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Business Week Special 2012

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Scriptietip # 1:

KLEIN IS FIJN “Houd de hoofdvraag compact. Met een te wijdlopige probleemstelling loop je vroeg of laat vast.” Kijk voor meer tips op facebook.com/kpmgscriptiecoach. Of beter nog: schrijf je scriptie bij KPMG.

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Je kunt als bedrijf nog zo veel willen, je krijgt pas wat voor elkaar met goede mensen KPMG biedt accountancy- en adviesdiensten aan uiteenlopende organisaties. Alleen al in Nederland hebben we 4.000 medewerkers, verspreid over 15 kantoren. We zijn ambitieus: we willen op zo veel mogelijk terreinen de nummer één zijn in ons vak. Gááán! We zijn dan ook voortdurend op zoek naar talentvolle mensen met dezelfde passie. Zit jij zo in elkaar? Dan wordt het tijd om kennis te maken. Dat kan via www.gaaan.nu, ons talenten ambitieplatform. Gááán! helpt je bij je studie en je carrière en stelt je in staat contacten te leggen met KPMG’ers. Je vindt er ook alles over je carrièremogelijkheden. Aan de slag als accountant Bij KPMG Audit start je na je universitaire studie of hbo-opleiding als trainee. Je gaat direct aan de slag bij alle soorten klanten. Tegelijk volg je een opleiding tot registeraccountant. Daarna ben je gekwalificeerd registeraccountant en beëdigd om de financiële rapportage van ondernemingen te verzorgen. Of als adviseur Bij KPMG Advisory begin je als junior adviseur en start je direct met adviesopdrachten. Je volgt ook doelgerichte opleidingen. Afhankelijk van je universitaire studie en interesse kun je kiezen uit verschillende richtingen. Van organisatieadvies tot fusies en overnames en van het kwantificeren van complexe risico’s tot IT-advies. Waar je ook voor gaat: kansen genoeg om samen met je collega’s aan iets moois te bouwen. Wij zouden zeggen: Gááán! Meer informatie Ga naar www.gaaan.nu of maak een afspraak met het KPMG Recruitment Centre (020) 656 7162 of mail naar recruitment@kpmg.nl.

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Student Life: 15 World Leader Cycle Awards----------------------------------------------- 19 Moving pictures: Lytro Light Technology----------------------------------- 20 EFR Agenda--------------------------------------------------------------- 31 Are you really getting dumber?-------------------------------------------- 37 EFR Booksale------------------------------------------------------------- 56 Photo page---------------------------------------------------------------- 72 The EFR-Skitrip 2012----------------------------------------------------- 80 Buy a bear, save a life-----------------------------------------------------

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Tim Langstraat

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Sometimes I wonder whether we should let children run the world. Besides all the major wars not being over oil, but that other black gold, chocolate, it would do wonders for the solutions we could come up with. Telling a child to think out of the box is pointless: it knows no other way. Unfortunately, it is something that we’re taught not to do, in all kinds of endeavours: you’re told to just follow the recipe when cooking, just to plug in the formula when doing maths, or to draw inside the lines. This reminds me of a conversation I once had with a student I met. He had been accepted to Oxford, but before that, he had to do National Service in Singapore. There, he had been taught to think so inside the box that, when he finally arrived in Oxford after two years, a professor took him aside and told him that before he started studying, he needed to be taught to think again. In this issue, we’ve all tried to think again. To think of topics that truly are out of the box, that surprise you and maybe, just maybe, allow you to think out of the box as well.

World: 12 Make a Mess: Modernist cooking in Rotterdam--------------------------- 24 Interview: Jan-Kees de Jager--------------------------------------------- 26 Kinect: Thinking outside the XBox----------------------------------------- 39 Maximizing minimal space------------------------------------------------ 39 The Arab Spring: One year on…------------------------------------------- 40 Berlin: City of creativity--------------------------------------------------- 44 Interview with a blogger: Nalden.net-------------------------------------- 46 Masdar City: The city of the future----------------------------------------- 55 Troubles through space and time: why time travel is still possible-------- 58 Interview: Alexander Pechtold-------------------------------------------- 60 Innovation & Rotterdam: What makes this combination work?------------ 65 Crowdsourcing Science: How researchers are finding ways to use the crowd-68 Intercultural communication---------------------------------------------- 77 Tokyo Mania---------------------------------------------------------------

Colophon Editorial Address: Burgemeester Oudlaan 50 3062 PA Rotterdam, Kamer VB-24 Tel: 010 - 40 81 146 Fax: 010 - 40 82 892 E-mail: eclaire@efr.nl

Visual styling and printing: OCC dehoog media partners www.occ-dehoog.nl Editor in Chief: Tim Langstraat

Writers: Vanessa Abeyawardena Kim van Adrichem Martin Jaakola Leigh de Jager Nicole Stelea Winter van der Vlist Ashleigh Woodend Nadia Zafirah

Marketing officer: Sten Boerkamp, marketing@efr.nl Commercial officer: Joris Winkelman, commercial@efr.nl

Business Week:

6 RVI------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 8 BOV----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 The Business Week Program--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11 The Opening Day--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22 The Company Days------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 34 Business Week on Location---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 48 The Conference Day------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 62 The Closing Party-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 74 Letter from the Chairman-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Unconventional money-saving: The Islamic banking system------------------------------------------------------------- 32 Delta Lloyd: Verzekeraar van Nederland--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 36 Flora Holland: The flower auction of the world--------------------------------------------------------------------------- 50 Company under Spotlight: Amazon-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 52 Neuroeconomics--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 70 Akzo Nobel: A global environment--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 79

Entertainment: Louis Theroux------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 Boom Chicago: Humouring the opening day------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 51 Book Review: Dead Aid and How I lived a year on just a dollar a day------------------------------------------------------ 78 Out of the Box Gadgets--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 82

EFR Membership: Alissa Dauer, secretary.vp@efr.nl Subscription: Price: â‚Ź29 Contact EFR-Eclaire at eclaire@efr.nl

Frequency: Sent five times a year to all students of the Economic Faculty at the Erasmus University Rotterdam, including the one-time special edition: the EFREclaire Special with a

circulation of 26.000 copies. Copyright ÂŠ2012, EFR Circulation: 26.000 units Website: efr.nl/eclaire

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The Central Bureau of Statistics: Making statistics that count------------------------------------------------------------ 30

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Surprising advertising: beyond the ad------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 29

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Commerce:

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Welcome to the EFR-Business Week

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Evelien de Wit

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Do you want to stay ahead of the others and find your own way towards your career; you should start thinking out of the box. It refers to innovation which comes along with creativity. You need it for development and to avoid standing still or even moving backwards. But it isn’t something that has been taught in class how to develop such a skill. It is time to be aware of the value of unconventionally thinking!

Letter from the Chairman

In times where a university degree doesn’t guarantee you a job anymore, you have to design your own career and find your own way. Companies and politics won’t change the world for us; we have to do it ourselves. The period in which you have to graduate without getting a fine has been decreased. From now on you have to be creative and think beyond the boundaries to add value to your diploma and finally to your career. Even with restrictions and limits you can be innovative and reach your ultimate goal. It is all about focusing on the things you want and try to find a way to get there instead of limiting your goals based on the resources you have. Imagine the box itself, what is inside the box won’t bring you a step further if you don’t open it up and get rid of the cover. Thinking inside the box means accepting the status quo, there will be no changes or innovations. You know the marketing strategies and how to make a business model, but do you also know how to recognize the quality of an idea and to value it? It is very hard to pick the right idea that hasn’t proven to be a success yet. Especially when you keep in mind that ideas shouldn’t be improvements of old ones, but should be new and approached from a different perspective. If you are able to differentiate yourself from others towards your ideas and implementations, you will be the new Steve Jobs! The EFR-Business Week 2012 will give you the insight in how to think beyond the boundaries. The week has variable approaches of the days to inspire and stimulate your different interests. Meet the people and companies who will boost your creative mindset and start taking control of your career! Evelien de Wit Chairman of the EFR-Business Week 2012

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OUT of the BOX! At the end of March it is going to happen again: the EFRBusiness Week! This event will offer you a variety of unique experiences: you get the opportunity to meet world leaders and captains of industry during the Opening Day; you can talk face to face with prominent guests at the Conference Day and, last but not least, connect with your future employer during one of the Company Days.

Best regards, Thomas Dekker President of the 48th board

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The EFR Business Week committee made it its mission to stimulate creative thinking and wants to arouse you to think beyond the boundaries you’ve faced until now. It is for this reason that creative motivational speakers, innovative entrepreneurs and CEO’s will attend the Opening Day and tell their story. You will be surprised anyway; the theme Out of the Box will influence the entire week, and definitely will astonish you. My advice is simple: join the EFR-Business Week, get inspired and meet your ambition!

Presidential

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In fact ‘’thinking out of the box’’ is the solution of a conundrum, called the nine dots puzzle, used within Walt Disney to stimulate creative thinking. The challenge of the nine dots puzzle is to draw four straight, continuous lines without lifting your pencil in a 3x3 lattice of dots, which connect each of them. The puzzle is easily resolved, but only if you draw the lines outsides the confines of the square area defined by the nine dots themselves. The nine dots puzzle may seem hard because we imagine a boundary around the edge of the dot array. The conclusion to draw is that some challenges need an unconventional approach and dare you to think out of the box!

Thomas Dekker

This 28th edition of the EFR-Business Week will be guided by the intriguing theme Out of the Box. Let me tell you something about the origins of this management term. A management consultant for Walt Disney was the first who used the term in the way we know it nowadays.

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Board of Substance T

he Board of Substance aims to help guide the EFR-Business Week committee over their work. Offering a critical view towards the program, speakers, fund-raising and other attributes of the organization, the board also seeks to provide fresh ideas and solutions to vital issues. The EFR-Business week committee wants to thank this yearsâ€™ Board of Substance for their time, ideas and effort to make the 28th EFR-Business Week a success again.

Marco van Kalleveen, Senior Vice President at BainCapital London

Peter Mous, IBM Managing Director Integrated Account Philips & NXP

Rene Weijers, Managing Director at ING Wholesale Banking

Bart Schlatmann, COO Retail at ING

Jan-Willem Hoogeweegen, Manager Marketing & Business Development Consumentenbond

Deen Sonneveldt, Partner at Deloitte Accountants

Lex Hoogduin, Executive Director of De Nederlandsche Bank

Steven van Eijck, Voorzitter Actal and Chairman Dutch Advisory Board on Administrative Burden

Erik Hoving, Board Member KPN Asia

Henk Schmidt, Rector Magnificus Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam

Rob Westerhof, owner MeDaVinci PLC

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Bouwe Taverne, Head Sustainable Developments Rabobank Netherlands

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Board of Recommendation We want to thank the Board of Recommendation which consists of professionals from various industries. They support and recommend the EFR-Business Week to potential speakers and guests. Many of these members have appeared as speakers during the EFR-Business Week in the past, while others have been actively involved due to their relationship with Erasmus University Rotterdam and EFR. Mr. Achmed Aboutaleb, Mayor of Rotterdam Mr. José María Aznar López, Former Prime Minister of Spain Drs. ing. Peter Bakker, President of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development Mr. Tex Gunning, Managing Director Decorative Paints Akzo Nobel N.V.

Mr. Frederik de Klerk, Former President of the Republic of South Africa Mr. Wim Kok, Former Prime Minister of the Netherlands John Nash Jr, Nobel Prize Laureate Mr. Anton van Rossum, Former Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Erasmus University Rotterdam Mr. Jaap de Hoop Scheffe, Former Secretary-General NATO Prof. dr. Henk G. Schmidt, Rector Magnificus of the Erasmus University Mr. Donald J. Shepard, Former Chief Executive Officer Aegon N.V. Mr. Morris Tabaksblat, Former Chief Executive Officer Unilever and chairman Committee Corporate Governance Mr. Jeroen van der Veer, Former Chief Executive Officer Royal Dutch Shell plc Mr. Ben Verwaayen, Chief Executive Officer Alcatel-Lucent Mr. Hans Wijers, Chief Executive Officer Akzo Nobel N.V. Mr. Jakob Kellenberger, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross Mr. Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Secretary General NATO Prof. mr. dr. Jan Peter Balkenende, Former Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mrs. Pauline van der Meer Mohr, President Executive Board of Erasmus University Rotterdam

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Dr. Alexander Rinnooy Kan, Chairman of the Social Economic Council of the Netherlands (SER)

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Mr. Jean-Claude Juncker, Prime Minister of Luxembourg

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Dr. P. Moerland, Chief Executive Officer Rabobank N.V.

De kroon op je studie

HEINEKEN BUSINESS COURSE 2012 // 23 - 25 MEI Nu je bijna bent afgestudeerd, wordt het tijd om de kroon op je studie te zetten. Met de HEINEKEN Business Course ontdek je of je klaar bent voor de uitdagingen van HEINEKEN in jouw vakgebied. Hoe? Je daagt jezelf drie dagen lang uit met een real life opdracht. Je werkt intensief samen met andere topstudenten. Je krijgt grondige feedback van je coach. Maar je ontmoet ook toekomstige collega’s. En je proeft de sfeer bij een wereldconcern. De HEINEKEN Business Course is dan ook een prachtige ervaring om je carrière mee te starten. Heb jij talent voor Finance, Productie/Supply Chain, Marketing/Sales, IT of HR? Schrijf je dan in vóór 1 april 2012 op www.heinekenbusinesscourse.nl

facebook.com/Heinekenbusinesscourse

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Week

Program Company Days – March 29th, April 2nd & April 3rd Find out how companies act out of the box to stay ahead of their competitors. With the three Company Days and the Company Dinner you’ll have the opportunity to design your career right away.

Business Week on Location – March 30th – April 1st Next to Rotterdam is another creative Europeancity, named Berlin. During this three-day study trip you’ll see how exactly Berlin stimulates creativity. Visits to headquarters and start-ups will give you a whole new insight.

Conference Day – April 4th The interactivity and informality are what characterize the Conference Day. You could, for example, be in a discussion together with a CEO and a politician at your table. Guests from various backgrounds will be there for you to debate with about the future of students and society.

Party – April 5th To end off the week, we’ll organize a smashing party at an exclusive location. Together with other students you can act for one night out of the box.

Opening Day

Thursday March 29th

Company Day

Friday March 30th - Sunday April 1st

Business Week on Location

Monday April 2

Company Day

Tuesday April 3rd

Company Day and Company Dinner

Wednesday April 4th

Conference Day

Thursday April 5

Party

EFR-Business Week Committee 2012 EFR is organizing the EFR-Business Week for the 28th time. It has become one of the biggest and most prominent student congresses in Western Europe. Many important world leaders shared their visions with us in previous years, and we’ve visited countless excelling companies. This year, we have had the pleasure of organizing EFR-Business Week 2012. Six enthusiastic students set themselves down for nine months to organize the 28th edition of the EFR-Business Week. We all had the same goal in mind: organize an event which will be an eye-opener for students and will blow their minds. It is time for students to start thinking out of the box to add value to their diplomas and careers. Times are changing for students, so it is important to be prepared for career-changing opportunities.

EFR-Business Week Committee 2012 Evelien de Wit Chairman Pieter van Wijk Commissioner Opening Day Frank van der Knaap Commissioner Company Days Jeroen Verhoeff Commercial Officer and Business Week on Location Manou Lourens Commissioner Conference Day Michel Goedhart Marketing Officer

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The week starts with an inspirational and motivated conference on March 28th. World leaders and prominent guests are invited to the Erasmus University to talk about their personal story and interests. Experience this lively conference with various speeches, music and art.

Wednesday March 28th

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Opening Day – March 28th

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EFR-Business Week 2012

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Tokyo Mania Y

ou never need an excuse for a holiday. Many people even work year-round to go to their dream destination. This article may just provide you with an idea for your next holiday adventure: a trip to Tokyo! This city is always alive and especially on weekends the hard-working Japanese let their hair down and relax in the public parks at Harajuku where people-watching is the main event. Below are some tips that will guide you through this wonderful and crazy city.

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By Kim van Adrichem

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Where to Stay There are two places which offer the hectic lifestyle of this city; Shinjuku and Shibuya, of which Shinjuku is the better choice. Shinjuku is famous for its very large train/metro station which features 210 exits and has 5 million people passing through on a daily basis. Basically, Shinjuku is a very good location from which to travel to other parts of the city. For a view of the city, go up 202 meters at the government offices building and be stunned by the sprawling landscape that houses more than 13 million people. The city

is not exceptionally large, because everything is compact and small. Your hotel room will be tiny. This is a fact. But the tininess of all things Tokyo has a special charm.

