Arianna Morataya’s Blog Post #6: Week Ending July 1, 2023

For Gupta’s class this week, we had no in-person sessions, but we were encouraged to utilize the time to watch Erin Brockovich and work on our final project. The movie follows a case involving Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and their role in the contamination of Hinkley’s water system. Similar to Civil Action, the small private firm in the film takes up the case, despite being up against a large corporation like PG&E. Erin’s commitment to bringing justice to the families that were medically compromised due to the water is the reason why the case goes to trial. She does everything in her power to show that the people of Hinkley were worth fighting for. While devoting most of her day to the case, she also does her best to support her three children as a single mother.

With less than one week left in my internship, I have been helping my team wrap up some of their projects. Since one of our bosses is out on vacation, I had the chance to fill in at meetings where they review daily tasks and upcoming projects. One of the main tasks assigned to me was to complete the final round of review for the surveys to be sent out to participants. The survey is a sustainability project that the company Tetra Pak wants to release. Monday should be the first day of the field study and I hope that I have the chance to see the results before I leave. Having to sort through excel files translated in dozens of languages requires a lot of time and attention to detail to ensure accurate study results. One of the lessons that I will take away from this internship will be the importance of organization and precision.

This weekend will be the most exciting trip yet! On such short notice, twenty-two of us packed our bags and made our way to Tuscany. Once we reached our beautiful villa, it was time to socialize by the pool. For dinner, we had many helping hands in the kitchen to make pasta, chicken, and meatballs. It was nice to sit around the table with everyone to mark our last weekend in Italy. Throughout the night, we danced around to very loud music that most likely woke up the neighbors. In the morning, a round of eggs and sausages were passed around the table for breakfast. Almost immediately after, we all jumped back into the pool and laid out under the sun. My expectation for tonight is for all of us to watch the sunset and blast some more tunes. I am glad that we have all gotten so close and were able to celebrate the end of our study abroad program altogether!

 

Corinne’s Birthday Dinner!
Villa ft. Ian
Views from the pool!

Arianna Morataya’s Blog Post #5: Week Ending June 24, 2023

With two weeks left in Gupta’s class, we have continued working on our debate skills regarding corporate social responsibilities. We focused on an Apple case study where Apple was criticized for poor working conditions at their supplier’s facilities in Taiwan. The question the class debated was whether it would be reasonable for Apple to implement U.S. ethical labor standards in a foreign country. For the side defending Apple’s responsibility to ensure facilities follow the same work protocols, they argued that Apple’s supply chain reflects Apple’s morals. If Apple chooses to ignore the unfair work environments, it will show that Apple does not care for their workers and chooses to engage in unethical partnerships. On the other hand, the opposing group argued that it was not in the hands of Apple to confront the government in Taiwan. They stated that Apple does not have the authority to force their suppliers to comply with foreign standards. In my reflection, I saw both sides of the argument, but I believe Apple has some responsibility in making sure the workers have safe working conditions. Additionally, Apple stated that they hold their suppliers to a certain standard for labor, yet they have not enforced it in this case. Overall, I have been enjoying the discussions taking place in and out of the classroom!

In my internship this week, my team was assigned a project that included a survey translated into over 20 languages. Our task was to take notes on any formatting issues or grammatical errors in the online survey. Our boss sent over a folder of all the translations needed for the survey and we then selected our countries. The countries I was assigned to were Argentina, Spain, Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, and several English-speaking countries. My group used a shared document to send our recommended changes for each survey to our boss. The task took us all the week, but I really enjoyed working cohesively with my team. If I needed any clarification questions on the format of the survey, my group was quick to respond and offer further instructions. I look forward to seeing how the project turns out and hearing the feedback my boss has for us.

For our travels this week, Caroline, Corinne, and I are staying a night in Rome! We felt that it was best to remain in Italy since we will be leaving in less than two weeks. Our trip began Saturday morning at 5:50am to make our train at Milano Centrale by 6:40 am. I feel like we have almost mastered the Milano Transportation system and are practically locals (ha). Once we arrived in Rome, we walked from the Roma Termini station all the way to our Airbnb. On the way, we caught a glimpse of a protest involving national health cuts that have been happening in Italy (according to my quick media search). For our first event of the day, we visited the Vatican and walked through the beautiful museum. All my friends and family from home have been insisting I visit and I do not regret it at all! For dinner, I plan on ordering the classic carbonara which is one of Rome’s traditional dishes. To wrap up the trip, we will be waking up early Tomorrow morning to visit the iconic Trevi Fountain and see the Colosseum!

 

Aperitivo after our class debate!
Spanish Steps in Rome!
Ceiling in Vatican Gallery.

