ESTIEM Magazine | Spring 2022 | The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

` `

62nd Issue

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE FOR ENTREPRENEURS PAGE 12

DATA PROTECTION IN ESTIEM PAGE 44

`

THE PUZZLE OF BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE European Students of Industrial Engineering and Management Issue 62 2022/5 | ISSN 0874-5242 | Price €0.- | www.estiem.org

INTRODUCTION

Pursue your Master’s program in the Netherlands?

What about the masters in Industrial Engineering at Eindhoven University of Technology? tue.nl/masterprograms/oml • tue.nl/masterprograms/im • tue.nl/masterprograms/mse IE MSC wervingsad 210x135 mm.indd 1

18-06-19 09:33

Get Active! Page

+180

29

+120

Central ESTIEMers

Central Entities

Get Active! Chats since 2018

What is CENTRAL ESTIEM?

Why join CENTRAL ESTIEM?

Central ESTIEM can be seen as the working place in ESTIEM.

There are a many reasons why you should join Central

It aims to provide a framework where people can work to-

ESTIEM. First of all, you will be working in an international

gether and develop their ideas with like-minded ESTIEMers.

team. In this team you can create your own impact by deve-

The Central ESTIEM structure consist of the board and se-

loping ideas or starting initiatives. Furthermore, it is a great

veral entities that support the board and the network and

opportunity to develop yourself by learning new things and

others that focus on the value creation by coordinating the

improve a variety of skills. Last but not least, it is amazing to

organization of services. More information on Central ES-

be part of an European Community. In this community you

TIEM can be found below.

will make new friends, collaborate with people from different cultures and have a lot of fun!

Join the Active Mail List 2

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

Check Get Active! Page

3

INTRODUCTION

Table of contents INTRODUCTION 4 Project Leader’s Speech 5 President’s Speech 6 Introduction to ESTIEM

FOCUS TOPIC 8 Business Intelligence in Supply Chain Management 12 Business Intelligence for Entrepreneurs 16 The Power of Question Marks, Trackable Links and Suggested Answers

12

26

18 Encounters with the Shady Side of Business Intelligence 20 Start with Business Intelligence as an IEM Student

SCENE 22 How to Not Get Trapped in Your Work: Work Smarter Instead of Working Harder 25 Self-Improvement, Constant Improvement & Goal Setting 26 Beauty Can Arise from Discomfort

38

27 The Real-World Cost of False Positives 30 Finding Motivation in Unstable Circumstances

CAREER 32 Getting Your Business Online During Pandemic - 8 Key Elements 34 Constant Self-Improvement and Goal Setting

42

INSIDE ESTIEM 35 College: an Event to Develop ESTIEM and yourself 38 Organising ESTIEM’s Biggest Event During a World-Wide Pandemic 40 Introducing Online Events as the World Moves Online 42 How I Met Your Association 43 The Beginning of ESTIEM Podcast 44 Data Protection in ESTIEM

EXPLORE 46 Finnish Student Culture - the Culture of Overalls

48

and Saunas 48 The Treasure Trove Called Mexico 50 Carnaval: a Beautiful Tradition, Turned into an Exceptional Event 53 What Makes Travelling in ESTIEM So Appealing 54 Tour of the Nordics 58 Obrigado Lisboa 60 How to Travel for 18 Days With Only a 26L Backpack 62 Nowhere International?

50

46

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

3

INTRODUCTION Project Leader Sonja Borota Design Tanja Gagić Zuhal Yılmaz Mina Krstić

PROJECT LEADER’S SPEECH Dear reader,

Article Acquisition Rana Dikmen

What is intelligence? Well, our story starts on Proofreaders Nikola Milošević Mark van Uden Evdoxia Pantazi Sebastian Hummel Margarida Ferrari Sobral Barbosa Tanja Gagić Blog Dragana Slavić İpek Deniz Genç With special thanks to Sjors van Weert, Evdoxia Pantazi and Tanja Gagić.

Contact leader.magazine@estiem. org ESTIEM Permanent Office Atlas 2.328 P.O.Box 513 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands Fax: 0031-(0)40 2473871 info@estiem.org www.estiem.org Disclaimer The contents may not always reflect the opinion of the publisher. Any reproduction or copy is permitted only with the permission of the editors.

Our Partners Allianz ABB Oy Continental Eindhoven University of Technology Chalmers University of Technology Lappeenranta University of Technology Eurosender Asia Exchange Elium UNIT4 Tableau BEST EESTEC VWI

4

a warm Summer evening in ancient Greece… nevermind, I won’t bore you with that.

Long story short, ‘Intelligence’ comes from the Latin noun intelligentia or intellectus, and it can be described as the ability to perceive or infer information and to retain it as knowledge to be applied towards adaptive behaviours within an environment or context.

The context of the 62nd issue is business, and we aimed to bring some pieces of this gigantic puzzle together for you to explore how business intelligence relates to you as an IEMer. Keep turning pages to find out more about how BI relates to the field of Supply Chain Management, what it means for entrepreneurs, when we may see its shady side, and much more.

But that’s not all. We offer you a wide variety of articles, from career tips to travel experiences, from ESTIEM insights to self-improvement tips.

I hope you will enjoy your reading!

Cheers from Novi Sad, Sonja Borota ESTIEM Magazine Project Leader

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

INTRODUCTION

PRESIDENT’S SPEECH Dear reader,

The focus topic of the 62nd issue of the ESTIEM Magazine is The Puzzle of Business Intelligence.

Business Intelligence is sweepingly becoming more available and important while working with data.

With the usage of the right tools, it’s possible to process large amounts of data and present visual formats that are easy to read and share.

The term business intelligence frequently refers to a range of tools that provide quick, easy-todigest insights based on available data about an organisation’s current state. Business intelligence incorporates business analytics, data mining, data visualisation, data tools and infrastructure, and best practices to help organisations to make more data-driven decisions.

In High ESTIEM, Businesses and organisations have different questions and goals. To answer those questions

Daria Bakaeva

and be able to track performance against these

President of ESTIEM

goals, organisations need to gather essential data, then analyse it and decide on which actions to take to achieve their goals. And our network is not an exception. We have the Analysis Committee which is supporting the network and aims to make ESTIEM a data-driven association. The team is working with the platform called Tableau which provides data visualisation and can integrate with a range of data sources. To provide some examples, we use dashboards to keep track of travels done with ESTIEM and travellers, events organised by Local Groups, to have an overview of event feedback, to assess if a Local Group fulfils requirements and much more.

This issue of the magazine will dive into this topic, explore which role Business Intelligence has in our lives, and help you to see its connections with our network. Now it is my honour to invite you to dive into articles in the 62nd issue of our ESTIEM Magazine. A lot of time and effort was put into the creation of this issue. Enjoy reading it!

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

5

INTRODUCTION

ALL OVER EUROPE...

Back in 1990, students from five different countries founded an organisation, which they named ESTIEM: European Students of Industrial Engineering and Management.

After 30 years, it has grown into an organisation

The decision-making body of ESTIEM is the

bringing together over 60,000 students from 79

Council, which meets twice a year, in autumn

universities in 31 European countries, and it is

and in spring. Each university, represented by

still growing. All these universities offer courses in

its so-called “Local Group”, sends two student

IEM. Based on this structure, ESTIEM forms links

representatives. The six members of the Board

between students, academia and companies in

of ESTIEM are elected during the spring Council

order to create an Europe-wide, multi-level IEM

Meeting. The Board is responsible for the

network. ESTIEM has continuously increased the

management, coordination and administration

number of its activities, thus being able to offer

of the association.

a great variety of events to IEM students and an opportunity to experience different cultures, take part in international projects and become friends with other ESTIEMers from all over Europe.

and as Project or Committee Leaders, ESTIEM members can also take up responsibilities by working in one of the Projects, Committees or

Naturally, the backbone of ESTIEM is the

Initiatives. With lots of teams and tasks to choose

European IEM student. The students involved in

from, there is a place for everyone.

ESTIEM incorporate both the skills required for modern business and an open-minded approach towards other people and cultural issues.

6

Besides taking leadership positions in the Board

75

180+

Local Groups in 27 countries make ESTIEM a large network.

events are organised

by Local Groups every year.

For

more

detailed

information

about

our

organisation and its activities, please visit our website at www.estiem.org.

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

3,000 travels are made yearly by 2,000 students.

8,000

members and a reach of 60,000 towards IEM students in Europe.

INTRODUCTION

OUR MISSION Connect and support the growth and sustainability of European associations of IEM students, to foster relations and to develop their IEM students, personally and professionally.

OUR VISION Be the connector of IEM Students with an IEM Europe An IEM Europe is the ecosystem of companies, universities, organisations and other entities interested in the field of IEM. We are striving for each IEM Student to have a connection not only with other students all over Europe of the same field but also to other companies and universities, to ensure each student as a voice as well as the opportunity to make a difference, and to allow each outstanding innovative idea to become reality.

OUR FOUR CORE VALUES

Embracing diversity

Striving for development

We see multiculturalism as a strength of ESTIEM. We benefit from our cultural diversity by being able to approach chances and challenges with different insights. Respect is not just something we strive for, but part of the very basis of our network.

We grow together by trying hard and learning from mistakes, we are eager to go through a learning process and see accessibility and freedom as highest goals. ESTIEMers gain practical experience and important soft-skills needed in today’s world.

Encouraging participation

Aiming high

ESTIEM being a democratic organisation with a flat hierarchy encourages the participation of all its members. We inspire each other to partake in ESTIEM’s activities and develop new ideas.

We are not afraid of stepping out of our comfort zone. ESTIEM’s members are proactive students that always give 100%. We encourage an entrepreneurial spirit among students and other stakeholders by gathering and exchanging experiences and best practices.

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

7

FOCUS TOPIC

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE IN SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT Challenge of digital transformation: Aligning BI- and SCM-strategy The supply chain and logistics domain has played

due diligence, concerning aspects such as human

a massive role in embracing BI solutions. To stay

rights violations like slavery, trade of conflict

competitive in volatile markets and turbulent

minerals and illegally harvested timber. Without

Erich Lies

times, you need to recognize the potential

BI-solutions forming a digital twin of the value

Local Group Munich

weakness of your organization and form ideas to

chain, it will be impossible to meet these legal

overcome them.

requirements.

Modern software solutions such as Business Intelligence (BI), Artificial time

Business Analytics (BA) and

Intelligence

insights

into

(AI)

can

supply

provide

chain

Definition of BI in context of SCM

real-

emerging

Business Intelligence (BI) refers to the procedural

risks, inefficiencies, and anomalies, allowing

and technical infrastructure used to collect, store,

organizations to quickly isolate and resolve

analyse and exploit data generated by a company’s

potential problems.

activities. BI is a broad term that includes data

8

mining,

process

descriptive

performance

benchmarking

corporate responsibility in the European Union. In

objective of BI is to identify relevant correlations on

its draft for a new supply chain law to be introduced

the basis of existing information and to generate

in 2022, the EU law requires mandatory supplier

new, economically useful knowledge from it.

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

and

analysis,

There are also new legal requirements for

analysis.

The

FOCUS TOPIC

Considering the APICS framework of Supply

Furthermore, this data needs to be drilled

Chain Operations Reference Model (SCOR), the

down into the required information to perform

integration and automated processing of relevant

research and analytics. The final figures tell

data within the value stream helps to raise

you how the company needs to act according

resilience and enable early warning mechanisms.

to the performance and business objectives.

Key functionalities of BI

The devil is, as always, in the details. The definition of common KPIs, like On Time In Full (OTIF) may

BI essentially means converting this sea of data

vary and stakeholders in the value chain are driven

into knowledge for practical business use. With the

by different incentives to hide and mask issues

help of BI tools, companies can put their collected

and problems that are considered temporary. That

data into a meaningful and profitable context.

is why trust and reliable real-time information in value chains are hard to achieve. It requires having

What kind of data in the supply chain is driven

a good relationship with suppliers and customers

by Business Intelligence? Data and KPIs such as

or an intense market force.

inventory, service level, cost and quality indicators, e.g. transportation cost are heavily managed by Business Intelligence tools.

Why are Supply Chain and operations massively adopting Business Intelligence solutions?

So whether it’s about transferring inventory, arranging shipments, or releasing orders, you can

The increased adoption is linked to the supply

gain insights based on real-time actionable data,

chain digital transformation where BI plays a

get automated recommendations, and evaluate

remarkable role in its varied sectors. For many

the production process in an agile way, quite often

multinational enterprises, their vision and mission

as self-service.

include a consistent E2E-planning process for their digital transformation journey.

BI supply chain tools such as dashboards and scoreboards also provide you with a detailed

BI is helping to manage complexity and risk for

breakdown of a company’s performance (daily,

industries with low manufacturing depth and

weekly and monthly) to help you keep the progress

timely cross-border value chains as well as to keep

in check.

pace in competitive and volatile markets.

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

9

FOCUS TOPIC

According to McKinsey Global Institute (MCI), SC shocks of global value chains are becoming more frequent (shorter intervals) and severe in length. Investments in BI are a bet on managing risk by raising transparency instead of increasing inventory in vulnerable value chains.

This statement corresponds with Allianz global business risks report 2022, that Business Interruption is the #2 thread.

Challenge of Digital Transformation: Aligning BI- and SCM-strategy

maturity level in a holistic way. This will enable

From the strategic point, there is no direct ROI

The choice of BI-tools should be a late milestone

merely for buying licences of BI-software, like

in the transformation journey to achieve digitally

a silver bullet for market success. The strategic

integrated E2E-planning processes.

challenge is to define and align the organizational SCM strategy together with the BI-roadmap and

10

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

business levers in collaboration to create benefits in terms of ROI.

FOCUS TOPIC

Want to learn more? Scan the QR code and access the whole article on our ESTIEM Blog!

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

11

FOCUS TOPIC

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE FOR ENTREPRENEURS

Maria Gezepoglou

The business world is constantly shifting. The last few decades we moved from an industrial, automationbased society, to an technological era of big data, cloud computing and Internet of Things: the information society. Previously, the success of a company was mainly dependent on creating an efficient and effective system, which could help a business optimize its operations. Today, the field of Business Intelligence (BI) is radically changing the manner in which businesses manage their data and even more, the way they are making decisions.

Local Group Piraeus

What is Business Intelligence?

