Spring Issue 2019
JIBS UNITED MAGAZINE
En dag på KPMG Hos KPMG ligger möjligheterna öppna för dig som vill utvecklas och göra en karriär utöver den vanliga. Vi erbjuder ett utmanade arbetsklimat med högt tempo och stort eget ansvar för den som kan och vill. Det kommer att ge dig nya kunskaper, öppna oväntade dörrar och ge dig betydande möjligheter. Hos oss kan du räkna med att arbeta internationellt redan på hemmaplan och det finns goda möjligheter till att jobba utomlands. Vi satsar helhjärtat på din personliga utveckling och vårt mål är att vara en spännande arbetsplats där du mår bra och har roligt. Läs mer på kpmg.se
© 2018 KPMG AB, a Swedish limited liability company and a member firm of the KPMG network of independent member firms affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”), a Swiss entity. All rights reserved.
Deloitte Talent Ett talangprogram för dig med höga ambitioner Deloitte Talent är ett talangprogram för toppstudenter från hela Sverige. Under tre dagar får du visa upp och utveckla dina talanger i case, föreläsningar och kreativa workshops. Du träffar företagsledning, konsulter och rekryterare – ett sätt för oss att lära känna dig men också en chans för dig att få in en fot på företaget och se vilka karriärvägar vi kan erbjuda. Sök Deloitte Talent 2019 Nu tar vi emot ansökningar till årets Deloitte Talent som äger rum den 15-17 maj i Stockholm. Programmet sträcker sig över tre dagar och efter dessa dagar ingår samtliga deltagare i ett ca 6 månader långt mentorskapsprogram. Ansök senast den 14 april.
deloitte.se/talent
© 2018 Ernst & Young AB. All Rights Reserved. A18018se
Ta första steget i din karriär! Vi finns på 50 orter i Sverige och söker ständigt nya medarbetare till alla våra affärsområden. Läs mer och ansök på ey.com/se/student
a b b o j ill du
V
s e g i r e v S d e m
? r e r ö repren
ent
Jobba med entreprenörer och utmanas varje dag. Vill du bidra till ett välmående näringsliv och samtidigt utvecklas i snabb takt? Hos oss arbetar du med entreprenörsföretag, vilket innebär stort eget ansvar och ständigt nya frågeställningar. Välkommen till en utvecklande och utmanande vardag.
grantthornton.se/karriar
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CONTENTS CONTENTS A few words from the Dean............................................................................................................................................ 8 Letter from the Editor..................................................................................................................................................... 10 Meet the JSA Board....................................................................................................................................................... 12 A few words from the president...................................................................................................................................... 18 Nu är det vår!.................................................................................................................................................................. 22 The place you call home in Jonkoping: Debunked!....................................................................................................... 24 Rowing in the Deep ........................................................................................................................................................ 26 Going Digital: JIBS Blog................................................................................................................................................. 28 Exchange Survival Guide................................................................................................................................................ 30 From having an issue to realizing your dream................................................................................................................ 32 Coffee Break: Alexander Hutching................................................................................................................................... 34 Experience in JIBS from Several Perspectives................................................................................................................. 36 Growing 5G..................................................................................................................................................................... 39 Educational development within Jönköping International Business School................................................................... 43 Your education - a tool for growth and development for the future.................................................................................. 45
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Dean
Jer k
er
Mo
od yss
on
A
few words from the
Business schools pay a lot of attention to growth. It is a trade of economists to generate and apply theories of economic growth; management scholars investigate and develop new ways to grow ventures. Managers in business and society often set as one of their main performance indicators to show their ability to implement growth strategies in the businesses they are leading. Growth is also an important aspect in our individual lives – academically, socially and personally.
