teach at universities, after which I also taught in Sydney and Belgium. At the age of fourty, I returned to my home country to become a professor at the University of Athens.”

What is the last success in your career that you are really proud of?“I am proud of the students I taught who surpassed my expectations. Regarding my own work, I am mostly proud of the two books that I wrote. The first book that I wrote was a complete failure in the sense of readability: only thirty people could read and actually understand it, due to the large amount of complex mathematics that was discussed.

“The Euro was never“ designed properly”

Headlines Kopstukken


Do you believe that Greece and other Southern European countries have entered the Eurozone too early?“I think all the countries, including the Netherlands, entered too early, because the Euro was not designed properly. I am in favour of a common currency, but not one that lacks so-called ‘shock absorbers’. This means that when a crisis happens, like the one in 2008, it will break down. Even without Greece, in a Eurozone that consists for example of the Netherlands, Germany and Austria this would be the case. This crisis has learned us that the Eurozone has to be redesigned. Unfortunately, I do not see any signs among European politicians that this will happen. The politicians refuse to acknowledge that it is a structural problem, that it was not designed well. Nowadays, the general feeling is that the cause is the Greek overspending, which is not true.”

So you imply that the Europeans have to take responsibility to solve the problem?“Certainly. All countries have to take responsibility. The Greek government must take the responsibility for overspending and the Greek citizens have to take the responsibility for not paying taxes. On the other hand, also Germany has to accept responsibility for the fact that they had surpluses vis-à-vis everybody else and the others did not have deficits. The fact that they do not take this responsibility now is idiotic. If, for example, I have a surplus with you, you have a deficit with me. Then I cannot say you have been immoral to have deficits, while I want my surpluses. That is what is going on in the Eurozone today.”

Some people claim that the Southern European mentality, the lack of paying taxes and the high amount of corruption were also important triggers to cause this crisis. Do you agree?“It is one of the reasons why the debt crisis manifested itself in the south of Europe. But it is not the cause of the crisis. I can prove this with the simple example of Ireland; this country is in the same situation as Greece, but it does not lie in the south, it is a ‘Celtic Tiger’ and it does not have a corruption or tax evasion problem, yet it is insolvent. This can be explained due to the fact that this is a systematic crisis.”

How is it possible that nobody took the Greek debt to the European zone seriously a few years ago, when it would have been possible to avoid a Greek crisis?“Prior to 2008, I do not think anybody took the situation of Lehman Brothers serious. Nobody confronted this company with the fact that they printed ‘toxic paper’, which is going to kill us, figuratively speaking. That did not happen, because the world was in denial. People truly believed the theory that capitalism had invented a new form of ‘riskless risk’. They thought that debt would no longer explode and banking losses would never pile up, because the way in which debt was cut up in little pieces, assembled together and dispersed, everyone believed that no single bank, financial institution of country could cause a series of chain reactions by going bankrupt. Due to this fact, nobody believed the crisis was possible. You can compare it with the metaphor of a ‘Mississippi river boat’ that you take out on the ocean. When the weather is calm, it works well. But when the first storm comes, it sinks. And if you assume the storm will never come, you are living in denial.”

“The bailouts are bad” for both the Netherlands”

and Greece”



Is it true that every solution Europe will chose is merely damage control? In other words, is it stated that Europe will lose huge amounts of money in any scenario?“Already, all countries have lost a lot of money. This crisis is taking its toll on everyone. But I would not make a proposal today, if I did not think there is a way of minimizing those losses and using this crisis as an opportunity for turning a page and creating a new Euro/currency(?) misschien wel mooier: a Euro that would allow us to stop describing this problem as one that is Greek, Italian etcetera. People also have to stop believing Greece wants to exploit the Netherlands and Greece’s gain is the Netherlands’ loss.

I am totally against the current bailouts. It is a scandal that the Dutch citizens are being called upon to guarantee loans to the Greek government, which the Greek cannot use to stimulate the economy. The loans will go back to the banks, that are already insolvent. Therefore, no one makes use of this money and it disappears in a ‘black hole’. That is bad for both the Netherlands and Greece.”

What should change in the economic solutions for Europe?“The Europeans have to move away from the logic of dealing with problems of insolvency by means of pumping money into them. They have to deal with this problems systematically. Doing this does not guarantee Greece will escape the ‘hole’ in which it is now, but it does give a chance for the Greek to pull their act together.”

Kopstukken Headlines


Do you think that the European Union has a clear role in the scenario you just described?“Their role should be based on clear goals: the banking sector should be unified to affect rational debt management by using the European Central Bank instead of the Financial Stability Forum (FSF). I believe the FSF is a toxic institution, which can only be helpful when they treat banks instead of states. Another role for the EU is to intervene between international money markets and member states in order to reduce the amount of debt for the entire Eurozone. We also need ‘something’ like the European Investment Bank in order to create the investments that will kick-start the European economy, because it is currently in recession, despite what leaders may be telling us. In fact, it is falling deeper and deeper into recession.”

Certain politicians believe Greece should leave the Eurozone. What is your opinion on this?“I understand their feelings, but the first thing they have to ask themselves is whether they want the Euro to continue or not. Removing member states from the Eurozone means people not understand how the Eurosystem works. If Greece gets out, a chain reaction will start and the Euro will be finished. The Euro was ‘hijacked’ by bankers when they created the system. I opposed the Euro before it was established, but since it has been implemented you cannot say you do not want it. The prospects of Europe are tragically tied up with the prospects of the Euro.”

Who should lead the way in the reformation and rescue of the Euro?“It is in countries’ own interest to force the European Union and the European Bank to act now. I truly believe the interests of the ‘surplus-countries’ and ‘deficit-countries’ are not opposed. The only problem is that the politicians are in the pockets of the bankers, whose banks are bankrupt (or threatened to be) and over which bankers do not want to lose control. We do not live in capitalism anymore. In 1989, the world saw the end of socialism, in 2008 we saw the end of capitalism. Normally, in capitalism the fittest survives. But in 2008, it was reversed. The greater your losses were, the more political power you had over the surpluses of others, concerning bankers. The new regime of today is what I call ‘bankruptocracy’, where we are ruled by the rulers of banks, who ‘own’ the politicians.”

Is it, then, up to citizens to create change?“I do not know how they should handle this. I am part of the ‘bankrupt-generation’. It is up to the young generations. The young students and citizens should learn from the mistakes made in the past, have hope for the future and try to fix what is broken.”.

“The Euro was ‘hijacked’” by bankers when they created”

the Euro system”



Small Affairs

Ever heard of the penazzle, or the chastity garter? Probably you have not. However, if you have been living in the U.K. or the U.S. you might have been confronted with news about the penazzle or the chastity garter. It appeared that the journalists who have written about these subjects simply copied existing, unreliable, sources. Therefore, these news items where labeled as fake.

This fake news was an initiative from the website churnalism.com. They sent out press releases to attract attention to the issues of churnalism. The churnalism website has as its goal to help the public distinguish between churnalism and original journalism. Again a question arises, namely: what is churnalism? Churnalism could be defined as a form of journalism in which press releases, wire stories and other forms of pre-packaged material are used to create articles in newspapers and other news media in order to meet increasing pressures of time and cost without undertaking further research or checking.

The original phenomenon of churnalism was first discussed in the book ‘Flat Earth News’, written by Nick Davies. In his book, he presents a research in which he concludes that eighty percent of the stories in Britain’s quality press was copied from existing sources, for example, press releases. In addition, he found that reporters originally generated just a poor 12% of the stories in these papers. Davies believes that this copying leads to a reduction of quality and accuracy. He is worried that organisations that publish the press releases could manipulate the information, as the past has learnt that many journalists do not question published information. So how does the website churnalism.com help you to distinguish between genuine journalism and lazy copy

Faking the NewsAuthor: Liesbeth Luimes

pasting? On their website you can copy the text of which you would want to know whether it is original and then the website will look in its database to see whether they have got any text which shows similarities.

The fact that a website has been raised to improve awareness of churnalism, implies that the phenomenon is something that one should avoid. Nonetheless, we might question ourselves whether churnalism is really such a bad thing. With logical reasoning almost anyone could come to the conclusion that churnalism is caused by the easy access to information we have today, and our expectation that information should be accessible everywhere. However, no one really seems to question the amount of churnalism that took place before we got this wider access to information. Probably it has always been the case that writers and journalists referred to other sources of information in articles. Therefore, you could say that they always had the possibility to lower the quality and accuracy, or influence people’s thoughts. And indeed this might be something that needs to be addressed. However, if you do not intend to influence people, certain journalists believe churnalism is not such a bad thing..



”Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” It was the creator of this proverb, Benjamin Franklin, who suggested the concept of Daylight Saving Time (DST) in a satiric letter he had published anonymously. In this letter, he suggested a tax on shutters and waking the people with cannon fire at sunrise. People in those times did not live by a strict time schedule and thus were not interested in DST, yet. Germany, along with their World War I allies, was the first to introduce the practice of DST in 1916. This was an effort made to conserve coal during wartime. Their opponents, as well as other European countries, followed their example soon.

The discussion on the practicality of DST is as old as the concept of DST itself. There are a lot of benefits and drawbacks to the system, including quite a few economic implications. The most prevalent benefit, which is also the reason behind the system, is the idea that the extra hour of daylight reduces the amount of electricity used because people turn on the lights an hour later. There have been quite a few researches testing this idea and most of these do not notice lower energy consumption. A 2007 research in California stated “DST effects had no statistically significant effect on total daily electricity use”. A possible explanation for this is that when there is an hour of extra sunlight, appliances like air-conditioning have to stay on for a longer period of time. This especially occurs in relatively warmer climates. This does not rule out small savings, but it does show that the supposed savings are not as significant as presumed.

Energy savings are not the only supposed benefits of DST. For one, an extra hour of light in the afternoon encourages people to go out and participate in more activities after work. This does not only benefit the people themselves. It also means a boost for commercial activity in the afternoons.

Daylight Saving Time

Sectors that benefit from this boost the most are the retail sector and outdoor sports producers.

Places where tourism is the driving force behind the economy also seem to benefit a lot from the extra hour of daylight. It induces tourists to stay out longer and thus spend more money. Another beneficial side effect of the extra hour of afternoon sun is that it leads to an increased intake of vitamin D, which is beneficial for people’s health and therefore makes them more productive.

The downsides of daylight saving time, however, are numerous. This is also the reason why there is so much discussion about whether DST should be upheld or rather be abolished. The main argument for the ‘nay-sayers’ is that changing the clock forwards and backwards requires physical effort and costs time itself, reducing overall productivity. Just think of the effort required setting the clocks of the Big Ben one hour backwards, and then think about the millions of clocks in offices and homes. It is also considered needlessly complex, as people have to remember to reset the clock twice a year. DST is not a universally set rule, and thus differs from country to country. For people who work under an international setting, this means that the time zone boundaries are submissive to several DST rules. Making an appointment between a US based manager and an EU based manager while keeping in mind two different DST rules can be considered a hassle. Especially in a, more than ever, globalized world, this causes needless managements costs and only works disruptive.

Time for changing the changing of timeAuthor: Rick Lotterman

In Depth Verbreding Verbreding In Depth


Daylight Saving Time

Another negative implication of DST is a technical one. As there are different DST rules around the globe, both professional and consumer products must be adapted to the relevant DST’s. It requires a lot of software upgrading and can cause needless risk. Medical appliances, for example, could make an error and stick to the wrong time schedule, endangering patients. A glucose monitor is a good example of this, as it works with a set daily rythm.

Other health issues surrounding DST are caused by the disruptive effect it has on sleep patterns. Resetting the clock leads to people not being tired at bedtime, but still having to get up an hour earlier than they are used to the next Monday. On average, this results in a forty minutes net loss of sleep on the Monday after DST changes. This loss has been found to result in more work related injuries and possibly an increase in morning traffic accidents. Then again, the total amount of traffic accidents in the DST afternoons is said to be lower because of the extra hour of afternoon light. Another effect of the disrupted sleep pattern is that average productivity tends to be lower in the period following the starting time of DST because of people being worn-out while adjusting to a new biorhythm.

A sector that is hit rather hard by DST practices, and thus is generally against it, is the agricultural sector. Animals, just as humans, have a biorhythm to follow. These animals have a hard time adjusting to a new schedule of feeding and producing twice a year. Cows produce less milk and chickens lay fewer eggs. This effect may be viewed as redundant in Western economies, but in agricultural based economies, DST can have a serious effect on agricultural productivity.

Abolishing our well-known daylight saving time tradition is becoming a realistic possibility. More and more countries are switching back to a more natural time rhythm. Especially countries with a more polychronic, event based culture fail to experience the benefits of DST. These cultures revolve more around events than around strict schedules and are generally more ‘in sync’ with natural time rhythms. The changes to the clock had little effect on the productivity of people and most of these countries never bothered to put DST into place at all. As from this year, the Russian government has decided to (stop observing??) observe Daylight Saving Time anymore, and will remain in the GMT+4 time zone from now on.