Business

Intelligence

is

an

umbrella

Where does entrepreneurship fit into all of this? term

covering different methods of collecting, storing,

Isn’t the complex concept of BI only for the big

and analyzing data from business operations.

corporate sharks that have sufficient time and

Companies used to see BI only as a technological

money to invest in such IT solutions?

tool with high levels of complexity, mainly dependent on the work of IT professionals. In

Well, no. Entrepreneurs are, and always will be, the

modern times, this method is based on cloud

cowboys of the business world. To grow, remain

technologies accessible to everyone; therefore,

competitive and be successful, small businesses

it has developed into an entire process that

need to remain agile and innovative, make quick

supports decision making and allows for a better

and informed decisions and at the same time,

understanding of the future inside and outside of

maximize their limited resources. In that sense,

the business. It consists mainly of five main steps

information is vital for them as all decisions

that transform raw material into insights:

involving the future of their start-up are based on this very critical element. They face a world of

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

12

The data collection through multiple sources -

opportunities, but they also face a large swath of

including internal company data and external

challenges and a heavy amount of competition,

market data - integrated, transformed and

that require strategic planning based on facts, and

then stored;

not only intuition.

The creation of a comprehensive dataset for the analysts;

A mistake that is often made is that entrepreneurs

The analysis of the dataset and discovery of

focus only on sales and marketing, and they

trends, patterns, tendencies;

ignore optimizing their operations since it can be

The data visualization through charts, graphs,

excessively time-consuming and can keep them

histograms, or other visual representations,

from fulfilling other important responsibilities.

along with BI dashboards and reports;

So the majority of enterprise data remains simply

And finally, real-time decision making, long

an untapped resource. The solution? Business

term strategic planning, as well as the usage

Intelligence. Introducing the tools and processes

of a BI dashboard to probe further into the

to start-ups and small scale companies could be a

data.

game-changer, and here is why.

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

FOCUS TOPIC

Calculate Cost Efficiency and Reduce Waste

Get to know the market trends As entrepreneurship is all about continuous innovation, entrepreneurs themselves should be aware of dynamic trends in the marketplace. BI helps them move a step further from speculations and understand the latest trends of consumer behaviour by tracking customer buying habits, preferences and rejections. The process allows entrepreneurs to leverage customer data to build, refine and modify predictive models that help in up-sell and cross-sell products to appropriate customers. Sometimes, it also assists in developing a better overview of their value proposition against other potential

It’s all about profit and loss. Entrepreneurs need to fully understand where all the money is going - from paying employees, purchasing supplies, and keeping machinery in good condition. Using customized dashboards to get a comprehensive view of the company’s financial health, study historical data, calculate risk and predict trends can determine where the working capital of their business is tied up and how they can improve the cash cycle to increase the profit margins.

competitors.

Optimize All Operations Improve Time Management

BI is designed to help companies draw correlations

between

BI software helps businesses organize several tasks and processes; disorganization

information.

As

and chaos can get reduced considerably, thereby leaving a lot of time for people in

concerned, big data could not be processed

charge to focus their energy on more impactful value drivers that can contribute

not only by start-ups but even by big

towards the growth of their business. Also, faster information is a key to responding

scale companies until recently. Now, with

to threats and opportunities effectively. BI shortens the time between thought

access to data in real-time situations,

and action by combining multiple data sources in common reports using pre-

they can have a better understanding of

aggregated data or other techniques for faster data aggregation.

the products coming in and out of their

far

multiple as

sets

of

production

is

warehouse, streamline their production line, and gain real-time insights. Business

Improve and Measure Staff Performance

intelligence can also be used for marketing.

For example, an analytics dashboard may

BI systems enhance communication among departments, coordinate activities,

identify better prospects through factors

and enable employees to respond quickly to changes, especially in an

such as income level, education, and age.

entrepreneurial environment. Needless to say, BI users can quickly get data-

Marketing efforts can then concentrate on

driven key answers to business questions, rather than spending hours reading

customers who generate higher returns,

through piles of printed reports. When a BI system is well-designed and properly

resulting in better time management for the

integrated into a company’s operations and decision-making processes, it can

salesforce. Whether sales managers want

directly improve employees’ performance. Today, many business intelligence

to track company growth, target a certain

software vendors are making it possible for users to access key business

sales demographic, or optimize prospecting

metrics, reports and dashboards even on mobile devices, giving sales and

efforts, BI sales software can align processes

marketing people access to critical business information anytime, anywhere.

and activities with business insight.

Outrun Competitors Business intelligence tools’ ability to help you save time and make smarter decisions as you guide your startup is certainly compelling.

However, what is perhaps even more important for startup entrepreneurs to realize is that their competition is increasingly starting to use them. Major corporations, such as Amazon and Netflix, are already leading the way in business-intelligence adoption. However business-intelligence processes are becoming increasingly accessible to small businesses as well; a startup’s ability to leverage them could provide the insights an entrepreneur needs and make them stand out. Ignoring the insights hidden in a company’s data could generate a greater risk of serious financial losses while investing in quality business-intelligence tools could ultimately make all the difference for the company’s future.

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

13

FOCUS TOPIC However, as with all new, innovative technology features, BI includes some challenges that entrepreneurs specifically face, preventing the occurrence of a data-driven approach.

Implementation Costs Business intelligence software can be expensive. While the potential for a high ROI (Return On Investment) can justify this, the initial price can be a barrier to start-ups. What should be also considered is the costs of the hardware and IT staff needed to implement the software effectively. The options could be: either choose a low-cost generalized BI tool, with the risk of not fitting the needs of the company perfectly or see the high price as an investment and go for a more customized BI solution.

Data Security One of the most pressing concerns with any data analysis system is the risk of leaks. BI applications are responsible for handling tons of data, that sometimes might include sensitive information about the business, customers or employees. Surveys show that especially small-scale companies are mainly afraid of data breaches and consider security issues as the biggest challenge facing BI. A possible solution would be to carefully choose the correct app, that can provide robust safety measures- and also filter the data they allow BI to access.

Lack of Qualitative Data As mentioned before, there is a big amount of information generated everywhere, every day. Apart from the big numbers, the bad quality and low relevance of data received sometimes can slow down the BI procedure or produce misleading results, risking the entire decision-making process. For a big company, a bad decision could lead to loss of profit, for a small-scale company could lead to extinction. To avoid this, owners can implement a data quality management initiative. It also helps to use key performance indicators that are relevant to the company’s particular needs and goals.

14

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

FOCUS TOPIC

Multiple Sources Analysis The more encompassing a BI, the more data sources one will use. A variety of different sources can be beneficial in giving you well-rounded analytics, but systems may have trouble working across varied platforms. The good news is this problem is gradually disappearing. More advanced BI systems can incorporate a range of different data sets. Entrepreneurs can look for an all-in-one BI software that offers these services or use independent tools like data connectors to consolidate all your varied information.

Resistance to Adoption Not all disadvantages of BI deal with the software itself. One of the most substantial obstacles facing BI is employees or departments not wanting to integrate it into their operations. Since the human factor plays a highly important role within the company, if BI systems are not adopted across all areas, they won’t be as effective. Entrepreneurs can help their staff accept BI by making it easier to integrate, with user-friendly software, benefits of which everyone understands.

In conclusion, there will always be inherent risks when it comes to implementing new technologies, but those elements are the ones triggering change. Ultimately, business intelligence and analytics are about much more than the technology used to gather and analyze data.

They’re about having the mindset of an experimenter, the entrepreneur, and being willing to let data guide a company’s decision-making process.

Business-Intelligence companies, no matter the size, can move forward in an increasingly data-driven climate with confidence, knowing that they are prepared for any challenge that arises.

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

15

FOCUS TOPIC

THE POWER OF QUESTION MARKS, TRACKABLE LINKS AND SUGGESTED ANSWERS Business Intelligence Concretized for Growing B2B Companies

Henrik Rudberg Local Group Gothenburg

When you hear the term “Business Intelligence”,

What if you could know who would be interested

my guess is that you first will come to think of one

in what, so you could direct your resources into

of two things; either

working only with the potential clients that would

•

Data processing IT-systems doing some kind

be your lowest hanging fruit? The question for

of magic analytics trying to predict the future,

sure tantalized me.

or, •

You’ll think of shady ways of getting to know more about your competitors.

Question marks, trackable links and suggested answers

Needless to say, both exist, and both would aim at trying to have more information to steer your

So, what is the best way in getting to know what

business in the best possible direction.

you want to know from just about anyone?

There is, however, one dimension of information

Well, the best way is often simple enough: Just ask.

that is often the most vital to how you can GROW a business: What your customers think.

The relationship you already have with the client, how open your client is and the WAY in which you

True, business support systems might help by

ask is often going to determine whether you will

gathering customer demographics and purchase

get much response, though.

data if you target consumers directly. Still, if you rather run a Business to Business (B2B) firm, such

If you are not very close or you won’t get an answer

information only very rarely will help you reach

to an outright question directly, here are a couple

anywhere at all.

of ways to deduct information that will often work.

As a matter of fact, the type of business intelligence

Track link clicks

you need in a B2B company that you aspire to grow will likely only reside in one place: The head of your prospective client.

Instead of formulating a question, you can post a link to more information on a subject and then

What do they really think?

track the clicking of the link itself and it can even give you an idea of how many in an organization

Of you and your solution? Of your

has seen it.

competitors? Of alternative solutions?

When the three telecoms businesses I was involved in were sold to Tele2, Oracle and Infracom, I knew

Formulate a whole DecisionAssistant process

that the area I had loved to be working with was to

“Decision-Assistant” is my name for a kind of

make businesses grow, so finding processes and

sequenced questionnaire made such that it will

ways to know what clients really think was an area

be clear to the respondent that truthful answers

I wanted to dig much deeper into myself.

to the questions will provide the most tailored solution to the respondent’s needs. I remember one such set up with as many as 17 questions in

16

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

FOCUS TOPIC total with mainly multiple-choice-type answers.

Since it was at the top of our main web-page, many partner companies scoffed at it saying “no one will fill in so many answers”. However, since it had a clear and encouraging title question, and it further on was clear that all questions were relevant ones, it turned out as many as 84% of those who started answering the first question ended up answering all 17 including leaving their contact information!

Learn by “faking” the answer Suggest an answer and rely on Cunningham’s law[1] to have it corrected if it’s wrong. Ok, faking might sound unethical, but suggesting really is not. I’ve been particularly successful using it when helping consultants, or anyone engaged in proposing projects. Their modus operandi is simply to propose new projects to clients by presenting a kind of draft business case’s set up in bizcase.net with a double Gantt chart such as Figure 1.

Figure 1: In it, I suggest the time it will take for the consultant, a “Pro” to complete a

suggested starting, relationship-warming type of project and how long time I think it would take for the client to do the same things herself more as a “Novice”, and at what internal alternative cost I think is relevant for the client. It turns out everyone is tantalized by such proposals and will want to dig deeper and interact. I may not always be correct in my assumptions, but it opens up for both Pro and Novice to be sitting and sorting out the issues on the same side of the table and thereby getting closer to know exactly how the client will think about it.

Have you tried these steps already? If not I urge you to give it a try, and if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out and I might be able to guide you further, good luck!

Cunningham’s Law “The best way to get the right answer on the internet is not to ask a question; it’s to post the wrong answer.” The concept is named after Ward Cunningham, the inventor of wiki software.

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

17

FOCUS TOPIC

ENCOUNTERS WITH THE SHADY SIDE OF BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE

Henrik Rudberg Local Group Gothenburg

It was 1996, a late spring in Paris, and all of us

Students in the room who knew very well of my own

final year Engineering students of ENSAM, Ecole

Swedish background and knowledge of Russian,

Supérieure des Arts et Métiers, got a surprise

the DGSE themselves were quite unaware of my

lecture outside of regular classes by none other

presence. Well, this was until they concluded their

than DGSE, the French equivalent of CIA.

last story by saying that generally, “we will trust Swedes, as long as they don’t speak Russian”. Now,

DGSE was coming to talk us into not being too

the whole room burst out in giggling or outright

gullible in the workplace.

laughter and all heads were turned towards me.

My cover, as just any other French Engineering

Particularly if we were to be outside of France.

student in the room, was definitely blown!

And particularly if we were to be talking to foreign nationals.

I didn’t have another encounter with the hushhush side of intelligence until I was contacted

I had done my Military Service in Sweden in a

about a patent I had filed.

tactical Intelligence unit, where the Swedish neutrality stance was openly stated. However,

I had had this idea of correlating cell phone usage

most of the exercises were in the Russian

movement across geographical locations using

language to the point of being rather fluent (at

GSM network probes reading the Mobile Area

least when talking political or military matters),

updates (this was from before GPS existed in every

and most of the tactics examples studied were of

mobile phone on the market and in order to use

cold war Soviet techniques. With this background,

triangulation, you needed to know which phone

you might think I’d be more cautiously suspicious

to check whereas my method would check the

of just about everything, but I rather scoffed at

movement of all phones in real time).

paranoia going over the top with both old officers and these DGSE agents.

My thoughts of how to use it when coming up with the idea would rather be as a Friend Finder type

This didn’t mean I didn’t enjoy all the stories:

of service, so I was quite surprised when I got a

According to DGSE, France was then the number

phone call from someone who had found my

three in the world of filling databases with

patent useful. He was from Scotland Yard. Hmm,

information, but only number 16 in retrieving it.

perhaps not too surprising they’d be interested in tracking the movement of some individuals, and

18

I learned of French Engineers getting caught in

what kind of people would be moving into the

customs abroad when it turned out the gift they

same spots. I have to admit I was quite surprised

had received was an invaluable antiquity that by

they

law shouldn’t leave the country, and that they

A) searched for and found my patent, and

were going to face many years in prison. Unless, of

B) took contact to ask for help to achieve the results

course, they were to start to work with the foreign

when they could have just tried to implement it

government on providing information.

themselves and I would have never known.

The final story was about a female engineer who

Of course, I’ve watched all James Bond movies,

even married whom she thought was a Swedish

so I should have known Britain must be over-

Engineer, though he was in reality working for

represented in spy-like scenarios. It took many

Soviet intelligence. Contrary to the other French

years until I again saw evidence of foreign

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

FOCUS TOPIC government intelligence (then by watching them follow all, and I really mean ALL, link-clicks in all emails to a certain high-level CEO). My next intelligence encounter, however, was of more lawful enterprise-side business intelligence when I did due diligence work for Cisco in the UK. I also hadn’t moved very far physically when I next ran across some very shady corporate business intelligence, as it was also indeed on British soil: My company was together with Hewlett-Packard pitching a solution to British Telecom (BT). We had worked many weeks together on the architecture while physically having our bid-room in a building where all BT suppliers could rent offices in Adastral Park, the BT research facility in Ipswich. We knew we had a killer solution and our particular expertise was so to the point we were sure no other would be able to come up with it. But a week after our bid was in, we had been rejected. And BT had favored an almost exact replica of our solution, just much cheaper! How could this be?!

A few weeks later, we got the answer: When HP moved out of our bid-room at Adastral Park, fiber optic and microphone cables were found running through the AC conduits just above our bid-room to another office. And you guessed it, the winning bidder had indeed been renting that exact room…

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

19

FOCUS TOPIC

START WITH BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE AS AN IEM STUDENT “Data is the new oil. Like oil, data is valuable, but if unrefined it cannot really be used” [1], was coined by Clive Humby, a British mathematician, in 2006 and it is widely cited afterwards.

