This week, we did not meet in person for our corporate social responsibility course, however, we were still very busy with work for the class this week. On Monday, we watched the Film “Erin Brockovich” on our own time, which was about a water pollution court case. I enjoyed watching the film and I thought that it related strongly to our class. Then on Wednesday, Professor Gupta canceled class so that we could work on our final presentations for his class, which are due next week. My group of myself, Dane, and Sam Haft, is almost finished with the paper and we have begun making the presentation slides. Next week in class we will be presenting our slides and will have a short Q&A after each group’s presentation.

This week for my internship, Sachi and I went to the office on Tuesday and worked remotely the rest of the days. Our boss was back from his business trip and he said he had a great time. On Monday, we continued working on TikTok videos, mostly editing them. Then, on Tuesday, in the office, we created a TikTok page for the South Garage bistro and finally posted our first TikToks! We posted one on the main South Garage account that introduced the South Garage boutique and what it has to offer, and we posted one on the bistro account that showcased the chef making their octopus dish. The rest of the week, we posted a few more TikToks and continued filming/editing other ones. Sachi and I were also assigned a presentation where we look at and analyze what other boutiques are doing on TikTok successfully, and made a presentation showing our findings, which we will present next week.

My traveling this week was again mostly on the weekends. My main traveling took place from Saturday to Monday when Dane and I went to Catania, Sicily. We arrived in Sicily Saturday morning and were able to explore the city of Catania before meeting my girlfriend Ana and her friend Nicole for dinner. We got seafood for dinner and it was very tasty! On Sunday, we took a walk to the beach, however, it was slightly underwhelming so we did not stay for long. We then were able to eat more food and explore the city some more before our second night of dinner where Dane and I got more seafood. The seafood in Sicily was great since it is fresh from the ocean. We left Sicily on Monday morning and came back to Milan. The rest of the week I did not do any traveling except for going out for a few dinners, I was particularly busy this week since we had 2 presentations and papers to work on.

This week, we did not have our regular classes, but we were assigned to watch the movie Erin Brockovich. This movie told the story of a single mom with three kids who got into a car accident. She was represented by an attorney who she later worked for and helped with a case regarding Chromium 6 in the water, which was caused by a corporation called PG&E. This movie was very similar to the movie “A Civil Action”, which we watched in class earlier. Both of these movies depicted large corporations taking advantage of their power by hiding important health information from the public regarding unsafe water. There were many similarities I saw between these movies such as the struggles a plaintiff lawyer has to go through while investigating large corporations as well as the amount of effort it takes to reach a settlement. It was also interesting to see the struggles a single mom must face in a career that is so demanding.

In my internship this week, I helped my boss draft a speech regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace. Since my boss is a labor attorney, he is making a speech about DEI in the workplace at an international conference. I learned about certain diversity and inclusion policies in the workplace in Europe. This was a very interesting task to work on, as I have learned a lot about DEI from my position in my sorority. Additionally, I was in contact with the New York co-chair of my boss’s international association of lawyers. We discussed the potential addition of firms I found for their network. It was a big change to be speaking with someone from the U.S., rather than someone from Italy. Finally, I began working on a labor law article for my boss.

This past Sunday, Sophia, Bella, Emily, Tiffany, and I finished up our weekend in Puglia. We explored the area more while stopping in shops and gelaterias along the way. Puglia was even more breathtaking than I expected, as it had a very strong Mediterranean influence. We finished our time in Puglia with a rooftop lunch at a beautiful restaurant with an amazing view of the Adriatic Sea. It was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to. I stayed in Milan for my last weekend, as my family is coming to visit this weekend. I am very excited to see them after being in Europe for so long. We are going to travel throughout Italy as well as France together. This is the best way to end a great trip!

