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Letter to manager

Dear Martijn,

In the last six months, I have seen and learned a lot from you and the people in the company. First of all, I have seen how important values are in a company not only for customers but also for employees. Kobout is a true family business where people try to help each other when needed. Though it is the strength of the company sometimes it is too much family and not enough business. Employees get a lot of second chances instead of laying someone off.

When I see you working as a manager I see someone who is versatile but also acknowledges his weakness. That is something I learned from you, being able to switch easily from the subject and thinking about all the consequences of a decision. But when you did not have the expertise you would seek someone in the company who has that knowledge. This is something that I think is important for a manager. To be able to admit you don’t know everything.

I wish you the best of luck in the future with Kobout and kangaroo. I think you will do great with Kangaroo and can let it grow to the size that it will be an independent company.

Greetings, Nathan

English assignment

- Furious Exertion: It means having worked out really hard in a sports game of just a fitness workout. The word was found in a Ted talk about Ping Pong. See the source down below. Source: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/exert?q=Exertion Source: https://www.ted.com/talks/pico_iyer_what_ping_pong_taught_me_about_life#t-60156

- Adversary: It means an enemy. It was found in the same Ted Talk about Ping Pong. In the context about the Americans and the Communist in 1972 when they were gonna play a game of ping pong. Source: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/adversary Source: https://www.ted.com/talks/pico_iyer_what_ping_pong_taught_me_about_life#t-60156

- Predominantly The meaning of the word is something a person focusses on the most of his time. Like a person who is an artist and predominantly sings but also dances. Source:https://www.ted.com/talks/james_veitch_the_agony_of_trying_to_unsubscribe?language=en#t-64794

Personal development

The most important lesson I learned during my second internship is: “wait for your moment’’. When I would be in meetings I sometimes wanted to tell my opinion on a certain subject. But instead of waiting on someone to finish I already would start talking. This is obviously very rude but also al lack of patience. During an evaluation, I talked with my manager and he told me what he had seen. He gave me some tips which were the wait for your moment and also just listen you don’t always have to tell your opinion.

In the months after the evaluation, I started by listening more often and telling less my opinion. I noticed I learned more because I was less focused on telling my own opinion. Well contributing to a meeting when I thought I would need to say something.

In the future, I want to keep practicing with this. With less the urge to tell people my opinion in a meeting just so I can have a ‘’contribution’. The time of a meeting will be shortened and a more satisfying feeling when the meeting is over. Because when I tell my opinion people will listen which is way more valuable.

#year 4 #assignement1

PLSC 270: Capitalism: Success, Crisis, and Reform

This lecture is very interesting because the professor starts with the base of capitalism. Understanding the way capitalism works is very important because otherwise you never understand how the world economy works. The professor makes simple examples of a different kind of capitalism. He does this by starting with seeds of plants and asking if this is already capital. The students thought that it only was If you had an industrial scale of producing it would be capital. After this example made the professor examples of different kind of agricultural fields and what they would stand for in capital. So was the ground in Egypt less profitable than the ground in the USA. But capitalism was also seen as an evil thing by people who did not like capitalism. Despite this capitalism has developed over the years, where it is now one of the biggest economic systems used by many countries.

Quote: Professor Douglas W. Rae: No, I don’t think so either. What I’m driving at here is the notion of minimum efficient scale. Capital gets — a resource gets to be capital only when it’s aggregated to a scale where it can be effective enough deployed to compete in an actual economy.

#opdracht 6

International business trip experience

For me the international business trips were rather short, this was because I went to Spain sick. So even before the project started I went home sick. Despite this, I have been there until Tuesday so I will describe everything I have seen in Spain in the short amount of time I have been there.

I arrived in Spain on Saturday so the first thing that really stood out was that there were not that many Spanish people speaking English. Which is not weird because Spanish is one of the most spoken languages in the world. But for someone who just speaks Dutch and English is this a big challenge to order food or do other activities like asking the way to a car rental place.

Also, the times for eating lunch or dinner are odd for Dutch people. Because the Spanish people eat their lunch around 2:30 and their dinner around 9:30. For me, it was a big change which was hard because I was sick and I rather would have had dinner at like 6:30 in the evening.

These differences are normal because they live differently and Spanish people would get crazy of the Dutch punctuality. So, I don’t see the Spanish culture as a bad culture but more like a laid-back culture. Were you stop at work the moment you are done and don’t work extra so you don’t have to do more work the day after. Assignment 6

What really motivates people to be honest in business

The Ted talk of Alexander Wagner was very interesting because he researched the values of people. This research was from an economic point of view. In his talk, he pointed out that every year 1 out of 7 big company’s commits fraud. With this fact, he researched why people would do that and what kind of values they have. He made an example of a dog wanting a sausage, 1 dog just went for it and destroyed everything on his path and the other did not do it because he knew his boss would be angry. It was according to Wagner that incentives are the reasons people are doing things that they do. What companies should do according to Wagner is looking for people with the right values so that they will not do things that are not allowed.

‘’Selecting the right people with the right values, may go a long way in saving troubles.’’

