This week was our last full week in Milan. In order to prepare for our final presentation and final paper, we did not have class but instead watched the film Erin Brokovich. This film is based on a similar premise as in Civil Action in which a small law firm uncovers bad business practices and public health concerns from a large corporation. The law firm eventually got a large settlement and residents of the local town were paid millions as payback for their health complications. Besides the film, Bryan, Maddy, and I began preparing an outline for our final presentation/paper which will be about Free Speech and Social Media.

I had a rather slow week for my internship. As we are largely wrapping up the project that I was a part of, we were tasked with doing competitive analysis for the company we are consulting for. I was given a basket of companies in the Electric Vehicle space and had to identify if and how their business strategies varied from country to country across Europe. It was more great practice and I was thrilled to have such a good opportunity working with Krein as a part of a consulting team this summer.

To bid farewell to our wonderful stay in Milan, 22 of us spent the weekend in a villa in Tuscany. We stayed in a small town about 30 minutes outside Florence in a hilly isolated area. After a long day of travel and many bags of groceries hauled, the trip was more than worth it. We had our own pool, a patio with an amazing view, and most importantly, great company! We arrived on Friday afternoon, and stayed all day Saturday and checked out on Sunday morning. We spent the day walking around Florence which was such a great city. I am so thankful for such an amazing trip.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This week in class we did a case study regarding Apple manufacturers’ histories of human rights violations. We read and discussed the case study, and debated what strategies Apple should take to better their company: could they take a more proactive approach over supervising their companies, or is that even realistic given cultural and law differences in their overseas manufacturers? Another argument brought to light was given Apple’s seemingly unwavering customer base, did they really need to address any of these issues, or would they be just fine regardless of what happened? Our class debate was very interesting and made me question what measures I could take as a consumer to ensure companies I’m buying from commit to ethical practices.

I had a rather light week this week for my internship. Sylvia and I completed our first two main parts of the project we’re working on on Tuesday, which was finding and verifying contact informations for two different types of companies: companies that we are sending research surveys to, and companies that we intend to reach out for a potential partnership for the Electric Vehicle company we’re consulting for. One of our team members packaged the contact informations and sent out the email templates that Sylvia and I created, and now we’re transitioning to what is likely the last phase of our internship given that we have less than two weeks to go.

Traveling this week was quite chaotic but even more fun! I visited my friend from Lehigh, Matt, who has an internship in Vienna this summer. Along my traveling journey to Vienna, my train was canceled and my flight was delayed, but after an unnecessarily long day of traveling, I arrived in Vienna! On Friday, we ate at one of the oldest cafes in the city, Cafe Wortner. On Saturday, we walked over 15 miles around the city, and ended our night at a popular bar called the TravelShack. On Sunday, we had lunch again at Cafe Wortner, and then traveled to the airport to fly back to Milan. Thankfully I only had another flight delay on the way back and not a train cancellation as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This week in class, we watched the film Civil Action. This movie is about a small law firm that takes on a large company who they discover is polluting the water in a local river that has likely lead to the death of some of the people in the nearby town. This small law firm dumped just about every asset it had in order to fund the prosecution for the case against the two large companies and eventually reached a settlement. The movie raises questions such as to what extent companies should be held accountable for their past degrading business practices, and who should hold them accountable.

For work, my main project this week was finding contacts for a survey that the team I’m on developed regarding electric vehicle charging stations. I worked with my team to gather business contacts on ZoomInfo, and got over 1,000 people to contact for the survey. I then had to filter and organize these contacts into an Excel file and verify the emails. We also had many meetings with executives for the company that we are consulting for to tailor the survey to their needs. Next week I will continue finding more contacts for the survey as well as finding potential partners for the company we’re consulting for.

This week I stayed in Milan. Last Sunday I visited Venice amidst a long, chaotic day of travel, but this week was much more relaxing. Two of my friends from Lehigh, Chris and Matt, visited me over this weekend. They stayed at a nearby AirBnB about a 15 minute walk away, and I showed them my favorite restaurant—the nearby Ristorante Pizzeria San Giovanni, as well as other bars, restaurants, and cafes around the city. I also showed them some of the famous landmarks such as Basilica di San Lorenzo and Duomo. It was another super fun week!

 

 

This week in class we watched “The Corporation.” This documentary discusses what type of person a Corporation is, since by law corporations are people. A corporation, according to the documentary, is a psychopath, as they follow their own desires and motives without concern for others or the environment. It provides examples how certain corporations use tactics such as manipulating children, abusing animals, and polluting the environment, all in order to make a profit. The documentary was equally disturbing as well as thought provoking, as it makes you ask how and why do you support corporations, and what can you do to lessen the impacts of corporations operating this way. 

