05/8/13

Student Stars – Thuy Dao: Green Marketing in New Delhi

Thuy Dao received a travel grant from the Weissman Center for International Business to support her work aboard experience. If you’d like more information about work abroad and the travel grant click here.

Name: Thuy Dao

Major: Social Entrepreneurship and Sustainability

For senior Thuy Dao, working overseas was an opportunity that she just could not pass up. What she did not expect was to receive the opportunity to pitch innovative eco-friendly products to the local government of New Delhi.

Thuy worked for Prothsahan Team, a NGO that focuses on ‘green’ environmentally-friendly initiatives by creating awareness in the local community and proposing green solutions to the local government. The organization also provides education in computer-related skills to children and youth who fall below the poverty line to better prepare them for work.

I recently had the great fortune to ask Thuy some questions about her experience. Here’s what she had to say:

Q: Hi Thuy, so to start things off, where did you intern?

A: New Delhi, India. I worked for the Prothsahan Team.

Q: Nice! Can you tell us what some of your responsibilities included?

A: Responsibilities included making presentations and teaching plan according to the targeted audience — from children in orphanages to workers at corporate level. Also, I established connection with multiple companies to raise awareness.

Q: Raise awareness?

A: Yes, as part of the job description, I marketed new green products to local government of New Delhi.

Q: That sounds exciting! What was the reason why you chose India as the country for your work abroad experience?

I wanted to immerse myself in new culture and do something meaningful at the same time.

Q: Did your experience change your outlook on academic or career choices?

A: Well, before the trip I was very passionate about environmental law and I hoped to make some changes for the environment in New Delhi, but when I arrived I realized that there were more pressing matters to these citizens like making money to feed their family.

Q: Could you elaborate more about the economic situation you observed in New Delhi in relation to your internship?

A: I learned that for many people living in New Delhi, it is a luxury to think about environmental issues. The mentality is that people that can afford to worry about environmental issues should contribute what they can to help improve the lives of those that ‘cannot spare the time.’ Despite this, it was still exciting to be able to market new green products to the local government – these products would certainly help the city with solving a few problems related to environmental concerns.

Q: Wow, that certainly is a unique perspective. To wrap up this Q & A, can you tell us a bit about what you enjoyed most about working overseas?

A: I enjoyed forging bonds with other interns I have met on this trip, learning about a new culture, traveling around the Northern part of India, and establishing connections with companies so new coming interns for the same project can continue where we left off.

Q: Great! Thank you for telling us about your experience!

Thuy’s work abroad is a testament to the amazing talent at Baruch, and for that, we salute Thuy as one of our many Student Stars!

05/3/13

2013 Workers Protesting In Belgium | Image Credits: Kevin Van den Panhuyzen

Weekly Newsmakers – A Bitter Aftertaste on International Workers’ Day

May Day, or International Worker’s Day – the global counterpart of our beloved Labor Day holiday – proves to be a heated platform for protests and remonstrations again this year as workers lashed out to lament growing economic unrest this past Wednesday.

Although global ‘Labor Day’ movements seemed to start off ‘quietly’ on May 1st this year, news from Europe gradually filtered into the U.S. as images of disgruntled workers overseas captured the attention of Americans stateside. In Paris, the far-right National Front led a rally through the heart of the city, disgruntled with record-high unemployment levels. Spain’s labor unions rallied in over 80 cities.

In Asia, Bangladeshi garment workers paraded through cities demanding safety measures, progressive benefits, and better working conditions – calls to action that were clearly a response to the Bangladesh garment factory building that collapsed about a week ago and killed hundreds. Indonesians, Filipinos, and Cambodians marched in their respective counties bemoaning the skyrocketing cost of living and endless battles with big business. Indonesia, which ranks fourth in the most populous countries in the world, drew tens of thousands of protesters to assemble for increased wages and for the end to outsourcing jobs to contract workers.

Perhaps some of the most controversial news on International Labor Day came from Greece. In a highly visible and publicized country-wide event, thousands of Greeks walked off their jobs – leaving state-owned hospices and clinics to fend for themselves with emergency employees. Protesters also created massive disturbances for public transportation. Labor Day marked the second calculated strike against Greek government’s austerity processes this year. Greek labor unions have fought against three years of state-backed economic schemas that have increased taxes and cut salaries and pensions.

What are your thoughts on May Day? Voice your thoughts in the comments section below.

04/27/13

Hong Kong Port | Image Credits: Stan Dalone via Creative Commons

Weekly Newsmakers – Hong Kong: Stalled Ships Underlie Larger Problems

We are all familiar with strikes. Sometimes a strike will take a few days to resolve – sometimes much longer. In Hong Kong’s Hongkong International Terminals port, a strike has stalled global business and commerce since March 28th of this year.

Due to the strike, some cargo ships face delays upwards of 60 hours (whereas a typical wait time might only take about three hours). The delays have a vast global impact in the supply chain as costs increase due to ships being forced to reroute to nearby ports (in Guangdong, China or Kaohsiung, Taiwan) or coerced into skipping subsequent destination ports.

Although immediate commerce has been affected by the strike, the mere presence of a strike in the Hong Kong port is bound to take a toll on the economy in the long run. Hong Kong’s unions are historically not as effective at negotiations (in comparison to American labor unions for example), so resolution of a strike like this may take an exorbitant amount of time.

With that in mind, the perspective of the workers on strike is also understandable. The rising cost of living in Hong Kong and the widening income gap has led to unrest from the working class. Workers take to the streets and protest several times a year to raise awareness of this problem and to pursue a solution. The workers on strike at the port lament the long hours and low wages. Port workers make 55 HKD per hour (the equivalent of $7 USD) and are hoping to negotiate a wage increase of at least 20%.