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Although there is no universal and undisputed way to measure growth, we can examine the results of our growth endeavors through the trails we have left behind or by looking forward and examining our goals – the ones we have reached as well as the ones we are still to reach. As opposed to most businesses, in which growth very well may be a target in itself, the growth logic for business schools is different. Taking into account the educational experiences of our students and the working conditions for our faculty and staff, bigger is not always better. On the contrary, there are business schools in which smaller size is a competitive advantage, and in which growth per se is not desirable. JIBS is one such example, next to a range of other leading international business schools. By staying relatively small, we can provide our students personal space and attention. At JIBS every student counts. However, small size is not necessarily equivalent to limited scope. JIBS offers a variety of opportunities in a range of programs, and access to international environments both on campus and through our widespread partnership network. Our ambition is to provide relevant education not only to benefit your personal growth endeavor, but also contribute to sustainable economic, social and cultural prosperity. As we are approaching spring, I am reminded of new begin-
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nings. As we push forward on our journey it sometimes happens that we stumble and fall. We grind to a halt and wonder if it really is worth it. Then something changes, inspirations comes from somewhere we did not expect, and we push forward again. The one thing I have learnt from challenging times is that we need to continuously move forward, as individuals and as a collective. I therefore encourage you to take a leap and challenge yourself and see what JIBS has to offer. Whether your trade is economics or management, or any related field, or if you just set out to progress your personal growth trajectory, JIBS is your business school.
Letter from the Editor
Name: Qianyi Zhang Age: 18 Nationality: China Major: International Economics
Dear readers,
Welcome to the first issue of JIBS
JAA and its partner companies. Taking
I have ever taken. It’s not always easy
United 2019. My name is Qianyi
inspiration from the daily moment in
when you are leading a team, and to
Zhang, I am JIBS United’s new Editor
campus, we aim to provide reliable,
know what you should do and what is
in Chief. It is my great pleasure to be
inspiring, challenging, and entertain-
the next step you will take. At begin-
on this position and to work with this
ing news, and catch readers’ eyes by
ning, I did not treat this job seriously,
talented and energetic team.
beautiful design. By redesigning and
I thought it could be as simple as what
reimaging, I would proudly say this
I did in high school. However, things
JIBS United Magazine is the project
spring issue would give you an experi-
became out of my imaginations, there
run by JIBS Student Association for
ence beyond expectation.
were plenty of work waiting for me
all JIBS students. The history of JIBS
Difficulties and challenges are an
and meetings came to me one by one.
United can be traced back to 23 years
indispensable part of life, the most im-
Sometimes I even asked myself “Do I
ago, when the first issue was released in portant thing is what we learned from
really want to do this job?” But I don’t
1996, and since then JIBS united has
overcoming these difficulties. For me,
regret to be an Editor in Chief, what
been funded and supported by JIBS,
be being an editor in chief is a big step
this job teaches me is something I can
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never learn from the textbooks--not
in charge of JIBS United, since this is
support;
only to be responsible, but to grow up,
the last semester I study in Jönköping
To you, who are reading this wonder-
to be a better me.
University, and I am so glad that there
ful magazine.
always are people who are willing to
Finally, I sincerely hope that you, who
The theme of this spring issue is
help me. This issue would never be so
are reading this magazine in front the
“Time to Grow” because we want
successful without these lovely people:
screen, could like us, find a moment to
students to gain something new, to
Many thanks to our writers for these
step back, breath and enjoy this won-
make progress, and to grow up in this
amazing articles;
derful magazine.
new semester. We achieved this goal
To the design team for building this
by providing some articles related to
incredible magazine;
“Growth”, and we hope you could be
To the last Editor in Chief for her
Sincerely yours,
inspired by reading our articles.
guidance;
Qianyi Zhang
To Managing Director for his assisUnfortunately, this spring issue is the
tance;
first and also the last one when I am
To the rest of the members for their
Pictured below, JIBS UNITED team
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Meet the
JSA Board
Joelle Soumi: Vice President (Head of Education)
A: "The best experience I’ve had so far was the first board meeting that I’ve been to. The new members, including myself, were extremely quiet and didn’t say much and I remembered Austra saying “Wait until you get used to the position, that’s when you will not stay quiet anymore”. And boy oh boy she was right!"