This decision was made, due to the fact DST was bad for productivity, people’s health and that it triggered stress.

These drawbacks were not considered to outweigh the benefits of lower energy consumption.

Are we moving towards a world without Daylight Saving Time practices? It is very likely. The benefits of DST no longer outweigh its drawbacks and several countries have already decided that it is time to change the change of time..Sources: http://www.energy.ca.gov/2007publications/CEC-200-2007-004/CEC-200-2007-004.PDFhttp://ajph.aphapublications.org/cgi/reprint/85/1/92.pdf

Verbreding In Depth


Tex Gunning

“Een gepassioneerd docent, schrijver en spreker over de rol van het bedrijfsleven in de gemeenschap en de behoefte aan gemeenschappelijk leiderschap om de grote uitdagingen in de wereld aan te pakken.” Zo beschrijft AkzoNobel Tex Gunning, In de Raad van Bestuur verantwoordelijk voor Decorative Paints, de man die de bedrijfstak door een ingrijpende reorganisatie heeft geleid. Ondanks de reorganisaties blijft de focus op duurzaamheid bestaan, omdat hij van mening is dat welvaart verplichtingen schept. Zingeving en (bedrijfseconomisch) nut staan niet tegenover elkaar, stelt hij dan ook. Wij benutten daarom ook de kans om hem te interviewen zodat we meer te weten te komen over deze gedachtegang.

Wat is uw studie achtergrond?“Mijn universitaire studie heb ik gevolgd in Rotterdam,vooral omdat de universiteit daar een goede reputatie heeft. Ik wilde niet naar Amsterdam, omdat dat als ongedisciplineerd bekend stond. Met Groningen was ik na mijn tijd op de kostschool in Hoogezand-Sappemeer al bekend. Naast mijn studie heb ik altijd minstens drie dagen in de week gewerkt, anders had ik namelijk geen geld.”

Hoe kunnen studenten tegenwoordig het best hun studententijd invullen?“Je studententijd is bij uitstek de tijd om jezelf te ontwikkelen, niet alleen op intellectueel gebied, maar ook op sociaal gebied. Voorbeelden hiervan zijn reizen, bijbanen, stages etcetera. Als student moet je daar gebruik van maken: die tijd komt niet meer terug.”

Wat denkt u dat de ‘langstudeerboete’ voor gevolgen heeft op de lange termijn? “Wij hebben geen mensen nodig die goed kunnen studeren, maar mensen die een goede kijk op het leven hebben en een goede algemene ontwikkeling. De tijd vanaf je geboorte tot wanneer je aan het werk gaat moet je zien als tijd waarin je je kunt ontwikkelen; dus ga die verre reis maken, ga die stage lopen. Ontwikkel je zo breed mogelijk, want dan is de kans

dat je later goed functioneert groot.”

Wat is het succes in uw carrière waar u het meest trots op bent?“Al vrij vroeg in mijn carrière heb ik voor mezelf de keuze gemaakt dat ik mensen en bedrijven wil helpen een visie te vinden. Bij AkzoNobel zie je dat twee bedrijven, het Britse ICI dat in 2008 door AkzoNobel was overgenomen, met multi lokale focus zijn samengegaan in een globale organisatie. Dat betekent onder andere dat je een globale strategie en visie moet gaan ontwikkelen. Als ik met pensioen ga en zie dat uit twee multi lokale bedrijven een globaal bedrijf is gekomen, dan kan ik tegen mezelf zeggen dat ik mijn tijd niet heb verspild.”

Hoe gaat u om met tegenslagen in uw carrière?“Het is een illusie om te denken dat sommige mensen het altijd makkelijk hebben. Er wordt ook wel gezegd ‘Life is difficult, and so is leadership’. Dit brengt mij terug tot de vraag over studenten op de arbeidsmarkt: besteed evenveel tijd aan je karakterontwikkeling als de ontwikkeling van je intellect. Dit zorgt ervoor dat als je met ups en downs kunt omgaan, je de kracht hebt om uit zo’n dal terug te komen.

Deze ontwikkelingstrajecten vinden altijd op meerdere niveaus plaats; zowel individueel als collectief. Maar het individu en de gemeenschap staan altijd in interactie met elkaar; het individu verandert niet zonder de groep, en andersom.”

Mevrouw Petra Pronk beschrijft op de site ‘insprerendleven.nl’ één van uw sterke eigenschappen; “Waar de heer Gunning ook komt, hij hervormt de organisatie tot een community: een gemeenschap van mensen die drijft op warmte, positiviteit en respect”. Wat is uw geheim om ervoor te zorgen dat iedereen zich thuis voelt in een gemeenschap en het beste van zichzelf geeft?“Dit doe je door middel van drie punten; het eerste punt is werknemers verbinden op persoonlijk niveau. Mensen willen

Verbondenheid, spirit, nutAuteurs: Vincent Bergsma en Liesbeth Luimes



Tex Gunning


nou eenmaal graag in ‘communities’ functioneren; ze willen graag verbonden zijn. Als tweede punt wil je mensen zinvolle dingen laten doen. Niemand wil alleen maar werken voor het geld. Je moet een bedrijf op zodanige manier definiëren dat het zin geeft in de bredere context. Als laatste punt is de ‘spirit’ erg belangrijk. Er moet gelachen kunnen worden en er moet een prettige sfeer zijn. Op deze manier gaan mensen ook weer met plezier naar hun werk.

Deze drie punten klopten niet in het oude systeem van hebzucht en het bankroet van dit model is op het moment wel bewezen. In dit model stond de samenleving niet voorop. Het was zinloos werk. Deze visie is anders bij industriële bedrijven. Dit komt omdat zij een strenge spiegel van de samenleving voor zich hebben. Als ze iets produceren wat niet van nut is voor de samenleving, verkoopt het niet. Zoals ik het zie, zijn er door cijfers gedreven bedrijven, door missie gedreven bedrijven en door visie gedreven bedrijven. De bedrijven die door cijfers gedreven worden, boeken slechtere resultaten. De door missie gedreven resultaten boeken bovenmatige resultaten en de door visie gedreven bedrijven boeken uitstekende resultaten. Tot de door visie gedreven bedrijven reken ik onder andere Apple en Google. Die bedrijven zijn dusdanig gedreven dat medewerkers er ‘24/7’ over nadenken. Er is dus duidelijk geen contradictie tussen zinvolheid en een goede prestatie.”

Wat voor eigenschappen moet een goede leider bezitten?“Eén van de dingen waar leiders zich bewust van moeten zijn, is dat er op een gegeven moment in hun carrière een verandering plaats zal vinden. Deze verandering begint op het moment waarop ze voor zichzelf moeten knokken om hoger op te komen en ontwikkelt zich tot het moment waarop ze zichzelf als dienend moeten opstellen tegenover de organisatie en de werknemers. Op dat moment zijn ze dan écht verantwoordelijk. Als jij je dienend inzet voor de organisatie, geeft de organisatie dat ook terug.

Natuurlijk moet je ook het juiste karakter hebben, waaronder ook de juiste intenties, houding en wijsheid vallen. Uit mijn eigen ervaring weet ik dat mensen die nu leiders zijn, dit al waren toen ze 17, 21 of 34 jaar oud waren. Leiders hebben een goed ‘track record’. Een organisatie weet op een gegeven moment ook of iemand capabel is of niet. Daarom is het belangrijk dat je de goede mensen ook promoveert. De hele organisatie staat dan met die collectieve wijsheid achter een dergelijke beslissing.”

U heeft veel ervaring in Azië. Heeft u deze filosofie daar opgedaan?“Azië heeft sterk hiërarchisch leiderschap. De filosofie die ik zelf volg heb ik dus niet in Azië opgepikt. Het is eerder iets wat ik door de jaren heen heb geleerd door veel met het onderwerp bezig te zijn. Je moet jezelf vragen te stellen als: wat betekent leiderschap en waar komt het vandaan? Een verantwoordelijkheid die je hebt als leider is de verantwoordelijkheid om jezelf te blijven ontwikkelen. Vraag jezelf af wat wel en niet werkt, discussieer en vraag jezelf af waarom sommige leiders goed zijn, en waarom anderen niet.”

Naar wie moeten studenten opkijken?“Vereer nooit individuen; ‘the good, the bad, and the ugly’ zit in iedereen. Zoek je rolmodellen uit. Er is niets mis mee om tien of vijftien rolmodellen te hebben. Neem het beste uit iedereen als jouw voorbeeld.”

AkzoNobel is uitgeroepen tot een van de werelds meest duurzame bedrijven. In dit natuurlijk ontstaan vanuit de organisatie of is AkzoNobel daar expliciet mee bezig?“De wereld zoals die nu gerund wordt met de huidige systemen is helemaal niet duurzaam. Daarom moet er iets dramatisch gebeuren als we over twintig tot dertig jaar niet nog veel grotere problemen willen hebben. De duurzaamheidsagenda is niet altijd leuk om te doen, het is echter wel essentieel. Grote bedrijven hebben een voorbeeldfunctie en moeten daarom beginnen met een dergelijke agenda. AkzoNobel neemt daarin zijn verantwoordelijkheid en zegt keihard: Wij gaan proactief meewerken aan het verminderen van onze CO2 ‘footprint’.

“De duurzaamheidsagenda”is niet leuk om te doen,”

maar wel essentieel”



Daar zijn wij dagelijks mee bezig. Zo investeren we tot 60 procent van ons research en development budget in duurzaamheid.”

Bij het laatste EBF congres stelde Al Gore dat de verantwoordelijkheden liggen bij generatie van de huidige studenten om de problemen op te lossen. Hoe ziet u de verdeling van de verantwoordelijkheid voor de oplossing?“Mijn generatie moet nu de verantwoordelijkheid nemen en hun energie aan de oplossing spenderen. Mijn energie gaat dus ook uit naar klimaatbeheersing en het energievraagstuk, want ik moet ook voor mijn kinderen een wereld scheppen die duurzaam is en ik heb grote twijfels bij de duurzaamheid van dit moment”

Waar denkt u met AkzoNobel de grootste winst te boeken wat betreft duurzaamheid?“Je hebt de sociale agenda en AkzoNobel zet met het ‘Let’s Colour’ project vooral in op de sociale agenda. Hierbij zijn vooral achterstallioge ‘communities’ de doelgroep. Daarnaast is er de ecologische agenda, wat natuurlijk ook belangrijk is. Hierbij moet je denken aan de transitie naar ‘renewable energy’, waarvan de voorwaarde energie efficiëntie is. Het doel voor de komende tien jaar zou moeten zijn om de wereld minstens vijftig procent efficiënter maken.” Wat voor rol kunnen ‘social media’ spelen in het bekendmaken van problemen?

Social media kunnen helpen met het bekend maken van problemen op maatschappelijk en milieu gebied. Eén van

Kopstukken Headlines

/ November 2011

“Vereer nooit individuen.”The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”

zit in iedereen”

de manieren waarop AkzoNobel dit doet is door mensen de mogelijkheid te geven om een virtuele kleur te kopen op de website ownacolour.com, en zo Unicef te steunen.”

Social media zijn de gift en misschien wel de redding van deze wereld, omdat we nu weer verbonden zijn en mensen zich dus heel snel organiseren rondom onderwerpen, of dat nou politieke, economische, milieutechnische of sociale onderwerpen zijn, maakt niet uit. Als er een onderwerp op de agenda komt, hoef je daardoor niet meer te denken hoe je die mensen gaat bereiken omdat mensen zich al gegroepeerd hebben. Deze projectorganisaties, worden mogelijk gemaakt door het internet, Een voorbeeld hiervan is de ‘Occupy’ beweging.”

Occupy Wallstreet wordt geregeld bekritiseerd omdat het mensen zouden zijn die alleen kritiek leveren, hetgeen ze ook zo herkenbaar maakt. Daarnaast zouden ze geen standpunten hebben, maar alleen verbetering willen zien. Hoe kijkt u hier tegenaan?“De beweging staat natuurlijk wel ergens voor. Er lopen keizers en koningen rond, die misbruik maken van het systeem net zoals dat in de vijftiende en zestiende eeuw gebeurde. Toen had je revoluties tegen de koningshuizen. En dus heb je nu een revolutie hier tegen financiële instituties, tegen de rijken die paleizen bouwen op Long Island. Uiteindelijk is het protest natuurlijk geld gedreven.”