Arianna Morataya’s Blog Post #4: Week Ending June 17, 2023

This week in class, we held a debate about the Business Roundtable Statements of 1997 and 2019. The statement was released to demonstrate companies’ commitment to ESG and ethical standards. The 2019 statement declared for companies to provide value to all shareholders and to work towards the mission of the company. My group was chosen to argue that the newest statement signed by major corporations was empty rhetoric, meaning that their commitment to ESG was not genuine. We believed that the statement was too vague and allowed for companies to get away with signing the document with no way to hold them accountable. The other side argued that the document was a step in the right direction and was purposely left up to the interpretation of the company. On Wednesday, we then watched the movie “Civil Action” that followed an environmental injustice case in MA. The movie featured a lawyer that invested millions of dollars to defend the children of Woburn, despite the odds being against him. Overall, the movie showed how powerful corporations can be and the lengths they would go to cover their unethical actions.

In my internship, I continued to work on transferring data from the completed marketing study to the final report. I worked remotely for most of the week and was assigned daily tasks by my team via email and Skype calls. It is clear that my coworkers are becoming more trusting of me since they continue to increase my autonomy. When I returned to the office on Thursday, we all went out to lunch near the Navigli to celebrate one of the last days for another intern. During lunch, we compared the schooling system of the US to Italy. They were surprised that I was allowed to have an internship during my college years since most of them entered their industry after their graduation. Even then, they had to complete a 6-month internship training prior to receiving full-time employment. I enjoyed having this conversation with them because it showed how early our entrance into business industry is compared to other countries.

For travel this week, a group of us decided to take a trip to La Spezia to revisit the beach towns in and around Cinque Terre. We went cliff jumping and soaked in the sun for almost all of the day. I indulged in more gift shopping for my friends and family at home to add to the collection of postcards from various cities. On the Friday before our departure, we also took a trip to the Duomo to appreciate the beautiful cathedral. We reserved tickets to take the lift up to the top of the building where we saw almost all of Milan. The views ranged from the City Life Shopping District to rooftop restaurants! It was an amazing experience and I was grateful to have seen another one of Milan’s treasures. With still many more places in Italy to be explored, I hope to share more details on the blog about our upcoming trip to Rome!

 

Top of Duomo
Lunch with Coworkers!
View from La Spezia Airbnb

 

 

Arianna Morataya’s Blog Post #3: Week Ending June 10, 2023

In Gupta’s class this week, we continued our conversations about the defining factors of corporations. On Monday, we watched a documentary called “The Corporation” that highlighted the harsh truth behind the intentions of many businesses and their employees. Some of the examples include companies marketing their products to children in an attempt to force parents to buy their products. They admitted to intentionally manipulating and exploiting children for the benefit of profit. Furthermore, the documentary revealed that undercover marketing takes place more often than we think. Undercover marketing means that products and services are staged in public places, unknown to the consumer, which unconsciously influences people to want to buy the company’s products. One of the most shocking anecdotes from the documentary was a broker stating that they, and many others, were almost ecstatic when 9/11 occurred because of the profits they gained. I will never understand why someone would publicly admit their positive feelings towards tragedies, but it shows how selfish businesspeople can be.

As I expected, my internship has started to pick up the pace. Throughout the week I continued to edit past presentations and transfer new data. I had the opportunity to test out some of the finalized survey programs and offer advice on how to improve. I also had the opportunity to witness the setup for an in-person marketing study that would take place in the office. The study focused on people’s tolerance for wrinkles in their clothing and how likely they would wear their garments straight from the dryer. This study will help Whirlpool develop a wrinkle dryer cycle that would satisfy people’s wrinkle preferences. I organized the data table with each item of clothing and classified them by gender, occasion, and level of wrinkle. My team has been very responsive in sending me the tasks for the study and helping me with creating a report presentation. I look forward to receiving the results from the study so that I can transfer the data into their charts.

This week I chose to explore Milan. On Sunday, a group of us decided to go shopping near the Duomo and relax for the day. It was a day well spent and filled with lots of gelato and pizza! On Monday, we also took advantage of Bar Magenta’s aperitivo right after Gupta’s class and shared a few drinks. Since I stayed home from the Alps trip this Saturday, I chose to have a maintenance day. I took a trip near Milano Centrale with Ava to get our nails done and have lunch. From there, we made our way to City Life Shopping District where we browsed a few stores and admired the layout of the mall. The mall is in the center of three towering offices in Milan known as the Tre Torri. These offices include PwC, Allianz, and Generali. I remember seeing the three towers from the top of Torre Branca our first night in Milan, so it was exciting to see the buildings up close. Finally, we wrapped the day by walking back to Aparto from the Duomo area where we saw a lot of Inter Milano fans. Safe to say that I will most likely be celebrating with the fans tonight!

pizza e mozzarella!
City Life Shopping District.
One of the “Tre Torri”, PwC.

Arianna Morataya’s Blog Post #2: Week Ending June 3, 2023

It is hard to believe that we wrapped up our first two weeks in Milan already! For our Corporate Social Responsibility course, we had our first debate in class about the profits that banks earn from interest on mortgages. We were challenged to develop arguments for both sides to show how corporate policies are not always black and white. One side defended the need for banks to make profit using interest to fund their operations and pay their employees. The other side defended the need for accessible housing for families that cannot afford high interest rates on mortgages. It was interesting to listen to both sides and reflect on how some transactions in businesses create winners and losers. For the second half, we held open discussions about our weekly Wall Street Journal entries that highlight news articles that involve government and corporations. One of our peers wrote about the concern for chemicals in our food and how state governments have taken action to begin removing them from products. This created conflicts for companies such as Skittles since most corporate leaders do not find state agencies’ involvement in the ban as appropriate. Overall, I believe these topics have shown us how the government, corporations, and the public confront their different interests regarding social issues.