(1) Academic Course on Corporate Social Responsibility

This past week in class we discussed the Civil Action movie that we watched in class last week and also debated a case study involving Apple. The discussion surrounding Civil Action was focused on the environmental impacts major corporations can have and their corporate responsibility to their neighbors and consumers when considering that impact. In the movie, we saw two major corporations were being sued for contaminating drinking water which caused multiple children to get cancer. While the movie focuses mostly on the lawyer taking on the case for the families, it was interesting to see the lawyers for the companies portrayed, as well. The way companies try to throw money around to cover misdeeds like this one was depicted well in the movie, and it led to a healthy discussion in class about major corporations needing to both pay their shareholders while also being socially responsible. This led well into our discussion on Wednesday involving the Apple case study about Apple’s suppliers who have come under heat for poor working conditions for their factory workers. This discussion became pretty animated when the whole class joined in, and I felt as though everyone had pretty strong opinions on the way Apple should have treated their suppliers after the media exposed the conditions in the Asian countries where the suppliers are based. Overall, both discussions this week had the class using most of our knowledge thus far in this course, and we all have begun to form our own opinions on the social responsibility of corporations which we defended strongly in debates this week. 

(2) Practicum in Milan with an Italian Company

In my internship this week, I began doing a competitive analysis of the NIRVANA system for the product management team. BTS Bioengineering is visiting North Carolina this upcoming week for a conference involving biotechnologies, so while they prepared material and packed hardware to display there, I was completing the analysis for them to consider when marketing to distributors at the conference. I also helped plan a couple of logistical things for them in America such as finding a location to print posters and the best place to ship the materials for the booth. The competitive analysis I worked on involved researching direct competitors for NIRVANA and writing notes involving each product before comparing them in a competitors table and then producing a competitive map. While I still found NIRVANA to be the most immersive and advanced rehabilitation device, it was good to see what other companies were adding to their technology and what NIRVANA could mimic to become a stronger competitor. 

(3) Social and Cultural Immersion through Travels in Italy and Europe

This week my parents and family visited Milan before heading out on some of their own travels. With my birthday coming up next week, I also was able to celebrate with them a bit early at a Milanese restaurant my mom discovered. It was great to show my family around Milan and so exciting to feel like more of a local.

Later in the week, the Lehigh group also decided to explore the nightlife around Aparto a bit. We went to a bar right behind Aparto called Officina, and they ended up giving us a private room for our big group! We had a lot of fun being able to hang out all together outside of a work or academic setting and enjoyed exploring Milan at night a bit.

This weekend, a group of the girls took a girls trip to Portofino. We stayed at an Airbnb in Rapallo and visited the beaches at Santa Margherita. After a minor train issue on our way to Santa Margherita, we were able to relax and swim at the beach before heading to our Airbnb in Rapallo. The apartment had the most amazing view of the town and the sea, and we took full advantage of that for photos! After our photoshoot, we headed into town to find a seafood restaurant and had a three hour long dinner. The girls had a great time bonding and we are already planning a reunion girls trip for next year!

This past week at SuiteFood Tiffany and I had one of our final days in the office with our boss. It is shocking how fast our time interning has gone by and how much we have accomplished while there is so much more we could do. Emmanuela, our boss, has found a new love for content creating and has directed most of her focus on marketing by finding content ideas for Tiffany and I to recreate. Over the weekend Tiffany, Emmanuela and I brainstormed as many ideas as we could to make and publish before the product launch on July 1st. When we arrived on Monday Emmanuela had gathered tools and ingredients for us to use in videos. All day Tiffany and I creatively put everything to use and made eight postable reels to be used in the final days of promoting until the launch. It was extremely rewarding to see how happy and enthusiastic our boss was about her two interns making her ideas a visual reality. 

This week in class we watched the movie Erin Brockovich. This past semester in my management class we watched and discussed numerous clips from the movie and I had been looking forward to watching the full movie since! The movie is based on a true story about Erin Brockovich, a struggling single mother of three, and Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E). The story highlights the importance of corporate social responsibility as it is about PG&E knowingly contaminating water in a small town through chromium 6, a poison that can cause cancer and numerous other severe illnesses. Despite having no experience in the legal field, Erin Brockovich is relentless and ends up achieving one of the largest legal victories to date. The film highlights the ethical obligations and responsibilities corporations must obtain despite how powerful they may be. This demonstrated a prime example of how public companies must act in the interest of others and not just themselves and acknowledge how what they do affects others and be held accountable for their actions through corporate social responsibility. 