Where to Eat In Asian culture, food is very important. However, the Japanese have created very un-Asian restaurants that are unique in every aspect. One of the ways to discover such places is by playing the â€˜elevator button gameâ€™. In Shinjuku, there are 5 restaurants located on each floor

of most buildings in the main area with elevators that will take you up to them. Pick a random number, get out of the elevator, see if you like the look of the place, and then decide whether to go in. I have ended up in restaurants where the only way to order was via an iPad which was installed at each table, one where everyone was seated in round balls, and one where the table is surrounded by aquariums on all sides (a staircase will take you down to the hallways situated below). In another restaurant an edible body is wheeled into the room and you then

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Asakusa is probably the city’s most touristy location. The authentic large red Buddhist temples are a sight to behold. After you have admired them, you may want to stroll around the area and try one of the obscure cafes from the 1930s and go to an onsen. An onsen is a public bath where men and women, separated, can enjoy 40 degree hot spring water while completely nude. Note: you are not the only user of this service… older women may also freely enter and wash their naked bodies right before your eyes. Other interesting experiences include a visit to the Shibuya crossing

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Where to Go

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must operate on it to extract the edible food inside, covered in blood. There are maid-themed cafes for those with a certain fetish who want to be called ‘master’ and have their heads patted like a baby, a blood-red vampire café for those desiring vampire-themed meals, and there is even a chain of Catholic restaurants where you can eat upon the altar beneath a statue of the Virgin Mary and stained glass windows. The conveyer belt sushi places are a must-try; for just 7 Euros you can choose a couple of plates of sushi (10x better quality than Sumo) from a rotating food display.

where the sidewalks diagonally cross one another, and a trip to the Shibuya mall where 5 stories of tiny boutiques sell all types of clothing; do note that all clothes there are one size fit all and seeing as the Japanese are tiny we Dutch have little chance to successfully shop at these establishments. It is also worth it to take a day trip up to Nikko where a samurai shrine sits in the middle of the forest. The trip also takes you to the waterfall and past gorgeous blossoms in the Spring season. Another option for an out-of-the-city trip would be one going up Mount Fuji. Tokyo is a dynamic city where you will discover that even when people don’t speak your language, you can still find great entertainment value from the bizarre and crazy that Tokyo offers. If this city was not yet on your travel wish list, I hope that you will reconsider and add it, because Tokyo is a place where strange magic happens.

NS is volop in beweging. Ga mee

Kijk voor meer informatie op www.werkenbijns.nl

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Buy a bear, save a life Bear Necessities

any charities exist already that deal with fundraising for children in need, homeless individuals and mistreated animals. It is sometimes difficult to recognize them all and know what they stand for, especially if there is nothing unique about them. However, a recently started charity seems to stand out: Uniting Global Communities through Aid. By Leigh de Jager

The basics UGCA was mainly founded by students who all attended the International School of Hilversum. Marzieh Talebi and Pieter Bier started the charity in 2008, during their last year of high school. The ideology behind it was

that they believed education was the key to ending poverty. To do this UGCA organised conferences for tertiary level students in order to teach them about aid work. UGCA aims to provide children who live in poverty stricken areas, with opportunities to obtain a better future.

Unique? UGCA is one of the only NGOs in the world which has no overhead costs and where 100% of the revenue will go to the cause that is advertised. As the charity operates on a small scale it is possible to track the funds and see how the funds are actually spent. UGCA also now has a project in Kibera as a way to demonstrate why education is so important in these regions, for example to break the poverty cycle. This project deals with food, nutrition,

In the Kibera region of Kenya, in cooperation with Care for Kenya, the Bear Necessities revolves around the making and selling of teddy bears. Each bear is unique and is made by some of the Women’s Groups in Kibera, and cards are included which were designed and made by the boys in rehabilitation centres. The project only kicked off in January 2012, to provide adequate food and nutrition for boys in rehabilitation centres. The initial funds to finance the project were gathered by the first edition teddy bears, made by UGCA staff themselves. To get a better idea of how the charity will sustain itself, the first edition bears will be sold and with the proceeds of this sale, rice will be bought for the boys in the rehabilitation centres. The Women’s Groups then receive the empty rice packages to create new bears. The second edition of bears is then sold, and the cycle continues. The funds gathered are then used for all of the aspects of the Kibera project and is hoped to become self-sustainable by February 2012.

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housing, sanitation, education and mentoring. The mentoring teaches the children things such as discipline and organization. To fund this project they created a new project: The Bear Necessities.

" Don’t Bandage. Cure." Save a life with a bear.

For more information just visit: http://www.ugca.nl/

E n t e rtai n m e n t

Louis Theroux W

ell-known by many for his unconventional interviewing style, Louis Theroux has exposed ‘the genuinely odd in the most ordinary setting.’ With his blunt honesty, open curiosity and shaggy appearance, Theroux often proves to be somewhat of a contradiction in the strange settings he chooses to report on.

By Ashleigh Woodend

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on their daily errands and questioning their motivations and thoughts in an extremely unpresuming manner. In an episode in which Theroux meets with convicted murderers on the streets of Johannesburg, he is able to talk rather casually with a pair of murderers about their motivations for killing. The bluntness and honesty between both interviewer and interviewee is astounding, especially given that environment and the nature of their brutal crimes. All the while Theroux remains straight-faced and keeps all emotion under check.

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Louis’s charm

Theroux through time Theroux was born in Singapore to American travel writer and novelist Paul Theroux. He moved to the United Kingdom at the age of 4 and grew up in London. After studying at Magdalen College, Oxford, Theroux moved to the United States where he pursued journalism. During this time he worked as a correspondent on Michael Moore’s TV Nation series, providing segments on bizarre cultural occurrences, including Jerusalem syndrome, and the Ku Klux Klan’s pursuit to rebrand itself as a civil rights group for white people. when national TV came to an end, Theroux began filming his own series entitled Louis Theroux’s Weird Weekends on the BBC.

Louis Theroux’s Weird Weekends In this series, Theroux follows mostly American subcultures that fall under the category of controversial. Some of his more astounding meetings have been with Survivalists, Black Nationalists, Nazis, devout Christians, porn stars, swingers and convicted killers. In most of his documentaries, Theroux actually lives with the subjects for a specified amount of time, accompanying them

Theroux’s poker-face is one of the things that make his documentaries so special and that probably allows him to get as much access as he does. Whether he is talking to Christians who vehemently despise homosexuals and call themselves the ‘Angels of Hate,’ or with felons who live by a gladiatorial code of fighting in Miami’s mega-jail, Theroux is almost child-like in his curiosity. He passes little judgment, but serves rather as the voice of reason, often riling on his interviewees by doing so. Thus, Theroux is somewhat more of an educator than anything else. Although the information he conveys through his documentaries is perturbing and disquieting at best, he allows many of us to see and attempt to understand the more outlandish human beings among us. Since his emergence other reporters have also adopted his gonzo style of reporting, including Lisa Ling who previously co-hosted on The View and is a special correspondent to CNN. Sometimes funny

and sometimes down-right absurd; Theroux’s documentaries always leave you with food for thought. If you haven’t seen any of his work yet: go see it now! It’s more than interesting, and might even leave you a bit better a human being in the end.

Hydrocarbons and low carbons living in harmony. To meet the energy demands of today and tomorrow we need a mix of hydrocarbons and low carbons. Thatâ€™s why BP is using the latest technology to discover and recover more oil and gas in the North Sea. We are also investing in a major biofuels facility in Hull and funding a ÂŁ250m global research programme into advanced biofuels with lower greenhouse gas emissions. It all adds up to a more dependable energy future. Find out more at bp.com/energymix

+ Oil

+ Gas

+ Wind

+ Biofuels

Efficiency

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Rijkswaterstaat verbindt! Bij Rijkswaterstaat werken we aan verbindingen. Over weg en water. Met de politiek, met aannemers en (vaar) weggebruikers. Tussen maatschappelijke dilemmaâ€™s en eďŹ€ectieve oplossingen. En natuurlijk met onze medewerkers, want verbinden begint bij je eigen mensen. Kijk op www.rijkswaterstaat.nl naar de uitdagende projecten die we op dit moment uitvoeren op weg en water. Meer informatie www.rijkswaterstaat.nl of bel 0800 - 8002 (ma t/m zo 06.00 - 22.30 uur, gratis)

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World Leader Cycle award ceremony - 31st of January 2012 Andrius Kubilius - Prime Minister of Lithuania

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Moving pictures:

Lytro Light Technology

hat do the Loch Ness monster, UFOs, and a football player caught cheating on his wife all have in common? Well, certainly tabloids claim these happen much more often than reality would indicate. Strangely enough, these claims are always accompanied by stirring tales, and unreliable out-offocus photographs. I have always wondered why this is; certainly it is not unreasonable to assume that out of the thousands of extraordinary claims about UFOs, one could at least have a decent photograph.

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By Martin Jaakola

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This problem may now have been solved by a revolutionary new technology released in 2011. Lytro light technology now allows users to adjust the focus of a camera after the initial image has already been captured. Simply uploading the photograph onto a computer and then using the software package that comes with the specially equipped camera allows users to clean up any blurry images worth keeping. Recreationally, this would be useful for almost anyone. Photography is all about capturing the moment, a moment that may occur only once. All of the Lytro cameras implement a light field sensor with light rays flowing into many different directions capturing far more information than a traditional digital camera. Processing the extra information is a complicated mathematical process, so the cameras contain a light field engine that allows users to refocus pictures as many times as they need after the picture has been taken.

This technology has implications that go beyond recreation. For people that take pictures professionally, such as sports or nature photographers, capturing the winning goal of a football match only to have it turn out blurry means missing out on thousands of euros. Furthermore, security cameras could begin to incorporate this feature in less than five years, catching the faces of thieves otherwise unrecognizable by normal security cameras. Simply put, the future of photography, or even videography, may be heading in an entirely automated direction in which software cleans up every feature that photographers prize.

you’re entirely wrong. Mark my words, if your goal is to get your work to stand out from the crowd (as good art does), then you’ll need to focus all the more.” This, among other issues such as there only being one model, unfortunately highlight the many limitations that have yet to be solved.

This is where the debate gets started. Chase Jarvis, an established photographer who is not in support of Lytro Lite becoming mainstream states the following on his blog: “If you think that your photos are going to be better in the future because you don’t have to pick the moment or focus on your subject,

With the introduction of Lytro Lite technology, recreational users could reap the benefits and even professional photographers will eventually find this useful. On the other hand, traditional camera work may prevail and in the end still be important. The future of this company is not certain, however one thing that will be is that even with this technology available we will continue to get reports of UFOs, Bigfoot, and other mythical happenings supported by unfocused photographs. At the end of the day, some things will never change.

‘It’s the new

age of photography‘

Dit is jouw kans om bij een organisatie te werken die je meer mogelijkheden, meer uitdaging en meer voldoening biedt. Een organisatie waar teamwork en samenwerking voorop staan. En een organisatie die pioniert in technologische ontwikkelingen en 94 bedrijven uit de Fortune Global 100 nieuwe wegen tot succes helpt ontdekken. We hebben zo veel te bieden, dat je nieuwe carriĂ¨restappen kunt blijven nemen zonder van werkgever te wisselen. Ontmoet Accenture en ontdek hoe groot je kunt zijn. Ga naar Accenture.nl/carriere

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Opening Day EC LAIRE

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o you remember the feeling you had when a new world opened its doors to you? The feeling you are discovering things you had never imagined they existed, feeling like some kind of evolution of your former ignorant self. You might have had this feeling when you moved out of your parents’ house, when you fell in love for the first time or when you met someone so inspiring he changed your vision of the world completely. Giving you this extraordinary feeling is what we aim to do on March the 28th. Our goal is to give you the inspiration and the tools to start changing the world as you walk out of the door. Why? Because we believe students are not getting triggered enough to do so in their daily lives. Instead, we get stimulated to fit in the cookie-cutter models university, government and corporations have shaped for us and start making profits as early as possible without taking into account your uniqueness. We want to give you the creative impulses and space you need to figure out how to add value to society by blending your own unique set of skills and experiences with your environment. This year it’s not called the Opening Day because it’s the kick-off congress of the EFR-Business Week, it’s called the Opening Day because being there will open new doors for you. To reach this, we ask you to come with an open mindset and a motivation to interact with people you have never met. This event is not about consuming ideas. This event is about using the creativity of those we have selected to fuel your own imagination. It’s not a stage where existing ideas are presented, it’s a platform where new ideas are born. This is how it works in 9 steps: 1. Buy your ticket for the Opening Day at efr-businessweek.nl: €5 only for students of all universities 2. Come to the Erasmus University aula on March the 28th at 3PM 3. Pick up your badge so everyone can clearly read your first name, grab a drink and have a chat with the artists exposing their vision of Out of the Box in the entry hall 4. Choose a seat in the aula and get inspired by the visuals of the guys who used the world’s first triangular LED screen to make a DJ booth, the guy who developed the Obama ’08 app, one of the key political figures of the European Union, the guy who can teach a 10 year old exactly how Darwin’s theory of evolution made us who we are, the guy who plans to rival Coca-Cola using organic products and many more. 5. Use your 25 minutes break to get in touch with the speaker you liked most and exchange your ideas with one of the 200 businessmen or entrepreneurs who will be present. Have a drink and a bite and make yourself ready for the second part of the show. 6. Join four CEO’s of multinationals in their talks about the future of our land, experience how one crazy idea can enter history with the help of social media, experience the passion behind the fastest car ever made, let the best

connected 21 year old of the planet tell you his secrets and learn how to boost your networking skills by interacting with one of Holland’s most promising entrepreneurs. 7. Share the dinner table with people you haven’t met before and ask them how they plan to change the world. 8. Have more drinks and enjoy the feeling of having a world full of new possibilities opened to you. Join conversations with your favorite speakers and present them your own ideas. 9. Start changing the world as you walk out of the door. Check out our full list of speakers and why they will change your life at efr-businessweek.nl

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B u si n e ss Week

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Make a Mess:

Modernist cooking in Rotterdam

ess is the first culinary workshop in Rotterdam. At first sight, the hypermodern kitchen looks more like a laboratory than a kitchen. No stoves or steamers, but precision immersion heaters, nitrogen tanks and distillation towers. In here, the chefs of Mess are systematically developing new culinary concepts and products on a day-to-day basis.

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By Frank van der Knaap

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Mess is the business initiative of Tijmen Meijer and Roeland Flierman, two former TU-Delft students. After a few years of working in business, they decided to start their own venture. The key was the combination of love for physics and for cooking. The methods of Mess fit in with the young tradition of the modernist kitchen. With the inspiring lead of chefs like Heston Blumenthal of The Fat Duck and Ferran Adria of El Bulli in the past few years, a lot has changed in the way we look at gastronomy. At the expense of tradition, knowledge of physics has taken the lead in the development of dishes: the kitchen as a laboratory. These methods have enriched the culinary world with all sorts of new techniques and preparations. At Mess, knowledge of products is key in the choice or the development of preparations. For example, the preparation of meat involves a complex protein response influenced by temperature, rather than time. A perfect rosĂŠ steak is 54.4 degrees Celsius. This has led to a new technique of preparing the meat, in which it is packed in a vacuum container and submersed in a pool of water at exactly 54.4 degrees. The water heats up the meat to the precise

temperature, giving you a steak to die for. Every season Mess develops a completely new menu via a series of creative and experimental sessions. Not only the technique, but the product and the origin of the product are a great source of inspiration. Last season Mess developed a completely modern menu around venison, inspired by the Dutch Veluwe-area.

the kitchen as a laboratory The guests of Mess are welcome to join in during one of the many workshops in the modern kitchen. The workshop can be booked for receptions and private dining, and Mess will provide exclusive catering on every possible location.

The EFR-Business Week Company Dinner will be held at Factory 010, Maassilo. A unique location next to the Maas. The guys of Mess will prepare a dinner that is gonna be totally Out of the Box. Make sure you join this unforgettable experience and subscribe with your CV and Motivation before March 12th!

