In class this past week we watched the film Erin Brockovich. This film told the story of how electric company Pacific Gas & Electric polluted the town of Hinkley’s water supply with hexavalent chromium, causing many Hinkley residents to suffer from cancer and other life-threatening conditions. Pacific Gas & Electric went to extreme measures to cover this up such as paying employees to delete documents detailing the contamination. This was a classic case of a corporation practicing poor corporate social responsibility and we engaged in many discussions surrounding the impact poor CSR can have on communities, how we would act if we were in the position of PG&E executives, and what role government regulators should be playing in preventing disasters like this. This movie sparked a lot of exciting conversations and allowed us to see a real-life example of just how devastating the effects of poor corporate social responsibility can be.

This week in my internship I have continued to work on developing the business plan for Zanasi. I have been focusing on the target market portion of the business plan, requiring me to conduct lots of research on the market for Zenasi’s customized printers in both the U.S. and Europe. I have been analyzing previous Zenasi documents detailing who is purchasing which Zenasi’s products, and what sectors have the most demand for their printers. I hope to be able to give Zanasi a greater understanding of where to market each of their specific products, as well as their brand as a whole.

This past weekend I traveled to Rome with classmates David Alano, Dean Bleiler, and Gunnar Hanson. We dove into the rich history Rome has to offer and visited the Coliseum, Forum, Vatican, and Trevi fountain. I was blown away by the architecture and struggled to wrap my mind around how such massive, complex, and detailed structures could be built in that time period and last for thousands of years. We also attended a mass at the Vatican and got to see the Pope deliver an incredible homily. Finally, after a long day of walking in the hot sun, we cooled down by enjoying a few drinks at a bar made entirely out of ice. This was my favorite weekend during my time in Europe and I strongly recommend anyone who has the chance to visit Rome.