Day 7 - Patents, Ball Bearings, and Reindeer.

Business:

Today began just like any other day, except today...I AM MAGELLAN! This mean, I have to be able to get the whole group from one location to the other. Luckily, I had some help from the secret map fairy (the front desk) on how to get to our location.

Valea was not too hard to find, we just took the number 6 tram to the entrance of the Nordstan Mall. This was the first time the girls on the trip had seen the mall and man was it hilarious watching their eyes glow as we walked through the mall. It was like bringing kids into a candy store, except. OMG THOSE BOOTS ARE AMAZING, AND THOSE SCARFS, AND THE WOMAN! Never mind, I am not one to talk, I was just as captivated. Luckily, the window shopping didn't slow us down too much, because we were able to reach Andrew Hammond at Valea on time.


Valea is a consulting firm in the field of intellectual property rights with a specialty in patents. They have about 100 employees at five different locations. In 2013, they had earned about 185 million SEK, which converts into about 18.5 million U.S. dollars. Most of their employees have academic backgrounds such as a Master of Science, Law, and/or Engineering. Their main vision is to eventually be one of Europe's leading consulting firms in the field of intellectual property rights, and to be the natural choice of clients who work proactively to optimize the return on their intangible assets. Valea establishes, defends, and commercializes IP assets such as patents, trademarks, and designs.

To give a little background on Andrew Hammond, he has a Technical Degree and a Law Degree. He stated that he had to take a 3 day qualification exam to be a patent attorney and he passed it with flying colors! He started out as an examiner at a patent office, and become one of the three founding partners in the 2004 management buyout of Valea. He was worked in Patent Law for over 30 years now and he is loving every second of it.

A few key points that Andrew hit upon during his presentation were the fact that patents stimulate innovation and that patents give a monopoly to the inventors. This is essential because if our inventions could not make future profits for a sustainable period of time, then we would not strive to create something new. Research and Development is too time consuming and expensive to just create something and let your competitor immediately copy it. However, there are companies and individuals out there that are trying to bypass the system and Andrew discussed on how to avoid that as well.

His first suggestion...GET A PATENT ATTORNEY! People think of innovations, inventions, and more efficient products everyday. But you have to check if your brilliant idea already exists. One thing patent holders do to protect their intellectual property rights is they patent their product as well as the lower quality of their products to ensure that the competition can't compete with their main product because of a technicality.

An example of a product that was a great innovation was the diaper. The diaper has numerous components to it and each little piece from the type of fabric, to the type of stitching are all patented. There are a total of 27 patents in one diaper alone! That seems ridiculous, but Andrew described the importance of properly protecting your intellectual property rights to ensure the longevity of your revenues.

Andrew said that 80% of most business value is in patent rights. However, one must understand the difference between a discovery and an invention. Cavemen did not invent fire, they discovered fire when lightening struck a field and they touched the burning brush and screamed, " OUUUUCCCHH. FFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUURRRRRRRRREEEEEEE!!!! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!" Another example would be a 14 year old girl who invented the Binibottle. A water bottle that eliminates the adversity of filling your water bottle to the top because of the weird angle of a water fountain. By adding a second opening on the side, it allows the user to fill the water bottle to maximum capacity.

It was a great and insightful presentation and I am glad that Andrew Hammond took the time to meet with our group. His knowledge, wisdom, and expertise in the patent law helped me better understand the importance of conceptually thinking through all the minor details of a project. In his line of work, missing a small detail about the functionality of a product could lead to a competitor legally copying a product. You have to be intelligent to work in his field, and once again thank you for giving us the opportunity to learn from you. In addition, thank you Andrew for lunch and the great conversation at the end of lunch. It was great learning more about the personal side versus the business side.

We then had to walk back through the mall to catch the tram to SKF. Once we arrived our tour guide, Lars, opened with a  video about the past, present, and future of SKF. After the video, we were given a souvenir, a small key-chain ball bearing that was the original patented SKF Ball Bearing.Then, we walked through the museum of the successes of the business.