JIJ MAAKT HET BIJ PEPSICO! 19C-100Y

Bij PepsiCo zijn onze medewerkers de sleutel tot het succes. Elke dag kun jij het verschil maken. We blijven groeien, omdat we toptalent aantrekken, ontwikkelen en behouden. PepsiCo biedt je de mogelijkheid je ambities waar te maken. Wil jij het maken bij PepsiCo? Kijk op www.pepsico.nl/careers voor onze vacatures

100C-70Y-30K

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Jan-Kees de Jager J

an-Kees de Jager is an accomplished entrepreneur and, since 2010, the Dutch Minister of Finance. In the time he has been of Minister of Finance, major changes occurred in the Euro-Territory and he oversaw some of the largest budget cuts in our national history. In his schedule, he found time to talk to us. We’ve asked him to give his view on our theme “Out of the Box”. EFR-Business Week-Committee: The theme of this year’s EFR-Business Week is “Out of the Box”; with this theme we want to inspire students to develop creative ideas into valuable innovations and entrepreneurial actions. Could you give us your vision on our theme, “Out of the Box”? Minister De Jager: I think it’s a great theme. To me, “Out of the box” represents thinking in an open innovation model. By exchanging ideas that aren’t limited to preset boundaries, we must try to realize jump innovations. I am a proponent of connecting different disciplines, so optimal innovations can be found. Sometimes you can create something completely new by connecting two existing things. A good example is the Philips’ Senseo coffee maker. The Senseo isn’t a jump forward in technology, but it is a great innovation because a coffee producer and electronics developer came up with a concept and implemented it in such a way that it became a worldwide success. So combining these disciplines is for me a way of innovating and, as a consequence of this, realizing paradigm shifts. These paradigm shifts can lead to welfare jumps and in history you can see that these jumps lead to a big increase in productivity.

EFR-BW: During your study you started your own company. What was your motivation to start your own company? Minister De Jager: While studying I could never focus on just one thing. I was in the board of the National Political Youth Organization of the CDA and member of a student fraternity. Entrepreneurship is one of the things that has attracted me since I was young, when I started my own used-toy business. In university, together with my roommate, I started a company in multimedia expressions.

We did this by connecting two of my interests, economics and technology.

EFR-BW: How will you stimulate students to start their own business? Minister De Jager: I think the most important thing is that you have to excite people for entrepreneurship. Role models can show them that entrepreneurship is useful. Important innovations often happen in an entrepreneurial setting because it stimulates an open mind. Unfortunately, large corporations, which are generally favoured by talented Dutch students, are not always capable of thinking out of the box. If you compare this to the United States, students have a bias for start-ups or starting their own companies. So we have to change the attitude of the Dutch student. We can do this by showing them that besides working for the government or a large corporation, starting your own company is a truly interesting way as well.

EFR-BW: To end off this interview, could you respond to the following statement: “To deal with a crisis we have to invest in education”. Minister De Jager: I agree with this statement, this is why out of the 18 billion in cuts, not a single euro is lost in the education department. The extra money that is paid by students who need extra time to finish their bachelor or master flows straight back into the quality of your education. And, as a student, you should always realize that the private gains of education are larger than the public gains. At the end of the day, the student is the one that profits most of his study.

‘Stel je voor… jouw inbreng

is belangrijk voor het vermogen van 4,5 miljoen mensen’ Alejandra Lopez Rodriguez, risk controller bij APG Asset Management in Amsterdam

      PG  beheert pensioenvermogen miljoenen APG Asset altijd     ‘A  het       van     Management      is  op zoek  ben risk en bewaak dat   naar jonge     mensen.   Ik hier  controller     professionals      voor  verschillende      beleggingsspecialisten      verantwoordelijk omgaan stages en traineeships.     met  hun  beleggingsportefeuille.        Ik   toets of  de risico’s     diezijnemen,   passen  binnen   deafgesproken  beheert   zo’n 275   euro  pensioenvermogen.  APG miljard     grenzen.   Wat                            mijn werk boeiend maakt, is de Wij hebben kantoren in Heerlen, Amsterdam, 

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dynamiek van de financiële markten. Ik sta altijd klaar om snel te reageren en met afdelingen te overleggen over maatregelen. Als het nodig is, kom ik direct in actie.’

Hong Kong en New York.Wil je meer weten? Stel je voor… www.werkenbijapg.nl

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Surprising Advertising: beyond the ad

The power of you Personal branding is as old as time itself. Most of the time when people mention it, it’s a catchphrase meaning you need to market yourself, your personality, as a commodity. But what happens when someone decides that this is interesting, but not radical enough? That thought is what motivated Jason Sadler to start his own company. Down on his luck in 2009, he decided it would be a good idea to sell his own body to the highest bidder. In return for him wearing a t-shirt with the company’s logo on it, he would get an arbitrary amount of money. The business took off. Now, in 2012, he employs 4 other people to wear t-shirts as well, earning him around 670.000 dollars in revenue. Why is this such a successful way of advertising? The reason for this is simple. It’s a very simple form of peer marketing. Instead of having to rely on someone to talk to other people about your product, all someone has to do is wear your logo, and look presentable. Our minds will fill in the blanks, and

So, you’ve decided that hiring someone to wear t-shirts isn’t really your thing. Instead of hoping that people will get the hint by looking at your logo, you’d rather beam your message straight into someone’s head. However, that’s not possible yet, is it? Unfortunately for the paranoid among us, it is. In the United States, a company has been developing a device that’ll allow you to shoot a concentrated beam of sound straight at someone, so that the only person who hears your message is your intended target. The technology originally came from the US Army, who wanted to use it for psychological warfare. Ad companies, never shying away from using unethical means, decided to appropriate it for themselves. The technique hasn’t been used yet, mostly because it hasn’t been approved yet for public use. However, as soon as the government gives the okay, the ad industry will find a way to use it. Maybe you’ll suddenly hear a voice in the supermarket telling you to buy the other brand of cornflakes today, or perhaps movie studios will try and use this to sell their latest horror movie, with a serial killer breathing down your neck. The possibilities are endless.

Changing history Over the last 100 years, a lot of great movies and TV-series have been made. It comes as no surprise to any of us that product placement has been around for most of that time as well. In the early 1920’s, newspapers were complaining about product placement, and that it was immoral. Most of the

That’s exactly what’s been happening over the past few years. Slowly, ad companies have been rewriting the TV-shows and movies that we know, by changing billboards and even products to newer, updated versions. It started out slow, with billboards being changed in football matches, but nowadays they can even change that old, outdated Walkman to a new iPod. It’s retroactive product placement. As you can see, advertising will continue to evolve. As we pick up on the old tricks, companies will think of new ways of getting us to buy their products. It’ll be interesting to see where this development will take us.

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Getting under people’s skin

product placement in those movies has been for products that are now no longer available. At some point in time, someone must’ve thought that that space would be better suited to a new purpose.

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By Tim Langstraat

assume that since that person looks trustworthy, the brand on his or her shirt must be as well. You get maximum results, with a minimal amount of effort.

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e are confronted with advertising on a daily basis. Whether it’s travelling to work, watching TV or just reading a magazine, it’s almost impossible to skip out on your daily dose of ads. But while we can just close our eyes to the buses and their large prints (but don’t, because that’s a good way to get into an accident), sometimes the campaigns are a bit more ingenious than a simple “buy our stuff”. So, what happens if marketing companies truly get inventive?

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The Central Bureau for Statistics: Making statistics that count To contact the CBS for an internship, call them at 070-337 57 68 or send an email to stageverzoek@cbs.nl

he Central Bureau for Statistics is an ever-present companion in our lives. Whether we’re looking up the growth of our economy, the amount of jobs created or how many students are attending university, we’re always using their statistics. We’ve got an opportunity to talk to one of their statisticians, Erik Veldhuizen, about his job, and what the CBS means to him.

Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek

By Tim Langstraat

EC LAIRE

Eclaire: First of all, thank you for doing this interview. To start off, could you briefly introduce yourself?

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Erik Veldhuizen: Sure. I’m Erik Veldhuizen, and I’ve been working at the CBS for the past 6 years. I studied Business Economics at Erasmus until 1999. After that, I started studying at the Technical University Delft, to do both my Master’s and PhD. While finishing my PhD there, I started working for the CBS. Four days a week I worked at the CBS, and they gave me one day a week to finish my degree. When I was done, I started work full-time at the CBS. Now I work the National Accounts department of the CBS, in the economics department.

EC: So the CBS was very helpful in allowing you to finish your degree. Could you tell me more about the organization? EV: The Central Bureau for Statistics is responsible for most of the statistics that you’ll see in everyday life. If you turn on the evening news and hear a report on the growth of the economy, those figures came from us. But we don’t just report economic statistics at the CBS. There are three pillars in the CBS: social statistics, business statistics and economic statistics. The social part deals with things like crime rates and population growth, while the business side focuses more on, for example, productivity increases. Finally, economic statistics, where I work, does the economic calculations, such as the calculation of total expenses of the population. EC: What kind of people work at the CBS? EV: I think that at the CBS, just like in any organization, there are a lot of different people. You don’t have one ‘type’ of person, not in personality, nor in background. There are

economists, business analysts, mathematicians, and we’ve even got psychologists working here. There is one thing that you see in everyone here, though: a passion for statistics. Everyone here works hard to make sure that all the statistics are delivered on time, and of course that they are precise.

EC: Does the CBS help students who want to come and work at the CBS? EV: Definitely. When I started working for the CBS, about six years ago, I was still working on my PhD. They offered me, as they do every student, the opportunity to take one day a week to work on my education. If you’re writing your thesis, you can also do an internship, and work on actual research. The result of that can easily be used to write a very good thesis. And, if you’re ambitious, the CBS offers training programs, so that you can grow more within the organization. We try to never have anyone work in a position for longer than five years, before they move on to a different job. EC: What can people look forward to when they come and work here? EV: Contrary to what most people think, you won’t be spending all your time calculating statistics. You’ll be in meetings, writing explanations of statistics, doing presentations, and even travelling. For example, we’ve just received a delegation from Vietnam, who wants us to come to Vietnam and work with them. But I think, most of all, you’ll see an open, dedicated culture with hardworking people and a lot of passion. You’ll be working on relevant statistics, making real contributions to society. I think the most significant thing to look forward to is the contribution: you’ll be making real statistics that count.

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Unconventional money saving: the Islamic banking system

he 2008 financial crisis and other major economic crises taught us something about the banking system. The major conventional banking system as we know it is not perfect and, since it resulted in the current crisis, fundamentally flawed. However, most people save their money in this way because to many of us, it’s the only way to save other than burying money underground or in a bunker somewhere. Little do we know, there is a viable option that is safe and rewarding which is in Islamic banks. This unconventional way has made its way out of the Middle East countries and into the rest of the world in the early nineties. We’ll see more on how it works, the advantages and disadvantages of this method and whether it can replace the regular banking later in the article. By Nadia Zafirah

What is Islamic banking?

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Islamic banking is a banking system which follows Islamic law and has its application in the Islamic economies. It does not allow transactions that involve businesses which engage

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‘Nonetheless, just like conventional banking, Islamic banking also needs to make a profit.’ in trading of alcohol, porcine food products or gambling. The providers and customers do not have to be Muslim but they have to follow the Islamic banking rules. Unlike the regular banking from the west, this banking system does not allow any type of interest for money lending. Nonetheless, just like conventional banking, Islamic banking also needs to make a profit: they do this through transaction fees, which are in accordance to Islamic law. By applying profit and loss sharing methods, Islamic banking can make a profit from profit sharing (mudaraba), joint venture, safekeeping and leasing. In the profit sharing method, banks first ask the depositors to store funds into the banks for unrestricted mudaraba. The funds will be provided by banks to entrepreneurs for businesses that are in accordance to Islamic law. The profits from the entrepreneurs will then be distributed to the banks and their depositors according to the agreed agreement. In the case of a mortgage, banks can first buy the house for the owner at a certain price, only to be bought back later at a higher price and possibly in installments.

Islamic banking vs conventional western banking The prohibition of lending money at interest is the advantage of Islamic banking. This way, customers and banks have a closer relationship and the cost of loans can be discussed between the parties instead of following the interest rate that applies in the country. So, when bank interest rates change, Islamic banking customers are not affected greatly.

Regardless, there are disadvantages to Islamic banking that don’t make it much better than conventional banking. Islamic banking does not apply interest in loans but it still applies handling fees in the process. This handling fee is similar to interest in the way that it causes costs to occur when customers want to borrow some money. Furthermore, there is lack of information on Islamic banking that many customers who opt for this banking system do not actually know what they are choosing.

“…it is only 40 years old and it’s competing with a conventional finance system that is over 800 years old.” There have been reports that many banks that carry the brand “Sharia banking” in countries that only follow conventional economy law do not actually conform to the Sharia law. To acquire the “Sharia banking” label, banks seek advice from Sharia scholars who understand the laws. However, if the bank is not “Sharia law” approved, banks can continue to search for Sharia scholars who would deem their banks as Islamic. This happens, for example, in Malaysia, where banking practices are used that might never be allowed had it happened in the Middle East. The free of interest banking system of Islamic banking can be seen as a prospective alternative of the conventional banking system. However, at the moment they each serve different groups of customer and thus, cannot replace each other. As Majid Dawood, a UK-based Islamic finance consultant quoted in the BBC article, “Yes, the industry has to evolve, but it is only 40 years old and it’s competing with a conventional finance system that is over 800 years old.”

Werken bij Nestlé...

Nestlé is internationaal de absolute marktleider in voedingsmiddelen, The World Food Company No.1. Een wereld waar naast Marketing en Sales, jouw ontwikkeling centraal staat. Nestlé biedt jaarlijks een aantal talenten de kans om ons commerciële traject het Young Talent Programme te volgen, om zo in korte tijd uit te groeien tot top marketeer, category manager of sales specialist. Het doel van Nestlé is om je na een algemene startervaring in sales, jouw talenten verder te laten ontplooien binnen de volle breedte van commercie: Category-, Account- of Marketing Management. Tijdens de Nestlé Young Talent Business Course in het voorjaar, vindt de selectie voor dit traject plaats. Wil je net als onze collega’s op een persoonlijke en betrokken manier bezig zijn met onze producten? Kijk dan voor meer informatie op www.nestle.nl

The world is waiting for you

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week

COMPANY T

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he Company Days are about offering you a platform to find out how the biggest companies of The Netherlands have implemented out of the box solutions to stay ahead of the competition. You, as a participant, will get a chance to show recruiters how capable you are to think and act outside the box during the Company Days and the Company Dinner. The perfect occasion to bring into practice all the creativity the Opening Day has unleashed in you!

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The companies that participate during the EFR-Business Week are active in different industries. Whether you are interested in banks, logistics, marketing, consultants, the energy market, the public sector or the chemical industry, one of the companies will surely fit your interests.

Company dinner April 3rd In a nutshell: One student meeting, three companies. During this evening you get the opportunity to compare different companies in an informal setting. Recruiters will present themselves and tell you more about the opportunities they represent. This dinner is the perfect chance to orientate yourself with three different companies that could potentially employ you in the near future. The dinner is held at the industrial Factory 010 and will be prepared by Mess: a highly innovative company, that cooks according to the modernist kitchen principles. Dine with three different companies during the appetizer, main course and dessert and take the opportunity to meet three of the participating organizations, while having a luxurious dinner at an unforgettable location!

Do you know where to start your future career? The Company Days are the event to find out! In-house days, March 29th, April 2nd & April 3rd During the in-house days, you will receive a comprehensive insight into the company you are interested in. The aim of these days is to feel the energy of the work floor and get to know more about the company. You will get the unique opportunity to discover available internships, trainee ships and day-to-day activities. These day-to-day activities will be presented by the employees and reflected in a case you solve during the day. This is the best way to discover what reallife business is about. At the end of the day you will have the answers to all your questions.

The deadline to subscribe for the th Company Days is March 12

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week

DAYS Program:

Adidas, KPN, ING, Hunter Douglas, ABN AMRO

Achmea, BP Nederland, AkzoNobel, Rijkswaterstaat, Accenture, Randstad

April 3rd

Flora Holland, KPMG, Ernst & Young, Nationale-Nederlanden, ministerie van FinanciĂŤn, Delta Lloyd, Flowtraders

Company Dinner April 2nd

Flora Holland, Ministerie van FinanciĂŤn, KPN, ABN AMRO, AkzoNobel, KPMG, Shell, Nationale-Nederlanden, BP Nederland, Heineken, NS, pepsico

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April 2nd

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March 29th

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Delta Lloyd: De verzekeraar van Nederland

andaag hebben we een interview met Delta Lloyd, één van de grootste verzekeraars van Nederland. Speciaal voor de Business Week hebben we een interview met Kaya de Lange, een management trainee bij de Delta Lloyd Groep, om ons te vertellen over het bedrijf, en wat dit bedrijf te bieden heeft voor de studenten van Erasmus.