In my internship this week, I was able to demonstrate my skills by taking on projects with more autonomy. I was asked to update English comments on two report presentations and highlight findings in the data that I believed were relevant for the marketing studies. I also had the opportunity to view the data sheets developed from the surveys with the help of one of my coworkers. Although the results were in Italian, my coworker stated that in the upcoming weeks I will learn how to navigate the updated English documents on my own and insert the data into the reports. With most of this week’s work being remote, I had to manage my time outside of the office and remain productive in my tasks. I decided that my best option was to work in the cafe next door from morning until lunch to ensure that I was not distracted in my room. My coworkers also reached out to me during the day to make sure I did not have any questions and knew what time each task was due. In the future, I hope to continue building strong relationships with my coworkers to show my commitment to my role and my interest in their work.

This week has been the most exciting time for traveling and exploring! On Sunday, a group of us decided to take a trip to Monterosso to catch some sun and waves! Some of the activities included indulging in some piña coladas on the beach and snorkeling in the beautiful water. The trip was extremely successful and was a great start to the first of many trips around Italy. On Tuesday, IES organized a trip to The Last Supper exhibition that showcases one of Leonardo DaVinci’s most famous paintings. The artwork was painted on one of the walls in the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan and is amazingly preserved as an UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Another trip organized by IES was our Lehigh visit to Verona on Italy’s Republic Day (June 2nd). The first stop was the Montresor Winery where we learned about the history of wine in Verona and participated in a wine tasting lunch. From there, we were given a tour by a local veteran of Verona to see the Romeo and Juliet site and the Verona Arena. In the arena, we sang Taylor Swift’s Love Story which received much attention from other tourists visiting. To conclude the week, some of us visited Lugano, Switzerland as our first adventure outside of Italy. Although we nearly missed our morning train and ran around the station at 11 in the morning, I would say the trip was a great success due to the breathtaking scenery and savory foods. I look forward to seeing how these upcoming weeks will top these spectacular experiences!

The Last Supper on Tuesday
Monterosso View!
A sturdy bench in Lugano, Switzerland

Arianna Morataya’s Blog Post #1: Week Ending May 27, 2023 

The classes we will be attending this Summer are Professor Gupta’s Corporate Social Responsibility course and Professor Amanda Swain’s Internship Seminar. As a transition into Gupta’s class, we watched two videos about Adam Smith who is recognized as the father of economics. Two of the books referenced in the videos were The Wealth of Nations and The Theory of Moral Sentiments. During the first day of class, we discussed the free market and how countries navigate the economy to become successful. We also evaluated Smith’s views on government intervention and the presence of politics across corporations. As part of our homework, we are tasked to select articles from the Wall Street Journal and relate them to the theme of the class. Additionally, we have individual readings that prepare us for debates within the course and open discussion amongst our peers. For the Internship course, our group visited a sustainability consulting firm called Circularity. We learned about their mission to generate a circular economy by recycling and reusing all materials in the production process. This method aims to minimize waste and bring awareness to the impact businesses and individuals have on the environment. 

As part of my internship in Milan, I am working at a marketing consulting firm called Lexis Research. My first day was Thursday and I had an amazing time learning more about my team and tasks. The entire group even took me out to lunch to celebrate the start of my internship and introduce me to Italian culture. Since the office is just a five minute walk from the apartment building our group is staying in, every morning I go on a beautiful walk through Milan. For the first couple days, I have been reviewing data received from their marketing studies that are typically written in Italian. One of my tasks is to transfer data from the Italian report presentation to the English version. So far the client reports I have reviewed include Whirlpool, more specifically KitchenAid, and Europ Assistance. Although I have mostly been working with the finished reports, in the upcoming weeks I will have the opportunity to help them start their survey questionnaires and list of objectives. 

During the first week, our group has taken advantage of Milan’s expansive transportation system and have traveled to several places already. During orientation, we walked through Castello Sforzesco, a castle, to reach a park in Milan where we had one of our first meals in Italy with other study abroad students. On Saturday, we all traveled to Lago Maggiore to visit three islands and walk through the homes of the famous Borromeos family. The views were beyond beautiful and the weather was perfect for exploring the colorful garden on Isola Bella (one of the islands). Even as a large group of 25 students, we have managed to plan meals and attend late night activities altogether. We are constantly looking for new things to try and places to visit to make the most of our time in Italy. Throughout the month, I look forward to planning long weekends in southern Italy and other countries. We have even met other Italian students staying in our complex that we plan to attend activities with in the future!

Lago Maggiore Garden
First day of work at Lexis!
Night view from my bedroom window!