In hoeverre moeten mensen zich dat zelf kwalijk nemen? We hebben ons immers daar nooit druk over gemaakt.“Ten eerste hebben de leiders van financiële instituties niet hun verantwoordelijkheid getoond. Ze keken heel beperkt naar hun eigen organisatie, niet naar hun organisatie in de samenleving. Ze hebben zich laten leiden door zelfzucht en

waren zich niet bewust van de desastreuze gevolgen die zij zouden kunnen hebben op de samenleving. Daarnaast heb je ook instituties die andere instituties overzien. De ‘FED’ in Amerika is daar een van. Jarenlang heeft het de rente laag gehouden. Toen Alan Greenspan werd geïnterviewd waarom hij dit niet aan zag komen zei Greenspan dat hij vertrouwen had dat de leiders van Wall Street het juiste zouden doen. Het is toch raar dat van iemand die 20 tot 30 miljoen per jaar verdient wordt verwacht dat hij het algemeen belang in de gaten houd. De leiders van deze instituties hebben volledig gefaald, evenals de overheid. Beiden hadden veel eerder in moeten grijpen. “

Wat is een groot MVO project wat u graag nog zou willen doen binnen Akzo Nobel?“Het ‘Let’s Colour’ project, gericht op grauwe plekken te transformeren in kleurrijke omgevingen. Hierdoor moeten mensen meer lol krijgen om kleur te gebruiken, op wat voor een plek dat ook is; ziekenhuizen, scholen, sportverenigingen. Vooral nu de economie tegen zit. Er is namelijk meer dan economie in de wereld, er is nog kleur te verkrijgen.“

Zit het hoofdkantoor van AkzoNobel binnen tien jaar in Azië?“Je moet de omzetstijging in Azië zien als een stijgend percentage van het geheel. We verplaatsen geen productie van wat we in Europa verkopen naar Azië. Wij vinden Europa erg belangrijk. Daar zit onze topprioriteit. Wij geloven in Europa en de euro en dat dat we juist hier een hele sterke basis moeten bouwen en dan vanuit die sterke basis over de rest van de wereld mee te bouwen. Onze toekomst is daar veel onzekerder dan hier waar we alles eigenlijk kennen. Tegelijkertijd investeren we natuurlijk in ‘high growth markets’, maar ik zie geen verminderde kansen voor Europese studenten om bij bedrijven als AkzoNobel werk te vinden.”.


/ November 2011

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© 2011 KPMG N.V., alle rechten voorbehouden.

-04212_A4_Uitwonend_OF.indd 1 10-10-2011 14:14:32


Small Affairs

Since the dawn of time, the capital of first class cuisine has been Paris. It was the home of culinary ‘father’ Auguste Escoffier, the restaurants of famed hotels ‘Plaza Athénée’ and ‘George V’, the legendary ‘La Tour d’Argent’ and many other chefs, restaurants and renowned cooking schools. If one wanted to taste the best the world had to offer on a plate, Paris was the place to find it. And the city kept this reputation for decades; the French cuisine became the standard for fine dining all over the world.

In the twenty-first century new technologies have changed methods of cooking in a revolutionary way. When Spanish chef Ferran Adrià introduced ‘molecular gastronomy’ in his restaurant ‘El Buli’ in Roses, along the Catalan coastline, culinary critics were overwhelmed by this new method of cooking. It earned the restaurant three prestigious Michelin stars and the British magazine ‘Restaurant’ ranked the restaurant as best in the world for a total of five times. Chef Adrià suffered from a lack of inspiration in 2011, which caused him to close his restaurant. Praised chefs have adopted his legacy, the molecular technique, across the globe.

It could have been a short hype, which disrupted the French reign over the world of gastronomy for a couple of years. The French did not reclaim their power, however. Since 2010, the world’s focus on first class cuisine lies in a somewhat unusual place: Scandinavia.

This change is the result of a steady revolutionary movement that has washed through the world’s top kitchens. It is sometimes called ‘new Nordic’ and the pioneer that paved the way was chef René Redzepi of restaurant Noma in Copenhagen, Denmark. Established in 2004, the restaurant has earned two Michelin stars, and even though it is less than El Buli’s three stars, it took over its spot as world’s best restaurant, according to Restaurant magazine.

New Nordic cuisine’s rise to fameAuthor: Pieter Lindeman

The type of cuisine is authentic. Therefore, it is a different revolution than the technical revolution of El Buli. The ingredients used are ‘forgotten’ vegetables and herbs, reindeer meat and fresh caught fish from Scandinavian waters. It is a combination of old Scandinavian techniques of smoking, curing and drying with what Mother Nature has to offer. In Noma, twigs are even used as cooking tools. And the influence of nature does not end in the kitchen; the whole atmosphere in new Nordic restaurants is as if one dines outdoors. Rocks, shells, leaves and grass are used as decoration on the plate or as plates itself.

Even though Noma is the most famous of new Nordic restaurants, the city of Copenhagen is not the only place of interest in this culinary revolution. Also Stockholm and Helsinki offer splendid restaurants. Due to the fact woods, lakes and the sea are always nearby in these regions; chefs cooperate with local farmers, fishermen and other people that provide the restaurants with authentic, fresh and local ingredients. The region of Lapland is also an important source of tender reindeer and moose meat. It is nothing new to the Scandinavian people; they have always had great restaurants, only the world did not know about it.

The entire trend of going back to healthier food along with getting in closer contact with nature replaced the classic French cuisine as English more and more replaces French as the common kitchen language.

Perhaps it is intertwined with the shift the world has made. Whereas the French cuisine was linked to 1980s New York, yuppies, Reaganomics, platinum credit cards, double-breasted suits, suspenders and $500 lunches at ’21 Club’ or ‘Tavern on the Green’, the new Nordic cuisine is of the 2010s: less is more and green is better..

Personal Persoonlijk


Smartphones have become a part of the daily life of a lot of people, often an indispensable part. Checking your e-mail has never been easier, looking up facts can be done faster than before, and with the thousands of applications available, it is not easy to become bored when using a smartphone. Moreover, once you own one, there is hardly a way back. A survey of Ring Central, a company which takes care of IT-processes of firms, indicated that employees cannot choose what would be worse to live without, a smartphone or an intimate relationship (both scored 40% in responses). On a distant third place, the good old morning coffee was mentioned (17%), concluded by the use of social networking sites (3%).

However, when we look at this development from the corporate point of view, we can see there is also another side: a side that costs employers money and decreases the firms’ security.

As an employer, one of your main tasks is to keep your employees motivated and focused. Even though this has never been an easy task, the last couple of years a new corporate enemy introduced itself: ‘Angry Birds’. Games, and this one in particular, have become a very important element of the success of smartphones. Nielsen Worldwide reported that 61% of all smartphone users play games on his/her phone, and that iPhone users play on average more games than Android users.

The relevance of this phenomenon to employers becomes clear when we take a more detailed look into the extremely pig-unfriendly game of game developer Rovio, which has already been downloaded over 400 million times. Ask Your Target Market, an American research company, found out that in total, Americans play Angry Birds about 200 million minutes a day. When this quite incredible number is converted into an annual amount, the total number of users play the game for 1,216,666,667 hours per year.

The same research indicated that the game was, of course, not only played in free time, but about 5% of the total playing time took place during working hours. And this is where it starts costing employers money.

Alexis Madrigal, writer for theatlantic.com, picked up on these statistics and computed the total damage for the US economy on a daily basis. Taking 5% of the total hours played, multiplied by an average hourly pay of $35, all US firms annually lose $2,129,166,667 by employees playing Angry Birds. That is quite a loss caused by a free application.

Next to this loss in employee productivity, there is another danger: that of security. Juniper Networks, after taking 6,000 surveys, states that over 80% of the interviewed employees accesses work documents on his/her smartphone. The problem of this is that these consumer orientated devices are protected worse than the company computers they would otherwise use. Even though employers often prohibit the use of smartphones for company matters, since they are familiar with the security-threat, employees usually think ‘It will be fine’.

The development of smartphones has been one of the most influential technological changes of the last couple of years. Phones are not just for calling and texting anymore, they are also able to perform a lot of services that only personal computers were usually able to do. However, they can also pose a serious security risk when used for business, and when used for catapulting birds towards helpless pigs; it can cost firms substantial amounts of money..

Angry BossesAuthor: Remko Mooi



The Greek FailureDid culture destroy Greece?Author: Vincent Bergsma

Greece; A country with a rich history, claiming the birth of the democratic society, the Olympic games and the scenario of many historic events, but also a country with a high level of biodiversity, and a well-known holiday destination. Greece’s economy consists for a large part of tourism, but the historic roots are not all erased, as the country’s ship owners take on 18% of the world’s cargo shipment. However, Greece is no longer known for all of the above standing facts, it is now the epicenter and most well known victim of the financial crisis.

Day in day out, one can hear new developments in the ‘Greece debt crisis’, pollution dangers of its potential bankruptcy and the banking crisis. Although these things are somewhat connected they really are not the same. To better understand the current situation one has to take a look into the history of Greece.

The entry of GreeceBy article 238 of the Treaty of Rome (1957), which included mutual rights and obligations, including joint actions and special procedures, it became possible for the European Community (EC) to get into associations agreements with other countries. Greece was the first country to use this agreement in 1962, which resulted in economic cooperation, ultimately resulting in the accession of Greece in the European Community.

However, this accession was not without danger. In a report about the entry of Greece to the European Economic Community (EEC), the European Commission stated that a pre association period was needed since Greece was lagging behind on its economy and agriculture. Furthermore, the Commission feared that Europe would get actively involved in the conflict between Greece and Turkey on Cyprus.

Nonetheless, Greece stated that it would like to join the EEC so it could strengthen its new democracy, with success. France believed Greece was the “bridge to the Balkan”, bringing more stability to the region and pointed out that the entry of Greece meant the incorporation of the Hellenistic culture into Europe. Germany also supported the entry of Greece, but on more economic grounds, as it was the main import source for the Greek. This meant Greece had two important members on its side. Still the Commission hesitated, but eventually Greece joined the EEC without considering the pre association phase the Commission mentioned earlier. On January the first 1981, Greece became the tenth member of the European Union.

The cultural sideApart from this history, economic and agriculture arrears there is another point; culture. As stated before, France once called Greece ‘the bridge to the Balkan’ as it brought a Hellenistic culture into the EEC. However, several decades later most countries do not see this Hellenistic culture as a gain anymore. They call the people ‘the lazy Greeks’ and its country corrupt with luxurious retirement legislation. Several well-known and recognized people therefore stated Greece should leave the EU, as it is inherently so different, that it just cannot change enough to become a productive member of the European Monetary Union.

How does the Greek crisis compare?Greece is not the only country that is experiencing the effects of the credit crisis. Others are Italy, France, Portugal, Spain and Ireland. This last one, Ireland, proves an interesting comparison. Ireland was also hit hard by the economic crisis; the country nationalized three banks last year and took a majority stake in two others. This came with a price tag of approximately 45 billion euro.

In Depth Verbreding


Another 130 billion had to be borrowed from the ECB and in November it needed an additional loan from the IMF emergency fund of 90 billion euro. This is even more than the 200 billion the Greeks received as emergency aid from Euro countries and the IMF. However, Ireland has begun to show signs of recovery; the country is becoming competitive again. Lowering its corporation taxes to 12,5% boosted this; now American corporations invest more in Ireland than in China, India, Russia and Brazil together.

In Greece, a whole other movement is occurring. Investors flee the country en masse, drying up investments. Corporations move to Bulgaria in large numbers, already 2000 Greek companies moved, of which 800 moved this year. Next to low investments, the country is also suffers from a brain drain. In short: Greece is showing signs of worsening rather then getting better. According to Euro parliamentarian Eppink this has to do with the Greek mentality; he states: “Irish sing a melancholic song, drink a glass of whisky, if necessary the whole bottle, and after the rush start working. The Greeks get angry, demonstrate and blame everybody except themselves. So the Greeks need to start managing statistics, collecting taxes, creating a decent budget and get a transparent policy, which in turn needs a cultural change that cannot be achieved”, he states.

Drachme?Say the cultural change cannot be achieved, what should be done? More and more people come to the conclusion that Greece has to be excluded from the euro. However, this has some major implications. If Greece would take the Drachme back, foreign investors would immediately try to get their money back, as it is now no longer backed by the European Union. This means that the Greek banking system implodes, with nobody to loan money to the Greek the country will be

devastated, with no option of economic growth or competitive ability for years. Moreover, a massive depreciation of the Drachme will occur. This makes it even harder for the Greek to pay their debtors, causing financial institutions to depreciate their Greek bonds by huge amounts, with a distinct possibility of never seeing any money.

Another consequence is when a country leaves the eurozone, it creates the option where anybody could leave. This means that investors will probably take their money from other, weaker states and transfer it to the stronger ones. This means that another financial crisis has started which leads to an even deeper recession in the whole eurozone. Since investors bring so much money to the stronger countries, it is almost impossible that they would ever risk default status, meaning that the price of the euro increases steeply, leaving the left over eurozone members with an uncompetitive euro price and the possible other corpses that have to reach the surface from the weaker countries. In essence, the interests of stronger countries are also not served by allowing or pursuing the Greek to quit the eurozone.

Finally, one cannot take the good without taking responsibility for the bad that came with it. As the European Union set out to increase its size, it was looking to enlarge its internal market, thereby ignoring the potential risks of allowing the Greek to join the EU and later the monetary union. This resulted in times of relative success as Greece bought our products and sent us their money. Now time has come to take responsibility for taking the risk of letting a weaker state join our community and taking in their money. We have to step up and solve the problems..