The tour showed the history and innovations of the ball bearing. In addition, it showed how the SKF was involved in the first airplane, tunneling across a large mountain, and landing man on the moon with a camera. Then, we were introduced to the heart of the business.

SKF's products are everywhere. SKF has been a leading global technology provider since 1907. What started with the invention of the self-aligning ball bearing more than 100 years ago has now developed into something much more. SKF currently offers a large number of products and solutions within several different areas, such as mechatronics, seals, lubrication systems, servicing and bearings.

They are constantly developing new technologies and use them to create products that offer competitive advantages to their customers. Their main focus today is to reduce the environmental impact of any asset during their lifecycles in both their own and their customers' operations. For instance, SKF Energy Efficient (E2) bearings save up to 30 per cent energy compared to a standard bearing.

Lars knew a vast amount of information about the company and his enthusiasm engaged me and made me want to learn more about SKF. It was interesting seeing the line of production for a ball bearing and how it goes from a brick of steel to the end product. I know JJ was especially excited about the usage of ABB robots! Well actually, I think the whole group was excited to see ABB robots in action because we had just been with Bert the day before discussing the efficiency of using ABB robots.

Lars was highly informative and gave the tour at a prestigious level. He left no stone unturned. He even took the time to display the ball bouncing display twice because we were so amused. He was kind, passionate, and personable throughout the whole presentation. I would definitely recommend people to check out this facility; however, it was a little lengthy.

Leisure:

For dinner, we finally got to go to the place I have been waiting for this whole trip. The Swedish Taste at Matlagnings Studio! This is a five star restaurant with international professional chefs. It was our mission to prepare a four course meal. We were split into four teams. A team for the Starter, appetizer, main entree, and dessert. Our team (Haylie, Suzy, Joe, Katie, and I) was on the task of desert. Suzy and I quickly paired up to create the blueberry cake for our dessert.

The first task was trying to find where everything was. Suzy and I both agreed that we felt like we were on mars! We didn't know where our common utensils were and some utensils were foreign to me. Luckily, we had the help of Nikolas and Michael. They made preparing the blueberry cake ingredients a breeze. Have you ever heard of icing sugar? Well guess what, me either... Luckily we were able to ask that it means powdered sugar. After measuring, eating, stirring, eating, baking, eating, and cooling the dessert off, it was time for us to relax and wait for everybody else.

When it was time to finally sit down and see everybody's creations, I was both nervous and excited. This was either going to be the best meal I ever had or I was going to die from food poisoning! As the starter
rolled out to the table I knew it was going to be the first option: BEST MEAL EVER!



The starter was amazing, it was pan fried deer in wild pepper. It was topped with a baked farm egg with smoked pearl onions and soured beetroots. The second course was forest mushroom soup with port wine. It was complimented with juniper smoked marrow, bacon and cheddar cheese. Is your mouth watering yet? Mine is just writing this down. The main course was spicy fried reindeer with soured black cabbage with roasted canola oil served with celeriac foam. Then, last but not least, came the dessert! This was the meal our team made! It was a blueberry cake with cottage cheese coupled with meringue and broken broken dreams (homemade amazing ice cream!).

The main entree team won the first place award, but this meal paired with a great beer far exceeded my expectation. The food was fabulous, and well prepared. I have to give the students of the Carthage College J-term trip a 10 out of 10. It was an amazing experience cooking and so much fun working with everybody.

Daily Reflections:

1. Intellectual Property Rights is a complex study
2. It is crucial to hire a great patent attorney to protect your intellectual property and add value to the invention
3. It is interesting seeing how a ball bearing is transformed from a brick of steel to the final product
4. Reindeer tastes amazing
5. I can actually cook amazing food
6. Our J-Term trip has amazing chefs
7. This is probably the best trip I have ever been on
8. Foreign professional chefs can be super intrigued by the ingredients of a Taco Bell  sauce packet
9. Beer is Sweden is super expensive
10. Icing sugar is actually powdered sugar

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Day 6 - Adaptive Solutions for Business Success