Vivian Quoika Local Group Hamburg

We generate a lot of data during the day. While browsing the internet, writing emails, working, chatting via smartphone or when using our smart watch. The capability to analyze and structure data with Business Intelligence and Data Warehousing is very useful and this skill is easy to learn as an IEM student. Find out more in this article.

What is a Data Warehouse and Business Intelligence?[2]

Why should you learn about it?

And why do I like it?

A Data Warehouse can be compared to a

Business Intelligence is easy to learn. It may work

warehouse in logistics. It collects and stores large

in a similar way to working with Excel Tables

amounts of dissimilar data from different data

and Pivot Tables. It is easy to explain and easy

sources. A good Data Warehouse which is backed

to use in your local group and in the business

by business meaning, structures data for future

context. You do not need a Data Warehouse for

extraction and analysis and makes it available

using it. You can start with two tables in Excel.

for other applications. This may include, for example, the translation to different currencies or

The management of data is often an unsolved

conversions between different units of measures.

problem in the information technology industry.

In general, you can think of a data warehouse as a

According to projections in the office around

set of tables (like Excel) in the backend where you

one-third of the time is searching, finding,

can retrieve data with associated dimensions (like

and assessing unstructured data – this can be

region, calendar week or products) from.

simplified by Business Intelligence. It creates surprising insights into the information that can

Business Intelligence (BI) on the other hand is a

be updated automatically.

type of application which can use data from the

How to start with Business Analytics? How did I learn it?

Data Warehouse. It collects, integrates, analyses and visualizes the data from different data sources to support making better business and project decisions and is a frontend. BI could be

I

started

Data

Warehousing

and

Business

considered synonymous with data analytics in the

Intelligence after my studies. I always wanted to

business world.

combine my technical interests with a business perspective. I knew from the start that a software

Examples of use are reporting or KPI measurement

consulting company with an agile environment

and it is a great tool for knowledge sharing and

with low hierarchies would be the right fit for me.

knowledge management within an organization.

When starting as an assistant consultant in a

But Business Intelligence can as well form the

tech consulting company, it took me 1-2 years to

basis for advanced analytics, machine learning or

grasp all the methodology. But it was more about

AI algorithms.

grasping the project management, stakeholder communication and navigating in the company politics. These are things which you need to learn in every first job. All in all, I can say that entering Business Intelligence consulting as an IEM student

20

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

FOCUS TOPIC is quite close to our field of study and it is a field which is growing. The newly developed tools get more user friendly as well.

What are the next steps?[3] I hope I spiked your interest in Data Warehousing and

Business

Intelligence.

If

you

found

it

interesting, don’t hesitate to try out Microsoft Power BI or Tableau in your next project - in your study, in your local group or otherwise.

Questions, comments on the 4MAT or thoughts to share? Just email me at vivian.quoika@estiem.org I am happy to help out and curious to hear ideas!

Special thanks to ESTIEM trainers committee.

Find out more: 1.

Bhageshpur, Kiran, Data is the New Oil, Forbes, 2019.

2.

Business intelligence:

3.

O’Neill Blackwell, J. (2012), Engage – The Trainer’s Guide to Leaning Styles.

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

21

SCENE

HOW TO NOT GET TRAPPED IN YOUR WORK: WORK SMARTER INSTEAD OF WORKING HARDER

Martijn Buijvoets Local Group Eindhoven

Have you ever felt like you gave it your all, yet still,

provide a dynamic explanation of how a capability

you didn’t manage to succeed? Even if you put in

trap evolves over time. Such diagrams originate

more effort, the results would somehow worsen?

from system dynamics literature and have become

Has it ever occurred that you spent a lot of time

common in management and organization studies

improving a situation, yet all your improvement

to capture and explain feedback-driven systems

effort went to waste, and your (genius) solution was

involving dynamic behaviour over time.

not adopted in the end? These phenomena can be explained by a model developed by researchers

Each arrow represents a causal link between

from MIT[1], which later became known as: ‘the

variables in this diagram, and the ‘+’ or ‘-‘ denotes

capability trap.’

its polarity, e.g., more Performance leads to less performance shortfall. However, a set of variables

In my master thesis, I studied how this capability

and arrows form a system of interrelated feedback

trap model could be applied to health workers in

loops. These loops can be self-balancing loops

low resource settings. If you’re interested in how I

labeled with a B, and self-reinforcing, labeled with

approached this, look at my thesis . In this article,

R in nature, e.g., the first balancing loop is called

however, I want to elaborate upon how and when

Working Harder. Here, the process owner chooses

this model is relevant for all of us and what lessons

as a response to more Performance Shortfall

we can take from it. I will structure this explanation

to put in more Work Effort, which causes more

around a model developed by the researchers

Performance, thus reducing the Performance

(see figure). They used a causal loop diagram to

Shortfall again. Overall a self-balancing effect.

[2]

Archetype capability trap structure[3] 22

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

SCENE The last elements of the syntax are shown at the

Processes tend to degrade in the level of

top of the model. Here you see a box representing

Performance due to depreciation and the natural

Capabilities. Boxes in system dynamics are called

effect of entropy, which results in Capability

stocks, and the valves surrounding a box are called

Erosion. Suppose this Capability Erosion remains

flows. A stock accumulates the difference between

unchallenged by a dominant Working Harder loop.

its inflows and outflows[4]. The box with DELAY on

Then, it will steadily reduce the Performance over

the arrow from Improvement Effort to the flow

time, while more and more Work Effort is being put

Investment in Capabilities denotes a substantial

in! This situation is a slippery slope and can result

delay. So now the model syntax is fully defined,

in Ruin (loop R1). However, this scenario can be

let’s look at the two remaining loops and discuss

countered by systematic continual Reinvestment

their implications.

into Improvement Effort. Therefore Capability Erosion

should

be

challenged

by

sufficient

Loop B2 is called Working Smarter. Here a process

Investment in Capabilities. However, this is not

owner realizes that the current capabilities[5] are

easy to do since Improvement Effort will reduce

insufficient to tackle the Performance Shortfall at

the amount of time available for Work Effort in the

hand. Therefore instead of more of the same Work

short term.

Effort, Improvement Effort is preferred, which, over time, should increase the Investments in

So what do you need to do the next time you feel

Capabilities. The increased capabilities themselves

you’re in full-on fire-fighting mode? First, recognize

will, in turn, generate more Performance which will

that things are not going well and prepare for

lower the Performance Shortfall resulting in the

a Worse-Before-Better period. Make sure your

second self-balancing loop.

Investment in Capabilities will rise above Capability Erosion – the Working Smarter loop. Reinvest initial savings in further improvement to escape the capability trap and not fall back in.

Visualisation of the Worse-BeforeBetter Dynamic

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

23

SCENE

References and additional information 1.

2.

Repenning, N. P., & Sterman, J. D. (2001). Nobody ever gets credit for fixing problems that never happened: Creating and sustaining process improvement. California Management Review, 43(4), 64–88.

Full report 3.

4.

5.

24

Video of the defense

Replicated from Lyneis, J., & Sterman, J. (2016). How to save a leaky ship: Capability traps and the failure of win-win investments in sustainability and social responsibility. Academy of Management Discoveries, 2(1), 7-32 Sterman, J. D. (2000). Business dynamics: Systems thinking and modeling for a complex world.

Irwin McGraw-Hill.

“Capabilities are a set of routines that enable production of a particular output given a set of inputs and targets” from Rahmandad, H., & Repenning, N. (2016). Capability erosion dynamics.

Strategic Management Journal, 37(4), 649-672.

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

SCENE

SELF-IMPROVEMENT, CONSTANT IMPROVEMENT & GOAL SETTING Although at times hard to work on, improvement is

Basically, we should implement everything we

truly important. During our studies, we always hear

learnt in university. First, set your goals, and then

about improving – processes, organizations, skills,

try to meet them step by step, planning those

knowledge, and so on. But nobody teaches us that

steps beforehand.

we have to improve ourselves as well. Somehow,

Goal setting

Dragana Slavić

I am sure you have already heard that goals should

Local Group Novi Sad

everybody considers that people already know how to set goals and improve themselves. But how are we actually supposed to do that?

be SMART – specific, measurable, attainable, relevant,

and

time-based.

This

means

you

shouldn’t be too hard on yourself! Give yourself time to think about what you truly want and how you could fulfil your dreams, and then sit down to write your goals, making sure they are realistic and sustainable.

Improvement Next step to meeting your goals is naturally, working towards them – improving yourself.

Keep in mind that all improvement should be step by step, and that it is normal to go a step back while climbing the staircase. Not everyone is comfortable with the same steps, so choose your path wisely. Don’t overload yourself with work, and try to motivate yourself by having little prizes after every few successful steps.

By implementing improvement into your daily life, slowly but steadily, it will become a part of your routine, and then it all comes easily and naturally – habits are hard to gain, but hard to lose as well.

The hardest part can be losing motivation, and that’s when self-discipline comes in. Think about your goals, why you set them in the first place, and how your life will look like when you meet them.

Also, it is important to keep yourself accountable, to find a way to make sure you won’t quit. There are several strategies for this, but some of them are really simple and easy, like telling your friends or family about your goals.

The journey is tough, but it is surely an adventure!

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

25

SCENE

BEAUTY CAN ARISE FROM DISCOMFORT

Mia Nedeljković Local Group Novi Sad

Nowadays our lives have become incomprehensibly

differ. How about: ’’Fake it until you become it’’?

unpredictable, which forces people to face the

Instead of sinking in despair, this courageous

unknown all the while constantly expanding their

woman proved to everyone who bet against her,

tolerance of fear, acquiring new knowledge and

including herself at one point, that unfavourable

ultimately embracing growth. However, what if

life circumstances ought to be used as turning

someone is scared of growth?

points and forces for good, rather than excuses that enforce renouncement. Carl Jung once said:

Why is comfort so desirable in the first place?

“Everybody acts out a myth, but very few people

Familiarity is not an equivalent to security,

know what their myth is’’. It is apparent that truth

something which many people subconsciously

is not something that can be spoken, rather acted

tend to sweep under the rug while evaluating

out. As the marvellous André Gide once noted:

the quality of their life. The first step to leading

“Trust those who seek the truth but doubt those

a meaningful life is realising that in order to

who say they have found it”.

achieve meaning, one has to accept the myriad of responsibilities said meaning carries and hold themselves accountable, given that every minor detail makes for a substantial determinator of further course of action. Furthermore, one has to be aware of what fills their life with value and pursue those noble goals. Only then can an individual claim that they are consciously stepping out of their comfort zone and going after their aims.

Indeed, a dose of precaution is necessary when someone ventures into the unknown, so be sure to find a cause worth such a sacrifice. Impressive aiming skills become useless if the target is poorly chosen-on the contrary, they become tools for detrimental, spirit-crushing outcomes that may be unveiled much later down the road.

What would motivate an individual to step out of their comfort zone, which supplies them with all their needs and a strong sense of security?

Perhaps the desire to fulfil their wildest dreams or escape mediocrity, since certain individuals strive for a career, not merely a job.

Determining what an individual is aiming for is the first and compulsory step of every decisionmaking process, but what about the practicality of it all? Simply put, in order to become everything you have ever wanted, you have to actively practice ’’being’’ it. Some would call it ’’Fake it until you make it’’, but Amy Cuddy would beg to

26

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

SCENE

THE REAL-WORLD COST OF FALSE POSITIVES We all know the frustration of an incessant car

This includes research in medical environments

alarm that just won’t stop. It may affect your mood.

to determine the impact of desensitisation on

You might try to shut out the noise. Over time the

healthcare. Research has suggested that 72% to

monotony of the alarm’s cry dulls your reaction. It

99% of clinical alarms are made in error.

becomes the boy shepherd in Aesop’s fables. It is the car that cried wolf. Until one day it isn’t and the

In Monitor Alarm Fatigue: An Integrative Review[2],

Tolga Ermis

wolf has turned up.

Maria Cvach explains how alarm fatigue is a

Local Group Paderborn, Co-founder&CEO of promiseQ

national problem in the US. Evidence exists that false alarms desensitise safety systems, waste resources, and dilute

In her 2012 research article, she explains how

human reactions to real-life security threats and

from 2005 through 2008, the U.S. Food and Drug

emergencies. According to a study by the Ponemon

Administration (FDA) Manufacturer and User

Institute in the US, reacting to false positives and

Facility Device Experience (MAUDE) database

needless security alerts amounts to around 21,000

received 566 reports of patient deaths related to

wasted work hours. That’s more than two years’

monitoring medical alarms. A four-month review

worth of time wasted. The cost globally is likely

of the MAUDE database between March 1, 2010

unquantifiable.

and June 30, 2010 revealed 73 alarm related deaths, she writes.

In his book ‘Cry Wolf: The psychology of false alarms’, psychologist Shlomo Breznitz posits that

Cvach makes the point that when an alarm is

the human psyche may well be the weakest link

viewed as a nuisance, caregivers may disable,

in any security alarm or early warning system. A

silence, or ignore the warning intended to signal

single false alarm reduces the fear reaction to the

threats

next threat by close to fifty percent, according to

reactions contribute to loss of life, although the

his findings.

true impact is largely unquantified. Rather than

or

emergencies.

It’s

possible

Luke Holohan Journalist, Copywriter, Producer

these

creating a safer environment, a large number of In ‘Alarms and human behaviour: implications for

nuisance alarms have an opposite effect, resulting

medical alarms’[1], a research paper carried out

in desensitisation, she says.

at the University of Plymouth, it is suggested that people will tailor their reaction according to the

A more recent study[3] in Poland used available

perceived reliability of an alarm. The more one

literature on false alarms and intensive care

thinks an alarm is wrong, the more a person will

units to determine the impact on nurses. In the

likely ignore it. This is a problem when businesses,

analysed studies, 389 nurses assessed tested,

medical professionals, or law enforcement rely on

working in different intensive care units. The study

these triggers to do their job.

found that the nurses felt overburdened with an excessive amount of duties and a continuous wave

“If a system is perceived to be 90% reliable then

of alarms.

they will respond practically every time an alarm is sounded, whereas if it is perceived to be only 10%

It concluded that alarm fatigue - contributed to by

reliable then they will respond only infrequently,”

false positives - may have serious consequences,

the research paper stated.

both for patients and for nursing personnel. The researchers advised that it may be necessary to

Studies on the impact of false positives have

introduce a strategy of alarm management and for

been carried out across a number of workspaces.

measuring the alarm fatigue level.