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Q: What has been your best experience while being part of the JSA board?
Karin Rutstrรถm: Head of Administration
A: "Being a part of the development of the association internally within the board but also seeing our projects grow and assist them in their work."
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Martin Lundblad: Treasurer A: "The best thing about being part of the board is all the other board members. We are a great group that can combine both important discussions with having fun, something we manage to have both in the board room and also outside it."
Chelsea Carroll- Melzer: Head of the Internal Committee
A: "The best experience for me was the camaraderie with the rest of the JSA board team and the memories I will cherish forever."
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Jesper Ervell: Head of the Social Committee
A: " I think the best thing about being a part of the board is to be involved in the decision making and discussions about how to further develop the student life on campus as a student representative. As a new board member I think it is interesting to see that there is so much thought behind each topic in order to make sure that the students at JIBS are pleased."
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Yuki Henrik Emil Karlsson: Head of the International Committee A: "Since joining the board in January, I have had the privilege to work with motivated and talented people who have had a huge impact on my personal development. And I have so much more to look forward to."
Filip Forsell: Head of the External Committee
A: "It’s hard to point to one specific experience but I am very proud that the interest to get involved has been very high this year!"
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Johannes Ahlse: Head of the Marketing Committee
A: "The best experience of being part of the JSA Board is that I get the chance to work with a ton of driven people throughout the organisation that work for the betterment of the school. People that create events and associations that further the development of not only themselves but also everyone around them. The fact that I get to be a part of that and have impact on the direction and development of the whole organization makes me thankful."
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A few words from
the president
Austra Kaše
“The topic of growth is extremely close to my heart as President of JSA, because I have always felt that that is one of the most valuable things that JSA can offer to the students.”
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U
niversity should indeed be a place of growth and experiences. When we exit the doors of the university and enter the ‘big world’, i.e., applying for jobs that we will dedicate our time and energy to, in most cases the employers ask for experience. I believe that the student associations at the university should serve as a playground for our future professional life. Students should dare to take the opportunity to get involved in a project, to gain valuable experience that will help them stand out amongst other candidates for the same job, and to grow both professionally and personally. And it is our job at JSA to provide a safe space for this growth. A space where new ideas and innovations are encouraged, help is readily available and little mistakes are lessons, not failures. JSA has a wide variety of projects and committees, ranging from Quality Committee working in the educational area to Ball Committee and Spring Inspiration hosting grand events to Case Academy allowing students to network with companies and solve cases. The involvement in each of the projects might look different and might offer differing opportunities for growth and skill development, but what I strongly believe is that they all train character, for example, our ability to manage responsibilities, respond to changes and organize ourselves and our work. To be able to reap these benefits, one must dare to get involved, dare to step outside of their comfort zone. It might be scary and unknown at first, but there are always people to support you in your journey. Being involved in JSA has been amazing for my own personal growth. I have learned more about myself during my time as President than I have in my entire life before. I wish for everyone to have such magnificent experience.
Dare.
Get Involved.
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Grow!