The Greek Failure

Verbreding In DepthIn Depth Verbreding


Recruitment Days 2011Zoveel studenten, zoveel werk. Maar welke carrière past het beste bij jou en je opleiding? Bij welk werk vind jij de benodigde ervaring voor de toekomst in je carrière? En misschien wel het belangrijkste van alles; welke werkgever past het beste bij jou? Dit zijn veel voorkomende vragen die je jezelf waarschijnlijk al meerdere malen gesteld hebt. In 2011 telt Nederland maar liefst 240.000 studenten. Veel van deze studenten willen graag stage lopen, een traineeship volgen of beginnen in een startersfunctie bij een bekende, succesvolle en uitdagende werkgever.

Daarnaast hechten studenten steeds meer waarde aan professionele opleidingsmogelijkheden en de kans op individuele ontwikkeling in een creatieve en dynamische werkomgeving. Studenten denken dan ook steeds strategischer over hun carrièremogelijkheden en zijn veelal gespitst op het opbouwen van hun eigen persoonlijke merk en carrièremogelijkheden. Grote kans dat jij één van deze studenten bent die op zoek is naar een ideale stage, traineeship of starterfunctie mét inhoud, maar dat je nog steeds wacht op die ene kans om jezelf voor te stellen bij de recruiter van jouw ideale werkgever.

De Recruitment Days 2011 biedt jou deze kans, oftewel ’The First Step To Your Fortune‘! De Recruitment Days is het op twee na grootste recruitment evenement van Nederland en wordt dit jaar voor de achttiende keer georganiseerd door de verenigingen EBF en MARUG. Dit jaar zal de Recruitment Days plaatsvinden op dinsdag 13, woensdag 14 en donderdag 15 december 2011 in het Martiniplaza. Tijdens dit evenement zijn recruiters van veertig bedrijven en overheidsinstanties op zoek naar ambitieuze en getalenteerde studenten.

Door middel van een breed scala aan activiteiten kun jij in contact komen met deze recruiters om je te oriënteren op de arbeidsmarkt, een stage te regelen of misschien zelfs je ideale werkgever te ontmoeten.

Alle bedrijven die deelnemen aan de Recruitment Days 2011 geven een bedrijfspresentatie. Gedurende een uur komen algemene onderwerpen aan de orde, zoals de cultuur van het bedrijf en de carrièremogelijkheden. Aangezien je aan meerdere bedrijfspresentaties kunt deelnemen, is dit een goede mogelijkheid om je te oriënteren bij verschillende bedrijven. Een bedrijfspresentatie helpt je bovendien als voorbereiding op een van de andere activiteiten tijdens de Recruitment Days.

Tevens zullen er verschillende cases plaatsvinden. Met een case kom je op interactieve wijze in aanraking met de dagelijkse werkzaamheden van een bedrijf. Het is een goede manier om erachter te komen wat voor uitdagingen je kunt tegenkomen in je toekomstige werk. In de twee à drie uur durende case werk je in een groep aan de oplossing van een praktijkprobleem.

Naast de verzorgde lunch die elke dag wordt aangeboden in het Martiniplaza, zijn er de zogeheten bedrijvenlunches. Tijdens een bedrijvenlunch ga je samen met een kleine groep studenten op uitnodiging van een bedrijf mee lunchen op een externe locatie. Je hebt zo de mogelijkheid om op een leuke informele manier kennis te maken met het bedrijf, de werknemers en de bedrijfscultuur.

Recruitment Days


Naast de bedrijvenlunches zullen er ook bedrijvendiners worden georganiseerd. Met een kleine groep studenten ga je met een bedrijf dineren op een externe locatie, om zo meer te weten te komen over hoe het is om bij een bepaald bedrijf te werken.

Een individueel gesprek biedt je de mogelijkheid om gedurende een half uur persoonlijk met een recruiter van een bedrijf te spreken. Een gesprek kan een manier zijn om je beter binnen het bedrijf te oriënteren, maar het kan tevens functioneren als een sollicitatiegesprek. Een individueel gesprek is daarom een goede mogelijkheid voor zowel oriënterende studenten als studenten in de eindfase van hun studie om er achter te komen wat je mogelijkheden binnen het betreffende bedrijf zijn.

Een nieuw onderdeel van de Recruitment Days 2011 is speeddaten. Tijdens de Recruitment Days zal dit onderdeel de mogelijkheid bieden aan studenten om via een informele manier in contact te komen met de bedrijven. Als deelnemer zal je gedurende vier minuten de mogelijkheid hebben om een bedrijf alle vragen te stellen waarop je de antwoorden wilt weten. Na vier minuten wordt er doorgeschoven naar het volgende bedrijf. Speeddaten vindt plaats op de woensdagmiddag tijdens de borrel, van 17:15-18:15.

Ook dit jaar is het weer mogelijk om je CV gedurende de drie dagen door een professional te laten checken. Tevens bieden onze trainingen de perfecte gelegenheid om je capaciteiten in bijvoorbeeld personal branding, solliciteren of het maken van assessments verder te ontwikkelen.

Na afloop van elk dagprogramma zal er een bedrijfsinformatiemarkt en afsluitende borrel plaatsvinden. Tijdens de bedrijfsinformatiemarkt heb je de gelegenheid om langs diverse stands van de deelnemende bedrijven te lopen voor aanvullende informatie. Tevens is het mogelijk om tijdens de borrel nog even gezellig een drankje te drinken en na te praten met je medestudenten en de aanwezige recruiters. Ten slotte zal dit driedaagse evenement worden afgesloten met een spetterend eindfeest in de &ZO!

In ons bedrijfsprofielenboek en op onze website kan je meer informatie vinden over het programma, de deelnemende bedrijven, de activiteiten en natuurlijk over hoe je je kunt inschrijven voor ons evenement. Inschrijven kan van maandag 17 oktober tot en met maandag 21 november 2011. Schrijf je dus snel in en zet deze eerste belangrijke stap in je carrière!

Wil je meer informatie over ons evenement? Loop dan gerust even binnen in kamer 5414.0027, of neem contact met ons op via 050 3637340 of [email protected]. .De Recruitment Days commissie 2011Janine, Mathijs, Rinse, Anne, Floor, Daan en Lara

Recruitment Days 2011

Recruitment DaysRecruitment Days


Testimonial

Naam: Aniek GeertsFunctie: Management Trainee bij ORMITStudie: Master Business Administration Change Management aan de RuG

Hoe ben je bij ORMIT terecht gekomen en kun je wat over je functie vertellen?In 2008 nam ik deel aan de ORMIT Business Course. Daar heb ik voor het eerst kennis gemaakt met ORMIT. Het Management Traineeship van ORMIT sprak me meteen aan, met name door de ontwikkelingsmogelijkheden en de afwisseling die het mij bood. Na mijn master wist ik dat ik mijn Change Management kennis verder wilde ontwikkelen in het bedrijfsleven. Als Management Trainee bij ORMIT werk ik elk half jaar aan verschillende projecten bij drie tot vier verschillende bedrijven.

Zo leer ik in korte tijd veel over diverse sectoren, om samen te werken in verschillende bedrijfsculturen en om een goed resultaat neer te zetten. Naast mijn opdrachten bij deze bedrijven heb ik maandelijks training, intervisie en coaching vanuit ORMIT. Dat is belangrijk voor mijn persoonlijke ontwikkeling, maar het zijn ook hele plezierige momenten samen met mijn ORMIT collega’s.

Wat voor projecten heb je gedaan?1. Project manager van de implementatie van een kwaliteit managementsysteem bij de Provincie Overijssel.2. Project medewerker bij het RDW ICT bedrijf om IT sourcing in te richten.3. Change & communicatie manager in een programma van Philips Consumer Lifestyle om magazijnen te verplaatsen van en naar verschillende landen in Europa.

Waar moest je in het begin aan wennen?Als Management Trainee van ORMIT is het belangrijk om in korte tijd je toegevoegde waarde in je opdracht te laten zien. Het was voor mij een uitdaging om met weinig werkervaring dat voor elkaar te krijgen, maar het is gelukt.

Wat zijn je toekomstplannen?Ik doe nu mijn laatste opdracht bij de ABN AMRO bank. Ik vervul een interessante IT strategie rol met veel change management aspecten. Als de functie en de invulling daarvan wederzijds bevalt, dan stroom ik over een paar maanden door om deze functie nog een tijd te vervullen als ABN AMRO werknemer. Na deze rol weer nieuwe ronden, nieuwe kansen. De ABN AMRO is een participant die veel investeert in talent, dus ik zie daar mooie toekomstmogelijkheden. .

Recruitment Days


Testimonial

Recruitment DaysRecruitment Days

/ November 2011

Werken bij Booz & Company

Naam: Lars LanghoutFunctie: ConsultantOpleiding: MSc International Business & Management, RUGBij Booz & Company sinds: Mei 2011

Hoe zag jouw studententijd eruit?In 2004 ben ik bedrijfskunde gaan studeren in Groningen. Naast mijn studie ben ik actief geweest bij Albertus Magnus waar ik onder andere voorzitter ben geweest. Daarnaast heb ik jarenlang op zondag gevoetbald in teamverband en door de week werkte ik bij verschillende bedrijven.

Waarom consulting?Consulting biedt een ongeëvenaarde leeromgeving waarin je continue wordt uitgedaagd om het maximale uit jezelf te halen. Door de diversiteit aan opdrachten op ‘board-level’ bij klanten leer je snel hoe een onderneming functioneert en welke rol strategie daar bij speelt. Daar werk je samen met bijzonder getalenteerde collega’s die jou goed begeleiden.

Waarom Booz & Company?Als consultant werk je hard om samen een goed solide advies aan de klant te geven. Dat maakt de mensen met wie ik werk erg belangrijk voor mij. Op ons kantoor heerst een unieke ontspannen sfeer waarbij iedereen elkaar helpt en waarin iedereen gelijk is. Vanaf de eerste dag ben je onderdeel van het team en wordt jouw input gewaardeerd, door andere consultants maar ook zeker door de partners. Verder biedt het internationale karakter van ons kantoor vele voordelen. Naast de internationale teamsamenstelling op projecten en de mogelijkheid om zelf projecten in andere landen te doen zal je geregeld trainingen volgen in het buitenland om je verder te specialiseren in consulting.

Wat heb je in die eerste 6 maanden gedaan?Ik viel direct met mijn neus in de boter. Tijdens mijn eerste project heb ik gewerkt aan een overname. Een intensief en leerzaam traject waarin wij advies gaven of het bedrijf al dan niet overgenomen moest worden door onze klant. In no-time raakte ik bekend met de industrie, het bedrijf en de omliggende factoren die de markt beïnvloeden. Een crash-course strategie consulting waarin ik veel heb geleerd.

BegeleidingBegeleiding van consultants is erg belangrijk voor Booz & Company. Dat merk je door de intensiviteit waarmee dit gebeurd. Tijdens de introductiedag wordt je voorgesteld aan je mentoren die je tijdens je carrière bij Booz actief coachen en bijstaan met raad en daad. Daarnaast ga je in je eerste weken naar de Discover Booz & Company training in het buitenland om daar, samen met een groot aantal andere new-hires, kennis te maken met de het bedrijf en de belangrijkste tools en technieken die voor consulting gebruikt worden.

Wat raadt je studenten aan die geïnteresseerd zijn in een carrière bij Booz & Company?Studenten die altijd het maximale uit zichzelf willen halen; continue willen leren in een dynamische en internationale omgeving en daarnaast ontzettend veel plezier willen maken met collega’s raad ik aan ons beter te leren kennen. In 2010 heb ik meegedaan aan de business course “The Game” die we dit voorjaar weer organiseren. Hierbij ga je in drie dagen een volledig duurzame stad ontwikkelen. Het biedt een mooie kans om een duidelijk beeld van ons werk te krijgen en de sfeer van ons kantoor te proeven. Ik heb er destijds van genoten en uiteindelijk ben ik hier terecht gekomen. Zeer de moeite waard dus!.

Business In Bedrijf

/ November 2011

You are working with the leading businesses in the world. On the toughest challenges they will ever have to face. Your focus must be on delivering impact where it matters.

Booz & Companywww.booz.com

Bewijs jij dat een duurzame stad kan bestaan?Van 2 t/m 4 maart 2011 organiseert Booz & Company The Game.

Tijdens The Game speel je met een groep van 25 studenten een strategisch simulatiespel met als doel een volledig duurzame stad te ontwikkelen. Je ervaart wat de typische uitdagingen van consultants zijn en leert tevens onze aanpak kennen. Daarnaast krijg je uitgebreid gelegenheid om kennis te maken met ons kantoor en onze collega’s.