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Eclaire: Zou je, om te beginnen, jezelf kunnen introduceren? Kaya de Lange: Ik ben Kaya de Lange, en ik heb gestudeerd in Tilburg, als actief student van Organisation Studies. In september 2011 ben ik bij Delta Lloyd Groep gestart als Management Trainee.

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EC: Hoe zou je je start bij Delta Lloyd willen omschrijven? KdL: Mijn start bij Delta Lloyd Groep ervaar ik als zeer positief. Je begint als Management Trainee met twee oriëntatieopdrachten van drie maanden, waarna je vervolgens een opdracht voor 18 maanden gaat doen. Ik ben begonnen bij Erasmus Leven, een kleine levensverzekeraar in Rotterdam. Nu ben ik aan de slag bij ABN AMRO Verzekeringen, een joint venture tussen Delta Lloyd en de ABN AMRO Bank. Door in een korte tijd twee totaal verschillende facetten van de organisatie te zien, kom je er snel achter waar de organisatie om draait en waar je als trainee een toegevoegde waarde kan leveren. EC: Wat kan je in de komende tijd verwachten in deze traineeship? KdL: In maart start ik een opdracht voor 1,5 jaar. De bedoeling van deze opdracht is dat ik me inhoudelijk ga ontwikkelen. Na deze opdracht wordt van me verwacht dat ik me ga focussen op mijn leidinggevende capaciteiten. Door de combinatie van inhoud en leiderschap vind ik het Traineeship erg waardevol en interessant. EC: Zijn er ook andere mogelijkheden voor traineeships, buiten de management traineeship? KdL: Er zijn drie verschillende Traineeships binnen de Delta Lloyd Groep; Management, Finance en Insurance Risk. Deze drie Traineeships zijn allen op een manier ingedeeld waarbij kennis, inhoud en persoonlijke ontwikkeling het beste tot hun recht komen. Zoals beschreven begin je bij het Management Traineeship met twee korte opdrachten, vervolgens een opdracht van 18 maanden en de laatste 2 jaar van je Traineeship ga je leiding geven. Dit is bij de andere Traineeships niet zo. Bij het Finance en Insurance Risk Traineeship doe je 3 opdrachten in 2 jaar tijd waarin je meewerkt op verschillende afdelingen in verschillende functies. Op deze manier kan je meteen inhoudelijk aan de slag. EC: Wat maakt Delta Lloyd zo’n interessante werkgever? KdL: Delta Lloyd Groep is een professionele financiële instelling, maar heeft een informeel en toegankelijk karakter. Doordat de sector de afgelopen jaren onder

vuur staat heeft het werk een dynamisch karakter. Daarnaast is het Traineeship erg goed ingericht; er is veel aandacht voor persoonlijke ontwikkeling, je hebt regelmatig diners met directeuren of Raad van Bestuur en er is een waardevol Young Talent Network. Er wordt van je verwacht dat jij je eigen kansen creëert. Alles bij elkaar zorgt dit ervoor dat ik dit een uitdagend Traineeship vind en Delta Lloyd een goede werkgever.

EC: Hoe is de interactie tussen jou en je collega’s? KdL: Er zijn twee categorieën collega’s. Enerzijds heb je traineegenoten, waarmee je inhoudelijk kan sparren en je persoonlijke ontwikkeltraject doorloopt. Daarnaast komen er ook sociale activiteiten bij kijken, wat natuurlijk erg leuk is. Anderzijds heb je directe collega’s, waarmee je samenwerkt. Door de informele sfeer staan collega’s – van welke afdeling ook – open voor elkaar. Dit is een prettige manier van samenwerken. EC: Wat zijn je toekomstplannen binnen Delta Lloyd? KdL: De komende tijd wil ik mijn inhoudelijk en leidinggevende capaciteiten ontwikkelen. Ik zou het heel leuk vinden om op termijn leidinggeven te kunnen combineren met een strategische rol in de organisatie.

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By Vanessa Abeyawardena What am I doing here? If you really have to ask this question after you’ve got the job, rethinking everything might be a good idea. That’s why it’s the key question employers ask in the interview: what does this job mean to you? They know that if you want to keep those creative juices flowing, your career should be congruent with not just your skills and credentials, but your identity and purpose. You need to know what kind of impact you’re having on the world. Do you get to experience the product or service to which you’re contributing? In TV’s Mad Men, the most successful ad executives live and breathe their work. They are constantly on the lookout for inspiration and they take pride in their output for its social value. Why is it so tight in here? A constant feeling of claustrophobia is a strong sign of a lack of autonomy. People need room to think independently and be creative. The education system in Singapore, for example, focuses heavily on memorization and rote learning, and when students from this system graduate with high scores and go abroad to study, they are often overwhelmed by how much critical thinking and independent development is involved in Western education. One of the major requirements for inspiring creativity is giving people room to develop their opinions, inspiring innovative thinking.

‘People need room to think independently and be creative.’ Where am I going and where have I come from? In both courses and jobs we depend very highly on the people above us, and sometimes in jobs, also below. Feedback is a crucial part of working with people. A computer hacker would not need feedback, but in work and study involving social interaction, feedback is feasible and even vital for progress. It can be as formal as grades, or as informal and personal as a private talk with your tutor. It should be on time, so timely feedback would not be talking to your assistant about his brash behavior at last year’s office Christmas party. It’s important to remember that feedback, like communication, is a two-way system, and just as you accept it, you should also be willing to provide it to other people. When you do receive it you’ll know what to stick to and what to improve, and this is where goals come in. If your work doesn’t allow you to set those and work towards achieving them, maybe you should think about looking for something else, or at least actively making room for yourself. Creativity is never enhanced without a sense of achievement. As you can see, there is no witty acronym I will provide for you to remember what to look out for. These really are just guidelines to help you understand why you might not be interested in what you’re doing, and to help you make the right choices. It’s not a one-time evaluation, either; problems can arise at any time, and more than once in a lifetime. Hopefully once you give thought to these questions and answer them honestly, you’ll be able to reach well beyond the confines of your box.

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Variety It’s called the spice of life for a reason. Work will not keep you stimulated if there is no variety. This isn’t possible everywhere, but anything has the potential to make a huge difference, from working with different people on different projects to being located in different countries. It should not be the kind of deadend job where you’re stuck in the same tiny cubicle for forty years.

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f you’ve been in your course since September last year, or maybe longer by now, you may have already noticed the adjustments it’s taken to cope with your subject. How are you feeling about it? Is it still everything you wanted and more? Some people are perfectly happy a few months in, but others notice a plunge in their motivation and, consequently, performance. Of course, thinking outside the box is always welcome, but some courses (and jobs) do not make you feel motivated to do anything but work like a cog in the machine. But if you feel like minimum effort is the best way to go about your work, you’re not going to get very far ahead, and you’re not going to be very productive. So, here are some things to look out for.

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Working outside the box

It’s not about having all the answers. It’s about having all the questions

AkzoNobel’s company line is ‘Tomorrow’s Answers Today’. But we can only arrive at those answers by constantly looking beneath the surface to question the way the world works and the way that we work. This spirit of intellectual adventure has led to an endless variety of innovative and sustainable solutions. They include coatings that make ocean liners more fuel-efficient, environmentally responsible paints, and chemicals that enhance the performance of countless every day products. We’ve even started using renewable ingredients such as potatoes to develop adhesives. Asking ‘Is there a better way?’ and discovering there usually is, has enabled AkzoNobel to become the world’s largest coatings and specialty chemicals company. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions about a career with AkzoNobel. www.akzonobel.nl/careers

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Maximizing minimal space

oday it is possible to buy almost any piece of furniture you want, from obscure modern shapes to the more practical traditional furniture. However, with the current financial crisis it isn’t possible to have huge houses you can decorate and fill with as much as you want. So, with minimal space available you need minimal furniture, or at least the basic furniture that you can squeeze in. Matroshka makes that possible. By Leigh de Jager

Started in Sweden in 2009, the company’s aim was creating furniture that provided comfort, quality and function, as well as being multifunctional. While most furniture only uses the floor space, Matroshka’s innovative furniture makes use of the volume of the room, not just the floor area, making it seem like a complete set of furniture. The inspiration for their idea came from the well-known Russian wooden dolls that hide inside each other,

which was translated into the concept of furniture that folds into itself.

Size matters Matroshka’s set of interchangeable furniture is four rooms in one; the living room, bedroom, study and dining room. You’ll only need 15 square meters for the whole house, as the furniture is a raised study area, as well as a living room area that can be transformed into a bedroom or dining room. It is possible for different living room designs to be made by

pushing some of the furniture underneath the study area and playing around with the different components. With an extra table added, which can be adjusted to be a coffee table or dining-room table, it can seat up to 12 people in the dining room, although it would be a tight squeeze. Matroshka manages to bring your entire home into one room in a manageable fashion. So if you find yourself in a small room but still want the feeling of a home, just think about Matroshka. EC LAIRE

Back to basics

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Kinect:

thinking outside the Xbox

ate 2010 Microsoft released the Kinect under the marketing campaign ‘You Are the Controller’. The Kinect is a 3D camera peripheral for the Xbox 360 console. It can track someone’s movements, not just horizontally or vertically, but even movements in depth. The idea of Microsoft is pretty much to get you doing weird stuff in front of your TV (where have we seen this before?).

By Winter van der Vlist

Kinect moving in a different direction The doing weird in front of your TV part will be new to few of us. The technology behind the Kinect is a lot more interesting though. The launch of the Kinect provided enthusiasts and professionals with a cheap and impressive piece of equipment that led some to create their own applications for the camera.

Researchers at MIT media lab have successfully used the Kinect to capture images for holograms. Not only did they use very standard equipment, they we’re also able to run the image a lot smoother with the Kinect than with techniques previously used.

to track persons in the house so that the lights are turned off when no one is in the room and on when people enter. Even more impressive is that the system recognizes actions so that lights are dimmed when watching a movie and turned back on when getting a snack.

Another application thought of by someone in his spare time is a Home automation system. The system uses the Kinect

Conclusion These are just a couple of examples of applications people thought of since the launch of

the Kinect. A flying toy helicopter with no one controlling it, a real car driving itself, and a projection of a piano on a table that you can actually play are other great examples of ideas of enthusiasts and researchers taking the technology to another direction. Microsoft is now trying to harness the creativity of enthusiasts to find more commercial applications.

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The Arab Spring:

One year later “Even if the whole world is set on fire we don’t care. We just want this country to be fixed.” Tunisian in Sidi Bouzid (home of the revolution)

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By Ashleigh Woodend

A closer look at Tunisia

Some have called it a “Youthquake”, and has been classified by historians as the fifth stage of democratisation. Since its beginnings in Tunisia, it has rapidly spread to other Arab nations, similarly plagued by repression, extreme poverty, corruption, unemployment and slow growth. In most countries, there has been some form of political reordering in response to protests. However only in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya have we seen a complete demise of the incumbent government. The question now is whether the situation in these three countries has actually changed for the better.

Following Ben Ali’s exit, a state of emergency was declared and a temporary coalition government was established. However it still included members of Ben Ali’s party, the Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD), and so Tunisians once again took to the streets to protest. They were successful in removing all RCD members and the party has now been legally disbanded.

Prior to the revolution, President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali ruled Tunisia since 1987. His rule was characterised by heavy oppression and corruption, however once Wiki leaks publicised the fraudulence of Ben Ali’s regime, it proved to be the last straw. Following years of unemployment and repression, Bouazizi’s violent death served to crystallise the strong sense of dissatisfaction amongst the Tunisian people. The Tunisians rallied and called for the removal of Ben Ali.

elections, corruption is still reported to be rampant, and many Tunisians in small towns still complain of being marginalised. With no hope for investment in these regions and little prospect for employment, many Tunisians have warned that just like they could revolt in 2010, they will be more than willing to do so again. According to them, this is the true beginning of the revolution.

A closer look at Egypt In comparison, Egypt’s struggle was slightly longer than that of Tunisia. Across newspapers and TV screens we all saw images of the crowded Tahrir Square where men and women sought to oust President Hosni Mubarak. Mubarak ruled Egypt since 1981, after the assassination of President Anwar El Sadat, and imposed emergency law for much of his reign. This allowed for censorship to be legalised, civil rights to be limited and police powers to be extended. It also permitted the government to imprison individuals indefinitely and without reason. Besides the police brutality, corruption and lack of individual freedom, Egypt also had poor living and economic conditions.

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December 2010 brought with it ominous change in the Arab region. On the 17th of December, in the small town of Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia, a young man named Mohamed Bouazizi doused himself in petroleum and let flames take his life. He did so to protest the confiscation of his wares and the public assault he suffered at the hands of a female municipal officer. This act of martyrdom fuelled a chain of revolutions in the Arab world, shaking and destroying a number of authoritarian regimes and giving hope to those still living under dictatorial rule.

Since then Tunisia has held elections to create an interim government, and results have shown that its main moderate Islamic party has won 40% of the vote. Despite these democratic

As Tunisia worked to expel its dictator, Egypt watched on, drawing parallels between its own situation and that of Tunisia. Despite beliefs that Egypt was not ready for revolution, on the 25th of January Egypt witnessed its first ‘Day of Revolt.’ Although initially peaceful, once the government shut down the internet, revolt turned into unadulterated anger with shops looted and prisons opened. By the 11th of February Hosni Mubarak had resigned, nonetheless much as was the case in Tunisia, Egyptians continued to protest, calling for swifter constitutional changes and justice for those killed in the protests. Since then Egypt has held parliamentary

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elections which show the Muslim Brotherhood holding the majority of votes. This has raised concerns that with such a majority, the Egyptian government could prove to become extremely fundamentalist and religious by nature. This aside, the Muslim Brotherhood is known to work on the streets and help people without pushing their own ideology. Nonetheless, only time will tell whether this will remain so once the Brotherhood is in power.

A closer look at Libya

for access to free health care, free education, and financial assistance for housing. Gaddafi also insisted upon the construction of the Great Manmade River, which allowed free access to fresh water across large parts of Libya. The country was developed without taking any foreign loans, and, as a result, Libya has remained debt-free.

Often, what many do not know about Qaddafi was that he did do a considerable amount of good for Libya. Under Gaddafi’s “direct democracy” state, life expectancy increased from 57 to 77 years, the country’s literacy rate grew from 10% to 90%, and welfare systems were established that allowed

In the continent of Africa, Qaddafi often played a positive role. He called for the introduction of an African currency, the Dinar, made entirely of gold. This new currency would be used to conduct all international trades, meaning that oil would be traded for gold dinars. This move would have allowed Qaddafi to

Much like Egypt and Tunisia, protesters still remain unhappy in Libya where they accuse the National Transitional Council –the government set up following Qaddafi’s death- of being secretive and of not meeting their requests. Thus, in Libya a second revolution may still be in the books. Revolution... What it means for the region, and what it could mean for the world. What has taken place in the Arab region over the last two years is a huge historical milestone, however given that it is still in infancy, it is difficult to see the true significance of what has taken place. In Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, the day-to-day issues remain much the same as before and this will prove a bone of contention to the people for a while to come. Change takes time. As mentioned before, this is the revolution, meaning that we are nowhere near the end result. Nonetheless if one thing can be learned from the various revolutions, it is courage. It is the courage to fight for what you believe in no matter how horrendous the opposition, it is the type of courage we should all strive to attain.

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potentially bring down the US dollar and wield significant power over the West, where gold reserves are low in comparison. Some view this as the reason for NATO intervention; however such claims cannot be proven as yet.

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Libya’s revolution has been, much like Syria’s, a very bloody affair. What started out as a revolution accelerated into a civil war which culminated in the gory images of Muammar Qaddafi’s murder. Colonel Qaddafi assumed power in a bloodless coup in 1969. He sought to spread Libya’s influence in Africa, and Africa’s influence in the world. Interestingly enough, Qaddafi actually stepped down from power in 1977 and claimed to be a ‘symbolic figurehead’ thereafter. He nonetheless continued to dominate all aspects of government.