Business:

Today was our lucky day, we were able to get an extra hour of sleep because we only have one company visit today. I took full advantage of this hour and went into hibernation mode. This is not a good state to be in when you actually have to wake up and you sleep through your alarm and your roommate waking up! I had about 15 minutes to shower and get ready today and luckily for me, the bus was 20 minutes late. Phew! I was able to fully get ready and eat before the class even knew I was running late. Even made it five minutes early to our meeting. I thought it would be funny to say, "Look everybody I am early and everybody is late." Shortly after, my roommate commented saying, "You are right, but this is the only time on the whole trip that you will be able to say that." So sad, but so true.

The company we were able to visit today was the sister company of Bruno Independent Living Aids: AutoAdapt. AutoAdapt was founded in 1996 and has since grown to one of the world's leading manufacturers of car adaptation solutions for people with reduced or limited mobility. Autoadapt's head office, development and production plant is located in Stenkullen, in the southwestern part of Sweden.

To start the day off,  we were give a brief introduction of the company and the vision of the company. I began to realize that the company structure of AutoAdapt was similar to Bruno, but the atmosphere was different. She then led us upstairs to grab some fika (coffee). They had four coffee machines and I asked Anna-Karin why the had so many. She replied, "In Sweden, we love coffee. You are not considered a good employer if you can't supply coffee to your employees."

Another aspect of Swedish culture that we had been taught before we left to Sweden was the humility of the Swedish people. JJ Shield had taught us that if a Swedish person said they were good at something, then they were probably great. In addition, if they said they were great, they were probably competing at a professional level. Before anybody could comment on Anna-Karin's clothing choices, she began to explain why she was wearing business professional clothes and open toed sandals. She illustrated that because of her ice skating career, she was unable to wear heels anymore. I imagine she must have been a great figure skater.

Anna-Karin Holmqvist, the Human Resources Manager, gave a presentation on the company, culture, and employees of auto adapt. She was highly knowledgeable and personable in her presentation and she never hesitated to answer questions. She touched on the importance of equality for all employees and that there were no discrimination for age, sex, occupation, etc. However, the salaries were leveraged upon the competency tests.

In addition to the equality aspect, it was interesting learning the Auto Adapt used the STAR model that we learned at schoo
l in the real world. The STAR model is a behavior interview technique that tires to get at how the interviewee responded to negative situations and to quantify the results. The, they put the results into a chart and compare which block the interviewee's response best reflections. One questions could have sixteen different answer blocks.

The hiring process in Sweden is hard because it is equally as hard to fire an employee. Thus, it is important for interviewees to be mentally prepared, strive to improve oneself, have strong emotional awareness, and to research the prospective position. In addition, it is imperative that the interviewee have questions ready before the interview and to begin the application process with a personalized and specific cover letter.

You can have the best product, but if you have the wrong people, you will fail. Hakan and Anna-Karin focus on developing the best people. They care tremendously about their employees and they put a lot of energy into training people. This is mostly because the entrance and exit procedures are difficult to overcome and it can be ten times the cost to for the retraining process.

Following Anna-Karin's presentation, we were able to tour the AutoAdapt facility. We learned about the objectives of the facilities, the efficiency of the facility, and the procedures of the facility. The strong relationships between the management and the line-workers was present during our tour. Hakan said, "I know the name of the family dogs for my employees." Why? Because he cares about his employees and employees that are cared for generally work harder and are more loyal. 

Then, we were given delicious chicken and we were able to talk to Hakan personally for the duration of the meal. We discusses matters of his small businesses that he started up, some obstacles of starting a new businesses, and how to run and own a successful business. He discussed how he had started a company where he was building a market as well as conceptualizing the business. He stressed the benefits of expanding on an existing business versus creating a new market. It is more profitable to take an idea that is already in the market and make it better.

To create an added value on the "new" product, it is effective to ask the existing competition about how they create their products. They may say no, but it never hurts to ask how the best in the business operates. Through the whole process, you must remain truthful and honest about your intentions and never lie about your situation. He concluded our lunch conversation with one principle. Always ask questions and always effectively listen.