This quote summarizes the whole TED talk. It is about getting the right people whose values are important to them. Because those people won’t let anything bad happen on purpose. They are less likely to commit fraud or theft. Which in the end is bad for your company if the public finds out?

Making peace is a marathon

In a time where wars are almost normal is this ted talk inspiring. By organizing a marathon, they try to connect people in a country divided because of the wars going on around them. In the middle east, there is so much war going that this single event is very special. May El Khalil, the person who established this marathon, wanted to connect people with each other. Where her country was divided by politics was this the one event where that was not a problem. This is very special because it is not just the marathon anymore. It has become an organization that is set up more events like this all over the middle east. With these events, there can be at least one day in the year when there is peace.

Quote: If I could not run myself, I wanted to make sure others could Quote: By organizing a marathon I wanted to create a bridge to the outside world. Quote: Peace-making is not a sprint it is more of a marathon.

The chosen quotes are very important parts of this ted talk. The first one is about May El Khalil who was in the hospital for two years and wanted to help other people. The second one is about that connection she wanted to make with the rest of the world and Lebanon. The third is about that for peace you need to take time and don’t expect it to have results real fast.

Know your worth, and then ask for it

This TED talk is very interesting for me because I need to apply for an internship. Hereby I need to value myself what I can contribute to the company. If I don’t know that there is a smaller chance I can get an internship. But also, later when I am applying for a job it is important for my salary. Casey Brown who gave the ted talk told that she struggled herself with this, well she is a pricing consultant. She doubled her prices because she realized that was her value. Her clients accepted the price increase because she could explain her value. In mine opinion, I think people should always think about their value and try to improve their skills so that they increase their value.

Quote: No one will ever pay what you are worth, they only pay you what they think you are worth. I chose this quote because it shows the importance of presenting yourself and your value. This quote also summarizes the total talk.

Ikea buys odd jobs firm TaskRabbit

Ikea is known for having to construct the products you have bought. With the newest company, Task Rabbit within the Ikea Group even constructing your product is even not necessary anymore. Ikea bought the US company after a testing period in Ikea London. With this company, Ikea wants to make peoples lives easier said by Jesper Brodin CEO of Ikea. Task Rabbit was founded in 2008 by Leah Busque who wanted to have a service which can help people with jobs they can't-do like lawn mowing or installing your Ikea products for example. With already being based in 40 US cities and London it will expand quickly to introduce the service worldwide.

For Ikea, this is a great opportunity to expand their services with already having the home delivery service and designing your own kitchen on the website. This will give Ikea extra revenue because a lot of people who are in full-time jobs don’t want to have built a closet when they get home from their job. It is still a service where Ikea waited a long time with because that their business model was that the buyers should be able to install itself. With this service, they are more into the customer satisfaction, which is an obvious choice since people want more service and less doing it them self.

3.3 http://www.bbc.com/news/business-41435362 Visited 29 September

UK chip designer Imagination bought by Chinese firm

In June Apple announced that they would stop using products of chip designer Imagination. This was for Imagination a reason to put them for sale. Apple was accounted for 50% of the revenue by royalties that they paid to Imagination. Andrew Heath CEO of Imagination decided to sell the company so it could proceed to exist. For the company, it was a big disappointment since they had made great progress financial as operational. Imagination will be bought by a Chinese company called Canyon Bridge. They have no further plans yet with the company. Ray Bingham partner at Canyon Bridge said: "We are investing in UK talent and expertise to accelerate the expansion of Imagination, particularly into Asia, where its technology platform will lead the continued globalization of British-developed innovation.

In a world where globalization is something we must live with it is good to see companies are not afraid to adjust to a situation. Although Imagination would have rather worked for years with Apple this is an opportunity for the company. With a new owner comes a market they may not have entered yet. The Asian market is a big one that can be very important for Imagination since their biggest income revenue is gone. They should make sure that they won’t be as reliable to one company for their income. With the Asian market, they could search for more companies that need their products. Canyon Bridge can be a great help with that since they are an Asian company so they know the customs and know better the opportunities in the Asian market.

3.2 http://www.bbc.com/news/business-41369376 Visited 09-25-17

‘’Uber using aggressive tactics’’, says Sadiq Kahn.

Sadiq Khan the major of London gave critics about Uber. Uber would have made aggressive threats about taking the TFL (Transport for London) to court. Uber Gave these threats because they applied for a new license to work as a transportation company in London but it got denied. Uber gave in reaction about Sadiq Khan that they would have followed all the rules of the TFL so they should have a new license, the old license ends on 30 September. One of the reasons the license got denied is because of the disclosure and barring service is obtained. Uber let the drivers fill the paperwork in for TFL while Uber should do it according to the TFL. In reaction to the ending of the license, have already 730.000 people signed a petition to keep Uber operating in London

This problem with Uber is complicated because London is a big city with really much taxi companies. Al these companies would rather see Uber go away because they are much cheaper. But Uber is a competitor that is changing the market so a there are enough benefits and disadvantage of Uber operating in London. TFL the organization who gives the license for transport companies is acting in this case by the rules because they see something that Uber is not doing by the rules. So, they are obligated to tell Uber that they would not get a license until they have solved the problem.

3.1 Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-41384499 Visited 25-09-17

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