Shopping Centre Belle-Ile, Luik, België

Dominante winkelcentra

Internationale risicospreiding

Eigen projectontwikkeling

Duurzame kantoorlocaties

Lokale kennis en aanwezigheid

Wereldhave is een internationaal opererende belegger in vastgoed met een beleggingsportefeuille van circa € 3 miljard. Wereldhave belegt in winkelcentra die dominant zijn in hun verzorgingsgebied. Door een actieve opstelling van de eigen managementorganisatie werkt Wereldhave aan de verdere versterking van de marktpositie van haar centra, gericht op een toename van bezoekersaantallen, winkelomzetten en huuropbrengsten. Hierbij investeert Wereldhave ook in de aantrekkelijkheid, kwaliteit en duurzaamheid van haar winkelcentra. Met als doel een stabiele groei van het direct resultaat en het dividend aan aandeelhouders te realiseren. Zo wordt waarde gecreëerd voor de aandeelhouders. Aandelen Wereldhave zijn genoteerd op NYSE Euronext Amsterdam. Het dividendrendement van het aandeel bedraagt thans circa 8,5%.

Wereldhave. Waarde voor morgen.

Wereldhave N.V. Nassaulaan 23, 2514 JT Den Haag - tel. (+31) 70 346 93 25, fax (+31) 70 363 89 90 - investor.relations@wereldhave.com - www.wereldhave.com Wereldhave N.V., beleggingsmaatschappij met veranderlijk kapitaal, is geregistreerd bij de Autoriteit Financiële Markten.

DiamondView, San Diego - California, Verenigde Staten

Duurzame kantoorlocaties

Lokale kennis en aanwezigheid

Dominante winkelcentra

Internationale risicospreiding

Eigen projectontwikkeling

Wereldhave is een internationaal opererende belegger in vastgoed met een beleggingsportefeuille van circa € 3 miljard. Wereldhave investeert op goed bereikbare centrumlocaties met veel voorzieningen in kwalitatief hoogwaardige, duurzame kantoorgebouwen die aan de hoogste gebruikerseisen voldoen. Want op lange termijn wordt duurzaamheid van kantoorgebouwen grotendeels bepaald door de locatie. Gebieden die beschikken over goede voorzieningen voor openbaarvervoer en die in de nabijheid liggen van goede voorzieningen zoals winkels en restaurants, zullen ook op termijn aantrekkelijk blijven voor huurders. Hoogwaardig vastgoed trekt huurders aan die bereid en in staat zijn een premie te betalen voor duurzame kwaliteit. Door te investeren in hoogwaardig vastgoed op zulke locaties beperkt Wereldhave de risico’s. Aandelen Wereldhave zijn genoteerd op NYSE Euronext Amsterdam. Het dividendrendement van het aandeel bedraagt thans circa 8,5%.

Wereldhave. Waarde voor morgen.

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Berlin:

City of creativity T

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his year, the destination of the EFR-Business Week on Location will be Berlin. Besides being the capital city it is, with its 3.45 million people, also the largest city in Germany. But part of the strength of the city does not come from its size. Departing from Rotterdam, a group of more than 50 students will experience life in the capital of Germany.

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These cities have quite a few similarities, mainly related to their past. The city centre was torn apart by the war, and the first impression of the city seems to be a grim one. But next to these differences, there are fundamental differences. In Berlin, the consequences of the war are mainly reflected in the physical aspects of the city. After the demolition of the iron curtain, a wide open zone remained between the East and West. This zone found its purpose in offering room as a cheap place to settle for artists, entrepreneurs and other people looking for their place in the post-bellum city. The presence of big shopping chains is limited. Any contingent vacancy is solved by the rise of local shops, restaurants or other new concepts.

The success of this example can be explained for a large part by the freedom the creators have in Berlin. This freedom, the absence of boundaries or bureaucracy, leads to creativity on all possible aspects. That, combined with the diversity, is what makes the nourishing soil the city is build on. These same conditions also reflected in the business life in the city. In the past decade, this has led to an explosive growth in the start-up scene. Young, mainly IT focused entrepreneurs crowd together, creating an intensive network of small businesses. This has led to the informal title ‘Silicon valley of Europe’.

Startups like Soundcloud, Zalando and Jesta are great businesses that went skyward and act as an example for all the starting entrepreneurs. These examples also attract investors in all forms, from institutional investors to Ashton Kutcher. Next to the positive consequences of these developments, there is a downside: Gentrification. The neglected districts are becoming popular very quickly, and therefor more chique and expensive to live. This forces the pioneers to move to more rural areas such as Wedding, Weißensee en Neukölln where they, once again, find their freedom.

Over the last couple of years, this part of the city quickly transformed into one of the most popular areas in Berlin. A lot of the urban areas without a specific purpose offer creative space for artists, clubs or other initiatives. Old buildings or factories are put into use by people or ideas. A well-known initiative is Berghain. As a nominee for best club of the world, the club, established in an old factory, is known for the mystery surrounding it.

The Deutsche Gründlichkeit certainly is present in the city. But at the end of the day, most people will praise Berlin for its welcome atmosphere, the diversity and its ease.

Anouk Marcelis is audit trainee bij de Auditdienst Rijk (ADR), onderdeel van het ministerie van Financiën. Zij studeerde Bedrijfseconomie in Antwerpen. Anouk is in september 2011 begonnen als audit trainee. Haar traineelichting bestaat uit financial auditors (accountants) en IT auditors.

Auditdienst Rijk De ADR is een rijksbrede dienst die de interne auditfunctie van de ministeries vervult. Hieronder valt de wettelijke controletaak (accountantscontrole) en de vraaggestuurde auditfunctie (opdrachten op verzoek). Anouk werkt als financial auditor bij het klantcluster Volksgezondheid, Welzijn en Sport. Anouk heeft al een leuke klus achter de rug. Ze heeft een controle uitgevoerd bij de BES-eilanden. ‘Ik heb gecontroleerd of ze niet teveel geld hebben ontvangen en of ze het geld ook daadwerkelijk hebben uitgegeven aan de op voorhand aangegeven zaken.’

Audit Traineeship Tijdens het Audit Traineeship draait Anouk twee jaar volledig mee op verschillende werkplekken. Op deze manier doet ze ruime praktijkervaring op met de politieke, bestuurlijke en financiële werkelijkheid van de Rijksoverheid. Naast het werk volgen de trainees een Post Masteropleiding, bijvoorbeeld een RA-opleiding. Anouk volgt de opleiding Public Sector Auditing aan Nyenrode. ‘Zowel werk als studie zijn uitdagend en op hoog niveau, ik ben blij dat ik hiervoor gekozen heb.’

Trudy Andriessen is financial trainee bij de directie Begrotingszaken, die deel uitmaakt van het ministerie van Financiën. Zij studeerde Politicologie in Amsterdam. Trudy is in september 2010 als financial trainee begonnen. ‘Voor mij een ideale manier om in twee jaar tijd de Rijksoverheid goed te leren kennen.’

Beheer jij de sleutel van de schatkist? Wij zijn op zoek naar ambitieuze audit en financial trainees!

Kijk voor meer informatie over de traineeships op www.werkenvoornederland.nl/minfin. Solliciteren kan tot en met 20 mei 2012!

Directie Begrotingszaken De directie Begrotingszaken is betrokken bij het opstellen van de Rijksbegroting, coördineert de Miljoenennota en organiseert het begrotingsproces. Trudy werkt voornamelijk aan de begrotings-presentatie. Ze kijkt welke informatie in de begroting moet komen. ‘Hier zijn allemaal voorschriften voor en op dit moment richt ik me op de herziening van deze voorschriften.’ Dit moet ervoor zorgen dat de begroting voor iedereen duidelijk leesbaar is.

Financial Traineeship Tijdens het Financial Traineeship werkt Trudy op verschillende werkplekken. Ze is begonnen bij Economische Zaken, Landbouw en Innovatie. Trudy heeft zich bezig gehouden met het coördineren van de Algemene Rekenkameronderzoeken. Momenteel werkt Trudy voor een half jaar bij het ministerie van Financiën en vervolgens gaat ze aan de slag bij Dienst Justitiële Inrichtingen. ‘Het leuke is dat je meteen volwaardig meedraait en direct verantwoordelijkheden krijgt.’ Trudy volgt ook een opleiding op de Rijksacademie voor Financiën, Economie en Bedrijfsvoering. De verschillende trainees trekken veel met elkaar op. ‘Het is heel fijn om ervaringen met elkaar uit te wisselen.’ Naast politicologen komen ook economen, bestuurskundigen en bedrijfskundigen in aanmerking voor het Financial Traineeship.

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Hi Nalden, you are using a new way of advertising by focusing on esthetics rather than brand recognition. Do you think this kind of ads are the future of the internet?

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I do not believe this only will be the future of the internet. Ads aren’t the future. But we do see people like to connect with brands via beautiful, creative advertising and I believe full screen / wallpaper advertising allows both brands and users to fall in love with ads again.

We believe the essence of your success is the creative network that surrounds you. It gave you the credibility towards companies to pay for a new kind of advertising. What is it that gave creative people confidence in the Nalden brand?

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It’s all about connecting the dots. I’m blessed with the network I’ve build up along the years, but it takes creativity and a lot more to execute this into whatever business you do. On a personal level, people seem to like me (or not), but I focus on those who do. With them it’s great to start new adventures. Because people do, they become confident in joining me ;)

Our vision around our theme “Out of the Box” is that anyone can start adding real value to society by using their own unique set of skills and an optimistic approach. What would you like to tell students who want to make this happen? Don’t think out of the box. Start by being creative inside the box and do something different. People know that box. It’s easier to explain what they should or shouldn’t do ;)

Do you believe anyone can do business by staying true to themselves the way you do? Yes. And they will succeed when that business reflects their character.

You have said earlier that “personal branding is mostly about saying no”. How do you judge if something is worth blogging about or working with?

Interview Interview with with aa blogger: blogger:

Nalden.net Nalden.net Photo by: Leon Hendrickx www.leonhendrickx.com

Personal branding is dead. Just make stuff or make stuff happening. It’s about what you do, instead of what you say you’re gonna do. I blog for myself. When I get excited about something, I feel like sharing. But the main focus is on WeTransfer and the projects I do with Present Plus. That keeps me going.

You, as a blogger and twitterer are very easy to reach out to. This enables you to easily get in touch with new awesome projects but also makes your inbox vulnerable. How do you plan to do this in the future if your notoriety keeps rising? I like to be digitally approachable haha. When emails stack up. I’ll respond to people, later. If it’s really getting worse, i’ll figure out something else hahaha.

We waarschuwen je nu alvast voor opdringerige headhunters. Academisch toptalent Gefeliciteerd, je titel is binnen. Op naar je eerste baan. Wordt het een bank, een energiereus, een internationaal elektronicaconcern? Als jij droomt van een topbaan bij een multinational of de overheid, is er eigenlijk maar één antwoord mogelijk: Deloitte. Veel topbestuurders in Nederland hebben Deloitte als eerste werkgever op hun cv staan. En dat is niet toevallig. Bij ons werk je namelijk al vanaf dag één aan innovatieve oplossingen voor én met toonaangevende organisaties. Ondertussen investeer je zo sterk in je eigen marktwaarde dat je ook buiten onze organisatie niet lang onopgemerkt blijft. En de kans groot is dat je over een paar jaar voor diverse topfuncties benaderd wordt. Zoek jij de beste start van je carrière? Begin eerst hier: werkenbijdeloitte.nl.

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EFR-Business On location f e br u ar y

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Traditionally, the Business Week On Location takes place at a very special venue. We strive to stir up the international ambitions of the students by showing them the international possibilities and what business life abroad is like. We will encourage them to take the leap and look for opportunities outside of the Netherlands. Previous years have inspired students with visits to London, the EU headquarters in Brussels and Schiphol, and the Dutch transportation hub. The concept is crossing borders - literally and figuratively. During this trip, as a group of around 50 students, we will take a look within several companies to obtain an insight into what the business life is all about in another country. Every year during the Business Week, we take a group of 50 students across

the border to experience life in a different country. This year weâ€™ll visit Berlin, a city boiling over with urban creativity and vibrant start-ups.. The main goal of the EFR-Business Week is to inspire students to realize their dreams. In the other parts of the EFR-Business Week this is done by presenting them with the experiences and stories of world leaders, CEOâ€™s of multinationals or other people who had significant impact on the world. During the On Location we will prolong this practice beyond the border by visiting the companies that make Berlin the great city it is. This year, we will not only present them with what can be achieved, but how they can achieve it: To take matters into their own hands and realize their dreams. As

usual, the first steps are the hardest. As such, we will bring them face to face with people who have taken this step already: the start-up entrepreneurs from Berlin. Furthermore, we will immerse the students in the local culture. The students will get the opportunity to understand the history of the city and the past organizational, political and cultural movements which are now reflected in it. With this background understanding of how history has influenced the people and their society we will look to the future, at how current movements will shape the city in years to come. To let off steam after a hard dayâ€™s work, we will also experience the local nightlife.

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Week 2012

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Flora Holland:

Where beauty meets business

e all know where to buy flowers. The flower shop, supermarkets, even gas stations sell flowers. However, very few people actually know where those flowers come from. In this interview, we get an opportunity to lift the veil on the flower auction of the world, Flora Holland. Martijn Meskers, the concern Financial Manager of Flora Holland, has agreed to talk to us, about the company, and their vision on the future.

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By Tim Langstraat

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EC: Welcome, and thank you for doing this interview. Could you introduce yourself briefly? Martijn Meskers: Of course. My name is Martijn Meskers, and I am the concern manager FEZ of Flora Holland. This means that I’m responsible for all the finance and administration of Flora Holland. Before I started working here I studied at the Hogeschool, following that up with an education to become a register accountant. I’ve been working at Flora Holland for the past eight years, working my way up from controller to my current function. EC: Could you explain a bit about Flora Holland? MM: Flora Holland, in short, is the largest flower auction in the world. With 4.5 billion euro’s in revenue every year, we can truly be called the Wall Street of seed cultivation. More to the point of what we do, we are a cooperation of flowers growers, and take care of the sales and administration of all the companies that are in our cooperation. On top of that, we take care of the creation and exploitation of so-called greenports, where companies related to the flower-growing business come together and take advantage of each other’s strengths. EC: When a student applies to work at Flora Holland, what opportunities can he or she expect? MM: There are a lot of opportunities for new students, providing that they’re willing to work for it. We’ve got a trainee program at Flora Holland, in which students gain a lot of experience in a lot of departments. We try to assign students to work in ongoing projects, coming in halfway. What is interesting to see is that while students begin slightly under their own capabilities, they quickly grow within the

project, and the organization as well. After a short while, they’ve surpassed most people who work in that project, both in terms of quality and grasp of the project. Most importantly, we feel that all young starters should keep on developing within the company, so that within a few years, they’re ready to start taking on management functions.

EC: We’ve got a lot of international students reading this magazine. Are you also interested in hiring them? MM: Yes. This is one of the things that Flora Holland is definitely looking into for the future. We’re already the largest flower auction in the world, but we want to expand even beyond the current organization. To do this, we need more international students, who know international markets, but are also internationally oriented. EC: Where does Flora Holland want to go in the future? MM: At the moment, Flora Holland’s reach is quite limited. While we’re already the largest flower auction in the world, there are still a lot of areas that we haven’t explored yet. We want to develop our market share in other parts of the world, and create one international cooperation of flower growers. At the moment we’re just looking at expanding Flora Holland to serve the entire European market, but eventually we want to create a large international cooperation. To keep with that vision, we’ve been trying to set up an international payment system, so that all companies associated with us can have us take care of their administration. It’s exceedingly complex, because of all the different requirements of countries. However, it is where we want to go. We’ve been around for the last hundred years, now we want to transform the company so that we’ll last another hundred years more.

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Boom Chicago:

Humouring the opening day

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is an American Amsterdammer and cofounded the best improvisation theater of our capital: Boom Chicago. Situated on the Leidseplein it has delivered a sharp and fresh reflection of our society for more than 18 years. As a creative director, Rosenfeld has played a huge role in the success of Boom Chicago and the merit it has today. He also writes tailored presentations for companies about their business, strategy or event and he hosts events

We are counting on him to leave no occasion for the atmosphere to tense up! Are you curious to see our host in action? He performs weekly on Saturday night in the all improv show A Shot Of Improv at Boom Chicagoâ€™s own theater on the Leidseplein. In addition Boom Chicago offers students the possibility to get four seats for just one ticket on Wednesday night. Check out the shows and have a look at their menu on boomchicago.nl!

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Well, ladies and gentlemen, the EFRBusiness Week Committee is happy to announce we have found a person who magnificently meets all our demanding criteria. His name is Pep Rosenfeld. He

like Picnic, TEDx, Creative Company Conference and Next.