 

For my internship, our main task this week was to find the contact information of decision makers within the over 40 companies we researched as potential clients. I used services such as Rocket Reach, Lusha, and Zoominfo to do so. It was a lot of work and took a lot of time, but I was able to find the information of every company by Thursday. Our task for the upcoming week is to find even more companies, as well as drafting emails to send to the companies for a potential partnership between them and the company we are consulting for. We also have multiple interviews with stakeholders within the company next week so I have been preparing for those meetings by doing company research. 

 

This week was a lot of fun. Last Sunday, we traveled to Lake Como. It was gorgeous, and the trip was super affordable! On Saturday, I traveled solo around Milan. I visited Bar Luce, a cafe designed by the famous film director Wes Anderson, which was part of an art exhibit and theater that I also explored. After that, I visited the Quadrilatero del Silenzio, an open air museum and park, in the Northeast part of the city. After that, I walked to the Brera district. There are still so many more places I want to explore, and I can’t wait to see more parts of the city!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This week was our first full week in Milan, and it was full of good food and travel. In class we discussed recent corporate political issues, including the “Skittles ban” dubbed for the United States government threatening to ban an ingredient found in skittles that can possibly cause cancer. We also discussed the threats of a TikTok ban in Montana, and how that would look logistically and practically if it was actually implemented—questions such as, ‘what would happen to your phone if you have TikTok downloaded and you enter Montana?’ This also sparked discussions surrounding free speech and protection of privacy, all of which are hot button issues currently in the United States.

 

I had quite a busy week for my internship this week. Monday was my first day in the office, and during the afternoon we had a meeting with our project team regarding what Sylvia and I needed to accomplish. We were tasked with doing market research to find 40 potential stakeholders across Portugal, Spain, France, and Italy for the company that my internship company, Krein, is doing consulting for. It was very challenging and very time consuming, but it was a great experience to do market research for different companies across different countries, since countries even in Europe vary in their economies and market sizes. We finished up this first project midday Thursday, and I’m excited for what we will have to do next!

 

Lots of traveling has been done so far this week. Friday was a national holiday for Italy, so we didn’t have to work and therefore went on a day trip to Verona. Verona was one of, if not the, best places I’ve visited so far during my trip. After arriving super early to the train station, I had a super relaxing day of travel. Upon my timely arrival, we toured a winery and got to taste their different types of wine. Unfortunately, I know nothing about wine but at least I pretended like I did when I was there. After that, we toured the city of Verona, and it was super crowded because of the national holiday, but nevertheless it was a super charming city and was very walkable. I definitely want to go back to Verona to explore it sometime in the future! Today, some of us traveled to Lugano, Switzerland, and hung out by the water and went shopping. It was a great day, but a long one, as we just got back before midnight! It was my first time in Switzerland and I can’t wait to explore more countries. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s finally time for summer in Milan! This trip is my first time traveling to Europe, and immediately upon arrival I felt a shift in culture. Even a large city such as Milan seemed to feel way less rushed and stressful as New York City, for example. Most nights so far I’ve eaten dinner out at restaurants, and the food in Italy has been even better than I could have imagined. I’ve also been to a few cafés and am learning how to order food in Italian. This Saturday, we traveled to Lake Maggiore and visited 3 islands on the lake. It was one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been to, and it was so much fun to spend time with all the other Lehigh students in the group! 

We kicked off our first class in Milan with a continuation of our discussion about how Adam Smith’s discoveries shape the foundation of our free market system. It’s very interesting to see the economy from this perspective nowadays in such a globalized and complex world. On Friday, we went to a startup company in Milan called Circularity, and they gave us a presentation about their company’s mission centered around Corporate Social Responsibility. Circularity consults companies to help them make their products and businesses more sustainable and efficient—to become part of the ‘circular’ economy. This was a good kickoff to our learnings in class, since we have discussed and read about the changing role of Corporations amidst environmental, social and political change. 

For my internship, I am working at Krein, a business to business marketing company. Thursday and Friday I worked virtually, and my first day in the office is on Monday, and I’m super excited! I am working alongside Sylvia, and we are tasked with doing market analysis and research for one of Krein’s client companies. So far, I’ve been learning about Krein as well as the company they’re consulting for, and will be starting the marketing consulting next week. I’ve learned so far that work, at least for my company, is pretty flexible compared to what I’m used to. Our boss gives us the option to come in person or work remote, so I will be doing a ‘hybrid’ work schedule. I can’t wait for what’s to come!