After lunch, we were able to receive an MBA level lecture on business models by Hakan and it was great hearing his philosophies and beliefs of the business world. If you wish to review some of the lecture material he supplied us, there is information in the "There is no Place Like Home, But I Miss Sweden Already" Blog. I can’t thank both Anna-Karin and Hakan for taking the time to meet with us and discuss material that will be used for the rest of my life. They both were highly enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and passionate about their careers and it is inspirational to meet individuals like them.

Leisure:

At the end of the night, we concluded with dinner at Linne Terrace. The history of this location is that the king used to live next to the restaurant and the restaurant location used to be a shelter for prostitution. That part of the restaurant is long gone and the Cod that I ordered was amazing.

Daily Reflections:

1. You can have the best product, but if you have the wrong people, you will fail.
2. STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) is a behavior interview technique used by numerous companies
3. It is important to research prospective companies, positions, and prepare specific and individualized applications and questions
4.  Swedish Taxes are really really really high! ( 25% Value added, up to 57% Federal Withholding)
5. The benefits of Swedish taxes are amazing though (Unemployment is $2,000 a month, 80% pay for 15 months post pregnancy, retirement fully paid after the age of 65)
6. It is possible to turn a 27 page business plan into a 7 page concise document 
7. Competitors can help you generate the operations of your business
8. It is crucial to always ask questions and be an active listener 
9. You have to be willing to sell yourself, be honest, and have a positive attitude to leave an impression that can last a lifetime

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Day 5 - I can't tell if the car knows I'm crazy or if that robot is eyeing me funny...

Business:

WirelessCar:

Well you know the day is going to be interesting when you newly mastered form of transportation is being switched to something else. Today we had to take a ferry, instead of the tram, to cross the river to get to our destination at WirelessCar facility.





WirelessCar is an automotive telematics service provider (TSP), providing manufacturers of cars and commercial vehicles with customized telematics services to end-customers anywhere in the world. Current reference customers are BMW, Volvo Cars, Volvo Trucks and Volvo Construction Equipment. They are owned by the Volvo Group, the world’s second largest heavy commercial vehicle manufacturer, reporting into Volvo IT, leveraging their true global service delivery network and 5000+ strong employees as resource-and knowledge pool. This enables them to have offices and local service delivery capacity in Sweden (HQ), North America, China, and Brazil.  The factors that separate WirelessCar from the competition is their experience, global reach, cross fertilization, innovation, and collaboration with the “Best of the Breed.”

The first thing I thought when I saw the WirelessCar facility building was wow! They had a cool outside building that was abstract and artistic and the inside did not disappoint. They had revolving chairs and a diagram of the facility laid out. I know this is not owned by Wireless Car; however, it illustrates the innovation that is contained in this area of Gotenburg.


After a short period of checking the building out, Martin Lundh brought us up to the WirelessCar office. It was interesting hearing his story about how he became a project manager. He said throughout his career, there was certain aspects about certain industries that he was trying to avoid. He started out saying he wanted to work for a start-up company and would never work for a big company. He then ended up working at ABB Robotics. Then he said he would never work with cars, and now he is working for WirelessCar. It is interesting how life works out, but I am glad he is happy at his current position.

Through his interactive presentation, Martin Lundh described his service portfolio and the planning strategies for WirelessCar and the services provided by WirelessCar. His presentation supplied information about the WirelessCar utility, the Connected Vehicle model, and the prospective services for automobile producers to benefit the end user. By defining the strengths, opportunities, threats, and weaknesses, Martin hit the three main constraints currently in the business: data privacy, off the market solutions, and the entrance of big players. Lastly, he illustrated how his career has led him to WirelessCar and his definition a successful person.

The service provided by Wireless Car is, eventually, to have a connected society between cars, buildings, and people. That means the information coming from building wifi, mobile data, and new car technology would connect the world. If you were getting your oil changed in your car, the car would suggest a local coffee shop to occupy your time if you enjoyed coffee. Then, while you were walking to the coffee shop, you could order the coffee and have it ready by the time you get to the shop. Then your car would notify your phone when the oil change was completed.