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As you are able to read at page 22 of this Eclaire, the Opening Day is receiving a huge makeover this year. We aim to create an informal ambience where speakers, entrepreneurs, alumni and students can meet and exchange ideas about how to make the world a better place. To make this ambience sensible throughout the entire course of the day we needed an exceptional person who can make anyone feel at ease, make social barriers disappear and serves as a catalyst for great ideas. Above all, our host needs to speak English flawlessly, a quality we soon enough found out is really rare in our country.

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Company Under Spotlight:

Amazon

Why Innovation Will Always Lead to Solutions

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By Martin Jaakola

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Amazon is bittersweet. They are cost effective and like to simplify existing distribution channels to shorten the distance from the producer to the customer. Many of us love buying cheap books whilst knowing that at the same time they have helped set the traditional bookshop industry into a steady decline. The sheer amount of choice in new and used goods is simply too good to pass up. However, for all of Amazon’s effectiveness at achieving their goals they are certainly not as effective at avoiding controversy. Recently, with the abandonment of the PIPA and SOPA bills, proposed anti-piracy laws, that were proposed in the USA, renewed interest in topics such as piracy, intellectual property rights, and the rights of those who produce the material that we enjoy, have surfaced. Unsurprisingly, Amazon finds itself right in the middle of this debate. Directed by CEO Jeff Bezos, Amazon started out as a small online bookstore slowly but surely developing into the behemoth it is today. Barely making a profit on each item sold, Amazon has stuck to its roots throughout the years focusing solely on price leadership. Contributing to the revolution of online shopping and introducing a competitive eBook reader, the Kindle, Amazon has brought the winds of change to the book industry. Independent bookstores have taken the brunt of the burden with independent booksellers claiming a measly 4 percent of the market share in the U.S. in 2011, according to Business Insider. Initially, the Kindle was not believed to be much of a threat to traditional books. However, in recent years the Kindle Fire, in addition to other similar e-readers, has begun to take over. If authors thought that Amazon selling their novel for ten dollars was a cause for concern, those same books are now available electronically and are being sold for much less. With mixed support from many authors, questions pertaining to piracy and intellectual property

rights are revisited. Whether or not you agree Amazon is a force for good or evil—Amazon is indifferent, they are going to continue on doing business—piracy will have to be addressed. As more books are made into electronic copies available to buy, pirated versions may become more prevalent on the internet depending on what is done to combat it. While this may or may not be a credible threat, Amazon has held its ground through innovative thinking. The Kindle Fire has taken off in an entirely new direction, a direction in which the middleman—the publisher—is entirely cut out. For example, let’s consider Amanda Hocking, an up and coming Twilight-esque fantasy writer. After a decade of being continuously rejected by countless publishers, she decided to take matters into her own hands. At about two dollars per download, Hocking sold over 450,000 copies of her nine books, all electronic versions available on Amazon. An instant hit, she claims that if she had stuck to the traditional route that most writers take, she would never have made it. Other bookstores such as Barnes and Noble are now following suit with their own e-reader models and websites where authors can publish their work and sell it straight to the general public. While this is not yet standard procedure, self-published books lack features such as reviews, promotion, and the support of major publishing companies; in the near future this may be the direction creative fiction takes.

“Kindle Fire in

addition to other similar e-readers have begun to take over”

Another technique Amazon employs that many do not realize is commonplace, especially among internet distributers, is that relatively little stock is actually held by the corporation itself. In other words, there is no giant warehouse that holds all of the goods you want to buy, instead, Amazon has organized its websites in a way that facilitates direct distribution from various companies that sell just about everything. Taking a small percentage of each sale

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as a service charge and allowing companies to advertise on their websites, the term middleman does not seem to exist in Amazon’s world, adding to their ever growing profits while avoiding unnecessary baggage. With a large amount of capital available, Amazon has been able to invest in a range of diverse, yet profitable, business ventures. One such venture that is highly innovative but not yet well known, is cloud computing. A relatively boring concept, yet critically important for many businesses utilizing IT services, cloud computing is exactly what it sounds like: increasing your capacity and range of data services by accessing them over a specific network on the internet. For the sake of simplification, imagine accessing all of your business’s information from anywhere in the world, only requiring internet connection and a small laptop. Even if that laptop dies, the

“What can be observed is that innovation is key and that thinking, “outside-ofthe-box” can offer simple solutions to threats such as piracy.”

information is available for you to access once you have internet connection. The possibilities are seemingly endless and to nobody’s surprise, Amazon is attempting to offer as competitive a price as possible. What can be observed is that innovation is key and that thinking, “outside-of-the-box” can offer simple solutions to threats such as piracy. More government policy is not always the answer and businesses are able to hold their own and solve their own problems, oftentimes more efficiently than the government. Amazon is a prime example of this and if they continue to innovate, books will probably not reach the point where piracy is a legitimate problem. Jeff Bezos adheres to the mantra, “start at the bottom with the customer’s needs and then work up from there.” It seems to be working, perhaps governments should take notice.

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Blijkt de universiteit ineens een vooropleiding.

Diederik van de Scheur Consultant TAS

Piet-Hein Touw Staff FSO

Een succesvolle carriĂ¨restart is meer dan een goede cijferlijst. Het begint met karakter en inzicht in jezelf. Ontdekken wie je bent, weten waar je naartoe wilt groeien ĂŠn hoe je dat voor elkaar krijgt staat altijd aan de basis. Ernst & Young coacht jou actief op weg naar jouw succes. We bieden je volop kansen in de wereld van assurance, tax, transaction en advisory. Ontdek ze op ey.nl/carriere

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Masdar City:

The city of the future O

In the hot desert of the United Arab Emirates, just outside of the capital Abu Dhabi, construction workers are building what might be the true face of the future: a completely carbon-neutral city. This project, started in 2006, is Abu Dhabi’s response to its rapidly depleting oil reserves. Branching out from traditional technologies, they’ve not only been developing new technologies, but even a new way of life. And, according to the first reports, they might actually have succeeded.

For all the praise Masdar City has been getting, there are few who think that a city like this can ever be built on a large scale. Masdar City is located in a windy desert, providing the city with an abundance of two of its major energy providers: wind and solar power. Any attempt at recreating this city in any other part of the world will lead to compromises: fossil or nuclear power will also have to be used to provide energy for this city.

Thankfully, these objections can be overcome. Other sources of energy can be found, and mass production will lead to lowered costs. However, there is one thing still missing: free will. Masdar City works because it enforces their own rules: no one has freedom, and everyone is told what to do. In the real world, people will always deviate from the rules, and so the green city will need to be flexible. At the moment, that’s not possible. Masdar City offers us a glimpse of the future, but we’ve still got a long way to go before it’s here.

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A glimpse of the future

Too green to be true

The objections are not just about the availability of natural resources. Masdar City has a projected cost of 18 billion dollars, while only providing housing for 50.000 people. Major investments have been done into new technologies, and while things like the PRT cars are fancy, they are, at the moment, not viable for large-scale use. Unfortunately, this goes for most technologies used in Masdar City: they are definitely a step forward, but they will cost too much to incorporate anywhere else.

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By Tim Langstraat

Masdar City, as the project is called, is any environmentalist’s dream. The city is closed off for traditional cars, instead using Personal Rapid Transit cars, electric cars entirely driven by a computer system, as if out of a sciencefiction movie. Streets have been carefully planned, so that cool breezes cool down the city by a comfortable 20 degrees, and for almost everything recycled materials have been used. Extensive energy farms provide the city with renewable energy, and elaborate monitoring systems keep track of how much energy is being used – and who is using too much.

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ne of the best examples of thinking outside the box is ‘green’ technology. Harnessing the wind or the heat of the sun for our energy needs, or recycling even the strangest things is definitely a change from our fossil-fueled past. Climate change and the quickly depleting stocks of fossil fuel have led us to reconsider the way we lead our lives, and use up our resources. But while most of us still marvel at the idea of a carbon-neutral house, the real innovation is coming from an angle that none of us could ever have imagined.

sprong

de k d kansen voor ttrainees i bij k kpn Ik zal niet zeggen dat ik mijn studie niet leuk vond. Integendeel. Maar op een zeker moment ben je klaar voor het echte werk. Voor de grote sprong. Zo kun je het wel noemen. Want vanaf de eerste dag draai ik hier als volwaardige kracht mee. Krijg ik direct eigen verantwoording. Niet kinderachtig ook. Dat voelt goed. Bovendien sta ik er niet alleen voor. Ja, het voelt als het begin van iets moois. Lees meer op kpn.com/werken

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ast September, scientists discovered something that should not have been possible. They sent a neutrino, a very small type of particle, from CERN in Switzerland to Gran Sasso, in Italy, through 732 kilometers of rock. It should have been a routine experiment, to see if neutrinos could change from one type to another, if not for a surprising result: the neutrinos arrived 60 billionth of a second early, going faster than the speed of light.

Troubles through space and time: why time travel is still possible

By Tim Langstraat

At first the scientists at CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, thought this was a fluke. However, repeated experiments quickly proved their findings. While we only heard of the research in September 2011, the first fasterthan-light neutrinos were detected in 2008, 3 years prior. Fifteen thousand experiments later, the results stayed the same: in every experiment, they found that neutrinos travelled faster than light. In spite of this evidence, getting fellow scientists, and the general public, to accept these results proved more difficult than they thought.

Time-travel troubles Ever since CERN released the news of their discovery, the media and scientists have been falling over each other trying to explain or discredit the findings. Scientists, letting their cooler heads prevail over the sensationalist media, tried to find reasons why this experiment could be flawed. They cited reasons such as the preservation of energy principle (there simply isn’t

enough energy present to have the neutrinos go that fast) and that the scientific laws this research has disproven, have been proven countless times in other experiments. It seemed as if the scientific community could not let a few rogue scientists get away with unhinging the basis of most scientific research done over the past century. If this discovery is right, it changes the entire field of relative physics. Einstein’s theory of relativity, on which our understanding of gravity is based, would be invalidated by these discoveries. And that is a terrifying thought for most scientists, who have built their career around Einstein’s most well-known discovery. Physics as we know it would be changed forever.

Quantum quandaries While most scientists have tried to disprove the results from CERN using the traditional laws of physics, some welcome the discovery with open arms. Quantum mechanics, responsible for strange phenomena

such as uranium decaying differently when observed, could theoretically provide an explanation for the results. Quantum physics, a field sometimes at odds with relative physics, deals with 3 out of 4 known constants in the universe, and attempts have been made to incorporate the final one, gravity. So far, they’ve been unable to find a theory that perfectly complimented the experimental results found through the theory of relativity. Removing the boundaries of the theory of relativity will allow new ways to incorporate the theory of relativity into quantum physics. At the end of the day, what happened at CERN is still a mystery. Countless physicists are trying to find the reason for these abnormal results, and it’s unlikely that we’ll have definitive proof within the next few years. However, in this field rife with uncertainty, there is one thing that we know for sure: this isn’t the last we’ve heard of timetravelling neutrinos.

Waar jong talent de ruimte krijgt

Traineeship én meteen een baan? Ben je (bijna) afgestudeerd en op zoek naar een baan met direct eigen verantwoordelijkheden? Wil je je daarnaast blijven ontwikkelen, zowel professioneel als persoonlijk? Dan is ons Talent Ontwikkel Programma misschien wel wat voor jou! In twee jaar tijd word je opgeleid tot de beste in jouw vak en doorloop je samen met je medetrainees een programma gericht op jouw persoonlijke ontwikkeling. En hoe kun je jouw talent inzetten? We willen er als verzekeraar zijn voor onze klanten op momenten dat ze ons echt nodig hebben. Bij arbeidsongeschiktheid bijvoorbeeld. Of een brand in huis. ‘Momenten van de waarheid’ noemen we dat. Om dat waar te maken, hebben we mensen nodig die inlevend zijn. Echte mensen. Mensen die ondernemend zijn. Die nieuwsgierig zijn. Die creatief en innovatief willen zijn in het beste belang van de klant. En die daar alle ruimte voor krijgen. Interesse in ons Marketing, Finance, Risk of IT/Procesmanagement-traineeship? Kijk dan op www.werkenbijnn.nl of mail naar recruitment@nn.nl.

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Interview

Alexander Pechtold By Pieter van Wijk

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The government is cutting budgets on education and consequently limiting students in their creative liberty which might have severe outcomes for the innovative power of The Netherlands. Are you worried about the future of our country? Yes, I think the recent budget cuts and especially the lack of vision of policymakers makes them a silent assassin for our knowledge economy. I am missing a profound cooperation and decisiveness between universities, government and businesses and too often the resolutions taken are not more than existing money spent in a traditional way instead of stimulating creative science. Students are limited by new laws that increase pressure on their studies which make their life and careers less spontaneous.

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You have yourself had the time to study for an amount of years that would now seem unreasonable (Mr. Pechtold studied law, art history and archeology for ten years in Leiden). Do you think the loss of liberty of students who will be entering the labour market at age 22 after merely four years of intense studying is a shortcoming? Firstly, for me it is very important that anybody should have the possibility to change the course of their studies once. We cannot expect everyone to make the right choice straightaway or to start fully equipped their student life. I stopped studying law after only three months and wondered what I was going to do next before I chose art history. But this year of switching studies has been very valuable to me. Secondly, students should have the liberty to acquire more than just a piece of paper and a list of points during this valuable period in life. No one will just be asking for your diploma, they’ll be much more interested in how you have managed to distinguish yourself from the mainstream. Erasmus University has come with plans to stimulate students to finish their degree within four years (Nominaal is Normaal). What do you advise students to do to even within those limitations still reach enough experience and maturity to enter the labour market well prepared? Students should not be afraid to invest in their own experiences. I am not saying that they should wantonly borrow money but it is important to get the maximum out of this very short and valuable four years and getting a student loan can make that a lot easier. We think students can avoid big loans and add real value to society by becoming student entrepreneurs. However, the entry barriers for entrepreneurs are high in The Netherlands compared to the US for example. What can the government do to increase student entrepreneurship? Earlier this year I have visited the incubator YES!Delft and I was amazed by the magnificent ideas that were executed there. Government, education and entrepreneurship can in this way stimulate each other. Universities and teachers can play a big role in bringing students in touch with entrepreneurship. I must say that the student mindset has developed already a lot since I was studying. At that time entrepreneurship was not done for students.

Are you afraid that the budget cuts will reverse this positive trend or do you think students and universities will become more creative in finding solutions to do things cheaper and better? Presuming that students and universities will be able to deliver higher quality for less money is true in some cases. Just like some cats will start catching mice if they’re deprived of food. But the story doesn’t tell that 9 other cats will not make it. We cannot let the rules of natural selection decide the future of our education. Our economy is for a large deal based on export. Even in agriculture we need to keep on innovating to stay competitive. This power lies in the hands of students, they should have the possibility to fail without causing big damage. The government must facilitate this and not expect a return on every euro they invest. Even the failed startups will still contribute great value. We have noticed that Europeans are more afraid of failing then Americans for example. The entire Silicon Valley was built upon the belief that failure is valuable. What can we do to create this kind of mindset here as well? That’s a difficult question. On an individual level it is the experience of failure that makes one realize how valuable it is. The greatest Dutch politicians have committed terrible mistakes, me included. I think it would be a good idea to make entrepreneurship an integral part of your study. Offer students in Economics or Business Administration a framework to get a taste of entrepreneurship. Finally, what would you like to tell students reading this magazine concerning out of the box thinking? Realize that during your life after graduation the piece of paper and the grades do not really matter. What matters is who you are and what you have done to distinguish yourself. Keep that in mind.

Het hele land als klant Meer weten over een baan als financieel specialist bij de Rijksoverheid? Kijk op financials.werkenvoornederland.nl. Als financieel specialist bij de Rijksoverheid heb je veelzijdig werk. Je bereidt het financieringsbeleid voor, beheert de staatskas ĂŠn de staatsschuld of je zorgt voor een correcte begroting of controlecyclus. Dat kun je doen op het gebied van zorg, onderwijs, verkeer, veiligheid, milieu, buitenlandse

www.werkenvoornederland.nl

betrekkingen, sport, infrastructuur. Allemaal zaken die van grote maatschappelijke betekenis zijn. In feite werk je dus voor alle Nederlanders. Het is hoe dan ook enorm interessant werk, waarbinnen je jezelf eindeloos kunt ontwikkelen. Meer weten? Kijk op financials.werkenvoornederland.nl.