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

27

SCENE So the research appears to confirm that false

For example in Seattle, alarm companies are

alarms can impact workload and quality to varying

billed directly from the City of Seattle Finance and

degrees. In a study of Aviation Safety Reporting

Administrative Division for use of police services

System data

from 2015-2020, analysts looked

including false alarm fees[7]. The fees included a

at 370 reports for hits, misses, false alarms, and

cost of $115 for responding to a false automated

correct rejections.

burglar alarm.

The study surmised that errors associated with

The system came into place in 2004, after the

automated signals are more likely to include false

Seattle Police Department found that 97% of

alarms. It also suggested while excessive alarms

its callouts were false. Despite hitting people

can increase operators’ response times, overall

and companies with a financial penalty, the

response rates can decrease .

department estimates that it spends $1 million a

[4]

[5]

year reacting to inaccurate alarms.

Economic impact

In the UK, the London Fire Brigade is considering charging for false alarms. The emergency service

But false alarms don’t just affect psychological

states on its website that in 2017, its firefighters

response and working conditions. Bogus alerts

attended 38,000 false alarms[9].

threaten the bottom line. It is estimated that billions worth of revenue is lost annually to

An expenditure analysis[10] of the Fire & Rescue

inaccurate security alerts or false positives. In the

New South Wales agency provides further insight

case of a camera security system, a false positive

into the financial costs of false alarms.

could be an alarm triggered by rain or something as innocuous as a bird landing.

The average net cost of false automatic fire alarm system alerts for the government agency was

From the promiseQ security solution perspective,

estimated as AUD$234 million, with a median net

these false positives are a major problem for

cost of AUD$229 million.

security monitoring centres. It’s why we exist as a business - to cut out non-threat alerts and

False/non-malicious events increase noise for

increase the accuracy of CCTV monitoring using

already overworked security teams and can

artificial intelligence.

include software bugs, poorly written software, or unrecognised network traffic, the analysis stated.

False alarms not only burden organisations with extra workloads but can also result in significant

For promiseQ, an alarm system that regularly

financial costs, either through increased labour or

swamps its SOC with inaccurate alerts is a

mental strain, or even large fines due to police or

significant weak link to any network.

fire units being mistakenly dispatched.

It’s a liability rather than a strength. We are now Research by the Centre for Oriented Policing into

working on cloud-based analytics and artificial

police practices

indicates that US authorities are

intelligence solutions in an effort to cut non-

constantly fighting against a tide of false alarms

malicious alerts and reduce costs for businesses

with around 3 million monitored security systems

and government agencies.

[6]

added to the nation’s infrastructure each year.

Shockingly, some $1.8 billion has been wasted by US police per year as a result of false alarms picked up by many of these often unreliable systems.

False alarm systems are now in place in US cities in an effort to recoup costs of wasted time.

28

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

SCENE

References and additional information

[1] Alarms and human behaviour: implications for medical alarms

[4] Aviation Safety Reporting System

[7,8] Seattle Police Department: False Alarm Program

[2] Monitor Alarm Fatigue: An Integrative Review

[5] Alarms, alerts, and warnings in air traffic control: An analysis of reports from the Aviation Safety Reporting System

[9] London Fire Brigade

[3] Impact of Alarm Fatigue on the Work of Nurses in an Intensive Care Environment-A Systematic Review

[6] False Burglar Alarms, 2nd Edition

[10] The economic cost of unwanted automatic fire alarms

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

29

SCENE

FINDING MOTIVATION IN UNSTABLE CIRCUMSTANCES Any person can experience a time in their life where everything is out of control, and they don’t want to do anything. Here are some strategies to help you find motivation in a variety of unstable Anna Bobryshova

situations.

Local Group Moscow

Motivating yourself is difficult. It is more difficult

If there is a pre-made plan, you’ll achieve your goals better. Abstract goals like “try to do better” work noticeably worse than concrete ones, such

to maintain enthusiasm during this period than to leave a state of procrastination. Litres of coffee and inspiring quotes will not help here.

We must remember that everyone has their own motivation. What inspires one may not impress the other.

2. Don’t think about the problems, focus on the goals.

Five sets of techniques will help to

support your motivation:

1. Give it time.

as”learn 5 pages of text”. The first rule is that goals should be specific.

It is important to learn to find at least something pleasant in the activity. Think more often about how to get satisfaction from fulfilling your duties.

Perhaps an unloved study gives you a chance to get a good job, or help a lot of people. Even if there is chaos around, it is important to remember the effects that your actions will bring later. The situation may change, but the result of the work done will remain.

Give yourself time to get used to the situation. You may be nervous and anxious, because there are reasons for this. You can get angry, feel despair and powerlessness, because you cannot influence the situation. You can experience uplifting spirits and hysterical fun, this also happens and it does not mean that you are a bad person. You cannot feel anything or not think about the situation at all, your mind is trying to freeze emotions so that they do not torment you so much.This normally needs time to get used to the unstable situation, and you need time. The main thing is to take care of yourself.

3. Routine is an important part of the day.

When something goes wrong in our life, we fall into a depressive state or, on the contrary, we begin to commit uncharacteristic actions. All this causes a lot of stress on our minds, as it is not our usual activities. A daily routine can help us here, which helps us stay stable even in difficult periods.

In its basic form, a routine is a series of regularly performed actions. You may have a morning routine consisting of things you do when you first wake up (showering, making breakfast, planning the day). Or an evening routine that will help you relax and disconnect from work. What matters is not the exact nature of your routine, but the fact that you have it and you stick to it.

It helps to trick your brain. You will think that everything is fine, since everyday things have remained the same, which means that what is happening around is just temporary interference.

30

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

SCENE

4. Find ways encourage.

to

effectively

Come up with external motivators for yourself, short-term or medium-term. It is especially good if they supplement some kind of reward. For example, decide that after completion you will take a couple of days off or treat yourself to a coveted purchase.

There is a mistake in choosing incentives that

quickly. Much more often we feel like Eeyore the donkey. If you have to pull yourself by the hair to an important goal, find internal and external motivators, choose good incentives for yourself, shift the focus of attention forward or backward depending on the proximity to the finish line – and do not forget to use the influence of the environment. Self-motivation is one of the most difficult skills, but you can not achieve success without it.

destroy the achieved result. If, as a reward for your hard work last week, you allow yourself to relax on the current one, it will smear the impression of your successes.

Such methods cause “excitement” and help to maintain motivation in any situation, since not only the result of the work done depends on your actions, but also encouragement or punishment.

5. Use the influence of others.

When we see the results of a person who easily adapts to the situation and begins to act, we can react in different ways: either get inspired, or lose interest. But you can use the influence of the surroundings to your advantage.

Do not passively observe a purposeful and successful colleague: this can demotivate you. It’s better to ask a person why he/she works so hard and why he considers it important.

Sometimes giving advice is even more useful for motivation than asking for it: by consulting others, we become more confident in ourselves and feel a surge of strength. Offering others a plan of action, you can begin to follow it yourself, becoming more active and successful in the process.

Remember that you are an individual, and all people react to situations differently. The main thing is to find the right attitude to the influence of others.

To sum up, in an unstable situation, the state of motivation is difficult to achieve – or it passes

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

31

CAREER

GETTING YOUR BUSINESS ONLINE DURING PANDEMIC - 8 KEY ELEMENTS

Emre Çetin Local Group Istanbul Bogazici

Nobody was expecting a global pandemic. Yet

Once you have determined your strategy, you

in 2020, Covid-19 came into our lives and the

will choose the technology, since you use tech

definition of normal has changed ever since.

as the main infrastructure for reaching your

Most businesses came to a bottleneck during the

audience. During this selection process, if you are

pandemic. People mostly stayed at home and

starting from scratch, it may be a good idea to use

most of the physical stores closed. It was a sudden

SaaS or PaaS tools because they are providing

shift, so there was little to no money to spend on

quick ways to create your online store and the

emerging needs at the beginning and people were

most demanded features by global consumers.

starting to buy all they needed online.

With such a choice, the launch time of your online business can be shortened, you can start to sell

After lockdowns became the norm, businesses

your products and services immediately and can

and consumers increasingly purchased goods and

focus on the behaviors of your consumers. While

services digitally. According to UNCTAD, United

deciding on tech, cloud services for your hosting

Nations Conference on Trade and Development,

could be an efficient solution; they are more cost-

online retail sales increased by 20-25% in 2020

effective and help you to get a good service for

and made the share of online sales in total retail

optimizing your website speed.

to 19%, while it was 16% in 2019 and 14% in 2018.

Many countries also experienced two-digit growth

The brand, business, and online assets of

in 2021.

your company should reflect the lifestyle and characteristics of your audience in order to make

I have experience in digital commerce and have

a lasting impression on your customers. User

been giving growth consultancy to enterprise

interface and experience should project this

brands since 2017. At the time Covid-19 spread

similarity as well. Unique and engaging screens

started, I was a consultant, providing growth

will help your visitors to navigate the shopping

strategy to enterprise companies in Europe,

stages intuitively and complete the purchase.

Turkey, and the Middle East. I have worked with

Nielsen Norman’s 10 Heuristic Design principles

multiple brands recovering from the pandemic

may help you to create your pages effectively.

and have gained familiarity with crisis strategies and tools. In 2020, I have participated in a research

After you create your designs, website and launch

team with UNCTAD for measuring the change of

your online store, what comes next? You need

consumer behavior during and after Covid-19 in

to attract visitors to the website and analyze

9 different countries. This participation has given

their navigational

me some unique insights on how businesses

increase your sales. In the beginning of the

should start planning for a major event like the

Covid-19 pandemic, many companies cut their

pandemic. In my experience, the main idea is to

advertisement budget to their online stores;

start simple and to adapt and iterate quickly with

because there was an increased demand for

consumer expectations. In order to achieve this,

products after physical stores were closed. This

you need to understand some key elements.

led to a rise in visitors to online stores. Some

& purchasing behavior to

brands even had to implement waiting rooms to First, you need to determine your target

reach the website in order to give an adequate

consumer group and understand their lifestyle

website speed and experience to their customers.

to establish a correct strategy.

There are algorithms and tools to understand

Answers to questions such as how the pandemic

website analytics, create insights, and take action

will change their purchasing power, where they spend their time during the day, what their needs and concerns are, are the critical aspects of your strategy.

32

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

accordingly. In all complex scenarios, there are a few metrics you can observe; how many people visited your website, which channels and sources they come from, how and how much they

CAREER interacted, and the conversion rate in the shopping

support channels, answering your visitors’ or

stages such as category and product page visits,

shoppers’ questions quickly and establishing an

adding products to basket, filling necessary

effortless cancellation and return policy will help

information and completing the purchase. It is

consumers to see that your business is on their

also important to know how frequently the same

side.

visitors or consumers come and shop from your store to understand their loyalty to the brand.

Every business needs a contingency plan in moments of crisis. Although circumstances could

One of the best ways to acquire visitors and

vary greatly, there are certain elements of strategy,

convert them into shoppers is quality content.

design, and user experience that will make all the

Catchy content that emphasizes your value

difference between a successful and failed online

proposition will increase the chance of clicking

presence. Always focus on target audiences’ needs

and being directed to your website in social media,

and desires carefully, understand the dynamics of

search engines, and advertisements. People

the changing environment and behaviors, and be

are searching for products on search engines,

consumer-centric at all times.

marketplaces and spending quite a significant amount on social media. So you need to leverage these areas to build awareness of your brand, products, or services. Many brands or businesses are targeting the same or similar audience as you, and the content you provide can be a key element to differentiating your brand. Establish your SEO and content strategy based on how people are searching the category you are in and what keywords they are looking for.

Pandemic has also accelerated the innovation in the fintech and payment sector related to e-commerce. The “buy now pay later” approach spread quickly since it allows people to manage their purchasing power while still being able to shop products in their wish lists. BNPL applications gained a 2% market share globally and in some countries, like Germany, that share reached 18%, according to Statista.

Now you have transactions and products waiting to be fulfilled for your customers. The Covid-19 pandemic also shifted the expectations on the delivery of the physical products. Delivery in 3 days is now too slow for a regular shopper. Nextday delivery became a norm and many new companies utilizing same-day delivery emerged.

The ability to provide these options increases the conversion rates significantly; but if there is a failure in the implementation, it will decrease consumer satisfaction by an equal degree.

After certain momentum you acquired with your online business, loyalty will become a crucial element to gain stability in a fast-changing, unpredictable pandemic environment. Providing

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

33

CAREER

CONSTANT SELF-IMPROVEMENT AND GOAL SETTING

Hugo Bueno Local Group Madrid

Once a great friend of mine taught me the three

words of Elon Musk, also known as the Da Vinci

keys for anyone’s life: to learn, to forgive and

of 21st Century: “There need to be reasons to get

to travel. Nevertheless, taking a deeper look

up in the morning. Life can’t just be about solving

into them we can notice that forgiving teaches

problems. Otherwise, what’s the point?”

emotional intelligence and traveling expands interculturalism, so they both have important lessons to teach us. Learning means selfimproving and it is quite important, as it broadens one’s ability to further interact with others with a

One of the best ways to set up your strategy is OKRs & KPIs system:

greater range of topics and within different social groups. The beauty of it is that you can progress on almost anything you want: subjects in whatever sector, languages, human interaction, philosophy of life…

ESTIEM is an even greater treasure chest when it comes to life lessons: I joined the organization to meet international engineers and have fun while traveling, but little did I realize I would

Furthermore, striving for growth and accomplishing

evolve ten times more than in any other stage in

our goals makes us improve progressively which,

my education. Everyone starts discovering new

whether we notice it or not, transforms us into

cultures and making friends from all over Europe;

more attractive people to spend time with. And

later this passion moves you to the Central level,

who doesn’t feel flattered getting recognition for

where you begin to struggle with multitasking;

the hard work they’d done?

and finally, you may become a Leader, facing team responsibilities, strategic overlook of your

Thus, I encourage you to dedicate a slice of your

entity and the biggest possible approach to\ an

time to think about your dreams. Try to bring them

international network. Besides, ESTIEM provides

down to reality through a couple of objectives you

a broad portfolio of personal and professional

can tackle. In the end, even if you do not achieve

development events, as well as a feedback

them, you will feel proud and thankful for both

philosophy that makes you feel comfortable to

the passion/interest you have invested and the

ask for improvement points, so that you become

growth you have experienced. In short: don’t be

a better person. After all, self-improvement is a

afraid to aim high!

choice! The aim is simply to be the best version of yourself, which will be highly rewarded in all aspects of your life, from work atmosphere to bonds with your loved ones.