Meld je aan vóór 21 december 2010 op www.booz.nl/events

The Game 2011: The Green City

NL 002 GAM 11-a


Searching for the pot of goldThe constant factorAuthor: Rick Lotterman

In times of war, instability and volatility, people have always been searching for safe havens to go to. On today’s financial markets things are not any different. Gold has been, and will most likely always be, a safe haven in times of economic turmoil. Since the 2008 financial crisis, gold prices have been soaring. The increase in gold prices since 2000 offers a nice perspective. In that year, the gold price was about 300 US dollar per ounce, whereas it currently stands at around 1600 US dollars per ounce. This equals a 433% increase in gold prices since the turning of the century. It is hard to find a similar yielding investment.

As history has shown, gold does strange things to people, and now the gold price is at a new high, a small gold rush is taking place again. Gold mines that were not economically viable just a few years ago can again run at a profit. Especially Australia, which is the second largest gold producer after China, is experiencing more and more fortune seekers moving into the gold searching industry every month.

Gold should not be viewed simply as a metal. For thousands of years, it has been used as a form of currency. The reason for this is the nifty characteristics gold has. Gold is a solid but relatively soft metal, which makes it easy to melt and use for minting coins. Furthermore, it is rare enough so that the supply can be controlled, which means that the market cannot be flooded with gold. It therefore retains its value. Finally, it is a chemically stable metal, which means that it does not burn or corrode. Just like silver, it generally does not deteriorate in quality.

And even though you cannot use gold as a currency, many people consider it as a good store of value. In the worst-case scenario, the current financial crisis will cause paper money to become worthless or at least worth less.

This absurd rise in the price of gold is not just caused by people looking for a safe option to invest their money; ‘Gold prices are rising because gold prices are rising.’ A sentence like this only makes sense in the world of economics. Because gold prices are rising rapidly, people are investing in gold, which in turn increases the gold price even more. The reason that people are still investing in gold, even though the prices are sky-high, is the believe that unless the world economical problems are solved, the gold price will keep rising. Traditionally, gold has always been considered a hedge against high inflation.

Many people are convinced that a gold bubble is forming and that it is most likely going to burst, like it did during the crisis of the 1980s. Gold is not really considered a real investment as is does not yield any dividends or interests. Tangible gold merely costs the investor money in the form of storage costs and insurance. The ability to profit from it lies solely in the trust that you sell the gold at a higher price than you bought it for. This puts it in the line of speculation rather than in that of investments.

In Depth Verbreding


Searching for the pot of gold

Is gold really, as mentioned earlier, a good store of value? The fact that there is currently a bubble forming is enough proof that it is not. If one just looks at what happened in the 1980s, it can be seen that after the bubble burst the gold prices plummeted. If someone had bought gold at the peak of the bubble, his investment would have lost a large percentage of its value. Gold will always retain a certain worth because it is a precious metal and thus it will never lose its value like paper currency can. However, its price is very much subjective to volatile crisis demand. Considering this, gold probably is not the best ‘crisis hedge’ available.

The idea of gold ‘bubbling up’ is a popular topic of discussion. Because gold does not yield any profits of its own, you cannot argue that the price/earnings ratio can justify the risk of the investment. This shows that if there is a bubble present, it is not a traditional one, such as the all-famous Internet bubble of the 1990s. However, there are some indicators showing that the demand for gold is overinflated at the moment. It is often argued that because the supply of gold is limited, the current high prices are acceptable. But the matter of fact is that over the last few years, the demand side of the gold market has changed significantly. Whereas in 2005 only 16% of the demand for gold was coming from investors, this number has increased to 40% in 2011. The portion of industrial demand for gold used to be a lot higher. This indicates that gold prices nowadays are a lot more dependent on speculators than they used to. Therefore, its value is more volatile than it was before.

Since the gold prices began to rise, there has been talk about a gold bubble. People seem to agree that there is a bubble forming, like in the 1980s, but no one knows when this bubble will mature and burst. At the beginning of this year people were speculating that the bubble was about to burst, but since then, prices have increased another 25% and are still rising. Time will tell when this intensively discussed point in time arrives, and lets hope for the investors that they sell out before it is reached and prices plummet..

Verbreding In Depth


In Depth Verbreding

The consultancy practiceWhat exactly is it and why is it succesful? Author: Roel van Tartwijk

Although we may be in an economic crisis at the moment, somehow the consulting industry does not seem to have been too heavily affected. In addition, consultancy companies appear to be enjoying an unabated popularity among students as future employees. Still, in times of crisis one might expect companies to rely more on their own judgment and cut down the costs of hiring expensive external experts to solve organisational problems. Surprisingly though, this does not really happen.

Types of consultancyThe consulting industry consists of companies providing different types of consultancy services. The common denominator is that all these companies have made it their business to advise other companies on their specific – and usually complex – organisational problems or challenges. One reason why firms often hire consultants to help overcome such problems is that consultancy companies are often specialised in solving certain types of issues. The most common forms of specialisation among consultancy firms are; operations consulting, strategy consulting, IT consulting, financial consulting and HR consulting. Often, management consulting is used as a term to indicate a mixture of operations, strategy, financial and HR consulting. Operations consultants advise their clients about, among others, supply chain management and logistics. Strategy consulting focuses more on longer-term business objectives and strategies. Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) is often a central topic in strategy consulting. IT consulting is all about how to successfully implement information technology and systems into the firm’s operations, so for instance, IT consultants are hired to help design and implement ERP systems. Financial consulting deals with issues such as liquidity management, risk assessment, due diligence and accounting. Finally, HR consultants can help companies with challenges in for example leadership development, career path creation and succession planning. Looking at the worldwide market for consulting, one can see that IT consulting forms the largest segment of the market (51%). Financial consulting accounts for 17% of the market, operations consulting for 16%, strategy consulting for 10% and HR consulting for 6%.

Industry developmentOver the past decades, the consultancy market in the Netherlands alone has grown to include more than 9.000 consultancy firms (as estimated by www.consultancy.nl). These are generally small companies operating just locally, but there are also a few larger consultants, such as Twynstra & Gudde. Furthermore, the market (both the Dutch and global market) is occupied by a large number of international consulting firms. In this respect, the names of McKinsey & Company, the Boston Consulting Group, Accenture, Deloitte, KPMG and Ernst & Young will without a doubt ring a bell. Accumulating the revenues of all these companies leads to a global industry total of €214.5 billion in 2007. Remarkably, the industry has only grown since then. Especially financial advisory and operations consulting have seen a significant growth over the past few years, with growth rates of 9.8% and 7.1%, respectively. In addition, revenues for the other types of consulting have increased as well. This has led the value of the consulting industry to increase to €256.5 billion in 2010 and to an estimated €271.6 billion this year.

SuccessApparently, the consultancy firms are quite successful in their operations. This begs the question ‘Why?’, as so many other companies have to resort to budget cuts, lay-offs and worse. Unfortunately, the answer to this question is not clear-cut and cannot be expressed in numbers or Euros. Still, based on my experience (though limited, I admit) with consultants, I believe that there are three main reasons for the success of consultants.

First and foremost, most – if not all – managers in ‘regular’ companies often face challenging and difficult decisions with uncertain outcomes. And yet they are held responsible for those outcomes. Therefore, many managers want to be as certain as possible about which choice to make before the actual moment arrives when this choice must be made. Therefore, they will not only ask their colleagues or subordinates for advice, but they also value the independent opinion of outside experts, i.e. consultants. In some cases managers may be uncertain about the solution to their problem that they prefer themselves.


In Depth Verbreding

The consultancy practice

By hiring a consultant they hope either to get confirmation that this choice is in fact a good one, or to receive an even better solution from the consultant. Additionally, the assistance of consultants is sometimes needed to get ‘unpopular’ decisions accepted, in the sense that employees may be more likely to accept their managers’ ideas when they are backed up by the advice of a consultant.

Secondly, I have noticed that consultants (especially the large, internationally operating companies) are actively looking for new talent, recruiting students and already contacting them before they graduate. The first way they do this is by organising events themselves, for instance Business Courses, Masterclasses and Inhouse Days. However, many of them are also present at activities of study associations. Think for example of the Recruitment Days organized by the EBF and MARUG. Continuously attracting young, open-minded people to their companies, consultants enable themselves to keep bringing new insights and refreshing perspectives to their clients’ problems. Also, junior consultants are of course quite a lot less costly to employ than senior executives with fifteen years of experience.

Finally, although I have no solid proof whatsoever in this case, I suspect that another reason why consultants are still so successful is the well-known ‘old boys’ network’. Many consulting companies have a few regular clients (often big multinationals) for which they do one project after another. Talking to individual consultants, you will find that some of them basically spend half their working week at one client. Senior consultants and ‘partners’ of the consulting firms usually negotiate new projects. And I would not be amazed if many of these deals are closed among old friends of some golf course in the Randstad…

Best-ranked consultantsHow is it determined which consultants make the best or most deals? Vault Magazine annually publishes the ‘Vault Consulting Firms Europe Ranking’, in which all major consultancy firms

operating in Europe are incorporated. The ranking includes consultants from all specializations. This ranking is further specified into different categories. These are ‘Best Prestige’, ‘Best Firms In Each Practice Area’, ‘Diversity’ and ‘Best Firms To Work For’. The diversity ranking is based on how well companies score on diversity for women and minorities and LGBT (which stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) diversity. A firm’s ‘Best Firms To Work For’-score depends on such aspects as company culture, interaction with clients, leadership, remuneration and work and/or life balance. Combining these different categories leads to one overall ranking: the Vault Consulting Firms Ranking.

Focusing on the consultants operating in Europe, for 2011 the Top 5 looks like this:1. Bain & Company2. The Boston Consulting Group3. Roland Berger Strategy Consultants4. Booz & Company5. Oliver WymanFor the full ranking, see http://www.vault.com

A future in consulting?If you are considering a career in consulting, the future looks quite bright. The consulting business appears to be thriving, despite the recession and economic difficulties in the world. Furthermore, the number of consultancy firms is enormous, so there will undoubtedly be (at least) one consultant with who you will feel connected. Maybe your hardest task will prove to be finding out which one this is....

Verbreding In Depth


Hollands Glorie

Als we tegenwoordig denken aan televisieprogramma’s, dan denken we aan de reality programma’s (o.a. Teen Mom, Jersey Shore) , aan talentenjachten (o.a. America’s Next Top Model, Australia’s Masterchef) en misschien ook wel aan nieuwsprogramma’s (o.a. Pauw en Witteman, de Wereld Draait Door). Het zal je niet ontgaan zijn dat deze programma’s, met name de programma’s in de eerste twee categorieën, meestal vanuit een Amerikaans format komen. De Amerikaanse televisiemakers domineren het soort programma’s dat in Nederland op tv verschijnt, met name op de commerciële zenders. Dit betekent echter niet dat wij als Nederlanders nooit op de proppen komen met een programma dat wereldwijd succes heeft.

Nederlandse TVIn tegendeel zelfs, er zijn behoorlijk wat programma’s van Nederlandse bodem verkocht aan buitenlandse televisiezenders. Wel lijkt het zo te zijn dat sinds de eeuwwisseling de zenders voorzichtiger zijn geworden met het bedenken van nieuwe tv-programma’s. Dit heeft als voornaamste reden dat de kijkcijfers, en daarmee ook de reclame opbrengsten, tegenwoordig belangrijker zijn dan ooit tevoren. Met deze informatie in het achterhoofd is het logischer, of misschien wel makkelijker, om een format uit te zenden wat zich al bewezen heeft in plaats van zelf een nieuw format te verzinnen waar meer risico aan verbonden is en waar ook nog eens productiekosten aan verbonden zijn. Hoe dan ook, het aantal bekende Nederlandse progamma’s dat het buitenland gehaald heeft is groot. Enkele voorbeelden zijn Fear Factor, Ik Hou Van Holland (vertaald als ‘I love my country’), Daten in het Donker, Big Brother, The Voice of Holland, en ga zo maar door. Er zijn echter ook minder bekende Nederlandse programma’s die op de Nederlandse televisie niet heel bekend zijn geworden, maar die het in het

buitenland erg goed doen zoals Korenslag, Het Familiediner en De Zingende Zaak. Ook programma’s als Spoorloos, All You Need is Love en Taxi doen het goed in het buitenland. De reden die hiervoor wordt aangedragen is dat Nederland erg ontwikkeld is op het gebied van ‘emo-tv’. Emo-tv kan ook wel gedefinieerd worden als televisie die draait om de ellende van andermans leven. In deze programma’s worden over het algemeen intieme zaken uit het persoonlijke leven van deelnemers aan het programma getoond. Emo-tv heeft de laatste jaren een steeds groter aandeel van de uitzendtijd van de tv-zenders opgeëist en dat is een ontwikkeling die zich blijkbaar niet alleen in Nederland laat gelden, maar ook in het buitenland.