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EFR-Business Week 2012 Conference Day

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Date: Wednesday the 4th of April Place: Maastoren, 44th floor

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Have you ever dreamt about the day, when you could converse with prominent professionals from all layers of society about contemporary issues, in the highest building of the Benelux? The Conference Day, which takes place on the 4th of April, will bring you this and much more! You are given the opportunity to come eye to eye with some of the most powerful businesspeople, influential politicians and innovative minds of today. In dynamic discussions you will get the chance to share your views on wide spectrum of contemporary topics, and you will get inspired by their ‘unique’ perspective! The strength of the Conference Day lays in its intimacy, characterized by its personal setting and contact. The energy and new perspectives you get from talking to the man who makes sure you can eat, even on days when you do not feel like going out for shopping. Next to that, you can ask the top executives of PricewaterhouseCoopers and FrieslandCampina how they manage their brands and how they see the future of their company. Furthermore, your social awareness and involvement will be tested once you talk to the woman who has devoted herself to running this country, like a commercial business. Contrastingly, you might just end up talking to the man that fights for a more harmonious future for nature and mankind. The Conference day is divided into three separate components: the Round Table Conversations, the Discussion Panel and the Game Round.

Round Table Conversations During these rounds, groups consisting of approximately six students and two of our distinguished guest will partake in dialogue, about a wide variety of issues. Topics for the discussions will be introduced centrally by means of image, video material and expert’s speeches. After the introduction, each group will discuss the topics amongst themselves. In this phase, the problem orientated discussions, you can write down your comments on the tablecloth. When you turn to another table it is possible to read the views of your fellow students. This will lead to unique and lively conversations, all of which relate to current affairs and the day’s ‘Out of the Box’ mantra.

Discussion Panel After an exquisite lunch, it is time for a panel of experts to take the floor, who will provide you with their latest insight in their field of expertise. The specialists will share their vision with each other and enjoy a short discussion. After this you and the other students will have the opportunity to react to this.

Game Round The informal aspect of the Conference Day will be highlighted during the Game Round. All participants will be divided into different groups and compete against each other, through answering several questions on the basis of different scenario sketches.

Are you interested in joining us? Sign up now at one of our promotional stands at the Erasmus University or online at www.efr-businessweek.nl!

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Jitse Groen

Preliminary program Conference Day 09:30h Reception 10:00h Opening 10:30h Round Table Conversations 13:00h Lunch 14:00h Discussion Panel 15:00h Game Round 16:30h Conclusion 17:00h Drinks

Kunnen we jou een balans totaal van 100 miljard toevertrouwen?

Met een eigen vermogen van ruim €10 miljard en een premieomvang van €20 miljard zijn we het grootste verzekeringsbedrijf van Nederland. Dat betekent een enorme verantwoordelijkheid als Financial Management Trainee bij Achmea. Een uitstekende start van een veelbelovende carrière bij Achmea. Kijk op www.werkenbijachmea.nl voor meer informatie.

Kunnen we jou onZe Klanten toevertrouwen?

solliciteer als Financial management trainee

AGIS AVÉ RO ACH MEA C E N T R A A L B E H E ER A C H M E A FBTO I N T E R PO L I S Z I LV E R E N K RU I S A C H M E A

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Innovation Rotterdam

he port of Rotterdam connects us to the rest of the world. Some might say that this is what made Rotterdam great. Indeed, the port is one of the biggest in the world, and it forms the start of a long journey into the inner regions of Europe. However, is this all there is to the success of Rotterdam? Let’s have a look at some of the other strong factors in Rotterdam, such as the culture, creativity and, of course, the people…

Rotterdam has a very diverse culture, which asks a high level of adaptation. It is like the snowball effect: influences from different backgrounds will lead to creativity and will in turn lead to innovation. Our diverse habits don’t slow us down in the least: it helps us be creative, and adapt to new situations and, of course, to think out of the box. Creative companies are everywhere in Rotterdam. The Creative Factory, RoCo, Schieblock and Rotabs are just examples of many creative start-ups

who think behind their boundaries. But also the bigger companies are looking for an innovative way for sustainability. Collaborations have been made with companies, universities and the community of Rotterdam about the emissions of fuels. If companies in Rotterdam innovate on environmental sustainability will the distance between other cities be even bigger. There is not one driven force behind the innovation of Rotterdam. It is the people and the companies with the one common culture who take care of the innovation. Of course the municipality wants a city which is unique in its kind, but she isn’t the one who created the entire innovative platform, but provides it. Rotterdam is even more progressive then Amsterdam and has the craziest ideas you have even imagined. It is the city that never says “no”, but “let’s see what is all possible”. The city will always encourage you to think out of the box and develop your ideas into something concrete. So let’s use the platform Rotterdam gives us and talk with the people and companies, they are all in for a new opportunity!

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Inhabitants of Rotterdam are known as passionate and sober workers. ‘Work has to be done, because it won’t do itself’ is their slogan. Another one: ‘Nobody else will do it for you’re the only one who can achieve progress’. These people don’t want to stand still or even go backwards; they want to move forward and stay ahead of the others! That’s what’s happening in Rotterdam: people innovate collectively. While the bombardments from the Second World War might have destroyed the city, everyone has helped rebuild it, which created an immense sense of community.

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By Evelien de Wit

EC LAIRE

What makes this combination work.

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In this challenging position you manage and optimize our daily position (pricing and trading) in a wide range of financial products, including equities, bonds, derivatives and complex structured products. You formulate innovative trading strategies and – in close collaboration with our software engineers – develop trading models and tools that allow us to capitalize on opportunities swiftly and adequately. Because of the specific nature of the work-environment, we do not expect you to plunge headfirst

into your new job. Instead, you will start by following a two month intensive inhouse training program that covers all the intricate details of arbitrage trading processes. As a member of an informal team, you will then gradually take on more responsibilities, start monitoring markets and only then start making split-second portfolio adjustments that are at the heart of our success. From trading to devising tactics, and from contributing to new tools to implementing actual programs: you help shape our trading strategy.

Your background

What do we offer?

• Relevant university degree, preferably in finance, econometrics, mathematics or economics • Demonstrable interest in global financial markets • Knowledge of Excel and a keen interest in IT systems in general • Innovative & creative high potential with excellent mathematical and analytical skills • Competitive, outgoing, communicative and able to deliver under pressure • Absolutely fluent in both English and Dutch (Dutch only required for Amsterdam office)

• • • • •

Intensive in-house training program Good working environment Latest technology Continuous support (team work) Excellent compensation package (40% of net trading results goes to bonus pool)

Do you want to be a part of our success? Send your application (CV including grades and motivation letter) to jobs@flowtraders.com. For more information and In-house days (only at Amsterdam headquarters) contact Recruitment +31 (0)20 799 6799 or check out www.flowtraders.com.

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Crowdsourcing Science

how researchers are finding ways to use the crowd

By Winter van der Vlist

EC LAIRE

how researchers are finding ways to use the crowd

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Using ‘the crowd’ to solve problems with greater efficiency and lower costs is a new trend that has come about the last couple of years. Crowdsourcing describes the process of taking a job traditionally performed by a designated employee and outsourcing it to an undefined, generally large group of people. Whereas people traditionally had to be together to form a group, the internet fundamentally changed this. People can now organize themselves in groups bound by a common interest or passion, simply by using the internet.

The benefits of crowdsourcing Taking in mind that this magazine is for the economic faculty I’m sure you picked up on the most obvious advantage of crowdsourcing: costs. A less obvious, and more exciting one, is the fact that a crowd can be a lot more effective in tackling some problems than employees would have been. Sheer force of numbers, coupled with an outsider perspective, is providing scientists the breakthroughs that they need.

Businesses applications A great example of how crowdsourcing can help a business create more value is the Netflix algorithm challenge. In 2006 Netflix challenged people to come up with a better algorithm to recommend movies to their users. The prize: one million dollars! Three years later a team of mathematicians and computer engineers came up with an algorithm that was at least 10% more efficient than that of Netflix.

‘Crowdsourcing is finding its way to other fields than business now’

‘A puzzle that had scientist stumped for decades, was solved in a few days when the researchers addressed ‘the crowd’’ Another crowdsourcing success is the ‘King of Ads, Make an Ad, Make a Fortune’ campaign of Doritos. In which fans could send in their own commercials for Doritos. With a $200.000 prize, there were plenty of send-ins – of which Graig Young’s ‘Attack on Westminster’ ad won.

Sciencing the crowd The former examples were projects of businesses in which there was a clear incentive from both sides to participate in the project. One that, once again, for most of us is quite easy to comprehend: money! Crowdsourcing is finding its way to other fields than business now though. Here it’s mostly interest or passion for a particular project that can motivate people to help. One of the pioneers in this form of research is the SETI@Home initiative in which people would let their PCs help find extraterrestrial life forms.

Fold.it One of the big puzzles facing scientist is the way proteins fold. Serious diseases like Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, Parkinson’s disease and many forms of cancer are linked to ‘misfolding’ of proteins. The study of the way these proteins fold however is complicated

and requires vast amounts of computing power. Scientist have founds ways to enable everybody to help with these complex problems. The Folding@home project allows people to donate the computing power of their pcs when they’re not using it. By doing so, people around the world are forming a huge supercomputer that helps a great deal in tackling this problem. Even more notable is the recent success with Foldit. A puzzle that had scientist stumped for decades, was solved in a few days when the researchers addressed ‘the crowd’. Foldit is an online game in which players are encouraged to try different folding shapes by intuition and special reasoning that computers are still incapable of. The foldit community has already claimed a second and third success!

Conclusion: Problems that interest a lot of people can count on a lot of aid. We’re already seeing crowdsourcing being adapted rapidly in business life. By using crowdsourcing, research is evolving from an affair for clever clogs to a much broader social activity in which everyone can help.

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ECHTE TALENTEN BEPALEN HUN EIGEN TRAINEESHIP Uitgeroepen tot Het Beste Traineeship 2011 Kies zelf uit 22 startrichtingen op abnamro.nl/trainee Echte talenten willen geen standaard traineeship. Die kiezen een programma op maat. In ons Next Generation Programme bepaal jij welke van de 22 startrichtingen bij je past en vul je je traineeship voor een groot deel zelf in. ALLE 22 RICHTINGEN

Waar ga jij 15 maanden werken aan je carriĂ¨re en meebouwen aan de bank anno nu? Scan de QR-code, volg ons op facebook of kijk op abnamro.nl/trainee.

DE BANK ANNO NU

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Neuroeconomics: Why Rational Individuals Do Not Always Act Rationally

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ast the stubborn few “occupy” protesters at de Beurs in Rotterdam, workers walk up the steps and enter into a world of trading in which emotions run high and money is at stake. Expectations play a central role in investment, the most volatile component of GDP, with competition from foreign markets, evolution of technology, and political developments making uncertainty rampant. It was Keynes who, back in the 1930’s, linked investors “animal spirits” with the high variability of investment. This uncertainty prevalent in the investment world is only one aspect researched in neuroeconomics: a new field of study which combines economics, psychology, and neuroscience in order to explain human decision making and inevitably recommend an optimal course of action.

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By Martin Jaakola

While the study of neuroeconomics is still in its infancy, the building blocks leading up to this point have been around for decades. As early as 1953, French economist Maurice Allais designed an experiment—now known as the Allais paradox—which caused many participants, also economists, to violate their own theories. In summary, the paradox works as follows: In one example, participants are given a choice between possibly winning something, let’s say a two week vacation, or for certain a 3 day weekend trip. Allais found that most would take the option with certainty, the 3 day vacation. Next, he would counter this with an offer of say a five percent chance for a three week vacation or a ten percent chance for a week-long vacation. Paradoxically, most participants would take the increased risk and go for the five percent chance of a longer vacation. Later on in the 1970s, behavioral economics began to develop utilizing psychology to critique standard classical economic assumptions which could only be true given certain conditions. One such example taught in microeconomics identifies a particular departure from the standard rational choice model. For example, the standard model states that rational people will ignore sunk costs, whereas in reality many people are strongly influenced by them. The example given by Robert H. Frank in his work on this

subject is to “think of someone who receives expensive but painfully tight shoes as a gift who is much less likely to wear them than is someone who spent $400 out of their own pocket for those same shoes.”

“The standard economic model that individuals operate as optimal decision makers in maximizing utility, are in the direct violation of even the most basic facts about human behavior“ Later on, neuroeconomic studies have developed these types of criticisms further. In 2002, the Neuroscientific journal Neuron published an article entitled Reward and Decision which stated: “In economics, it has become abundantly evident that the pristine assumptions of the standard economic model that individuals operate as optimal decision makers

Many different departments at various prestigious universities have taken notice. Even at Erasmus, we have our own department that has produced various studies and research projects. A course is even offered, a master’s level minor entitled Neuroeconomics: How the Brain Decides which is available for anyone interested. Though many of the findings are supported by a plethora of strong evidence, there are still controversies abundant. Being a relatively young area of academic research, it has yet to be taken completely seriously. One

“Though many of the findings are supported by a plethora of strong evidence, there are still controversies abundant“ This field of study is not purely academic. Investors are interested in what could possibly be a solution to Keynes’ idea of “animal spirits”. Employing brain scans to test objectivity and possibly emotional bias in a situation involving vast amounts of money has attraction, but as far as being realistic, it could be a few years. While many may not see the benefits that this field of study has to offer, it is difficult to dissuade the pursuit of truth as well as the critics of our current economic models. Perhaps we need to understand ourselves before we can learn to perfect our understanding of economics.

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Unlike contemporary economics in which it is difficult to set up a specific experiment—imagine attempting to cause hyper-inflation in the Netherlands just to study the effects— is heavily experiment-based, arguably leading to more accurate results. One such study conducted by Michael Kosfeld involved investors and trustees. Levels of oxytocin were increased in certain investors while others were only given a placebo. Curiously, the investors pumped up with oxytocin gave out more money to trustees than the control group signifying increased trust. This does not mean they were willing to risk more, but it showed that complex choice behavior could be altered in a very specific way due to neurobiological changes. Those investors at de Beurs are similarly at risk for making emotionally charged choices that may not lead to efficient outcomes.

argument brought forward is that current economic models may not be perfect, but they have brought us to the level of knowledge we are at, even with a significant number of assumptions. Secondly, at a macroeconomic level, many of the findings in neuroeconomics are difficult to apply as they happen at a very minute or micro level. What this means is that applying these concepts to government policies affecting inflation or unemployment for example is not yet possible. Unfortunately for researchers, macroeconomists are given the spotlight by the media and consequently receive much of the funding dealt out to economic faculties.

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in maximizing utility, are in the direct violation of even the most basic facts about human behavior.” There is no clear starting point for the beginning of neuroeconomics, rather a steady progression and evolution from other areas of academic interest culminating into what it is today.

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S t u d ent

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IBEB Start Bowling Event

EFR-Shell Research Project

Window Coverings Window Coverings

World Port Centre, Rotterdam - Luxaflex® Venetian blinds

Ceilings Ceilings

Campolide station, Campolide, Portugal - Hunter Douglas Wide Panel

Sun Control Sun Control

SATEL, office building, Gdansk, Poland - Hunter Douglas Aerofoil

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Innovatieve voor Innovatieve bekleding Producten onder de merknaam Luxaflex ® enProjecten een vooraanstaand ® producent van bouwproducten onder de . Hunter Douglas is wereldmarktleider op merknaam het gebied HunterDouglas van raam® Hunter Douglas de projectmarkt unieke geïntegreerde bekleding onderbiedt de merknaam Luxaflex en een vooraanstaand oplossingen bestaande uit zonweringsystemen, plafonds, producent van bouwproducten onder de merknaam HunterDouglas ®. gekoelde plafondsbiedt en ventilerende gevelbekleding. Hunter Douglas de projectmarkt unieke geïntegreerde oplossingen bestaande uit zonweringsystemen, plafonds, gekoelde plafonds en ventilerende gevelbekleding. ®

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2, Piekstraat - P.O. Box 5072 - 3008 AB Rotterdam Tel. 010-4869911 - Fax 010-4847910 HUNTER DOUGLAS Europe b.v. www.hunterdouglascontract.com 2, Piekstraat - P.O. Box 5072 - 3008 AB Rotterdam Tel. 010-4869911 - Fax 010-4847910 www.hunterdouglascontract.com

B U S I NE S S

W EE K

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EFR-Business THU05APR

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B u si n e ss

Week

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Week Party -

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For one last time we will organise an out of the box event as a closure of the EFR-Business Week 2012. During one evening all the elements for an amazing party will be connected. Location, artists and music will make this party rock. This ‘Out of the Box’ party will stand out from all the others. After this evening our box will be closed… Open yours!

