Jimmy Littley Blog Post #1: Week Ending May 27, 2023
This week we had our first course in Milan and we had a number of orientations that introduced us to our academic practices for the next five weeks. During orientation for IES, we learned about Italian culture, history and other random facts about Milan and Italy as a whole. We also had a seminar that taught us about safety in the workplace and what will be required of us when we start our internship. In our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) course we continued our last discussion from Lehigh on Adam Smith. We discussed and debated what Adam Smith would think about the United States economy today and we also reviewed our pre-departure survey about Corporations. The survey results were interesting to see because there were a great number of contradicting answers in the class. For example, over 70% of the class believed that a free market system is a good system, yet over 70% of the class also did not fully trust corporations to act in the best interest of shareholders.
On Thursday, I and two other Lehigh students began our internship at Gen-USA. Gen-USA is an Italian based consulting firm that helps European companies transition to the United States and United States markets. During my first day I spoke with the two leaders of the Milan office and we clarified expectations and goals for the upcoming five weeks. The leaders said that we would be conducting market research on a daily basis and helping to integrate corporations with this research. I am looking forward to starting working more on Monday and helping contribute to the Gen-USA team. This is a great opportunity for me to gain valuable consulting experience during college and will allow me to get a better understanding of the consulting industry as a whole.
Since I arrived in Milan on Monday I have been soaking in the new atmosphere and culture. The first thing that I noticed was the drive and professionalism in the city. Everywhere I looked I saw the Milanese people dressed up in suits or dresses traveling to work by foot or vespa. There is a sense of urgency and drive in each of these people and that same feeling can be felt at my internship at Gen-USA. Another part of Milan that I am acclimating to is the food. There are restaurants everywhere I walk. During the second night of the program the majority of our program joined together for dinner. This was a great opportunity to meet everyone that was on the trip and brought our group together, similar to a family. Eating meals together are very important in Italian culture, so having a large, group dinner was a great way to bond in a new country.
Group Dinner on the first night First day at Gen-USA