That was just one idea, another idea is that if there was an accident, the car could send a single to other cars. This signal would give road conditions and tell cars to avoid this location and supply and alternative route. Or if I woman was pregnant, the seat belt could realize the stress and hormone levels and change all the lights to the hospital green for a quicker Need for Speed experience to get your wifey to the hospital.

The idea of selling this as a service instead of a product is that if you sell it as a service, you can supply it to car manufacturers for a set fee to install the program in the car. Then you can supply the end-user with free service for a few month, then it would cost about $200 a year to continue the WirelessCar service.

This is a great business idea and I am excited to one day possibly live in a connected world. Martin was highly insightful and I am glad we had an opportunity to hear from him  and understand the benefits of being a project manager. Some of those benefits are he gets the chance to constantly work with customers and their needs, learn numerous disciplines, and develop people within the company as well as the product. This opportunity was mentally and intrinsically valuable and this presentation will help me grow as a better businessman. Thank you Martin!

ABB:

Our next stop was ABB Robotics where we were able to talk to Bertil Thorvaldsson. He was a great gentleman and was highly insightful about his role as the Global Product Manager at ABB and his vision for the future of the company. In addition, "Bert" discussed the benefits of his service know as Robot Studio that increased efficiency and consumer satisfaction tremendously.

ABB is the global company in power and automation technologies, with $39 billion in revenue, and present in over 100 countries with over 150,000 employees. They were formed due to a merger in 1988 between the companies BBC and ASEA. Today, you can see ABB products everywhere, such as the fields, crossing the oceans, in power plants, and especially in automotive plants. They have a range of different products and systems like robots, applications, equipment, software, manufacturing cells, and automotive systems. One thing Bert touched on was the benefits of Robot Studio and how the implementation of the software helps make everyone become more efficient at their daily operations.

This also in turn increases the life-cycle productivity for every robot that is sold and being used with
the software, which creates value over time and leads to customer loyalty. Overall, the implementation of this software and ABB robots creates integrated benefits such as better productivity, reduced risk, higher margins, and satisfied customers.

Bert described the importance of a strong business plan to have reoccurring growth coupled with greater productivity. The described the transition for the "Legacy" business model to the "freemium" business model. Currently, he believes ABB needs to get into the "app-store" business model, and that is why he is called the Steve Jobs of ABB Robotics.

Another aspect Bert hit on was the implementation of user stories, which are formed to show what customers are prospectively going to order and how their factory will look first hand. This process is in the developmental stage; however, it was cool to be able to put on the virtual reality glasses.


The virtual reality glasses allow the end-user to step into the prospective manufacturing facility and view the efficiency of their future equipment. This could be a great asset to the sales team allowing an easier display of the product and a more efficient sales meeting. If not, this could be the new revolution in virtual gaming!


It was wonderful listening to  Bertil Thorvaldsson! He truly is the Steve Jobs of ABB Robotics. He was knowledgeable, personable, insightful and a great presenter. I want to thank him especially for the lunch and taking time out of his busy schedule to meet with us. Thank you Bert!

Leisure:

The day ended with a hockey game at the Scandanavium to see the Frolunda Indians. The atmosphere at this hockey was similar to a European soccer game. They even had fireworks inside the building that went off when a goal was scored. Cool!

Our seats were right behind the goal and they were in the perfect location to view the game. In addition, we were given brochures at the beginning of the game that could be folded up to form load noise makers to promote our Frolunda Indians.

It was a great experience and it was hilarious hearing Sam lose her voice screaming so hard! I thought she was going to explode when Connor had predicted the future too! My roommate Connor had said at halftime that the game was going to go into overtime. Sure enough, with less than a minute in the game, Modo scored the equalizer, sending the game into overtime. The game went into a shoot out and Modo won! Doesn't matter, we still had fun. GO HAWKS!