Naturally,

self-improvement

usually

comes

together with goal setting. Why? Because setting your own objectives brings your mind’s idealization to tangible stuff, whether your dream is to become an astronaut or have a big family with a calm routine, giving you a direction to follow. In the

34

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

INSIDE ESTIEM

COLLEGE: AN EVENT TO DEVELOP ESTIEM AND YOURSELF ESTIEM offers a wide variety of opportunities from

Generally, College is organized in the middle of the

academic to personal, intercultural and central

Board mandate, around February, between the two

events. During the pandemic, everything switched

Council Meetings. This timing suits the aim of the

to an online regime and some concepts needed

event and gives the possibility to collect new ideas

to be adapted, while some new event types were

to work on in the future months and to check the

born, such as Short Online Activities. Among all

direction in which our network is developing. The

the different events ESTIEM offers, there is one,

agenda is structured around sessions, where the

generally held once a year that might be worth your

participants and the board discuss different topics

attention: ESTIEM College. The name can be a bit

together, work in groups to solve the problem at

misleading; you may think that it is an educational

hand, all the while each session is facilitated by

event providing knowledge about ESTIEM, but the

one or two people to allow everybody to express

truth is that it’s a completely different experience.

their thoughts and ideas. In addition, there is also a

College is the event in which you will have the

timeslot called “Parking Lot”, the purpose of which

possibility to discuss the current situation of

is that participants propose topics for discussion

ESTIEM, the future of the network, and bring new

and after collecting ideas, everyone votes on the

ideas and directions for further development.

subject they would prefer to further explore. The

Federica Rotta Gentile Local Group Milan

“Parking Lot” is an opportunity to speak up, raise Everybody can apply to participate, but usually the

some topics you care about and listen to different

participants are active people on the international

perspectives, in this way a continuous engagement

and/or local level, who are quite knowledgeable,

in the conversation is created.

and motivated to develop ESTIEM together. The main aim of College is to bring together active

The event generally lasts for a week, in this way,

ESTIEMers and the board, allowing them to open

there is also time to do a “City Tour” and enjoy

discussions about our organization, bring new and

“Night activities”. Therefore, the participants have

fresh perspectives, and develop soft skills such as

the possibility to see the city that hosts the event

public speaking, critical thinking, and creativity.

and to get to know the students of the Local Group,

The spirit of the event is such that any idea is

which is a key part of ESTIEM’s events, to be the

appreciated, and discussion is a way to grow

connector of IEM students.

together.

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

35

INSIDE ESTIEM Each Local Group that is interested in hosting

skill and clarity, but also train people to actively

College can apply on the Event Open Call Page,

listen to others.

same as for all the other events. Since there are participants from different countries, the hosting

College is an experience that will allow taking part

Local Group has the chance to familiarize with other

in the open discussion and to see things from a

cultures and traditions. In fact, an International

different angle, so it is about the development

Night is always present on the Agenda, so there is

of ESTIEM but also about enhancing your skills.

also the opportunity to taste food and drinks from

Furthermore, you will have the chance to meet

all around Europe. The hosting Local Group has

people from different Local Groups, get to know

to take care of accommodation, food, transport

different cultures, and discover the beauty of the

inside the city, night activities, and city tours, while

city that hosts the event.

the sessions during the day are designed by the board and the participants, so the only necessity is to provide a room and materials such as post-its,

ESTIEM College 2022

pens, and flipcharts.

The meaning of having College is the sharing of

After two years of the pandemic, College took

different thoughts; every participant is invited to

place in Budapest from 15th to 21st February. A

speak up and state his view. In this way, an open

group of nearly 20 participants and two externals

dialogue is created and conflicts raised from

(from BEST and EESTEC) had the chance to work

participants with divergent opinions, but only

together and spend one week in Hungary.

through an exchange of views, makes it possible to collect innovative ideas to solve current problems

Unfortunately, at the beginning of the event, two

and draft the future of the network.

members of the Board tested positive, so the event was held without them.

Moreover, two

For sure it is an opportunity to share viewpoints

boardies and one participant were close contacts

and new ideas directly with the board, in this

but tested negative. To guarantee health and

way if you want to bring something new to the

social safety, before starting the event, every

network, College is the event not to be missed.

participant expressed a vote about the admission

Furthermore, open discussions allow for listening

of these people to the event. The final decision

to different points of other ESTIEMers, in order to

was to isolate the close contacts and test them

create value for all the participants, for the board,

daily. After some days of negative tests, they were

and for ESTIEM as a whole.

allowed to participate.

The environment of this event should be friendly

Considering all the effort and work the Board did

and calm since one of our values is “Embrace

to make this event happen, it was a pity to not have

diversity” and we believe that every idea is valuable,

the whole board present, but the understanding

therefore my suggestion is to not be afraid to state

and availability of all the participants were

your opinion. Moreover, to fully respect this value,

admirable. Every leader and participant was

everyone should make an effort to understand a

ready to help to facilitate sessions to still get the

different viewpoint, thus listening and respect are

most from this College. The start was for sure not

essential.

the easiest since only two board members were able to be present, but people were motivated to

The event is also a checkpoint for the board, in fact,

actively give their contribution and interested in

some of the sessions focus on topics that need to

the discussions. The presence of BEST and EESTEC

be addressed during their mandate or problems

was beneficial for the whole event because

that need solving in an innovative way. In this

externals provide a different point of view, way to

sense, a different perspective is always beneficial,

work and always took part in the discussions.

and working in groups guarantees the design and

36

detailing of a solution shared by the team. After

Since the agenda was changed and adapted

this experience, each group has a space to explain

day by day considering the developments of the

to other participants the job they did. Therefore,

situation, not all planned sessions were done,

being responsible for explaining the work of your

these decisions were made by the board based on

team to everyone will help your public speaking

the feasibility of some discussions and availability

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

INSIDE ESTIEM of the board members.

split into smaller groups. Each group developed a solution through an internal discussion, after a

Some of the sessions were canceled with the

fixed working time every team had to explain their

intention to reschedule in an online environment

solution and point of view to others. One or more

in the upcoming months, others were covered

people from the groups presented and, after the

and the topics discussed were all connected to the

presentation, answered questions posed by other

development of ESTIEM.

participants. This activity was useful to improve skills such as public speaking, active listening,

In fact, participants were engaged in conversations

critical analysis, and team working.

regarding our organization: from the growth of the network to inclusiveness and safety, IEM

Since some participants were unable to physically

regulation,

definitions,

attend, the sessions were held in a hybrid module.

Council Meeting, knowledge thresholds, and much

Through one laptop people could connect to

more.

a live stream and multiple smartphones were

online

events,

entity

used as microphones to allow everyone to listen The Local Group of Budapest was really kind

and participate in the conversation. Even if at

and flexible to change the agenda based on the

the beginning the setup of the devices was not

necessities of the circumstance. Their collaboration

optimal, afterwards a great solution was found

and availability were remarkable; thus I take this

and everyone was flexible enough to adapt quickly

opportunity to thank every ESTIMer involved in the

and the system ran smoothly. This allowed for

event organization on behalf of all the participants

holding open discussion without losing the voice

and the Board. The effort of organizers had

of the ones that were online.

allowed everyone to be in a friendly atmosphere and discover the city.

The atmosphere during the days was friendly and cozy so that participants could share different

Budapest is a highly recommended destination,

points of view. In many situations there were

full of history, art, and architecture. The City Tour

discussions and even contrasting opinions, but

was a great experience: from walking along the

this process is useful and beneficial for the value

streets, passing through the bridge from Buda to

creation and for the event. The fact that during

Pest, seeing the beautiful Hungarian Parliament

the working sessions people could have opposing

and the Buda Castle, everything was a pleasure!

opinions about some topics, but during the breaks

The event was structured to have two or three

and lunch everyone was chit chatting and chilling,

sessions during the day and in the evening,

is one of the best parts of ESTIEM. The professional

some leisure activities. The daily activities were

part did not interfere with the personal side thus

structured to work and discuss together; there

participants had the possibility to know each other

were sessions focused on a specific topic to

and connect.

address some questions, all participants in a circle could propose solutions and comment, following

This event had faced some obstacles and for sure

the fingers rule. Indeed, having clear social rules

it was not held in the way it was designed, but

is necessary to give the possibility of everyone

the ESTIEM Spirit was shared and felt, therefore

participating.

in the end people are always the key factor to a successful experience.

In order to keep track of everything, in each session a person took the minutes allowing for

I sincerely hope that after this article you have a

these topics to also be explored further in the

clearer idea of what ESTIEM College is and why it

future. Some other sessions were structured

is organized. Some final words that in my opinion

as brainstorming ones, where everyone used

are crucial: the main point to be aware of is that

post-its to write the answers to a question

College is an event to be experienced, if you want

raised, after which the facilitator decided how

to see what is behind the curtains and be more

to cluster different opinions and analyzed

the

active in the network. Before applying to any

main outcomes. Another type of session was

event, think about what you want to learn from

designed as working groups, where the facilitator

that experience and the meaning that it has for

first explained the topics that were about to be

you, but at the same time be curious to go beyond

discussed, after

the limits and always aim high!

which the participants

were

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

37

INSIDE ESTIEM

ORGANISING ESTIEM’S BIGGEST EVENT DURING A WORLD-WIDE PANDEMIC If someone had told us two years ago that we would be organising ESTIEM’s biggest event during a worldwide pandemic, we would for sure laugh it off. How did we come to this? Well, gather round because we have a story to tell you!

Nikolina Gklezaki Local Group Xanthi

The Council Meeting

The Board’s role

With a quick google search, you will find the

Let’s go back to August 2021 with a newly elected

definition of a Council Meeting (CM) as “an

Board and a Vice President of Administration that

assembly of people meeting for discussion and

has never attended an offline Council Meeting.

consultation”. Moving now to ESTIEM’s Council

We immediately realised that after three online

Meeting, it is the statutory meeting of ESTIEM and

Council Meetings, the knowledge and experience

it takes place twice a year. It is composed of two

was lost and this made it an even harder task

parts,

for our board. We suddenly had to reinvent the

• Claudia Caus Regidor Local Group Seville

•

General

Assembly,

is

wheel and start things from the beginning, dig out

updated on what is going on in ESTIEM, and

where

everyone

information stored deep in the shared drives and

decisions are made through voting, and

approach previous board members to help us.

Working Groups, Training Sessions and Company Workshops, where smaller groups either work to develop ESTIEM or improve

Local Group Seville’s role

their soft skills.

The first communication with Local Group Seville The initial purpose of the Council Meeting was to

for the 32nd Board started in the first days of the

gather ESTIEMers and make decisions about the

mandate and it was already really close to the

future of the network but as it is obvious by now,

assigned dates of the Council Meeting. The Local

it started to serve a bigger purpose. It became

Group had not organised offline events for two

the place where we gather to invest time in our

years and most of the members were practically

organisation, to meet new and old friends and

newbies, so only two of the members had ever

where we celebrate the ESTIEM spirit.

been organisers offline. This was one of the biggest challenges, but not the only one. They also did not

The story of Council Meeting Seville

receive the right information regarding the Council Meeting organisation and a lot of knowledge regarding the actions taken for the cancelled LXI Council Meeting Seville was lost. At that point

The story of CM Seville dates back to CM

there was a struggle to find sponsorships, work

Famagusta, when two motivated students from LG

with the university, figure out the logistics of the

Seville decided to take this challenging step! After

event and have motivated people to support this

that LG Seville started the hard work but sadly, the

huge event.

COVID-19 outbreak occurred and resulted in the cancellation of the three Council Meetings that were to come, including CM Seville. During the

The collaboration

LXI Online Council Meeting, something crazy had happened! Local Group Seville reapplied to host

In order to make this work, we started learning

the LXIII Council Meeting!

together. After having many long chats and constant support provided from both sides, we

This is where an outstanding challenge started for

managed to become a team and found the best

both Local Group Seville and the Board of ESTIEM.

way to work together. Here we need to mention the outstanding motivation of the LG members when nothing worked as they wished it did. Their

38

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

INSIDE ESTIEM enormous urge to make it happen is what resulted

an important decision regarding the number

in the first offline Council Meeting after two years!

of participants. With the COVID-19 outbreak

LXIII Council Meeting Seville

still going on, we needed to make sure that we were prepared for the possible infection of the participants, something that would be harder if

All the aforementioned actions brought us to Seville

we had the usual number of participants, that of

in November 2021. The LXIII Council Meeting took

250. After thural analysis of the possible scenarios,

place in Seville, Spain between the 8th and 14th of

we made the hard decision to invite only 150

November 2021. It was the first Council Meeting

participants, meaning that every LG could only

that took place offline after two years and the

have one delegate representing them. In addition,

first Council Meeting in Spain. This may sound not

we needed to create and/or update the tools we

important, but it also increased the difficulty, due

needed to use, something that took a lot of time

to the lack of support of Spanish universities within

and effort both for the organisers and the board.

the network. It was a rather difficult process, with

Last but not least, everything had to be done as

many challenges. However, we managed to have

close to the event as possible in order to avoid big

a great event with 180 participants from 76 Local

losses in case of possible cancellation due to the

Groups from all over Europe.

pandemic. This resulted in problems regarding the communication with the participants and logistics

Coordinating such a big event means coordinating

of the event.

a big team, something that is even harder during a worldwide pandemic. After all, these ESTIEMers are what have kept ESTIEM moving forward during

The outcomes

the difficult times we are living in and seeing how this event brought them back together as well as

Even though there were multiple problems and

the impact it had on them, is definitely rewarding.

challenges, the Council Meeting happened! Maybe it wasn’t the biggest and fanciest Council Meeting

The challenges

in ESTIEM’s history but it will for sure stay in ESTIEMers’ hearts forever as the event that brought us all together after two years of online work.

While organising the event, we had to make

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

39

INSIDE ESTIEM

INTRODUCING ONLINE EVENTS AS THE WORLD MOVES OFFLINE – DOES IT MAKE SENSE?

Sigurd Elias Halse Local Group Trondheim

After one and a half years of exclusively operating

The main concern was whether people would

online, ESTIEM could finally start offering offline

apply, to willingly spend 6 hours of their day at

events again in the second half of 2021. That begs

an online event. The scenario that wanted to

the question: “Do online events still have a future in

be avoided was getting just a small number of

ESTIEM?” Well, judging from the first edition of “Be

applicants. However, that turned out not to be the

X for X Hours”, organised in February, it seems like

issue at all. By the end of the application period,

they do.

there were triple the number of applicants than the available spots.

