International placement experience from the view of a business graduate.
Based on my educational and professional background I have to say that it is pretty hard to be further away from engineering and science than I am. So my purpose was not to be involved in the research topics but find a gap between them where strategic making and process optimization represent added value for the engineering guys.
Based on my educational and professional background I have to say that it is pretty hard to be further away from engineering and science than I am. So my purpose was not to be involved in the research topics but find a gap between them where strategic making and process optimization represent added value for the engineering guys.
My placement was at Uni. of Bologna where I was working together with physicists, biologists and chemists on the issue of water pollution located on the Northern Adriatic Sea surface.
The aim of my participation was to identify if there is a connection between the economic circumstances of Emilia Romagna region and the water pollution or there is not. I could use the problem solving method what I am usually use during my daily job. This approach was uncommon for the colleagues who were working full time at the university and could add value for their working methods. Basically the difference between the two approaches is that when I am starting to solve the problem I analyze them from top-down and bottom up without a deep background knowledge and then when I have identified some of the issues I am doing my research on them and try to find a solution. On the other hand my colleagues already had the background knowledge and because of that strong scientific background their view is less wide and concentrated on the specific topic what they already analyzing since ages. The mix of the two approaches worked out very well, we could discuss the findings from both sides and write a report which includes the identification of the problem, the possible way of analysis and some possible solutions. The final conclusion was that there is no significant connection between the economy of the region and the water pollution but the global changes in the climate system effects the Northern Adriatic more intense than other regions. So the issue is not a local but a global issue and needs to be analyze on a wider scale.
To sum it up I have to say that the stay over at a prestige university’s science department was a very good experience and gave me tons of experience and knowledge in the field of climate change and water pollution. I am recommending this program to everybody who is working or studying business. If you would like to contact me or need more info below you can find my contact info.
Contact:
andras.keri@kpmg.hu