What do you think about the strike situation in HK? Voice your thoughts in the comments section below.

04/19/13

Flags of Australia and China - Creative Commons

Weekly Newsmakers – Australia Strengthens Ties with China

Julia Gillard, Australia’s Prime Minister, visited China last week to negotiate a currency conversion agreement with China and to reassure China that its expanding military ties with the U.S. should not pose a problem to China’s interests.

The agreement would help position the Chinese yuan on a more focused path towards full convertibility on global markets. At present, the U.S. dollar serves as the world’s reserve preferred currency for trade and serves as the intermediary between Chinese and Australian trades. Australia’s move to secure a conversion deal with China may dampen the reign of the U.S. dollar as currency of preference for trading matters.

Gillard’s visit also aims to alleviate any unrest China may have in regards to Australia’s new defense agreements with the United States these past few years. The Australian PM noted that there was no competition between the United States and China for Australia’s allegiance. However, political critics claim that Australia is in the “Asia Century” believing that Australia’s economic well-being is tied to China, which happens to be its leading trading partner.

How do you think Australia’s visit to China will affect U.S. interests? Weigh in with your thoughts in the comments section below.

04/8/13

Weekly Newsmakers – U.N. First: Desires to Draft Treaty to Regulate Global Arms Deals

Beginning this week, our Weekly Newsmakers will focus on one news headline we believe you should know about. We hope you like the change! Like (or dislike) what you see? Please be sure to give us feedback in the comments area below on what you think!

How are human rights and the sale of arms (weapons) related? The United Nations believes there is a strong correlation between the two concepts. This Tuesday, the U.N. voted to approve work to create a treaty that would regulate arms sales and to encourage arms dealers to consider how their customers use such armaments.

If passed, such a treaty would be the first of its kind to regulate intercontinental arm sales – all in the hopes of preventing genocide and warfare. The U.N. vote echoes increasing concern from the global community that would like to hold the multibillion-dollar weapons trade to a higher ethical standard. The treaty would make it more difficult for countries to freely trade munitions; a notable example of this might be to eliminate situations such as Russia selling arms to Syria claiming that such a transaction is legal under international law.

While many nations voted to begin the necessary work to draft the treaty, abstaining members such as the Asian powerhouses China and Russia seem to indicate that not everyone is happy with the potential arms embargos. Moreover, the United States seems unlikely to pass this type of treaty as well, given the nation’s history of strong resistance against gun control. Notably, at least 50 member states must ratify a treaty before it can go into effect. However, given the tremendously large amount of votes in favor of such a treaty, many diplomats believe that international arms regulation can begin as soon as two to three years.

For more information on the U.N.’s move regulate arms sales to promote human rights, take a look at this New York Times article:
http://nyti.ms/16j1MMZ

Do you think the U.N. should place embargos on arms? Tell us your thoughts below.

03/26/13

Baruch: Inspiring Global Change in Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) – an all-encompassing term that includes international corporate policies such as human rights, environmental protection/ sustainability, philanthropy, corruption, and labor outsourcing is of great interest to the public. Many companies release an annual CSR report, but with no standard format. As a result, understanding the information within a CSR report can be a challenge. Fortunately, the Weissman Center has stepped up to the plate with a fantastic solution to this dilemma.

Researchers at the Weissman Center, under University Distinguished Professor S. Sethi, developed the CSR-S Monitor which offers a metric for comparing and ranking CSR reports. After an intensive evaluation process, each CSR report receives a score out of a possible 100%. This year, the project analyzed 560 company reports.

I recently sat down with Dr. Terrence Martell, Director of the Weissman Center, and he was eager to express how excited he is about the project, “The CSR-S Monitor is an important addition to the services provided at our Center. It is a true international business project as it compares reports from around the globe.” He also elaborated on the goals of the project, “The objective is to increase transparency and verifiability of CSR activities.” Ultimately, by ranking companies based on the project’s metrics, the project hopes to inspire companies who publish (or plan to publish) CSR reports to create high-quality reports in the future.

Diamond Pendant | Image Credits: Christina Rutz via Creative Commons

Some of the CSR-S’s findings were quite surprising. Despite the attention CSR has received in America, only one U. S. business made it into the top 10 list this year, Tiffany and Co., which secured the eighth spot. Tiffany and Co. utilizes an ethical and environmentally-friendly approach to sourcing diamonds, and uses the Kimberley Process to ensure that no ‘conflict diamonds’ enter its inventories. 2012’s top scoring company was VALE S.A., a mining company based in Brazil that achieved a score of 70.75%.

So are you curious about corporate social responsibility? If the answer is yes, you’re in the right place here at Baruch. To get a taste of CSR topics, we recommend the Sustainable Business Club (SBC). SBC’s Baruch chapter is a student-run organization dedicated to issues under the CSR umbrella, including social entrepreneurship, green marketing, socially responsible investing, and renewable energy. If you have a strong academic inclination to study CSR processes, Baruch also offers a major in Environmental Sustainability as an interdisciplinary major.

For more information on CSR related topics, check out the links below.

– Sustainable Business Club (Baruch Chapter)

– Environmental Studies Major at Baruch

– Learn more about the Kimberley Process

– CSR at Tiffany and Co.

Weissman Center for International Business Student Blog at Baruch

Study Abroad – Work Abroad – Internship Placement – IB Major – GSC + More

Tag: JMoy

Student Stars – Thuy Dao: Green Marketing in New Delhi

Weekly Newsmakers – A Bitter Aftertaste on International Workers’ Day

Weekly Newsmakers – Hong Kong: Stalled Ships Underlie Larger Problems

Weekly Newsmakers – Australia Strengthens Ties with China

Weekly Newsmakers – U.N. First: Desires to Draft Treaty to Regulate Global Arms Deals