In 2021, there were two online “Be X for X Days’’ events. Technically, the same format could have

With limited time, the agenda was drafted to fulfil

been kept for 2022, but times have changed. The

our value proposition as efficiently as possible.

assumption was that people in 2022 are less keen

After a quick introduction and a “get to know”

on multi-day online events, since offline events

game, the agenda had three main sessions. Firstly,

were now available. Taking this into consideration,

one to present what data visualisation is and what

whilst thinking online events could still be useful,

a professional in that field does. Secondly, an

the idea of a shorter, yet still practical and insightful

interactive session where the participants learnt

“Be X for X Hours” was born.

the basics of a data visualisation tool – Tableau, to be specific. Finally, a case study to use the

To give some context, Be X for X Days events

knowledge that was gathered throughout the

have a certain profession as the event’s topic.

event. Looking at the aforementioned goal, giving

They usually include interactive sessions held

practical insight into life in the profession and the

by company representatives, company visits,

skills required, the agenda was created with that in

workshops and case studies. The goal is to give

mind. The participants were actively involved and

people practical insights into what life is like in

motivated throughout the event.

that profession, and what skills are required to do a good job. When we offer an event online, some

What is also exciting about this event is its

of its value is lost (i.e, it is hard to visit a company’s

potential as a source of income both for the entity

offices online), but the value proposition is mostly

and the network as a whole. Just as the Local

the same. Now, when organising the first edition

Groups who organize this type of events can be

of Be X for X Hours, the goal was to use the event

funded by partner companies,partners can be

as a proof of concept: To see if there was interest

found for our centrally organized online events.

for an online alternative like this, and if there is

Those resources can be used for the development

potential for future editions.

of both the network and the entity.

Our first step in planning the event was to

To conclude, the pilot of keeping the online events

brainstorm possible topics. At some point, data

of “Be X for X Hours” concept was a success. The

visualisation came up, which was a favourite

number of applicants will probably depend on the

among the time. To be able to come up with more

event topic. Still, for topics that are popular within

ideas, a list was set up to collect during Council

the target audience, it is entirely possible to create

Meeting Seville, where ESTIEMers wrote

down

a high demand online event like the one described

topics they found interesting. After selecting our

here.. Even when offline events are happening

topic, it did not take long before one of the team

simultaneously.

members found someone to lead the sessions: Sinisa Pavkovic, a previously active ESTIEMer who works with data visualisation. By then, confidence was built up that the event would happen, but did not know how successful it would be.

40

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

INSIDE ESTIEM

MEDITERRANEAN REGION: SO HOT! Mediterranean Region… The hottest region with

Bogazici Yildiz ITU Economy Bilkent METU Xanthi Chios Baku Deu Famagusta XX

the hottest people, hottest song and the hottest spirit. Currently, there are 10 LGs in Mediterranean Region as follows: Ankara-METU, Ankara-Bilkent, Famagusta,

Istanbul-Bogazici,

Istanbul-ITU,

Istanbul-Yildiz, Izmir-DEU, Izmir-Economy, Xanthi

Eren Bağçıvancıoğlu

and Piraeus.

One year later, during the Motivational Weekend It is within this region that The Hotties Spirit has

in Famagusta, two more sentences were added

emerged and spread throughout ESTIEM. The

to the song which fit perfectly: Mediterranean

regional coordinators have started to be the

Region, so HOT!

Local Group Istanbul-ITU

source of motivation for the region and increased the spirit even more. The Region started to have

After Chios and Baku got excluded and Piraeus

traditions, drinks, songs and more, specific to the

joined as a guest group, the 2 sentences of the

region. From all of these, I would like to share with

song were updated by a lovely Mediterranean

you the story behind our lovely Region song that

RC(2019-2020) Zeynep Esra Isler:

you can hear everywhere.

Xanthi Piraeus Deu And Famagusta!

In 2014, during the ReCoM that took in IzmirEconomy, when Reyhan was our dear RC, in a working session, there was a group which was about to create this amazing song that caused

Everyday, the Hottest Region is growing and

an incredible positive effect on the motivation

developing

of Mediterranean region members, that we

important it is for a region to have a spirit and how

still sing today. A group including Alaz Ata Senol

much it can affect the activeness of its members.

more

and

more,

showing

how

(VP of Activites of 26th Board) and Kaan Erdem (Mediterranean RC 2015-2016) came up with these

Stay HOT everyone!

lyrics while using the melody of the song “Simarik”

by Tarkan:

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

41

INSIDE ESTIEM

HOW I MET YOUR ASSOCIATION My experience creating a Local Group from scratch in the pandemic Maybe you are wondering how I got here.

and also the fact that the Technical University of

As

Group

Cartagena is supporting the internationalisation

Cartagena in Spain, I am going to tell you our

the

founder

of

the

new

Local

of the students with the EUT+ programme

short story and how this process has been.

(European University of Technology). This new European University with delegations in Troyes,

Francisco López Soler Local Group Cartagena

I will tell you a summary of how I started

Darmstadt, Dublin, Cluj-Napoca and Sofia among

ESTIEM. It all started when I was studying in

others has promoted our first exchange with

Seville, two years before the pandemic. I could

LG Sofia, being our first and marvellous event.

see first-hand how a good LG works. I helped in the organisation of an event where I could

On the other hand, as a founder of the LG, it is

enjoy what ESTIEM Spirit is, although I could not

a totally new and very enriching experience in all

travel that year to any other event in Europe.

fields. I am meeting a lot of people that I am telling about this new project and they think it is a very

My life changed that year and I moved to

good idea; I am also learning about many different

another university more than 500 kilometres

fields such as negotiations with companies

away to continue my studies in Industrial

and rectorate, logo and merchandising design,

Engineering. In the beginning, I did not know

social networks, recruitment of new members...

anyone and even less in online classes, but I found a small group of friends who helped

All these reasons have led to the fact that right

me to develop my project, to create ESTIEM in

now we have about 30 active members and that

Cartagena, a small and very welcoming university.

next year we will be able to organise several international events, I hope you will visit our LG

In Cartagena, after the return to on-site lessons,

Cartagena and we will be able to meet each other

the university was full of students eager to do

and that you will visit our wonderful city in the

new things and travel. This favourable point,

South of Spain.

LOCAL GROUP CARTAGENA

42

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

INSIDE ESTIEM

THE BEGINNING OF THE ESTIEM PODCAST What could be a better way to hear other

In the preparation phase, the ESTIEM Podcast

ESTIEMers’ stories and experience the spirit

team writes the script of the episode and writes

as if you were with them in your daily life,

the questions that will be discussed. Then, they

whether you were going to class, working, or

invite diverse guests, a group of people from

travelling? You guessed it: the ESTIEM Podcast!

various Local Groups and different experiences in ESTIEM so that every listener can hear

With the ESTIEM Podcast, one of ESTIEM’s

something relatable. After this, the recording

newest initiatives, we aim to deliver entertaining

process takes place via online meetings as the

and

host and guests are spread across Europe.

insightful

content

about

ESTIEM

while

Sena Horoz Local Group Istanbul-Yildiz

connecting ESTIEMers and IEM Europe by sharing experience and knowledge on relevant topics.

So far, I am delighted to inform you that the first two episodes have been recorded and the first one

The idea for the ESTIEM Podcast has been floating

has already been published. Starting with ESTIEM

around for a while, and some attempts have been

events, the first season of the ESTIEM Podcast

made in the past, but it never became reality

focuses on introducing the network and its core

due to a variety of factors ranging from technical

values to the listeners, to you, the ESTIEMer. The

difficulties to laptop thefts. As a result, this year I

remaining episodes will cover topics ranging

decided to make mine and many other ESTIEMers’

from working in an international environment to

ideas and dreams a reality, and I began developing

the founding of ESTIEM, and the first season will

the podcast. We started working on the project

conclude with the Council Meetings episode, which

after getting some really cool people on board,

will air just before CM Belgrade. So, we plan to publish

including Umut from Ankara-Bilkent, Erik from

seven episodes by the time you read this article!

Gothenburg, and Vasco from Aveiro. As the first months are the most difficult, planning the

We

framework and recording the very first episode

season with you and are looking forward

are

very

excited

to

share

the

first

were the most significant milestones, and they

to what the future holds! Who knows, you,

were also the ones that took the longest time to

yes you, could be the podcast’s next guest!

finish until an effective process was established.

Link to ESTIEM Podcast

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

43

INSIDE ESTIEM

DATA PROTECTION IN ESTIEM

What is personal data?

Personal data can be any kind of information that assists someone to identify another person directly or indirectly. The purpose of personal data protection is not to just protect the person’s data, but to protect the

Nikolina Gklezaki

fundamental rights and freedoms of people that are related to that data.

Local Group Xanthi

What is GDPR and who does it affect?

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is the toughest privacy and security law in the world. Though it was drafted and passed by the European Union (EU), it imposes obligations onto organizations anywhere, so long as they target or collect data related to people in the EU. In addition, companies and NGOs that have any connection to the EU must comply with the regulation. The GDPR basically obligates the data processors to treat personal data in a unified way across the EU. This, as a result, affects ESTIEM and its Local Groups.

44

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

INSIDE ESTIEM

The 7 protection and accountability principles of GDPR The following principles represent the main building blocks and set the tone for the Regulation:

Lawfulness, fairness and transparency

Purpose limitation

Data minimization

Accuracy

Storage limitation

Processing must be lawful, fair, and transparent to the data subject.

You must process data for the legitimate purposes specified explicitly to the data subject when you collected it.

You should collect and process only as much data as absolutely necessary for the purposes specified.

You must keep personal data accurate and up to date.

You may only store personally identifying data for as long as necessary for the specified purpose.

Integrity and confidentiality

Processing must be done in such a way as to ensure appropriate

Accountability

The data controller is responsible for being able to demonstrate

security, integrity, and confidentiality (e.g. by using encryption).

GDPR compliance with all of these principles.

Data collection in ESTIEM

ESTIEM’s Privacy Policy

Before collecting personal data, there are four

A privacy policy is a statement or legal document

specific questions that ESTIEMers ask themselves,

that discloses some or all of the ways a party

as mentioned below:

gathers, uses, discloses, and manages a customer

•

Why they are collecting the data;

or client’s data.

•

Where they will store the data;

•

Who will have access to the data;

In ESTIEM, we believe that every effort done

•

How long they will keep the data.

towards ensuring someone’s privacy is a show of respect. We fully agree with the principles of GDPR

With these questions in mind, we have built

as much as we want them respected when our

ESTIEM’s Privacy Policy, where we explain how

data is on the line, we want to hear a reason for

ESTIEM will treat the personal data that it collects.

keeping data, we want it to be confidential, and kept just for the time needed.

Check ESTIEM’s Privacy Policy here!

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

45

EXPLORE

FINNISH STUDENT CULTURE – THE CULTURE OF OVERALLS AND SAUNAS You might have seen a little bit of Finnish student

the year. Somehow students have begun their

culture if you were present at an ESTIEM event

celebration of Wappu even earlier and earlier,

with Finnish participants; they might have been

and in Lappeenranta we have the longest Wappu

wearing overalls or even a white cap with a tassel

in Finland and in the world, lasting over a month!

during International Night. Overalls (or “haalarit” in

Every day there is a party or at least some activity

Saara Mäenpää

Finnish) are the most visible part of student culture

going on that you can take part in. One activity

Local Group Lappeenranta

in Finland. The color of your overalls depends on

that is happening during Wappu is sitsit. Sitsit is

the city and university you are studying at, as well

an academic table party where you sing, eat, and

as what your field of study is. There are quite a few

drink according to etiquette, and they happen

rules and traditions about the overalls. The overalls

throughout the year, not only during Wappu. Sitsit

are decorated with badges, which you should sew

can have different themes and they are usually

on yourself, and any other accessories you might

followed by an afterparty. We have our own

want to have on them. You can get badges from

songbook, and most songs are sung to a familiar

different events you attend, or you can buy the

melody but different words.

ones you like from people who sell them. During your first year you cannot sew badges on top of the

Sauna is something special to the Finnish culture

sponsors’ logos, as the overalls are sponsored by

but also to our student culture. In Lappeenranta

companies. There is also a tradition of exchanging

we have a sauna night every Tuesday, where you

parts of your overalls with your significant other

can go to sauna, play some beer pong, or just hang

or a friend, if they have different colored overalls;

out. There are also multiple saunas on campus

if you are dating, you can exchange the pant leg

that can be rented out, for example, for an event.

of your overalls and with your friends you can

The housing organization for Lappeenranta’s

exchange the sleeves. You cannot wash your

students also has saunas in each of their housing

overalls unless you are wearing them and go into

complexes and you can go during a common turn

the lake or the sea.

shared with all the residents or rent out a time for your own turn. Fun fact: Finland has a population

During the orientation weeks in Lappeenranta

of 5,5 million people and 3,3 million saunas, and

in your first year, you are “baptized” to become

Finland’s sauna culture has also been added to

a freshman of engineering (or a “teekkarifuksi”).

UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible

Throughout your freshman year, you will have

Cultural Heritage of Humanity (United Nations,

to collect points by, for example, participating in

2020).

different events to get your white cap with the tassel for the 1st of May which is called “teekkarilakki” in

Everything written here is based on my own

Finnish. On April 30th you get “baptized” to be an

experiences as a student in Lappeenranta.

engineering student (“teekkari”) by going down a slide into the lake and when you get out of the lake, you are not a freshman anymore. On 1st of May you get to wear your cap for the first time.

1st of May is also called Wappu. It is a holiday, also called Labour Day, and even though it is a holiday for everyone, students – especially engineering students – have really taken over it, and it is considered our biggest celebration of

46

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

References 1.

United Nations. 2020. Finnish sauna added to UNESCO’s Cultural Heritage List.

EXPLORE

BE CURIOUS. BE ONE OF US. Study industrial engineering and management in Finland in Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes. » Bachelor’s Programme in Industrial Engineering and Management lut.fi/bsc-ind-eng » Master’s Programme in Global Management of Innovation and Technology lut.fi/gmit

» Master’s Programme in Innovation and Logistics lut.fi/inlog Our programmes are located in Lappeenranta, Lahti and Kouvola.

READ MORE ABOUT LUT University: lut.fi/en

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

47

EXPLORE

THE TREASURE TROVE CALLED MEXICO Something that I’ve learned during the past

sights, its own traditional dishes, and its own

three years is that Europeans do not know much

cultural mix. Even after travelling across Mexico

about Mexico. I made a study exchange there in

for more than half a year in total, my bucket list of

the autumn semester of 2021, which marked my

places to see is still astonishingly long.

second visit to this unbelievable country. I had Mikko Sairanen Local Group Tampere

made a backpacking trip some years back and

But how is it to live or study in Mexico? My home

always knew I wanted to return.

during the exchange was in the north of Mexico in the city of Monterrey. Monterrey is an industrial

To be honest, Mexico has it all. You can find

city, less visited by tourists and not so bustling with

breathtaking

rivers,

culture as the other big cities, but it is a good place

mountains and volcanoes, dense jungle, vast

to live in. The city is surrounded by magnificent

deserts, cloud forests, and everything filled with

mountains, and I ended up completing a whole

animals, plants and fruits you have never seen

lot of fantastic hikes during the semester. By

before. There are countless fascinating towns,

Mexican standards, it is an expensive city but for

called pueblos mágicos, but also metropolises so big

most Europeans still very affordable. For example,

that most European capitals do not even get close

apartment rents vary roughly between 150-400€

to their size. You can find Mayan and Aztec cultures

and a restaurant dinner might cost you 4-10€.

beaches,

magically

blue

still mixed inside all the post-colonial development, visible in art, traditions, and of course the abundant

My exchange university was Tecnológico de

indigenous communities. Every state has its own

Monterrey, one of the most prestigious private

Hometown mountains in Monterrey

48

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

EXPLORE universities of Latin America. It was easy to see in the campus that the university has a lot of resources; facilities are very modern and there are some curiosities, like an abundance of animals (peacocks, ducks, and even deer) on the campus area. Studying was a little bit different from what I’m used to. For example, the atmosphere is very social, with the students often guiding the discussion. I eventually had all my courses in Spanish, which also posed a little challenge, but everything went well! In exchanges, I generally recommend selecting courses in the local language bravely, even if you haven’t studied the language for that long.