Bijna afgestudeerd. Eindelijk mag je je talent waarmaken. En als dat érgens kan, dan is het wel tijdens een traineeship bij Delta Lloyd Groep. Twee of zelfs vier jaar

Je bent niet alleen een hongerige trainee.

lang investeren we in je. Vanaf dag één bijt je je tanden stuk op uitdagende projecten. Dat moet je aankunnen. Maar we laten je niet aan je lot over. Je wordt begeleid door naaste collega’s en ervaren managers. Om uiteindelijk door te stromen naar een functie die perfect bij je past. Bij je ambities én bij jezelf. Join the group. werkenbijdeltalloydgroep.nl

Maar vooral ook jezelf.

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Intercultural Communication

lobalization is a phenomenon that by now we are all familiar with. However, while globalization is oft-talked about, we tend to forget about an important side-effect of globalization. Intercultural communication is that part which facilitates proper communication between people from different cultures. You may not always think about it, but cultural values vary greatly, and often I wonder where the roots of these cultural phenomena lie.

One of the most famous cultural studies was performed by Geert Hofstede, a Professor at Maastricht Universiteit, who identified five cultural dimensions that assess a culture’s characteristics: 1. Collectivism vs. Individualism 2. Femininity vs. Masculinity 3. Power Distance Index 4. Uncertainty Avoidance 5. Long-Term Orientation These aspects affect a person’s communication style which is determined by a person’s cultural background. The two strongest dimensions are masculinity and individualism, because they have the largest impact on a person’s attitudes and behavior. First off, collectivism puts an emphasis on the group and the common good, which is more important than personal wants and needs. Individualist societies consist of people who differentiate themselves in order to discover a personal identity. The most individualist society is, not too surprisingly, the USA with its history of liberty and justice for all. The Netherlands ranks very high on the individualist ranking which indicates relatively loose ties to other people and a strong emphasis on individual pursuits.

Masculine societies value assertiveness, power, strength, individual achieve ments, and material success. Feminine societies have humanistic and personal goals that emphasize a more modest and caring approach. The Netherlands is a feminist country. Now for all the gentlemen reading this, don’t start banging your chests to show off how manly you are, because femininity in the cultural sense refers to equal opportunities for both genders and a more nurturing environment where talent and entrepreneurship is encouraged. A masculine society’s male children have a more dominant communication style, because their entire life they have been taught that they are the man and need to “bring home the bacon”. They may treat women equally, but a heavy sense of responsibility has been placed on them and they have “the right” to be assertive and demanding.

Power: What can you do? Power is the ability to act in a particular way. Each and every one of you has the power to act respectfully towards one another. When it comes to intercultural

communication, it’s important to realize that how you can act can be construed in many ways. Verbal and nonverbal communication is different among cultures and before you travel to another country, it’s important to research that country’s culture to see what the society there values. As Anthony Robbins said; “To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others.” Hofstede’s cultural dimensions are examples of how culture determines a person’s behavior or attitude. They are not applicable to everyone and deviation is sometimes even proper, but by then one is putting a value judgment on what is the correct way. People with different backgrounds will have different thresholds as to what they perceive as being ‘normal’. Our perception of culture should not interfere with the judgment of people from that culture. Culture may explain how that person has acquired his knowledge set, but every one of us is so uniquely different that stereotyping and acting on that via communication, be it verbally or nonverbally, should not be the way we influence one another. A great example of this is cyberbullying. In most cases the people bullying the victim are doing so based on prejudices, but they are communicating their hatred in written words on the internet. They are verbally, indirectly, harming another person and for what reason? Communication has become a very powerful tool and it’s up to us to use it wisely. It will be hard to find someone with perfect communication skills, but being able to express yourself in today’s world – which is becoming much more global and live due to the internet – is important.

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Cultural Sensitivities

These characteristics are related to how we communicate. The Dutch tend to be present, loud, and assertive during conversations. This can be explained by individualist tendencies the Dutch have, meaning that they all have to outshine one another or assert their independence by expressing their thoughts and feelings openly. A collectivist person, however, would be more timid and perhaps shy away from others who are not part of the in-group. Their communication style would be high-context, using many nonverbal cues, while an individualist uses a lo-context style of communication involving little understanding of body language and a lot of words to get the message across.

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During a Dutch cultural course I was taught that many of the Dutch values originate from the Calvinistic era. For instance, have you ever wondered why Dutch people don’t close their curtains? Apparently this spans back to the 19th century when Calvinists had an openwindow policy to determine that they had nothing to hide; they were virtuous people. Perhaps this is related to why the Dutch are so open? Indeed, many Dutch people like to talk about very personal topics and are not afraid to be “open” or honest.

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By Kim van Adrichem

EC LAIRE

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How I lived a year on just a pound per day? by Kath Kelly

DEAD AID: Why Aid is Not Working and How There is a Better Way For Africa

By Nicole Stelea

By Ashleigh Woodend

Living one year of just a pound a day? My instant reaction was: That is not possible! That was also the reaction of Kath Kelly’s friends as they heard her impulsive idea. First, it needs to be said that the authors concept consisted out of living on one pound per day, not including the rental costs. Second, trying that concept out in The Netherlands might not be as feasible as Kath managed to do so in the United Kingdom, due to a higher cost of living. Nevertheless, the book provides many insightful tips on how we can save a large amount of money that we spend. Kath realizes that we are daily largely influenced by marketing strategies that teach us that we should spend as much as possible simply ‘because we are worth it’ and she decides to fight those influences back. She stops buying things she actually does not need in order to save money for her brothers wedding and buys only the strictly necessary as cheap as possible. A question that arises then is: At which trade-off is she putting herself through all that? Of course, she has to sacrifice some things that are not affordable anymore, but she realizes that she does not miss those things as much as she would have expected. Besides, she still manages to entertain herself by attending many free events organized by the Bristol community and even manages to go on vacation by hitchhiking her way to France. As Kath progresses her one year journey she also discovers more of herself and she realizes the damage that we do to the environment and how we could attenuate our actions. Several issues such as the Freegans in America, book crossing, flash-mobbing or ‘Freecycling’ are also being treated. In the end, this book is definitely a must-read if you want to buy more conscious and are planning not to overspend this Christmas!

‘At a time of unprecedented global prosperity, children are starving to death. Are we not being generous enough? Or is the problem somehow insoluble, an inevitable outcome of historical consequence.’ Dambisa Moyo’s 2009 analysis on the issue of African poverty is a refreshing and realistic take on the ongoing problem of economic underdevelopment in Africa. As well as completely renouncing aid as a development tool, Moyo goes on to give a number of alternative measures that could transform Africa from a bottomless pit to the formidable power it should be. In Dead Aid, Oxford-educated Moyo gives startling data illustrating that, instead of alleviating poverty, aid has only compounded it. Aid severs the link between government revenue and spending, and so reduces the government’s accountability to its citizens and much of the world. It creates what Moyo calls a vicious cycle ‘that chokes off desperately needed investment, instills a culture of dependency, and facilitates rampant … corruption, all with deleterious consequences for growth.’ She argues that the West should stop treating Africa like a child and quelling their consciences with donations, and instead focus more on sustainable solutions. Contrary to the status quo that constantly pushes the wealthy into a state of guilt, urging them to give more and more, Moyo takes a more long-term view. She suggests that third-world countries should instead turn to bond markets, micro-credit, trading solutions and even the Chinese. Only through this can Africa rise from poverty and gain its rightful place in the world. So, why should you read this book? Most importantly, Moyo approaches her readers as they were students. And for any student mildly interested in economics and development; this book proves to be an eye-opening experience leaving you with a sense of wonder. Its factual and to-the-point approach means that it can be read alongside course work, and its clearly partitioned structure allows you can pick up easily after a long gap. Dead Aid proves to be an effortless read on an important subject that affects each and every one of us.

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AkzoNobel: A global environment

kzoNobel is probably one of the most ubiquitous companies around. The paint on your walls, the salt in your kitchens and even the coating on your laptop are produced by this company. Today we get to talk to Karin Hoetmer, recruiter for AkzoNobel, about what makes this company so special.

EC: What makes Akzo Nobel such a great employer to work for? KH: Akzo has a very open atmosphere. It’s a very informal culture, and you’re

EC: What opportunities are there for students who want to work for Akzo Nobel? KH: The best opportunity is to participate in our business course. This is called the Masterclass, held every year, to have high-potential students meet with Akzo, work with us, and over the course of two days, get to know the company completely. If you like us, and we like you, then this is the ideal way to get a job with the company. But Akzo does more than just the Masterclass. When you’re working at Akzo, there are a lot of opportunities to develop yourself as well. We’re looking for people who take the initiative, who dare to ask questions, and who are open to new ideas. If you fit that picture, then you can do anything you want. Thereare graduate development programs that’ll help you get to know AkzoNobel and develop yourself, to introduce you to other young people within the company, but also have you meet up with some of the senior managers. And, when you’re working here, you’ll have your supervisor and a contact in the HR department to help you develop yourself, so you don’t get lost in the company. Of course you also need to take actions yourself to grow and develop, but you’re always supported in this.

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About Akzo, it’s a big company. We’ve got 55.000 people working for us, in 80 countries, with revenues over 14 billion euros. Its activities are mainly centered around three divisions: paints, like the ones on your wall, performance coatings, for example the coating on your cell phone, and specialty chemicals, such as the chemicals that keeps teabags from falling apart.

welcome to walk into anyone’s office at any time. For example, I work on the recruitment department, but the head of Akzo Netherlands is just down the hall. If I want, I can walk in and talk to him, at any time of day. But it’s more than that even. Everyone’s very proud of the company, and people genuinely work towards a greater goal than just their own career. I think that that entire attitude is shown best in their recruitment policies: if they really believe that you’ll fit with the company, they’ll try their best to find a position for you within the company.

EC: Is it also possible to work at international locations? KH: It’s definitely possible and, up to a certain point, encouraged. Usually when you start working for us, you start in the Netherlands. This is just because most people apply here, so they get a job here as well. However, if after a few years you decide you want to work in a different country, that’s possible as well. Whether that’s just for a few months, or a year or two, it’s possible. We’ve also got an internal database with all the jobs that are currently open in the company. That way, you can apply for a different job, if you want to move to a new country permanently. At AkzoNobel, we try to accommodate you as best as we can. Because if you’re willing to work hardand be pro-active, we’re going to make it happen together.

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Eclaire: To start off, could you tell us a bit about yourself, and about AkzoNobel? Karin Hoetmer: My name is Karin Hoetmer, and I am a recruiter for AkzoNobel. I started working for Akzo in 2009, after studying Mechanical Engineering for 5 years at the Technical University Delft. At first I had an internship in the department of salt production in Amersfoort, but then I decided to switch to recruiting, where I’ve been working for the past year.

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EFR-Skitrip 2012 Friday the 6th of January, the journey started. The bags were loaded, everyone got their goodie bag, and off we went to Les Menuires, in the French Alps. Apart from a small interruption to get the snow chains around the bus’ tires, we arrived in France without any problems on Saturday morning. The first day was a bit foggy, but the rest of the week we enjoyed clear blue skies, loads of snow on- and off-piste in a great skiing resort, and temperatures around zero. Clearly, we couldn’t have chosen a better week to go skiing and boarding. Towards the end of the week, it was time for the slalom competition. Prizes for the fastest, the most creative and of course a consolation prize were awarded that night to respectively Willem Geul, Mike van Gastel and Joris Winkelman – for video material check out the EFR Facebook page. To conclude a great day on the slopes, most of the people went to La Folie Douce in Val Thorens to have a beer and dance while the sun sets behind the mountain tops!

Of course the EFR Skitrip wouldn’t be complete without an ‘orange themeparty’. Great to see how practically everyone did their best to show up in a nice orange outfit on Sunday night. Monday we got tickets to a great club in Val Thorens. Furthermore we had an easy night with karaoke, nightskiing – with torches in our hands we hit the slopes to the next village to have a delicious French meal, and to conclude an awesome holiday: the What-YouWanted-To-Become-When-You-Were-Young-party (Wat-Je-Vroeger-Later-Wilde-Worden-party). All in all we had an awesome week and it was over before we knew it. Thank God we still had the Apres-Ski party! Skitrip Committee 2012 Marijn Compagner, Daan de Vries, Aukje Strik, Liselou Lolkes de Beer, Jelle den Hollander & Bo Snel.

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Thanko’s USB butt cooler cushion - €30 - geekstuff4u.com It’s been a hot day, and you’re working on your computer to meet a deadline. With the blistering heat coming through the window, and pearls of sweat dripping down your back, is there anything besides a cold beer you could use more than a USB powered butt cooler cushion?

USB pet rock – €10 euro – thinkgeek.com Ever wanted a pet but don’t want to feed it, spend time with it, take it out for a walk or clean up its mess? Here’s the solution: take a rock! Rocks won’t crap on your carpet, nor will they ask for attention all the time. Plug this baby into your pc and feel the love of a pet rock.

USB vacuum cleaner - 10 euro - gadgethouse.nl

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A lot of people eat at their computer once in a while. Whether it’s lunch, crisps or maybe dinner, crumbs will inevitably fall between the keys of your keyboard. Cleaning this up can’t get easier than this, with the USB-vacuum cleaner

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Extraordinary Gadgets T

here is no question that the computer is playing a big role in our lives. Some watch series on it, others use it to Facebook until their fingers hurt. With all these people spending time on their computers, demand for computer peripherals has gone up. And with demand comes supply. This supply manifests itself in more than just USB-sticks or headsets. Here we have selected some of the computer peripherals that truly are out of the ordinary. By Winter van der Vlist

USB missile launcher - €35 euro -gadgethouse.nl After hooking this thing up to your computer you can aim the missiles with your mouse or keyboard. The missiles are made of foam so your collegial joke won’t actually hurt someone, although enhancing the missiles with something sharp is an option if you’re looking for something more vicious.

USB fridge - €25 - ditverzinjeniet.nl Whether just for the terminally lazy, or those with thieving roommates, a fridge is always needed. But, what happens when your room is so small, you can’t even fit your teddy bear in there, let alone a whole fridge? Then this is the ideal solution: a USB-powered fridge, for you to put on your desk. It might be a bit small, but at least you’ll keep that last can of coke all to yourself.

ga voor goud kies óók voor het Randstad Management Traineeship Wieke Dijkstra trainee & hockeyinternational

Wil jij een topcarrière bij één van de gezichtsbepalende multinationals van Nederland? Heb je bovendien de ambitie om door te groeien naar een hoge managementpositie? Dan is het management traineeship bij Randstad Nederland iets voor jou.

trainees neem je wekelijks deel aan de Denktank. Hier werk je aan specifieke strategische onderzoeks-opdrachten voor de directie. Als het goed gaat bekleed je na 2,5 jaar een managementfunctie en stroom je na 5 tot 7 jaar door naar een hogere managementfunctie.

Het traineeship duurt 2,5 jaar. Het eerste gedeelte vindt plaats op een kantoor waar je de core-business van Randstad leert kennen. Afhankelijk van jouw ontwikkeling doe je in het tweede jaar twee tot drie projecten om je klaar te stomen voor een managementfunctie. Daarbij krijg je diverse trainingen van de Randstad Academie. Samen met de andere

Heb jij een bovengemiddeld academisch werken denkniveau, beschik je over een brede visie, ben je ondernemend en commercieel? Ken je jezelf bovendien goed? Dan is het Randstad Management Traineeship zeker iets voor jou. Bovendien heeft ons traineeship een aantal unieke elementen:

• een op maat gemaakt programma met 1 dag per week training & ontwikkeling • een leidinggevende functie na 2,5 jaar • gelijk veel verantwoordelijkheid • een commerciële werkomgeving bij een Nederlandse multinational • een mvo ‘product’: mens(en) werk • een flexibele startdatum en standplaats met een contract voor onbepaalde tijd Meer wetean? Kijk op www.randstad.nl/recruitment of bel met Marloes Munsterhuis, telefoon (020) 569 17 73. Wij komen graag met jou in contact.

I thought; a bank is the most boring place to work at Loes Verstappen, trainee General Management, ING

Where do you want to go? ING wants General Management trainees. If you have the hands-on mentality and skills to back it up, you’ll find the bank to be a world of opportunity. Try, practice and discover what you’re good at. Like reorganising a division of the bank or improving customer services. We’ll throw you in at the deep end, but not without a coach, a lifeline and ample rewards. Join the ING International Talent Programme at ING.nl/graduates