A few differences that I notices about the game of Hockey in Sweden versus the United States is that European Hockey is less violent, larger arena, more puck passing, and less shots. In American Hockey, fights are allowed and we shoot from anywhere and score. It was a low scoring game, but it was interesting seeing the different style of play.

Leisure:

1. JJ has some pretty cool business friends
2. Wireless car and a connected world is an awesome business development
3. I wouldn't mind working in Sweden
4. Bert could be the next Steve Jobs
5. Hockey games are more like soccer games in Sweden

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Day 4 - Wait? This is a business trip?

Business:

Skapa:

Today we were able to visit Skapa, an agency specialized in creating smart online communication. They have been helping their customers improve their business using various online solutions ever since their start in 1996. Today, they focus on online strategies and content marketing for their customers. They help them create relevant content in their channels that define them so well that Google sends visitors of better quality into their sales funnels. They call this inbound marketing or content marketing- it’s the new SEO (Search Engine Optimization).

Lucky for us, we were able to have our presentation by Erik Ekholm. Erik Ekholm (Chief Executive Officer)  is passionate about finding smart solutions for customers’ problems and needs. He thinks it is always interesting to meet customers as he familiarizes them with his businesses and allows them to understand their business to the fullest. He then uses his past experiences and proposes innovative strategies, plans, and solutions to supply the best products possible for his customers.

But before I spoil the fun of his presentation, I should start by illustrating my first experience stepping into the Swedish Business world. The office space was open for more collaborative work. This is not surprising considering the Swedish belief in the Law of Jante. I will explain the Law of Jante in the "Daily Reflections" subheading below. In addition, the layout is modern and crisp.



When we enter into the conference room, it is warm and cozy. On the table, there is an assortment of fruits, pastries, chocolate, tea, water (both carbonated and still), and of course coffee. I swear they must drink more coffee than water here! Regardless, I love coffee and this is great!





Erik started off his presentation discussing how to drive sales with social media through numerous YouTube videos. His communication marketing strategies are mainly focused on advertisement in online media. He described the importance of engaging the consumer, creating emotion, and surprise to create a viral video.

Engaging: One good example he showed us was dumb ways to die for the Melbourne Metro safety campaign. This campaign helped reduce accidental deaths by 21%.

Emotions: (Caution! This video will make you tear up) Also, it is not in English, but it has English subtitles. Yet, it was still able to generate 15+ million views.

Surprise: This video illustrates how consumer attention can be retained by having an ad that surprises the consumer with an idea. It was a great way to increase consumer attention towards the movie Devil's Due.

Through his presentation, Erik described SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and his experiences on smart online communication. He discussed the difference between great online communication that creates emotions, engages the consumer, and/or surprises the consumer versus poor communication practices. In addition, his presentation illustrated the proper utilization of the Ecosystem of marketing through Youtube.com commercials and social media websites. Lastly, Erick gave us a tour of the facility and described his day-to-day operations, challenges, and opportunities in the smart online communication industry.

Another concept we talked about were the benefits of social media. The four of them being:

1. The opportunity to gather information from opinion leaders, business specialists, colleagues, etc.
2. Publishing material to create activity – such as “likes or followers”
3. Publishing of valuable and customer focused content
4. Engagement and dialogues build relations to the company and between your fans or followers

However, one of the biggest struggles Erik faces is that some companies don't believe in the effectiveness of social media. They believe that if they are not online, they can avoid negative posts. Erik corrects this by simply saying, "People are going to say what they want to say whether you are online or not; but, would it not be better to be there online to defend it?"

Another struggle he has is that customers are afraid to provide competitors with too much information about the company operations. Erik quickly counters this with the idea that competitors generally know more about your product than customers do. So, why not better inform the customers on your product?

The last key note was that "Culture eats strategy for breakfast." This was stressing the importance of personal relationship management. You need to have courage in your given industry. In addition, it is impossible to be successful if you can't meet the needs of customers. So, you must be well cultured and understand and listen to the customer.