EndemolIn Nederland zijn de meest vooruitstrevende tv-producenten toch wel John de Mol en Joop van den Ende, die in 1994 samen het bedrijf Endemol oprichtten. Sinds 1994 is het bedrijf enorm gegroeid. Op het moment heeft het bedrijf, nog steeds met John de Mol aan het hoofd, in 23 landen (waaronder Panama, Zuid-Afrika en de Filippijnen) dochterondernemingen. Het meest winstgevende format waar het bedrijf tot nu toe mee is gekomen is Deal or No Deal, wat op het moment in meer dan honderd landen wordt geproduceerd en uitgezonden en waar zelfs een video game van gemaakt is. Andere formats die gigantisch succesvol zijn geworden in het buitenland en waar meer aandacht aan besteed zal worden in dit artikel zijn Big Brother en The Voice of Holland.

Nederland televisieland Auteur: Liesbeth Luimes

Business In Bedrijf


Big BrotherBig Brother markeerde hét begin voor een nieuw televisietijdperk; nog nooit was een reality-programma zo’n enorme hit geweest. Het format van Big Brother, wat verzonnen is door John de Mol, is heel simpel; een groep mensen verblijft honderd dagen in een huis wat volledig is uitgerust met camera’s. Aan het einde van deze honderd dagen wint een van de deelnemers een geldprijs. Het programma kwam in Nederland voor het eerst op TV in 1999. Wat Big Brother zo baanbrekend maakte was onder andere dat de kijkers de deelnemers 24 uur per dag, zeven dagen per week konden volgen via het internet. Op tv werd één keer per dag een compilatie van de belangrijkste gebeurtenissen uitgezonden. Vanaf het derde seizoen werd het ook mogelijk gemaakt voor de kijkers om te stemmen op hun favoriete deelnemer in het huis. Op zo’n manier combineerde Big Brother als een van de eersten op succesvolle wijze verschillende media, en daarmee kijkerintegratie, in een programma. Het programma is uiteindelijk uitgezonden in 58 landen en heeft vele varianten gehad, zoals Secret Story en de Gouden Kooi.

The Voice of HollandEen programma wat onlangs een kijkcijferkanon bleek te zijn is een programma wederom door John de Mol verzonnen, namelijk The Voice of Holland. In het begin werd het nieuwe programma gepresenteerd als een Amerikaans programma, om mogelijk op deze manier meer deelnemers te verleiden deel te nemen aan het programma. In augustus 2010 maakte John de Mol echter bekend dat het zijn eigen format was.

Het programma bestaat uit vier verschillende rondes, namelijk de productie auditie, blind audition, the battles en de liveshows. De Mol wilde met dit programma de basis van het programma X-factor neerzetten, maar dan met een grotere nadruk op de kwaliteit. Ook bij dit programma wordt de nadruk gelegd op interactie tussen verschillende media, dit keer met name met gebruik van ‘Social Media’ en een reallifesoap. Het format is op het moment onder andere geëxporteerd naar Amerika, het Verenigd Koninkrijk en Albanië.

De ‘kleine grote speler’ Het mag dan misschien wel zo zijn dat we in de jaren negentig meer vooruitstrevend waren in de televisiewereld en toen met meer programma’s kwamen die wereldwijd aansloegen. Het is echter ook zo dat we als klein land toch regelmatig met programma’s komen die grote successen zijn in het buitenland. Al klinkt het misschien enigszins als een raar compliment dat we in Nederland vergevorderd zijn op het gebied van emo-tv in vergelijking met de rest van de wereld, we kunnen alsnog zeggen dat er niets mis is met het exploiteren van datgene waar je goed in bent..

In Bedrijf Business


Entrepreneurship

De traditionele winkelstraat met een slager, groenteboer, bakker en kleermaker: de meeste mensen kennen deze alleen uit films die zich afspelen in het door immigranten bewoonde New York van begin twintigste eeuw of van oude ansichtkaarten. Toch was de middenstand (de totale groep kleine zelfstandigen) generaties lang de ruggengraat van de Nederlandse ondernemersgeest. De afgelopen decennia is binnen de verssector in het algemeen en de slagerssector in het bijzonder een hoop veranderd. Vandaar de vraag of de ambachtelijke slagerij nog een toekomst heeft in Nederland.

De huidige positieMomenteel zijn er ruim tweeduizend slagerijen in Nederland. Dit aantal is een schril contrast met de omvang van deze branche in het verleden. Alleen in de afgelopen vier jaar al nam het aantal slagersondernemingen af met vierhonderd stuks. Deze daling startte na de intrede van de supermarkten in de jaren zeventig. Waar de consument in die tijd positief verrast was van het gemak en grote aanbod dat deze nieuwe winkelformules boden, vreesden middenstanders voor hun voortbestaan.

Toen supermarkten, het voorbeeld van marktleider Albert Heijn volgend, de vraag en daarmee omzet zagen toenemen, werd hun onderhandelingspositie ten opzichte van leveranciers sterker. Doordat deze omvangrijke bedrijven vervolgens in grotere hoeveelheden konden inkopen, werden vleesprijzen onderhevig aan prijsstunts, wat de voorloper bleek van de latere ‘kiloknallers’. De consumenten werden en masse gevoelig voor deze lage prijzen en lieten slagerijen, sinds de ondernemer gezien zijn winstmarge de concurrentieslag op prijzen niet kon winnen, links liggen.

Vele slagersbedrijven hielden op met bestaan, een gegeven dat tot op de dag van vandaag nog steeds voortgezet wordt. Aangezien bedrijven als Albert Heijn de markt dermate veranderd hebben, zijn nieuwe generaties consumenten niet anders gewend dan dat

vlees, evenals andere boodschappen, bij de supermarkt gekocht wordt. Opvallend is wel de stijgende omzet van slagersbedrijven tijdens feestdagen als Pasen en Kerstmis en niet te vergeten tijdens het barbecueseizoen. In deze periodes lijkt de consument kwaliteit, advies en service te verkiezen boven een lage prijs.

Onderscheidend op kwaliteit binnen het productassortimentEn precies op deze punten kunnen slagerijen vandaag de dag de concurrentie met supermarkten nog aan. Doordat supermarkten ook met elkaar gingen concurreren, werd vlees goedkoper. Dit leidde tot productie op grotere schaal, wat gepaard ging met minder oog voor dierenwelzijn en het tot stand komen van de bio-industrie. Naast een lage kwaliteit van leven voor de dieren zelf, nam ook de kwaliteit van het vlees af. Slagers met een slimme ondernemersgeest sprongen daar op in door andere leveranciers te zoeken en de klanten duurder, doch kwalitatief beter vlees aan te bieden. Met name het importeren van rundvlees uit Frankrijk, Ierland en Argentinië kwam in deze periode, die plaatsvond in de jaren ’90, van de grond. De slagerijen wiens omzet niet daalde, en zelfs steeg, buitten hun warenkennis uit. Waar in de supermarkt zeer weinig tot geen personeel is dat consumenten van advies of productkennis kan voorzien hebben slagers deze kwaliteiten door hun vakopleiding wel in huis. Het werd vanaf deze periode echter wel essentieel voor ondernemers om trends en ontwikkelingen binnen de vleessector nauw in de gaten te houden. Een veranderend eetpatroon van de gemiddelde Nederlandse consument vraagt om een andere manier van ondernemen binnen het slagersbedrijf die ervoor zorgt dat ook nieuwe smaken uit buitenlandse keukens binnen het assortiment vallen.

Slagerijen in Nederland: verleden, heden en toekomstAuteur: Pieter Lindeman

Business In Bedrijf


Ook het aspect van vers bereidde vleesproducten ten opzichte van steriel voorverpakt supermarktvlees biedt ondernemers de mogelijkheid om consumenten te verleiden middels een aantrekkelijke, professionele en kwalitatieve productpresentatie. Om ondernemers binnen de sector te steunen en advies te geven op dit soort essentiële punten, zijn productschappen en werkgeversorganisaties in de vleessector actief.

Mede door een vergrote gewaarwording van kwaliteitsverschillen en de bewustwording van de consument rondom het omstreden punt van bio-industrie, kwamen er ook in Nederland nieuwe productievormen waarbij het welzijn van dieren meer aandacht kreeg, en de kwaliteit van Nederlands vlees indirect ook groter werd. De supermarkten moesten deze trend, evenals de slagers, wel volgen en ook Albert Heijn breidde het assortiment uit met Iers en Argentijns rundvlees.

Andere afzetmarktenOok al leek het grootste gedeelte van de consumentenmarkt te vallen voor supermarktvlees, restaurants en instellingen zochten hun leveranciers elders. Slagerijen die aan restaurants en instellingen leverden, zagen het aantal filialen stijgen, waarna zij zich ontwikkelden tot een volwaardig productiebedrijf met een hoge omzet. Dit werd mede gerealiseerd door het aanbieden van kwaliteitsvlees uit binnen- en buitenland. Het ‘Maas-Rijn-IJssel’ rundvlees won aan populariteit bij de top van de Nederlandse horeca, waarna andere restaurants deze trend volgden.

Naast het eerder genoemde voorbeeld waar de ondernemer een consumentenadviseur is met een mooi verzorgde winkel, is de tweede manier om vandaag de dag als slagersondernemer weerstand te bieden aan de concurrentie van de supermarkt, die van vleesleverancier aan horeca en foodservice.

Een nieuwe vorm van ondernemerschap voor slagersbedrijven wordt gerealiseerd door assortimentsuitbreiding met kant-en-klare gerechten, soepen, exclusieve vleeswaren zoals Parmaham uit Italië en Pata Negra uit Spanje en de verzorging van cateringservices. Op deze manier is de slagerij niet meer vergelijkbaar met die van twintig jaar geleden, maar is het een veelzijdige ‘foodspecialist’ geworden die middels dit assortiment een meerwaarde biedt ten opzichte van het grootwinkelbedrijf.

Europese trendsBinnen de Europese Unie is Nederland geen uitzondering als het gaat om de moeilijkheden en uitdagingen voor slagersbedrijven. In Zuid-Europa zijn in oude steden vanwege logistieke omstandigheden minder mogelijkheden voor grote supermarkten in de wirwar van kleine straten. Daarentegen breiden ‘hypermarchés’ hun aantal vestigingen steeds meer uit. Deze winkelformule, die haar oorsprong in Frankrijk vindt, vestigt haar filialen aan de rand van een grote stad, waar genoeg ruimte is voor parkeervoorzieningen, grote magazijnen en supermarkten ter grootte van sporthallen. In deze winkels varieert het assortiment van televisies tot droogwaren, maar ook versafdelingen zijn ruim en hebben een gevarieerd assortiment. De hypermarchés hebben er voor gezorgd dat in Franse dorpen de middenstand vrijwel geheel is verdwenen en zij richten zich nu op nabijgelegen landen als Italië en Spanje.

Het is de vraag of er in Nederland vraag en ruimte is voor dit type winkelformule. Het zal hoe dan ook een nieuwe uitdaging zijn voor middenstanders om ook dit geweld weerstand te bieden. Ook binnen de vleessector zal dit niet anders zijn. Het vergt dat de consument de smaak van kwalitatief vlees leert herwaarderen en bodemprijzen niet meer als primair ziet binnen deze productgroep. De keuze voor kwaliteit en service leidt op deze manier naar de gespecialiseerde slagersbedrijven van de 21e eeuw..

In Bedrijf Business


Small Affairs

A bonus is a monetary reward that is received if an employee does a good job. It is used as an incentive to work harder. But why does he need a bonus? Would the employee not do a good job if he just gets his regular salary? People might also be intrinsically motivated to work hard. Those who are not, might be stimulated by the social pressure of colleagues who do work hard. Examples not related to work show that monetary rewards do not always work.

Consider activities that are beneficial for our society, that do normally not involve a monetary payment. One example is giving blood. Many people give blood because it is not a large burden for them, and it helps saving other people’s lives. Blood donators are driven by the intrinsic motivation to help other people. What will happen if the volunteers get compensated with a small monetary payment? The money received partly replaces the intrinsic motivation, because now you do not just help others, you also get rewarded yourself. Prospective volunteers no longer compare the effort with the reward of helping others, but with a monetary reward.

This case has also been illustrated by an experiment where students were asked to solve puzzles in three sessions. Half of the students was asked to solve puzzles in all three sessions (the control group). The other half did the same, but they got offered $1 per puzzle solved in the second session.

In the third session, they again were asked to play freely. The payment group played significantly less with the puzzles in the third session than the control group. This could explain that extrinsic motivation (e.g. money) can replace intrinsic motivation, and that this effect is persistent. In other words, if someone starts to see an activity as ‘work’, because he gets paid to do it, he will still look at it as work when the payment stops.

Not everything has a priceAuthor: Joost Lensen

Therefore, it would not be a good idea to pay volunteers for a short period, since they will disappear as soon as the payments stop.

This mechanism also appears to work the other way around, when you look at fines. This is shown in another experiment, now with day-care centres. Parents have to pick up their children at 4pm. Every day some of the parents are late, so the day-care centre has to pay the employee overtime. In order to stop parents from arriving late, the day-care centre introduced a fine for parents who arrived late. It turned out that the number of late-coming parents increased significantly due to the introduction of the fine. After the centre dropped the fine, parents still came late, so this effect is also persistent.