Over the weekend I made plans to visit Lake Garda on Friday and Portofino on Saturday and Sunday. However, early on Friday morning we were harshly reminded of the strike culture in public transportation as we arrived at the train station half asleep and were informed everything was canceled due to a strike. It was shocking to us that there had been no communication about this until about an hour after our train was supposed to depart. In the 90 degree heat we attempted to make the best of the situation and had brunch in an area we had never been and tanned in the Aparto courtyard with water bottles dumped on us to cool off. For dinner, a large group of us went to Osteria da Fortunata, a viral restaurant on Tik Tok, famous for an old woman making pasta by hand in the window. Although the restaurant catered to tourists, dinner was delicious and I would recommend it to others. On Saturday morning myself and six others began our girls trip to Portofino. With our fingers crossed, we headed to the train station and luckily boarded our train to Santa Margherita, a beach town outside of Portofino, known for where Milan locals escape on the weekends. The town exceeded all of my expectations as it was lined with quaint, colorful buildings on one side and radiant umbrellas along the blue water on the other. We immediately headed to the beach taking hundreds of pictures along the way of the perfectly detailed and manicured buildings and beaches with mountainous backdrops. We arrived at a beach club and headed to the water where we swam through the deep crystal blue water to a floating dock. We laid and jumped off the dock for hours and made friends with the local children doing the same. The afternoon on the dock had no documentation but I know pictures wouldn’t be able to do justice of how perfect it was. As the beach began to wind down we set off on our mile walk to our airbnb which ended up being majority up a winding driveway up into the mountain. However the sweaty hike was proved to be completely worth it with a deck looking out at a stunning view of the mountains and marina. After a girls night dinner we went to sleep and the next morning decided to stay in Santa Margherita instead of venturing to Portofino because of how perfect our day prior was. 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1) Academic Course on Corporate Social Responsibility

This week in class we looked at a case study done on Apple which shed light on their suppliers’ spotty track record in human rights violations. After looking at the case study, two groups debated each other on if it was reasonable for Apple to apply different ethical standards to different countries based on their respective laws. I believe that as an American company with a set of company-wide values, it’s important to apply those same set of values to all countries regardless of what might be legally allowed there, but it was interesting to hear what the group arguing against that had to say on the topic. Next week we do not have any in-person classes as our presentations draw closer and we have extra time to work on perfecting them.

(2) Practicum in Milan with an Italian Company

This week I saw some of the work I’d been doing for the past few weeks come to fruition as my boss presented me with a list of 10 job candidates that he had selected out of the spreadsheet of about 100 I had given to him the week prior. Alongside a couple of other interns, our job was to find their contact information and reach out to them via a wide variety of social media platforms to gauge their interest in a new job opportunity located in Minnesota. I have a greater appreciation for the jobs of recruiters as finding personal email addresses and social media accounts for the candidates was a challenge.

(3) Social and Cultural Immersion through travels in Italy and Europe

This past weekend I was able to visit the towns of Cinque Terre for the first time, and I was very impressed. We used La Spezia as a home base to travel out of, and were able to visit four out of five of the towns, my favorite being Vernazza which we spent the most time in over the weekend. I also learned that there was a Disney movie based off of Cinque Terre that used the main square of Vernazza as inspiration so it was cool to watch that for the first time and see the colorful houses animated into the movie. This upcoming weekend I will be taking time to explore Milan, as for every other weekend before this I have been visiting a different city and want to get the chance to see more of Milan before we leave in less than two weeks.

This week in class we read a case study done on Apple which shed light on human rights violations with some of their suppliers that they outsource to. After looking over the case study, we discussed with our groups and then two groups debated each other on if it was reasonable for Apple to apply different ethical standards to different countries based on the respective laws of that country. In my opinion I believe that if the individuals are being employed or providing a service to an American company, they should be treated under the same standards of that company. However, I found the debate very interesting and found the points that the group against Apple shared intriguing. With no class next week I am looking forward to perfecting my group project.

For my internship I worked again on the pollution data from Southern California and formatted a UML, which is stands for unified modeling language, for the data to better organize the different components. I did this by breaking up each section of data and determining specific attributes that related, this included position of the pollutant, item type, material type, and the link to the photos that were submitted by volunteers working on the assignment. I also went back to a project I worked on previously and fine tuned some of the data based on feedback from another correspondent of the company that is based in San Diego. This upcoming week I am shifting to look at Covid-19 data and taking a tour of the labs where my boss completed his PhD.