Meet the team Julian Managing Director
Qianyi Project Manager
Managing Team
Tonja Graphic Designer
Renate Graphic Designer
Daniela Graphic Designer
Design Team
Siddhi Writer
Katharina Writer
Christian Writer
Writing Team
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Beata Writer
Alex Proofreader
Nadine Proofreader
Julia Proofreader
Proofreading Team
Mareike Marketer
Vendela Marketer
Estha Marketer
Annie Marketer
Marketing Team
Viraj Blogger
Rita Blogger
Ioan Podcast Manager
IT Team
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Nu är det vår! Hello Spring! BY SIDDHI SALVEKAR
Some of you, who have begun their stories in Sweden, must Easter week is dominated by fun activities, such as the have seen a rather peculiar, but pretty looking flower on Easter parade, children dressing up as witches and getting social media around this time. This plant called tussilago hopped up on candy, or even the Easter Bonfire, which or “coltsfoot” in English, symbolizes the advent of spring has actually slightly become a troublesome tradition here in Sweden! The days are getting longer, recently. To enjoy the turn in the weather even more, the weather is still typically cold, at least and specially at Hälsoparken, one of the clubs on for those of you who aren’t used to campus, Westcoast is arranging an event where the erraticism of the weather in this there will be a lot of wild and fun activities beautiful country. Nevertheless, as which bring students together to cheer for “...peculiar, but pretty Swedes optimistically say around their schools and celebrate. To top it all off, the end of March, the spring is there will be open-air music performances looking flower on social here! Along with seeing people’s by Simon Svensson and the band Otheas, media around this time. moods get better after the who performed at the kick-off festival dreary winter, there are also previously. If its high-street and couture This plant called tussilago a lot of fun events happening that interests you with its vibrancy, there or “coltsfoot” in English, in almost every town and city is the infamous Spring Inspiration Fashion symbolizes the advent of here. Whether its celebrating Fat Show on the 3rd of May. For the high Tuesday with the nationally famous achievers out there, JIBS hosts its annual spring...” “Semla”, cute farmer’s markets or Entrepreneurship Challenge on the 8th of the biggest of all, Easter. It’s a pleasant April to the 10th. It is a rather exciting, 24-hour time to be in Sweden, and more so in our marathon like innovation race, which helps students student town, Jonkoping. exchange creative ideas, work with teams and think out of the box. A majority of the festivities in April are dominated by the Easter festivities, particularly the Stilla Veckan, the Spring can be a beautiful season in Sweden, and also a “Silent Week”, which is concluded by the Easter eve hectic one if you’re a student. But hey, with the weather celebrations with some delicious food. Around the end being just so good, endless fika breaks, weekly events at of April, Jonkoping University has arranged an event to Rio, and just the lakes and the scenic nature around you, celebrate spring with music, choir and speeches too. The it will definitely seem like a breeze!
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IF YOU HAVE GRADUATED FORM JIBS, FINISHED 2/3 OF YOUR PROGRAM, OR HAVE COME TO JIBS AS AN EXCHANGE STUDENT, YOU ARE WELCOME TO JOIN THE ALUMNI NETWORK.
YOU WILL BE CONNECTED TO MORE THAT 5000 JIBSERS AROUND THE GLOBE, RECEIVE JIBS UNITED MAGAZINE AND ALUMNI NEWSLETTER, BE INVITED TO ALUMNI EVENTS, HAVE ACCESS TO JOB OFFERS AND STORIES OF THE BIG FAMILY OF JIBSERS!