Maybe the best thing about the studies was however that I could choose online courses due to the pandemic. Therefore, I was able to travel the country more than would have been possible otherwise. So many amazing places would deserve to be told about here, but I’ll have to limit it to a few, which are also shown in the pictures.

Firstly, local friends took us on a trip to Real de

Frida Kahlo’s altar, ofrenda, for the Day of The Dead in Mexico City

Catorce, a former mining town in the middle of the desert of San Luis Potosí. To reach the town, you must drive 3 hours through the desert, 30 minutes

Second travel highlight mention goes to Bacalar,

on a narrow cobblestone street, and finally

a sweetwater lagoon in Quintana Roo, laying

through the only entrance, a 3km long tunnel.

right next to the Atlantic beaches. Due to the

Things that I got to experience in this fairytale-like

composition of the lakebed the water here has

town included horse-riding up the mountain to

unbelievable colours; it’s called the Lagoon of

explore the abandoned mines and taking a tour

Seven Colours for a reason. As mass tourism

down a side of a huge canyon sitting on the roof

pouring down from Cancún has not quite reached

of a jeep.

this place yet, it offers a perfect paradise escape.

Lastly, I also want to mention Mexico City. Despite its gigantic size (22 million people) it has always felt very open and welcoming to me. The city feels modern but is still very cheap - a metro ticket costs 20 cents. There is a lot to see especially in terms of culture; Mexico City hosts a variety of brilliant museums and historical buildings.

By now it must be clear that I highly recommend Mexico as a travelling destination. To conclude, I have to point out that Mexican people are some of the warmest and most helpful I have ever met. You will hardly find a place where you would feel more welcomed!

Looking over Real de Catorce on horseback ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

49

EXPLORE

CARNAVAL: A BEAUTIFUL TRADITION, TURNED INTO AN EXCEPTIONAL EVENT Carnaval Activity Week, a unique event with legendary stories, pulchritudinous participants dressed up in crafty costumes, and some tremendously tasty beer. An event that has been widely known across the network and has never Remco Vis

failed to amaze and inspire ESTIEMers. Still,

Local Group Eindhoven

many questions remain. How did this terrific tradition even start, what is the original purpose of Carnaval, and how does everybody find the willpower to remain motivated for such an intense and exhilarating event? Today is the day that all of these questions will be answered.

Carnaval is celebrated amongst a lot of countries

Max Sturkenboom

in the world. Though, in the Netherlands, we do

Local Group Eindhoven

party that starts off a period of fasting, to be

it the Dutch way. Originally Carnaval is a catholic precise 40 days of fasting before Easter. In most countries, it is celebrated for only one day, but in the Netherlands, it’s celebrated from Friday until Tuesday.

It all started hundreds of years ago when Carnaval was the last opportunity to eat well before the time of food shortage at the end of the winter.

Even back in the middle ages, there were already parades and masquerade balls. The Carnaval as we know it today has only been there since the Second World War. During the war, it was prohibited to wear masks, and before the war, it was extremely limited and exclusive to people of higher classes. After the war, it was decided that Carnaval should be for everyone and so started the Carnaval as we know it today.

In current times, the fancy masks made room for funny outfits, and the one-day celebration turned into a full weekend of partying. But some traditions were kept, most towns still do a yearly parade with beautiful carriages and uplifting music.

50

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

EXPLORE Carnaval is only celebrated in the south of the

Activity Week traditions. In true Carnaval style,

Netherlands, and this area has natural borders

we begin the event with International Night. This

due to the big rivers, the Meuse, Rhine, and

allows participants to adapt to the utilisation

Waal. Every city that is located in this area has its

of spirituous beverages and the crazy, fun, and

own traditions with Carnaval, for example, their

especially exciting atmosphere. Another tradition

own colours, their own costumes or their own

is the Carnaval parade in Maarheeze. In this cosy

songs. And every person will say that their way of

village, a wonderful parade of decorated carriages

celebrating is the best way. To experience the best

and other embellished vehicles are displayed.

and more traditional Carnaval, it is suggested to

Another tradition that is worth mentioning is

go away from the big cities and enter the smaller

‘Stropdaszuipen’ (Tie drinking). Every participant

towns and villages. In these places, the Carnaval is

receives a tie with 15 names of bars on it. At every

still focussed on traditions.

bar, an alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverage can be obtained by showing the tie. This results in a mind-

The Carnaval Activity Week has been a famous

blowing and diverse pub crawl where a variety of

event in ESTIEM for years. The event happened in

beautiful places will be explored.

physical form 10 times and online once. The event attracts ESTIEMers from all over Europe, many

If you want to experience this legendary event

of which return the following years as an event

yourself, we can only suggest applying next year!

crasher. Including organisers, participants, and

Since it will be the return after an absence of

crashers the event usually counts around fifty to

2 years of the Carnaval Activity Week, it will be

sixty people.

bigger, better, and funnier than ever!

Carnaval Activity Week has many recurring

See you in Eindhoven!

activities, that we can now call true Carnaval

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

51

EXPLORE

52

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

EXPLORE

WHAT MAKES TRAVELLING IN ESTIEM SO APPEALING While writing this article, I am sitting at the

new stories happening every second. I drank

Konstantin the great airport in Nis, Serbia, waiting

Rakia with strangers on a Serbian fortress, I was

to get home from my latest trip to Local Group

challenged to chess games while barely conscious,

Novi Sad. Exhausted because I have spent the last

anywhere I went I was stressed by the organizers

week sleeping only five hours a day (a definitive

shouting, “CHOP CHOP!” at me, and, thinking that

improvement since my first ESTIEM event as that

it was one of my friends, I unknowingly slapped a

average was two hours a day). I feel tired and my

stranger on the butt. I am not sure who was more

head hurts, yet I feel true nostalgic happiness

shocked, him or I.

over the last couple of days. Why is that? What is it that makes ESTIEM events so unforgettable? Is

Reminiscing on the stories from my first ESTIEM

it the exotic new locations that we get to explore,

event, I realize that I am writing this more to myself

the local life rhythm that we are privileged to

than for any other audience. The stories surely

experience or is it the hidden local gems that our

sound more like random unconnected gibberish

hosts reveal to us? Maybe it’s the knowledge on

that provide almost no real value to the reader, yet

interesting topics that we gain, skills in new fields

these are some of the happiest and most personal

that we obtain or the satisfaction from coming out

memories I have of the network. Thus, I want to

of our comfort zones and overcoming personal

conclude this little private note with a challenge

challenges? Or perhaps it is the new friends that

to You, the person holding this article. Take five

we made along the way, the old friends that we

minutes and relive your favorite ESTIEM event. Go

met once again, or momentary sparks of love we

figure out yourself why it is so special to you and

feel after a stolen kiss?

enjoy the nostalgia!

To share my personal answers to these inquiries

Cheers from Serbia!

Erik Viktor Pymay Local Group Gothenburg

I want to go back to the very first ESTIEM event I experienced abroad. After one and a half years of meeting ESTIEMers online I made it to Belgrade for a Europe3D. Upon landing, my phone broke down and I was lost in the white city without any directions or idea of what to do. After wandering for two hours, I was rescued by the current President of ESTIEM who happened to come for the same event as I did. Later that afternoon we were welcomed by the local group who took us to their favorite cevapcici place. Later that night my host gave me his own phone to use during the following week. We went to LG Novi Sad for a four-day visit and got to watch cinema on top of a mountain, explore dungeons beneath a castle and drink with the locals. After returning to Belgrade, I participated in the most well-organized event I’ve been to, with activities around the clock and a warm organizing team to take care of me after the activities. I didn’t sleep at all during the nights and during the days I walked around like a smiling zombie. The time passed by like an arrow, with

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

53

EXPLORE

TOUR OF THE NORDICS, 2022 Participants Why did you decide to participate in this event?

Martin Klasa, LG Gothenburg: As a member of the board in LG Gothenburg, and as a born and raised Swede, I felt the urge to show other Europeans the most beautiful parts of my country. I especially wanted to show my hometown, Stockholm. I also had a great time the last time I visited Finland, therefore I felt like I just had to see the ESTIEMers from Helsinki again!

Joseph Tschoerner, LG Berlin: I actually did not consider applying for the event in the beginning, but after participating in my first ESTIEM event one month earlier, I was immediately hooked on the ESTIEM spirit and applied right away on the train on my way back.

Erik, one of the organisers, also took part in that first event and after some discussion, my decision on going was set.

Stephane Charrot, LG Lyon: I decided to participate in this event because my friend Leo and I are finishing our studies soon, and we have never had the chance to participate in an ESTIEM event. Moreover, the agenda looked cool and the idea of meeting other Europeans was intriguing!

Kate Weber, LG Munich: I have not had the opportunity to participate in an ESTIEM event previously. When a friend told me about the Tour of the Nordics and I looked at the information about the event, I was honestly immediately excited. I have always wanted to visit the northern countries but I just haven’t had the motivation to do it yet. I have also never travelled with a group of strangers before but have always wanted to take part in an experience of that sort, also just to challenge myself. So there was no other or better choice than to sign up there!

54

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

EXPLORE

How did you enjoy travelling and changing countries together with over 20 other ESTIEMers?

Arvid Imgård, LG Gothenburg: I absolutely loved it! The beauty of people from so many LGs and cultures coming together is that you feel like you didn’t just travel between Sweden and Finland. You feel like you’ve experienced many more different cultures from talking and bonding with all the participants of the event.

Martin Klasa, LG Gothenburg: I love it! This was my second ESTIEM-event and I enjoyed it just as much as the first one! I got to meet some awesome people from all around Europe and experience fractions of other countries’ cultures(especially during International Night).

Joseph Tschoerner, LG Berlin: At first I want to say that I mostly felt like a homogeneous mass travelling together, which I did not expect at all. The similarities overweigh the differences by far and in this group there was no majority or minority, so these events make me question borders and prejudices. Still, talking about topics like food, studies, patriotism, language or families, all of us having a different relation to it growing up, felt really enriching for my cultural understanding and also my empathetic skills.

Stephane Charrot, LG Lyon: It was a so nice idea to travel, and the transportation parts aren’t annoying at all, that’s why the ferry is my favourite moment of the trip. The organization was very good!

Kate Weber, LG Munich: I was pleasantly surprised and also found it incredibly nice. We were a large group of students from over 12 countries who didn’t know each other at all beforehand. Despite that, from the beginning, we were just a group, just students who are all here for the same reasons and want to have a good time together. In the meantime, we had completely forgotten that we were all from different backgrounds and cultures. At the same time, it was also very exciting to learn more about the situation and life in other countries. I would not have expected that you could be together with so many people (who even speak a different language than you) and feel like a part of a group, taking care of each other and making the best memories together.

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

55

EXPLORE

TOUR OF THE NORDICS, 2022 Organisers

How did you decide to organise the event?

Meri Ruuska, LG Helsinki: Our local responsible of 2020 was elected as the mother organization’s board member for the year 2021, and during the elections, she promised that we would organize the Tour of the Nordics in 2021. When I was elected to be our local responsible for 2021 and heard about the event I was immediately on board with organising it. I reached out to Erik in February to see if Gothenburg wanted to collaborate with us on the event again.

Erik Rudberg, LG Gothenburg: It’s been quite a long time coming actually, Meri hit me up sometime after I was chosen to become the new LR of Gothenburg to ask me if I was down to organize this event called Tour of the Nordics! Naturally, I didn’t know what that was at first, but after having a chat with her I realised the potential in this type of event and decided along with the rest of my board that this was something we wanted to do.

We’ve been talking continually for the better part of the year 2021 about what times we should do it and how we would organise it when the time was right and when Covid-19 regulations became more manageable. Luckily, during the end of my mandate, that time came to fruition and we decided upon the times that we now actually had the event. There were some complications of course because I was no longer in the local board as of the year 2022, but we overcame these issues and we’ve had an amazing event because of it!

What were your expectations?

Erik Rudberg, LG Gothenburg: I didn’t know exactly what to expect from the event. It feels like everything about it has been quite unclear up until the point of actually putting everything together. I still did feel like everything we did was quite novel, even if we had of course planned it before! I did know for sure that this was going to be a really fun event, and I was looking forward to getting to know all of the people at the event as well. I have to say though, even though the event was quite a lot of scrambling for resources, considering how expensive the Nordics are unfortunately, just the fact that we managed to put out an event that was this much fun blew my expectations out of the water completely. I knew it was going to be fun, but I had way more fun than I thought I would.

It’s my first event to actually organize internationally as well, so I might have thought that I would not have a lot of fun because of that. That was wrong! I had a lot of fun, even during the parts that I was fixing stuff. I am so so happy about how everything turned out.

56

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

EXPLORE

Read the whole interview here:

What was the biggest challenge?

Meri Ruuska, LG Helsinki: Our biggest challenges came before we organised the event. In February, when I reached out, the Covid-19 situation looked bad and we didn’t know when it would be possible to organise this event. We talked back and forth on the dates and finally agreed on them only to realise that our mandates have already ended by then.

Can you share an interesting story?

Erik Rudberg, LG Gothenburg: You guys reading this, that aren’t from either Sweden or Finland might not have encountered the term “Sit-sit” yet. It’s quite similar in both Sweden and Finland but there are some key differences. The things that are alike are that it’s, in short, a three-course dinner of varying quality, sometimes it’s a nice entrecote dinner, sometimes it’s a hotdog thrown in your face. There is always a lot of singing during these sit-sits, so it’s basically like a seated party of sorts.

Oh well, regarding the differences… We in Gothenburg have something called Gyckel (Gückel) during these sit-sits, which is basically “an act” divided into 3 parts. What does that mean? Well, it could be a song, then a challenge for some of the other sit-sit participants and finishing with a dance. It could also be a theatre piece or a homemade short film.