What can we learn from these examples? It is obvious that we cannot just stop using monetary rewards and fines. Traffic will probably not become safer if the police stopped giving speeding fines. Paying your employees for overtime is necessary, since most of them will not stay if they do not get rewarded.

In other cases, stopping monetary rewards may help. For example, consider subsidies on solar energy. In the Netherlands, more solar panels were sold after stopping the subsidy. This may have to do with the fact that people regain their intrinsic motivation to reduce their CO2-footprint. In general, this is an interesting externality of subsidies that is often forgotten..

Personal Persoonlijk


Once again it is brought forward, the fat tax. As the Dutch continue to eat too little fruit, vegetables, fish and fibers, the RIVM (government institute of national health and environment) suggests we pay taxes on products that contain fat. The facts are clear: we eat half the amount of vegetables, half the fruit, and two-thirds the fibers we need. This together with other bad eating habits, results in roughly 46% of Dutch people with overweight.

The RIVM concluded this after measuring the eating habits of four thousand people between 2007 and 2010. Their representative says what we all know, “these results make that people will become ill more often and even die because they do not obey the direction the health committee points out. Overall this could claim up to 7000 lives a year.” Even though there is currently a trend for health, this has not transferred to our behavior, as we did not start eating healthier yet.

In other countries, like Hungary, people have to pay extra taxes on ice cream, potato chips, soda and other products containing too much fat, salt, caffeine or carbohydrates. In Denmark the government has decided to act on similar trends, and the fat tax becoming reality there last September. People queued in supermarkets to get the last fat tax free fat products, showing no intentions to change their behaviour. It is questionable that as these thoughts shaped our behaviour for as long as we life, a tax as little as €2.15 per kilo fat would make us change our mind. Research in the Netherlands suggests that taxes are able to pursue us to make different choices in the supermarket, however, taxes should be considerably high, as high as 25% up to 50% of the sales price.

The Voedingscentrum (Dutch food authority) is not an advocate of this solution, since it claims that certain foods are not necessarily good or bad.

In the composition of healthy food there should be attention for the total amount of energy, salt levels, amounts of saturated fats and fibers. Even essential fats are part of the ‘Schijf van Vijf’, a food guide pyramid which is a nutrition guide divided into sections to show the recommended intake for each food group. Seemingly ‘bad’ nutrition cannot be excluded that easily, the food authority argues.

In line with this thought, I believe one should consider paying more attention to why people do not obey the advice the food advisory organs contributes and to how the food industry can help making their products healthier. Although the RIVM concluded that people still do not have a healthy diet, they have not tried to find out why people do not listen to the food authorities. Also they conclude that there are less trans fatty acids in products nowadays. This proves that there is also another path towards a solution of a healthier population. As companies start focusing more and more on the nutritional value of their food, governments might be in a position to stimulate this movement either by subsidies or other law enforcement.

So all in all, before talking about the fat tax again, maybe we should consider other options as well, and conduct more research in this area, as the problem might be easier to fix by making sure their message actually does reach the public. (or talking to the manufacturers of our foods.).

Fat TaxAuthor: Vincent Bergsma



dissatisfaction and frustration. According to him, the problems are solvable and the work has not yet been completed. However, the movement does not think that this promise of their president is enough. They feel disappointed in his leadership and the enforcement of regulation. It started off with the financial crisis and there have not been made a lot of steps towards improvement. The banking sector hopes to see the movement fade away. People are, however, still occupying Wall Street.

One of the most remarkable things is that there is no one who actually leads the movement in its organisation. There is not just one message, there are more. That is what makes the occupy movement so interesting. Will they achieve their goals? And how will they be reached when there is not one straightforward message and action that they would like the world leaders to implement. The charm and success of the movement is that everybody can join and people do so by different motives. The mass of people should convince the government that changes should be made.

Furthermore, the question that rises is whether the changes will be made. And will the world be closer connected due to this movement? In my opinion, the world leaders should respond to this movement adequately. This is not a group of people who want their paycheck to be higher. These people are world citizens who are dissatisfied with the system. Some even call this the next social revolution. Whether this holds to be true will be shown over time..

The economic tsunami resulted in a situation in which there is global outcry against corporate greed. A situation in which citizens of the United States ask for more enforcement and regulation in the banking sector; a situation in which people show their distrust and dissatisfaction with the state of the economy, the policy response and the regulation of banks.

Citizens express these feelings by occupying Wall Street with thousands of participants and by providing the opportunity for all of them to share their opinion and show the government that they are dissatisfied. This movement results from the policy decisions and response to the current economic crisis, as well as the high unemployment rates.

Their overall goal is to redistribute the power back in balance, as well as establishing a fundamental reform in both the banking sector and the campaign financing policies. Right now, the governmental campaigns are financed by Wall Street giants who obviously have special interests. People feel harmed and not taken seriously. Therefore, a group of people took the initiative to assemble a larger group and began to occupy Wall Street. Within this movement, everybody gets to share his or her ideas. Furthermore, the movement exists of many different people with many different motives to protest. Some of them are politicians who are willing to change the system and change what is needed to make the banking system work. Others are anti-capitalists and even others are workers who have lost their jobs because of the outsourcing of companies to China. Within the platform of the occupy movement, people are provided the opportunity to share their vision.

Overall, you can state that the movement results from a sense of dissatisfaction and distrust in the government, not just in the United States. The movement has expanded to over a thousand other cities varying from the States to Europe. The occupy movement has gone global. By doing this, the movement argues to grow and to make steps in the right direction. The response of the policy makers and the White House is modest. Predisent Obama argues to understand the

They say to be the ninety-nine percentAuthor: Eva Kool

Column Chairman

EBF


Spotlight

What kind of extracurricular activities did you do in Groningen?Next to my studies I have dedicated quite some time to the EBF. The activities they provide to students really appeal to me; a perfect combination of career-, study- and social activities. I specifically enjoyed both ESR trips to Budapest and Prague.

At the moment you are doing an internship in Prague, can you explain how you got this internship?After I participated in the EBF European Study Research (ESR) trip to Budapest I really wanted to organise such a trip myself. Being the chairman of ESR Prague, I could not have wished for a better committee; together we organised an amazing international experience. One of the companies we attended for a business visit was Accenture, where a Dutch expat hosted us. I was responsible for most of the communication with Accenture beforehand, and because I got really inspired by his presentation, I felt confident enough to ask whether I could come back for an internship at Accenture Prague. He was probably equally impressed by our presence, as I am now in Prague for three months.

How did you experience Prague? Did your trip with ESR trigger you to look for an internship there?Enjoying such an intense week in Prague together with 31 students and two supporting academics really is the best. As the preparations for the trip took over half a year, I got a special bond with the city; so I am very glad to be able to enjoy it a little longer. But more important than the city is the content of the internship; it is very challenging.

What does your internship encompass?Currently I am involved in research regarding ‘cross-cultural communication and behavior’ for the Accenture-Unilever HR-outsourcing deal. I do this internally at Accenture’s near-shore outsourcing center.

From here Accenture provides back-office HR services that encompass the entire employee life-cycle, to multiple clients throughout Western Europe. It’s quite a diverse working environment with 16 different nationalities across 150 employees. I am currently writing a report for management containing a wide set of recommendations based on 50 interviews and a large dataset that I have derived from a questionnaire. It is like being an internal consultant!

What comprises the biggest difference in living and working between the Netherlands and the Czech Republic?Because Accenture has a typical ‘American’ corporate culture, and there are so many different nationalities represented in the workforce, I really cannot tell. However, what struck me most about living in Prague is social control; if anyone is likely to misbehave, the public immediately takes action. It is quite likely a residual product from communism that makes Prague a very safe place to live. Also, the amazing Czech beer consumption per capita is really a marvel to behold… and be part of.

Do you have ambitions to work or study abroad in the future?Definitely! Being abroad really spiced up my appetite for international experience. Unfortunately I have never taken the opportunity to study abroad during my Bachelor, so I am currently looking into the possibility to study (a part of) my Master abroad.

What are your other plans for the future?Planning is inevitable, but I like to ‘go-with-the-flow’. Apart from the fact that I am going to travel through South-East Asia next year, and next to my intentions to study abroad, I do not have a defined plan yet; let’s see what the future has in store for me!.

Rutger PetersAge: 23 yearsStudies: BSc Business AdministrationEBF Committees: ESR Prague, PR-think-tank and the Activity Committee

EBF


Alumni Economie en BedrijfskundeVanaf het moment dat jij je bachelor of masterbul op zak hebt, verwelkomt de aEB je graag als alumnus! De Stichting Alumni Economie en Bedrijfskunde (aEB) is opgericht om het contact tussen de faculteit en oud-studenten te onderhouden. Je wordt door middel van een digitale nieuwsbrief op de hoogte gehouden van de ontwikkelingen op de faculteit en de activiteiten die voor jou georganiseerd worden door de aEB Alumnicommissie. Ook bestaat er een aEB-groep op LinkedIn waar je kunt netwerken met je oude studiegenoten.

AlumnicommissieDe Alumnicommissie is vorig jaar in het leven geroepen door de EBF en de Faculteit Economie en Bedrijfskunde (FEB). Het doel van deze commissie is om alumni meer betrokken te houden bij de faculteit. Betrokkenheid wordt gecreëerd door middel van lezingen met borrels van jonge talenten of oud-professoren van de faculteit, bedrijfsbezoeken met interessante thema’s en een jaarlijks terugkerend Alumnisymposium. De commissie bestaat momenteel uit oud-bestuurders en oud-commissieleden van de EBF.

ActiviteitenIn ons startjaar zijn we begonnen met een bedrijfsbezoek bij de NMa waarin duidelijke voorbeelden werden gegeven van de toegevoegde waarde van de NMa voor consumenten. In december was er een borrel op de Amsterdamse Zuidas waar Professor Henk de Haan een korte lezing gaf en oud-studiegenoten van alle leeftijden met elkaar borrelden. In 2011 organiseerden we een bedrijfsbezoek bij het hoofdkantoor van de ING waar er gesproken werd over de manier waarop ING het vertrouwen van de klant tracht te behouden in - en vooral na - deze financieel zware tijden. Tevens werden de noordelijke alumni bediend met een borrel in Groningen waar oud-decaan Henk Sol sprak. Het jaarlijkse symposium had dit jaar als thema ‘Social

Media’. Het evenement werd gehouden op een prachtig landgoed in Leusden. Er werd gesproken over wat de impact van Social Media is op ons leven en hoe bedrijven hier gebruik kunnen maken. Ook tijdens het EBF congres was er een speciaal alumniprogramma waar Frans Weisglas en Huub Rakhorst (CEO Urenco) een toespraak hielden. Huub Rakhorst pleitte onder andere voor kernenergie wat leidde tot een interessante discussie.

Meedoen?Onze volgende activiteit zal een bedrijfsbezoek zijn aan het hoofdkantoor van Urenco in Almelo. De discussie die op het congres gevoerd werd zal hier een vervolg krijgen en tevens zal er een rondleiding gegeven worden door het gebouw. De activiteit zal plaatsvinden op 23 november 2011. Alumni kunnen zich hiervoor opgeven via het e-mailadres onderaan deze pagina (Wees er snel bij, slechts 25 plaatsen beschikbaar). Kijk voor meer informatie hierover in de nieuwsbrief of op LinkedIn.

Er is nu ook een mogelijkheid om zelf als alumnus in de Prospect te staan. Vanaf de volgende editie zal er namelijk een alumnikatern verschijnen waarin een alumnus vertelt over zijn carrière van afstuderen tot nu. Hiervoor zoeken we een grote verscheidenheid aan alumni. Bent u net afgestudeerd, of juist al meer dan een halve eeuw, en heeft u een interessant verhaal? Stuur een e-mail naar onderstaand e-mailadres. Wilt u liever niet met een foto in de Prospect, maar lijkt het u wel leuk om een activiteit bij u in het bedrijf, of een borrel bij u in de buurt te hebben? Neem dan ook contact op met ons.

Hopelijk tot snel bij één van de alumni-activiteiten!

De aEB Alumnicommissie 2011-2012E-mail: [email protected] Groep: Alumni Economie & Bedrijfskunde Groningen

Committee ItemAlumnicommissie

EBF


Opening Faculty Year

On the 8th of September, there was a very special programme at the Faculty of Economics and Business. In cooperation with the FEB, the EBF organised two Leadership panels, with Alexander Rinnooy Kan, and Pim van der Feltz, who elaborated on the knowledge based economy. As a follow up, there was a ‘Start-Of-The-Year Market’ organised for a good purpose by ‘BEAST’. The EBF joined in making it a special day in cooperation with the Eric Bleumink Fund. We organised an auction and raised a considerable amount of money to help some underprivileged students to finance their university education. .