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The place you call home in Jonkoping: Debunked! By Siddhi Salvekar
You’ve finally emerged out of the harrowing application process, planned out the next best two, three or more years of your student life. And then you stumble upon one of the biggest priorities of them all, the place to be calling home for those years. Accommodation can be quite a tricky issue here in Sweden. With the ever-increasing demand for housing, and filling up your preferences for student housing, it can be quite a stressful process. Whether it is student accommodation you are applying for, or finding private housing, it is always an imperative measure here to read up as much as you can about the housing options beforehand. Sure, you can find all the basic information provided by the University on the JU website, but we’re going a step further to give you candid reviews from students such as yourself about the different student accommodations here. Sijia Liu, one of my classmates from the Economic Analysis master’s programme, currently lives at Ekhagen, which is about 4 to 5 kilometres away from the university. Over fika, she shared some of her experiences about what it has been like living there. If you like living around nature, with some peace and quiet, and you don’t mind the distance from the central parts of the city as much, Ekhagen is the place for you to be. There is a mix of international
students there, and it gets pretty fun around the common area on weekends, as these students mingle over their ethnic food and share their culture with one another. Sijia describes herself as an early riser and says she quite likes the environment around the accomodation, which helps her focus and study peacefully. She finds the apartment to be a decent place to be, with regard to the size of the apartment as well as the rent, which is moderately priced. Having recently moved in with a German and an Indian roommate, she enjoys the experience of adapting to the cultural diversity and has learned plenty from it! Continuing with the search for housing, for those of you who want to live closer to the university but aren’t looking to party or turning into night owls, we arrive at Bäckadal. This is where Nithin Gopalakrishnan has spent almost two semesters. According to him, Bäckadal is one of the quietest and regulated places compared to the other accommodations provided by the university. Little is known about this place, compared to the other popular choices of accommodation, and just as Ekhagen it is surrounded by the relaxed atmosphere that we see in Swedish suburbs. Nithin especially likes that it is close to nature and to the football pitch. He especially values these when it comes time to work through coursework, in which
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case he opts for comfort of his room. With a strong “no noise after 11” curfew, this place remains another variant of the peaceful accommodations here in Jönköping. The facilities here are pretty good in terms of quality as well as variety. All the quotidian tidings of a typical student are absolutely taken care of, with all the utilities being included in the rent, he says. The public transport connectivity is quite good, with multiple grocery stores being at a stone’s throw distance. The most important thing for him, which he considers to be the biggest positive, is the location of this place, which is just 1.5 kilometres of the city centre, and likewise to the university. The only possible con, Nithin says, is the amount of rent that he has to pay. The rent turns out to be 4750 SEK for a single room and 3500 SEK for a shared room. Lastly, the only other disadvantage that Nithin could think of was the size of the room, which he says are barely the size of a studio apartment. However, balanced with the location and the ease of access to different cafés as well as Akademien, he considers Bäckadal to be a fine choice of living. Moving on to probably the most popular choices of housing, Råslätt! A student living there for quite some time now shares his experiences with me about what it’s like to live in one of the loudest and busiest in town. Along with having multiple apartment sizes to choose from,
Råslätt is also known for being the cheapest compared to the other accommodations. While the choice remains with the university to assign apartments to you, even the smallest rooms are not that small. Råslätt, he says, is one of the best places to be in terms of accessibility via public transport, with a super high bus frequency. The distance to grocery stores, cafés, shopping centres, healthcare facilities are very good. It is also situated near a forest, which is great if you are a nature-lover. Vätterhem, the housing company to which Råslätt belongs to, is also readily available for any immediate help. There have been many “scary incidents” here that have taken place such as a recent fire in an apartment complex and cars being tampered with, however he adds that all-in-all there is nothing major to worry about as it is quite a safe place to be. Since there is a high turnover of new faces there, especially due to the semester exchange program, it is a pretty lively location for student night-life activities. Other events such as disco nights and Sockertoppen events also happen in the common areas. When it comes to quality of life, he adds that there’s a high standard, and practices such as recycling waste and students riding bicycles are present. Additionally, to him, how the place
“looks from the outside” matters, and he considers Råslätt to not be one of the good ones in this aspect. Most students (especially tuition fee paying) prefer to live there due to the affordability of this location, despite the distance. They get on with getting to know more people from other parts of the world, he says. Now, from an outsiders perspective is Mohamad Alshalabi, a Master’s student shares his opinion about what it is like to live in a private housing (not provided by the University) and we’ll see how it is different from the student accommodations. The reason why he was asked about his opinions, is that sometimes when you apply for the accommodation and you do not get it, it is quite hard to find private accommodations, especially as an international student. In this case, Mohamed described his search for an accommodation as very troubling. He first registered himself in the public housing system, which he said it takes a lot of time since the queuing system is based on the duration having been in the accommodation database. The rent is approximately 30% lower than the average student housing, the rental periods are more flexible and contracts are usually longer. The utilities are usually not included, but making a one-time investment paired with the lower rent and a bus pass is a good deal. To him, privacy is the most important thing and this satisfies it.