The possibilities are endless…

During the Finnish sit-sits, we got the opportunity to show the Finns how we do our gyckels so we put on a dancing show to the song “Das Rote Pferd” as our first act. Then we did an intense drinking challenge for our second part. A challenge for the participants was to build the highest beer can tower possible in 3 minutes, with a couple of twists…

And the last one was a couple of verses with mentions of adult content. It was a blast, to say the least!

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

57

EXPLORE

OBRIGADO LISBOA Last semester was the first time since the

the beginning of the semester the parties took

Covid pandemic started that students from the

place outdoors where the streets were completely

Technical University in Eindhoven were allowed

filled with students, like fish in fishing nets.

to go abroad for an exchange semester. Partly due to the experience I have in ESTIEM, I was sure

Apart from meeting other students in the streets

Jari Flinterman

that I would love to spend my semester abroad.

of Bairro Alto there were other ways to get to

Local Group Eindhoven

For me, an exchange semester can be viewed as

know new people. In Lisbon there are two big

an extension of an ESTIEM event and has one

student organisations for Erasmus students,

important similarity: Everyone starts from zero,

these organisations facilitate activities and events,

nobody knows each other. After 20 weeks you

like rooftop parties, surfing activities, and trips

are best friends with people from all over Europe.

to, for instance, the Algarve and Porto. I joined

ESTIEM gave me confidence that going to a new

the organisation on several events to, amongst

place and starting from scratch is something

others, the Algarve, Porto, Sevilla, and Gibraltar.

very enjoyable and nothing to be afraid of. I was

When you visit the Rock of Gibraltar be careful of

selected to go to the IST university in Lisbon. After

the monkeys stealing food out of your bag and be

finding a room and buying a flight ticket I realised

aware that baby monkeys are not trained to go to

that my exchange semester was finally getting

a regular toilet. After visiting the Algarve I realised

started. The fun started way before I arrived, since

that Portugal has an astonishing coast line and a

I looked up every single Google page about both

beautiful nature. This feeling was fully confirmed

Lisbon, Portugal, and the surrounding countries.

when I visited Madeira and the Azores. These two

My bucket list became so extensive that this list

islands are really beautiful and recommendable to

would not fit in my suitcase. In other words, I

visit - you will hardly see such green islands with

realised that staying only one semester is short

such a beautiful nature. Closer to Lisbon there are

and time will fly by.

some beautiful places as well, like Cascais, Belem, and Sintra where a beautiful palace is located,

Halfway September it was finally the moment for

looking like one from a fairytale. Setubal is also a

me to go for a one-way trip to Lisbon. Packed with

very nice city next to a bay where you can go on a

two suitcases and two pieces of hand luggage

tour to see dolphins. Last but not least, if you want

I was fully prepared to go for a whole new

to see the biggest waves in the world, visit Nazaré.

experience, out of the comfort zone in Eindhoven.

The waves can be crazy high, as you have probably

After being settled in my apartment it was time to

never seen before! With these experiences a part

plan activities and to act like a tourist. Lisbon is a

of my giant bucket list was fulfilled.

real student city with a lot of universities. All these

58

universities are inviting international students, like

There were still a lot of things left on the bucket

me, to go for an exchange in Lisbon. As a result,

list, like exploring the Portuguese cuisine and

many exchange students are present in the city.

tasting port wine in Porto. Eating pastel de nata

One of the first places I got to know is the area

and snacks with codfish are dishes which I got

where the bars are. The hotspot where drinks

addicted to. Steaks are served with an egg on it,

are served for students is Bairro Alto, a compact

which is (apparently) typically Portuguese. Next

district in the centre of Lisbon. This is heaven for

to hanging around with other exchange students

every exchange student since it is common to go

and travelling, the exchange semester was a great

out multiple days a week. In Bairro Alto there is

opportunity to get to know Portuguese culture.

even a bar called `Erasmus corner’ which was a

Portuguese students have somewhat different

guarantee to get the party started. Especially in

habits than what I am used to, some of which

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

EXPLORE

came as a surprise. Students often eat fries with

Celsius), which was way better than the weather

a small steak between two pieces of bread. Also,

in the Netherlands (rainy and about 5 degrees

if a lecture starts at 10 AM, then the students

Celsius). Also, Portugal was in control with regard

will arrive at least ten minutes afterwards. Some

to the Covid pandemic. As a result, bars, clubs,

students are dressed like actors from Harry

everything remained open which was a blessing.

Potter. At last, a lot of Portuguese students start late with their assignments, causing issues close

To conclude, going on an exchange semester

to the deadline. Subsequently, the teacher often

is an amazing experience and if you get the

postponed the deadline, which was good for the

opportunity to do it, go for it! For me the most

exchange students as well.

important takeaway is that working/living abroad is something that is very exciting and enriching.

Thinking about Portuguese culture, something

Moreover, going out of my ‘bubble’ or ‘safe zone’

that comes to my mind is that Portuguese people

can lead to meeting new and interesting people.

are extremely patient. I rarely saw Portuguese

Also, collaborating with people from a different

being in a rush. Moreover, they are really polite,

culture teaches you much about understanding

speak English well, and are willing to help. Going

other people who have different points of view

to a restaurant where ‘fado’ is performed is a truly

from your own. I believe that any city is great for

nice experience. The thing that I missed the most

an exchange semester since there will always

was being in the exchange vibe with friends from

be fellow students from other universities in

all over Europe. Everyone had a lot of free time

the world. However, if you also like to do a lot of

and were outgoing. An often used reasoning was

surfing, hiking, partying, and chilling on beautiful

that sleeping was for the weak and can be done

viewpoints and rooftop terraces then I would

once the exchange semester is over. The thing that

definitely recommend you to go to Lisbon.

my Dutch friends were most jealous of is the great weather in Portugal (sunny and about 18 degrees

Obrigado Lisbon for the amazing experience!

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

59

EXPLORE

HOW TO TRAVEL FOR 18 DAYS WITH ONLY A 26L BACKPACK?

Alexandre Coquillaud Local Group Lyon

A few months ago, while offline events were

I had a lot of questions at that moment. Where was

starting to take place again, I decided to apply

I supposed to sleep for 2 days in Sofia before the

for my first offline event. At that time, I was not

beginning of the event? Where would we sleep in

experienced at all with travelling by plane and I did

Belgrade for 3 days? How can I survive for so long

not know what an ESTIEM event would look like. I

without a suitcase? And, last but not least, how

wanted to attend 2 events, the first one in Sofia,

was I supposed to bring a bottle for International

and the second one in Novi Sad. Since there were

Night if I wasn’t allowed to take more than 100mL

just 3 days between the 2 events, it did not really

in the plane? That was actually my biggest concern

make sense to go back to France in the middle, so

at that moment. Indeed, I realised very fast that

I decided to attend one after the other.

the ESTIEM Spirit was even more awesome than everything I expected. Hosting me for 2 nights was

The plan was to go from Lyon to Sofia first, by

not a problem at all for Local Group Sofia, it was

plane, alone. Then,I was supposed to go from

even almost part of the organisation. My friend

Sofia to Belgrade with a Swedish friend that was

from Novi Sad already asked one of her friends

also attending the event in Bulgaria, to spend

to host us in Belgrade (and she had a washing

some days there with a friend of ours from Novi

machine that literally saved my entire trip). Even

Sad. After that, my friend from Novi Sad and I

better, many people from Local Group Belgrade

planned to go from Belgrade to Novi Sad to attend

spent those 3 days with us, even though it was not

the second event, which other people from Local

an event at all.

Group Lyon were also attending. In the end, we were supposed to come back to France all together

So basically, the plan was to be hosted by 2 people

by plane. You need to know that I had only met

I had never met before, in 2 cities and 2 countries

these 2 friends online, since I joined ESTIEM during

I’ve never been before. Surprisingly, I wasn’t

the pandemic, so it was already an experience

worried at all: I knew these people were ESTIEMers

itself just to meet them for real for the first time.

and so that everything would be fine. Of course, I did not tell my mother…

While booking my tickets, I realised that I needed to save money as much as possible. Therefore, I

My last single problem was: what to put in my 26L

planned several things. Firstly, it was cheaper to

backpack, the only one I had that was more or less

arrive in Sofia 2 days earlier. Secondly, I realised

fitting the plane requirements?

I needed to pay to be allowed to bring more than a carry-on bag in the plane, and I refused. I was

Naturally, some clothes. But I needed to be

probably naive at that time, but I expected large

strategic. First of all, there is no limit regarding

cabin bags to be free. Thirdly, it was cheaper to

what you are wearing during the flight : I decided

take the planes from Geneva instead of Lyon, and

to wear pants, a t-shirt and a hoodie. It was the

to pay for a bus from Lyon to Geneva. In particular,

end of the summer but still warm, so I actually

for the round trip, the cheapest flight was landing

wore the hoodie just to pass the control. In my bag

in Geneva late in the evening, at a time where

I firstly put the very basics: some tee-shirts and

there was no option to go back to Lyon. So we

underwear. Did I need extra pants? Extra hoodie?

decided, with 2 fellow French ESTIEMers, to spend

Had I enough space to bring formal clothes for the

the entire night in Geneva, while waiting for the

Gala Dinner? And what about International Night?

early morning.

Should I bring some cheese or hope to find some in Bulgaria?

60

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

EXPLORE In the end, I survived with one extra pair of pants,

Even if it wasn’t always easy, this experience was

one polo shirt for the Gala Dinner, no extra hoodie,

really awesome and enriching. All the people I met

no food and no bottle. I luckily found everything I

during those 18 days were very dedicated and

needed for International Night in Bulgaria. I also

incredibly hospitable. Travelling with ESTIEM is a

had no beach towel even though it was needed:

unique experience and that’s mostly because of

I instead asked my host if he could lend me one.

its amazing people. That’s why you should never

Little trick: I put everything that was not clothes in a

forget:

little plastic bag so it was easy to find everything in

ESTIEM Spirit is the force that has been uniting us

the middle of the backpack, and faster for security

for 30 years. It is something that all ESTIEMers share

checks in the airport.

in their heart, it is the force that brings us together again and again. Make sure to spread it as much as

Fun fact: the towel was the official towel of Technical

you can: it’s every ESTIEMer’s responsibility to ensure

University Sofia and my host decided to give it to me

it will never disappear.

in the end. I still keep it as a souvenir and a symbol of what ESTIEM Spirit means to me.

May the spirit be with you!

Here is the full and exhaustive list of what I had in my bag: •

1 extra pants

•

6 T-shirts

•

1 toothbrush + 1

•

1 USB Type C Charger

toothpaste tube

•

1 paper sleeve with

•

2 polo shirts

•

1 electric razor

important papers

•

1 swimming shorts

•

1 wax pot

(printed boarding

•

1 shorts

•

1 deodorant tube

passes, printed covid

•

Underwear for 9 days

•

1 fingernail scissors

certificate) + some LG

•

1 sunhat

•

1 comb

•

1 sunglasses

•

Some facemasks

•

1 France flag

•

1 pack of tissues

•

1 LG flag

•

1 15” laptop

•

1 LG bandana

•

1 Laptop Charger

stickers •

1 expired passport (just in case)

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

61

EXPLORE

NOWHERE INTERNATIONAL? My Erasmus semester brought me to Skövde.

Last but not least I need to mention the beautiful

Skö… what, you ask? Skövde is a small city in

scenery of Sweden, where lakes and primordial

southern Sweden, right between Stockholm

forests are shaped by Nordic wind and weather,

and Gothenburg. Though located next to a busy

interrupted by lovely cities like Stockholm. The

railway line, upon arrival I felt a little like I was

landscape suggests biking or hiking, and I have

Fabian Czilwa

thrown into the middle of nowhere. Despite the

learned that you should adapt your activities to

Local Group Darmstadt

fact that I grew up in a small town, I needed to

the country you visit. Go for what is possible there

adapt to the quietness I faced here. For a reason,

and not for what you would do at home. Discover

Swedish society is so well described with the words

the new! Eventually, I felt at home so far in the

“lugn och ro” (like tranquillity and calmness). Less

north, even at a place which felt like nowhere to

calm on the contrary was my student dorm, which

me at first.

was packed with exchange students from all over the world, with kitchens as messy as the nights were vivid. Here I spend most of my time with other exchange students, having the best parties.

Nevertheless, I also began to meet more Swedish people. I joined Skö… Sex, which is an association that runs the local student pub.

Foremost, I came to Sweden to live with Swedish people and experience Swedish culture, as I have been considering moving to Sweden after my graduation. Joining a local association was perfect for that. In my opinion, all the small parts of which a culture is composed are only perceivable when head jumping into that culture. Therefore, I would recommend you to use an exchange semester to experience a country in which you are considering living, as not every culture might fit you. Mingle with the locals as much as possible, they are often as curious about your background as you might be about theirs.

The change of university culture I also enjoyed strongly.

While

impersonal

and

in

Darmstadt

delivered

everything

through

is

crowded

lectures, in Skövde a personal approach with individual assistance and small groups during lectures is preferred. Instead of having only one final exam, I needed to submit assignments throughout the whole semester which helped me to comprehend the topics thoroughly.

62

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

HOW TO WRITE FOR ESTIEM MAGAZINE

If you are interested in writing for the Magazine, the only thing you need to do is to contact us at articles.magazine@estiem.org.

You don’t need to be a part of the Magazine team, you only need to have a story to tell - no matter what the topic is, as long as it’s IEM or ESTIEM related!

How to write an article?

Ideas for article topics

ESTIEM Magazine | 62nd issue - The Puzzle of Business Intelligence

63

DEPARTMENT OF TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT AND ECONOMICS

CHALMERS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY Do you want to study in a creative and innovative environment where academy, public organisations, industry, and entreprenuers come together?

In Gothenburg, situated in one of the most innovative areas in the world, Chalmers University of Technology has created a learning environment where students are allowed and encouraged to try their ideas in reality. In addition to providing a cutting edge academic education, we provide our students with the possibility to work closely with both academic researchers, public organisations, innovators and industry.

Moreover, the wide range of possibilities will encourage students to test their ideas by both working with established companies and by establishing a new startup as entrepreneurs.

Our four Master’s Programmes within Technology Management and Economics offers a combination of solid theoretic frameworks, applied projects and strong connection to business and industry - a combination that ensures a rapid learning curve and exciting job opportunities after graduation.

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND HOW TO APPLY

WE OFFER MASTER’S PROGRAMME IN: Entrepreneurship and Business Design Management and Economics of Innovation Quality and Operations Management Supply Chain Management Application opens in Mid-October every year.

“ It has been an exciting journey, especially the fact that studying at Chalmers brought me and my friends (who now became my business partners) across the globe to experience the real world of being an international entrepreneur. ” - Rich Zapata Rosas, Entrepreneurship and Business Design student at Chalmers Read Rich’s blog: bit.ly/rich-blog

chalmers.se/masters