EBF Conference As it was largely covered in the media, the 29th and 30th of September focused on one activity only: The EBF conference. The first day we had a Kick-off event with the worldwide known international speaker Al Gore. We were pleased to see a great variety in our public; students to alumni and faculty staff to business participants. It was a huge success! After the opening, there was a networking social, followed by a symposium organized by Ministry of Economic Affairs. That same day we had several lectures at the Faculty of Economics and Business. The second day, September 30th, we had our big conference day in the Martiniplaza. Several CEO’s of interesting companies were present to provide the students with insight on the theme ‘Reboot, responsible leadership, responsible growth’. These days ended with a luxurious dinner in the Martinikerk and a closure party in the ‘&zo’. .

New Active Members Weekend On Friday the 21st we left to Tolbert for our New Active Members Weekend. We left during the afternoon from the train station in Groningen to this beautiful place in the middle of nowhere. As we arrived, the music was turned on immediately and we turned the place into a second EBF Home. We got to know each other a little bit better through a quiz and active members told stories about why they enjoy their active membership at the EBF as much as they do. After dinner, there was a dropping with activities involved and as a closure we had a fantastic party night. .

Activities

EBF


Faculty NewsCulture and crisis: how an aversion to uncertainty can make a crisis worseAuthor: Ingemarie Kroesen

Financial crises have a stronger negative effect in countries where the population is very averse to uncertainty. Firms in these countries, such as Greece, reduce their investments much more after a crisis than countries where the inhabitants are more at ease with uncertainty, such as the United States or the United Kingdom. This is the result of research by dr. Robert Inklaar and FEB-alumnus (and former Honours student) Jing Yang.

Financial crises are an important source of uncertainty in the economy, says Inklaar. “In such a situation, a firm or household would often prefer to wait for more stable times rather than making large purchases, such as a new machine, office building, or a house. Stagnating housing markets in many countries, exemplified by decreasing prices and a large stock of unsold houses, can be one example. Another would be that firms in the United States hold on to their cash, rather than spending it on new workers or new factories. This can lead to extended periods of sluggish economic growth and prolonged spells of unemployment. But while we see such effects in many economies these days, the research shows that the more uncertainty-averse countries suffer worse consequences. Again, Greece comes to mind.”

Part of a cultureThe degree of uncertainty aversion is often thought of as part of a country’s culture: the set of values and attitudes many people in a country share. “And such a deep-seated factor can of course be expected to have a broad range of effects”, explains Inklaar. “For example, voters in an uncertainty-averse country may well prefer laws that make it harder for firms to fire workers or may prefer a conservative, inflexible legal system.”

Attitude of managersSuch institutional choices can also affect how quickly firms resume investing after a financial crisis, but Inklaar and Yang find that this is not the main story. Inklaar: “Instead, we argue that it is the attitude of managers in firms that leads to lacklustre investing. We also show that any type of financial crisis hurts investment more in uncertainty-averse countries. Whether there is a big devaluation of the currency; failures of important banks; or a government debt default, the effects are the same.”

Implications for policy This research is relevant for policy makers, says Inklaar. “It may well be impossible to avoid all negative effects from a financial crisis, but a large drop in investment is particularly harmful for long-run economic growth as less capital is accumulated. Avoiding such a drop in investment is particularly pressing in countries where uncertainty aversion is high. In these countries, confidence-building measures following a financial crisis, such as IMF agreements or rapid restructuring of sovereign debt, are particularly pressing.”

Robert Inklaar and Jing Yang, The impact of financial crises and tolerance for uncertainty, Journal of Development Economics, (forthcoming)..

Study Studie


Violent conflict has long-term impact on individual behavior

Large temporary shocks may have long-term consequences: civil war violence occurred between 1993 and 2003 had a clear impact on individual behavior in 2009. These are the findings of a study carried out by FEB professor Robert Lensink and researchers of other universities, who investigated the impact of conflict on social, risks and time preferences in 35 communities in Burundi.

“This study is the first to apply experimental methods in a post-conflict environment to gauge the effect of violence on human decision-making”, says Lensink. “We find that conflict is robustly correlated with behavior. Econometric analysis reveals that individuals in communities which were exposed to greater levels of violence display more altruistic behavior to their neighbors, are more risk seeking and have higher discount rates.”

Experimental games“We have used well-established experimental games to explore the relationship between conflict and behavior”, explains Lensink. “To measure the degree of altruism, individuals were invited to divide a price between themselves and a randomly (and anonymously) selected fellow villager. An individual’s altruism is measured by the ratio of the total amounts of money allocated to the partner and to himself. This ranges from totally selfish (if the subject always chose the allocation with the highest payment for himself) to totally altruistic (if he always chose the option with the highest payment for his partner).”

“To measure risk preferences we asked individuals to choose between playing a simple gamble and receiving a specific amount of money with certainty. To measure time preferences, we presented subjects with a set of nine simple pairwise choices between two options: receiving an amount of money at some date in the near future, and receiving a larger sum at a later time.”

Effect on development unclearLensink: “Our evidence for Burundi suggests that the net effect on development is unclear. While exposure to violence encourages risk taking and increases the weight people attach to their fellow community members’ welfare, arguably positive features for development, it also seems to trigger impatience. As impatience discourages savings, it could drag down investment levels. If so, the net effect on the ability of communities to rebound after conflict is ambiguous. Nevertheless, the results may partially explain the pattern of recovery observed in many post-conflict settings, and thereby provide new evidence against pessimistic views on the destructive long-term consequences of civil war.”

Implications “The most salient and counterintuitive result is the relationship between conflict and altruism’, says Lensink. ‘The study provides some new evidence for the growing body of evidence that conflict exposure may lead to increased political participation and social capital, which may have important implications for how policymakers approach post-conflict recovery.”

Voors, M.J., Nillesen, E.E.M., Verwimp, P., Bulte, E.H., Lensink, B.W. & Soest, D.P. van (2011). Violent conflict and behavior: A field experiment in Burundi . American Economic Review, forthcoming..

Studie Study


Punishing and rewarding especially when the costs are high Author: Ingemarie Kroesen

A punishment or reward will be more effective if it is costly for the person imposing it. If the costs of punishing or rewarding someone are high, it will have a greater effect on group cooperation. These are the findings of a study carried out by Daniel Balliet, FEB researcher Laetitia Mulder and Paul van Lange. Their paper entitled Reward, punishment, and cooperation: A meta-analysis is to be published in Psychological Bulletin.

Sometimes, collective goals can only be achieved if the members of a group set their own interests aside. “One way of helping collaboration within a group is to punish free-riders and reward cooperative individuals”, explains Mulder. She and colleagues from VU University Amsterdam conducted research into incentive systems of this kind. One of their conclusions was that punishing and rewarding will be more effective if the price of this is high.

Self-sacrificing“If authorities are prepared to punish or reward another person despite the high costs, they are sending out a signal that they attach great importance to collaboration”, explains Mulder. “They are stressing that mutual cooperation by group members to attain a collective goal is so important to them, that they are willing to go out of their way to encourage all group members to cooperate.”

So authorities who are willing to go out of their way to punish or reward someone are in fact sacrificing themselves in the interests of the group, according to Mulder. “And group members punished or rewarded in this way will find it easier to appreciate the value of cooperation than if they are punished or rewarded by someone who does not have to sacrifice anything.”

Implications for managersBalliet, Mulder and Van Lange reached their conclusions after an extensive metastudy. “Most research into the effects of incentive systems has been carried out in the fields of economics and psychology. We recently analysed these effects systematically in a meta-analysis.” According to Mulder, the research provides clear pointers for managers. “When managers install rules or incentives, they must be sure to put their own interests aside. A reward that benefits the authority (think for example of parking fines that partly function as income for the municipality) will not convince group members that a manager is acting in the collective interests of the group. Installing a reward like this will have little effect.”

Putting group interests firstIt is important that the person installing an incentive system is clearly concerned with the interests of the group, says Mulder.

Study Studie


“This will make it more likely that the group members themselves come to appreciate the importance of cooperation. They will be cooperative of their own volition, rather than as a means of avoiding punishment or securing a reward. What’s more, voluntary motivation decreases the need for strict surveillance. Therefore, in the long term, costly punishments or rewards will turn out to be less costly than initially assumed.”

Cultural effectsThe meta-analysis also yielded findings that were not related to the importance of the cost of punishment or reward, claims Mulder. “For example, punishment and reward increase cooperation to the same extent, and incentive systems are more successful during long-term group interaction than during a one-shot interaction. We also came across unexpected results, such as the cultural effects. Punishment systems appear to be less effective in Russia than in other countries, for example. These findings form an interesting starting point for further research into what makes incentives effective or ineffective.”

Balliet, D., Mulder, L.B. & Lange, P.A.M. van (2011). Reward, punishment and cooperation: A meta-analysis . Psychological Bulletin, forthcoming..

Countries with a population averse to uncertainty –like Greece- suffer worse consequences of crises. Experimental games show that surviving civil war violence triggers more altruistic and more risk seeking behavior in individuals. Punishments and rewards will be more effective if they are costly to the person imposing it. The previous three examples of very different recent studies conducted by FEB staff, showed this..

Spotlight on research at the Faculty of Economics and Business

Studie Study

/ November 2011

Agenda

November21 EBF & Studium Generale Start Lecture Serie Entrepreneurship22 MARUG HALV + VESTING student-docent Borrel + Risk Trader’s Trophy22 - 23 EBF/FMF Consultang Event Groningen24 VESTING Career Day26 Departure ESR December (Lisbon)28 - 30 Risk Accountancy Week29 EBF & Studium Generale Lecture Entrepreneurship30 - 2 VESTING + Risk Expedition Strategy

December1 MARUG Groote Baasz5 EBF Sinterklaas Social6 EBF & Studium Generale Lecture Entrepreneurship7 EBF & Studium Generale End Serie Lectures Entrepreneurship

The upcoming activities of the EBF and her subassociations are listed here.

All dates are tentative.

12 VESTING / Odiom Kerstfeest + Risk Dies13 - 15 EBF / MARUG Recruitment Days19 Risk Beleggersavond22 EBF & JFV Kerstgala

January9 New Year’s Social10 Risk Nieuwjaarsborrel12 EBF & TBV Lugus Technology Career Event16 Risk Beleggersavond17 VESTING Activiteitenborrel

February2 MARUG Borrel10 VESTING Skitrip Bottrop13 Risk Beleggersavond13-14 EBF Booksale 2.117 EBF Active Members Activity

Study Studie

<On the pursuit of professionalism >

We view professionalism as the product of excellentabilities and execution. We pride ourselves on it in everythingwe do. Being professional is about setting the higheststandards of performance and wanting to excel. If you havethe same standards, we would like to hear from you. For our Analyst Program, NIBC is looking for universitygraduates who share our pursuit of professionalism. Personaland professional development are the key-elements ofthe Program: in-company training in co-operation withthe Amsterdam Institute of Finance; working side-by-sidewith professionals at all levels and in every financial disciplineis part of learning on the job. We employ top talent from diverse university backgrounds,ranging from economics and business administration, tolaw and technology. If you have just graduated, withabove-average grades, and think you belong to thatexceptional class of top talent, apply today. Joining NIBC’sAnalyst Program might be the most important careerdecision you ever make!

Want to know more? Surf to www.careeratnibc.com.

T H E H A G U E • L O N D O N • B R U S S E L S • F R A N K F U R T • N E W Y O R K • S I N G A P O R E • W W W . N I B C . C O M

Interested? Please contact us: NIBC Human Resources, Frouke Röben, [email protected]. For further information see www.careeratnibc.com. NIBC is a Dutch bank that offers integrated solutions to mid-market clients in the Benelux and Germany. We believe ambition, teamwork, and professionalism are important assets in everything we do.

NIBC adv. Professionalism A4 10-08-2009

Kunnen we jou een balanstotaal van 100 miljard toevertrouwen?

KUNNEN WE JOU ONZE KLANTEN TOEVERTROUWEN?

werkenbijachmea.nl

A G I S

AV É R O A CH MEA

C E N T R A A L B E H E ER A CH MEA

F BTO

I NT E R PO L I S

Z I LV ER E N K RU IS A CH MEA

Met merken als Centraal Beheer Achmea en Interpolis, negen vestigin

gen en ruim 18.000 medewerkers zijn we het grootste verzekerings

bedrijf van Nederland. Deze indrukwekkende aantallen zie je ook terug

in onze financiële omvang. Wat cijfers: een eigen vermogen van ruim

€10 miljard en een premieomvang van €20 miljard. Dat betekent dat

we een enorme verantwoordelijkheid dragen voor onze klanten.

En een breed aanbod aan financiële functies bieden, waaronder het

Financial Management Traineeship. Een uitstekende start van een

veelbelovende carrière bij Achmea. Kunnen we jou onze klanten toe

vertrouwen? Kijk op www.werkenbijachmea.nl voor meer informatie.

11501757_adv financial traineeship 210x297_EBF.indd 1 20-10-11 15:47

ebf prospect magazine 5.2

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