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Students who are generally older, find it better to live like this, since their privacy needs are typically higher. When he got the apartment, it was entirely unfurnished, but totally worth it since you typically live long enough to breakeven in terms of mental satisfaction. The main disadvantage is the distance. He says that the spacious apartments like his, is extremely hard to find in the centre of the city (except student accommodations), but he finds his place worthy enough to call “home” and his needs for being culturally active (correlated to being in the centre of the city) are lower than your average university student. So, worry not, fellow students. Always do your research before doing anything that could be life-changing. Finding and living in an apartment is one such life-changing event in everyone’s life. So, before applying for the student accommodations, weigh all the important aspects (what you consider important) and then make a decision. In case of private housing, you have absolutely nothing to worry about since you would have to wait in the line for 5 years, and by that time, you’ll have finished your course and married the love of your life. But on an overall scale, the situation isn’t as bad as you could imagine. But hey, at least the university offers a wide range of accommodations, so make the smartest choice!
BY CHRISTIAN BURNEO
Rowing in the Deep
F
rom September 4th until the 7th, Jönköping University will be hosting the European Universities Rowing Championship organized by JURA (Jönköping University Rowing Association). More than 550 participants from all over Europe are expected to participate in the championship taking place in lake Munksjön, making it the most attended event of its nature so far.
use is referred as shells and a full team of rowers in denominated as a crew.
Jönköping University (JU) decided to form a rowing association with the purpose of competing in the universities’ championships. Therefore, in 2015, JU, in association with Jönköpings Raddsällskap, founded JURA. Since its formation, JURA has represented JU in the European Rowing Championships organized European University Sport Association (EUSA) held in Serbia in 2017 and Portugal in 2018. Nowadays, JURA has over 50 members.
With two championships for experience, JU crew is aiming for a successful participation in the upcoming event . One of the most notorious members of JURA’s crew is Lovisa Claesson, currently a JU student in Mechanical Engineering, Product development & Design. Lovisa won the 2017 U23 World Championship. On this title, “it was a very cool moment and definitely my biggest achievement in rowing so far. Now I’m looking forward to new challenges and bigger competitions”. She also sees a promising championship on September for JU, “I’m sure we will have some boats racing for medals in September”.
Rowers can either scull, when the rower has two oars, or sweep, where participants hold one oar. In scull races, participants vary from one, two or four participants, whereas in sweep competitions, teams con be in pairs, fours or eights. The boats rowers
JURA’s vice president, Ebba Mårtensson, explains that the university has allocated interest and resources on the growth of rowing within the culture of the university, and now there is the chance for JU students to support their university’s crew just next to their campus. All JU students are more than welcome to attend the event to learn more about rowing and support the rowers representing our university.
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Going Digital: JIBS Blog BY CHRISTIAN BURNEO
JIBS United is currently managing three communication tools: the digital issue, published 3 times a year, and the podcast section where articles from the magazine are discussed in greater depth by their authors, and the latest addition to JIBS United, the blogging team. The idea of the blog is new for JIBS United and its origins are discussed in the following article, giving insights of the members of the magazine and the discussions held to finally implement the JIBS United Blog.
This is how Rita Stefanuto, part of the blogging team, brought the idea of launching a blog platform for JIBS United. She later discussed with the ex-director of JIBS United, Sylvie DellaBruna, and they understood that launching a blog would bring more awareness to the magazine and planned to cover the recent events around campus. They understood that the blog needed to have complimentary content, so they started looking for gaps in the communication system here at JIBS and came up with this. They found that there was a gap in the student’s event awareness and the events hosted by each of the associations of JSA. Therefore, they decided to focus the JIBS United Blog on the communication of events: past and upcoming. With the blogging of past events, their efforts would provide an insight on the dynamics of each event for students that did not have the opportunity to attend.
