This week, Professor Gupta’s course on Corporate Social Responsibility has opened my eyes to how difficult it must be for corporations to balance having their own set of ethics with maximizing value for their shareholders. The discussion we had on Planet Fitness and if they should have changed their policy on changing rooms was an interesting debate. My initial reaction was that Planet Fitness’ motto is about inclusivity, and I agreed with their decision to maintain the rule which states each individual can choose the changing room that they best identify themselves with. With that being said, after hearing about how their stock price had greatly declined after that decision and has still not fully recovered, I better understand the other side of the argument. If shareholders would have been better off, I wonder if it would have been more ethical for Planet Fitness to change their policy, although I commend them for sticking to their previous position.
This week in Professors Swain and Gupta’s Internship Seminar we had a discussion on the case study “The Parable of the Sadhu.” The hiker in the story made a difficult decision when he came across a man in need. Facing different obstacles, the hiker did all he thought he needed to do to help the man by giving him clothes and helping him stay alive. However, at the end of the day he decided to leave the man and finish his journey. I better understand how individuals struggle to stray from a group decision after reading this case study. My main takeaway from the case was that the standards for what is ethical is subjective and as individuals, we sometimes do enough for a short term solution for a problem, but not enough for a long term solution to a problem.
I worked both in person and virtually this week. One of the mornings the tram wasn’t operating near Aparto, so Paige and I had to walk to the Duomo subway station and were a little late to work. I didn’t know how common delays were, but hopefully we can avoid this in the future by leaving earlier. At work, I was able to translate two of Easylife Milano’s company slideshows to English by making a direct translation and then having conversations with my boss about what to change so it would sound the most natural. I was glad I was able to help the company with this, and I’m enjoying getting to know the people in the office on a more personal level.
On Thursday I went to my first wine tasting! It was interesting to learn about how to identify different qualities of sparkling, white, and red wine. I have been playing soccer in my free time outside of Aparto, and this week I met some Italian boys who wanted to pass around and play a game together. They were so nice and curious about how I play soccer for my university. Although we had a hard time fully understanding each other, it is cool to think about how soccer is a universal activity that can bring together people no matter where they are from or the language they speak. On Saturday, I went on the IES trip to Varenna and Bellagio. This was my first time seeing Lake Como and it was so beautiful! Walking in the gardens and seeing different views of the lake was calming, and I will definitely have to come back for a day trip to swim when it gets warmer. As a group we went on a packed ferry ride to Bellagio, but once we got there all the shops and gelato places made the trip worth it! I really enjoyed walking into different stores and seeing so many unique leather bags and purses. This was the last IES trip offered, but I’m grateful they worked so hard to plan these trips to make our experiences positive.