It was great hearing from Erik Ekholm about Skappa. His expertise and knowledge in the industry was vast and his presentation was highly insightful. He was personable, responsive, and direct with the time he had. Thank you Erik for presenting to us!

Here is the link to the presentation presented to us if you are curious to investigate this subject further.

http://www.slideshare.net/erikekholm/skapa-carthage-college-2014-0120-003distr

Gotenburg University:

Later in the day we were able to visit Gotenburg University. We were given the opportunity to speak with Cleas G. Alvstam, Martin Öberg, and Dr. Cheryl Marie Cordeiro. It was great to have the opportunity to listen to these lectures in Swedish economics, retail marketing and shopping centers, and the history of Sweden and Swedish management styles.



Cleas G. Alvstam presented us with a knowledgeable presentation on the economic factors in Sweden and the appreciation of the Swedish Krona over the past few years, and how dependent Sweden is on their exports. In addition, he compared Sweden's GDP to the US and other nations, while illustrated that it cheaper for the previous J-term group to travel two years ago compared to the stronger economy we are visiting. To help us better understand the successes and downfalls of the Swedish economy, Cleas G. Alvstam provided students a  Manufacturing and Service of Sweden book that he helped write!

The next lecture was from Martin Öberg. Martin Öberg presented on the retail marketing industry specifically in relation to shopping centers. He discussed the architectural, design, and functionality of malls around the world. He said he had visited numerous malls around the world with students to discover the pros and cons of each facility and understand the functionality of malls.



The third lector was by Dr. Cheryl Marie Cordeiro. Dr. Cheryl Marie Cordeiro presented on the history of Sweden and Swedish management styles. She depicted the differences between a collaborative work environment versus a more singular work environment. She also hit upon the differences between a direct orders workforce versus and more free work environment. Being a rule breaker by heart, Dr. Cheryl Marie Cordeiro illustrated her struggles and successes of working in Sweden. On a side note...( I TOTALLY GOT TO HUG Singapore's Miss Universe!) She truly is "The Beauty with Brains."

The last lecture was from a PhD student who discussed the differences between American Culture and Swedish Culture through his experiences at the Michigan State. His presentation was highly personable and allowed the audience to truly relate to the differences between the two cultures. The bigge
st difference he presented was the capitalistic views of America versus  the Law of Jante. It was interesting hearing his opinions on political correctness as well.

It was a pleasure hearing all four lectures from Cleas G. Alvstam, Martin Öberg, Dr. Cheryl Marie Cordeiro, and the other PhD student! It was a great learning experience and an eye opener on the Swedish culture, economy, mentality, management styles, and retail functionality. Thank you for your time!

I can't believe students don't pay for school (taxes do) and they get libraries comparable to law school libraries in the United States! Super jealous...I'm telling you, if our library looked like this, you just might see me in there more...MIGHT! 

Leisure:

Because I had to work the night before on a project back at Carthage College overnight, my leisure time was spent in bed and blogging! ;)

Daily Reflections:

1. Erik Ekholm, Cleas G. Alvstam, Martin Öberg, Dr. Cheryl Marie Cordeiro, and the other PhD student are awesome!
2. If you want to make a viral video, then you must engage the customer, create emotion and surprise. 
3. I wish I would have went on the Sweden trip two years ago because it would have been cheaper
4. Swedish people are more similarly associated with Japan in management culture
5. Proper mall architecture is essential for success
6. Singapore's Miss Universe is gorgeous and smart
7. If you want to talk to a Swedish girls, just say hello! I'm American
8. Swedish People like to drink...ALOT! 
9. This country is awesome
10. The Law of Jante
1. You're not to think you are anything special.
2. You're not to think you are as good as us.
3. You're not to think you are smarter than us.
4. You're not to convince yourself that you are better than us.
5. You're not to think you know more than us.
6. You're not to think you are more important than us.
7. You're not to think you are good at anything.
8. You're not to laugh at us.
9. You're not to think anyone cares about you.
10. You're not to think you can teach us anything.

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