This past week some of us tried to take a day trip to Lake Garda to enjoy the nice weather but unfortunately there was a strike and our trip was cancelled. We turned the day around by getting a lovely brunch together and enjoying the nice weather in the backyard of our apartment. We then went out to dinner all together and had homemade pasta that was absolutely delicious. The next day some of us girls traveled to Rapallo & Santa Margherita and stayed overnight in an Airbnb. The location was amazing and the towns were stunning right up against the sea. We enjoyed the beach and a lovely dinner and roamed around the towns enjoying the locals out listening to music and dancing. It was one of my favorite weekends so far this trip and I cant wait to wrap up the trip with more fun to come.

This week in class, I presented my Wall Street Journal to the class. The article was about Cloud Seeding, which is used to increase precipitation by injecting chemicals into clouds right before rainfall. This led the class into a debate about how much we as humans should be able to control the natural processes of the earth, and if these chemicals or other solutions could have negative consequences in the future. On Wednesday, we discussed themes from an Apple Case Study. My team was chosen to debate the morality of Apple against another team. For 10 minutes, we debated whether Apple should be responsible for upholding the same ethical standards across the board or if they should change from country to country. 

 

The rough draft for the main project I am working on this summer was due on Wednesday this week at my internship. On Wednesday morning, I presented potential foundations and other organizations that we could contact to donate for our specific project in mind. These organizations were mainly US based, but included Kenyan companies proximal to our organization’s orphanage. In addition to this, I created and finished the organization’s official slides for this project, as well as a supplementary summary pdf. Throughout the week I was given additional tasks, such as recording more informational videos or answering questions emailed to the company in English. 

 

This past weekend, a few classmates and I traveled to Paris! Although I was warned about French stereotypes (such as their dislike toward Americans), the locals I met were very nice. During the week, we toured the Louvre, saw the Mona Lisa, the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Sacré-Coeur, and the Arc de Triomphe. This current weekend, I traveled to Monopoli, Puglia! This is a beach vacation destination that looks exactly like Greece. I spent this weekend on the beach, cliff jumping, exploring the local town, and trying traditional puglia food – such as Taralli (circular breadsticks), local fish dishes, and Orecchiette (“ear pasta”). 

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!

 

Cultural Immersion: This week I enjoyed an aperitivo with my classmates and Professor Gupta at our favorite spot, Bar Magenta. This is one of my favorite Italian customs as it is such an easy and casual way to get everyone together – I am really going to miss aperitivos in Milan. This weekend I am traveling in Rome! Throughout our first day here, we did a lot of walking through Vatican City, strolling through the museums and staring in awe of the Sistine Chapel. For lunch we had to try the dish famous to Rome, carbonara, and it exceeded my expectations. And of course we stopped for gelato on the way home. Experiencing the different Italian cities has been very exciting, and I look forward to exploring the Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, and Colloseum tomorrow!

Class on CSR: In class this week we read and discussed a case study on the unethical behavior through outsourcing. Apple was exposed for the excessive work days and health effects their employees in China faced. As Apple stood on the defensive, we debated in class whether or not it would be reasonable for China to apply the same ethical standards across all its manufacturing companies. The pro group argued that at the end of the day, its Apple’s supply chain and a reflection of them, so they should be holding all manufacturers at an equal level of responsibility of ethical behavior. The against group emphasized how manufacturing locations spanned 200 different countries, so it is too difficult for Apple to keep track of the governmental regulations in terms of ethics of each. The against side also interestingly argued that these companies are their own entity, and is Apple really responsible for their actions?

Internship: This week at Fin+Tech, Sophia and I continued working on 1-pagers, but for a new corporate partner. This partner does a lot of retailing in Airports and is looking for a startup of vending machines to implement into their business. We have been researching these various vending startups, their differentiators, revenue, funding, partners, features, and so much more to provide the partner with a comprehensive list to help them make a decision. It is really cool to see all of the innovative ways in which companies are using AI, finding ways to be sustainable, and improving efficiency. I also have continued contacting investors, and have my first call set up for next week to present our portfolio. I am excited for this opportunity to speak with an angel investor and understand their values and efforts, while looking to facilitate a relationship between them and Fin+Tech.