For upcoming events, it is also useful to have a central platform where all the JSA events are promoted, so students from different schools can participate in events they may find interesting and would not have found out about them otherwise. Sylvie states that the “blog can be looked as an extension to JIBS United but also as a platform dedicated to the documentation and promotion of JSA event”. In order to find the blog, people can simply search for “JIBS blog” or find the link posted in the News section in the JSA web site.
Exchange Survival Guide
-By Katharina Henschel
! PING
“Dear Katharina….” As the email notification reached my screen, my heart began to race. These were to become the first words of the greatest adventure in my life.
If this is your first study abroad then you might be a little lost right now.
there are so many questions, so many parts that are still unclear and then there are also other important things you might have never noticed… This survival guide aims at providing guidance so that you reach the light at the end of the tunnel!
The Informative Checklist 1
If a medical check is necessary, book them early! The documents typically are valid for a long time.
2
Check the website of your host university for information regarding exchange students. Deadlines, necessary information, housing information, estimated costs, and mandatory orientation days can all be found here.
3
Book your travels sooner rather than later, also keep an eye out for promotions!
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A head start on your exchange I recommend searching Facebook for groups that include other exchange students going to your chosen university, the one I found lead to a 500+ person whatsapp group!”
After doing the necessary administrative work you’ll probably want to start your exchange right away, however it may be months away. To begin early you can familiarize yourself with the local condition. This can include sensitive topics like politics and religion, but also broader yet important topics like food, places to travel, and cultural habits. Even though your head may be filled with everything that will happen
Reading some blogs or experiences from former exchange students or the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs can be a good source of information.
as soon as your current semester is over, there are a few things to bear in mind before you head out into the world! Do not forget to cancel your lease agreement or if you sublet your room, make sure to find someone suitable
Consider creating a blog! At this point of your life you have such a cool opportunity to share your exchange with the world, and perhaps even help future exchange students prepare for their own study abroad – you never know who you may reach!
to take over. Also, terminate all other contracts you will not need during your exchange (Swedish phone number, gym and other memberships, etc.).
Once your exchange begins In addition to attending your new classes, develop your social life by attending university events, joining a buddy program, and/or make plans with Bringing a memento from home may also
help
classmates, you may meet a life-long friend! To combat homesickness or feeling lonely consider taking time to talk to family and friends, having fun, eating some soul food, and doing whatever helps you feel comfortable! As your exchange becomes daily life, the feelings of mystique may change. Never forget that this is your adventure, live your life to its fullest, but most
Just remember that it’s going to be okay
importantly don’t take yourself too seriously. This your exchange! Have fun! I wish you all the best for your exchange and I am sure you will have the time of your life! Enjoy every second of it and embrace whatever comes your way!
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From having an issue to realizing your dream - By Katharina Henschel
I bet you have already had THE business idea at least once in your life... But seeing and seizing an opportunity are two different things. I have talked to Moritz (28). You and him have at least one thing in common: you both attended JIBS. Yet, what dstinguishes him from most of us is the fact that instead of just dreaming about starting our own business he actually realized that idea. Moritz studied his Master’s in Strategic Entrepreneurship at JIBS and is now sitting in Science Park working full-time on his start-up Nordic Adventours. During his Bachelor’s in Finance & Accounting, Moritz went on exchange to Dalarna, a bit further North in Sweden. Loving various kinds of outdoor activities, he soon discovered that it is somewhat complicated in Sweden to find tour guides, rentals and everything else that lets adrenaline kick in or helps you to explore the nature of this beautiful country. A few years later when he decided to start studying full-time in Sweden, the issue was still the same... Thanks to the semester projects in Strategic Entrepreneurship, Moritz soon came up with the idea that providing outdoor enthusiasts with a platform to connect with guides might be an option and discovering that most outdoor guides usually had capacities left pushed that idea even further. JIBS and his study program basically helped him to take the first steps to really start developing and realizing his vision.
-Moritz Witter, CEO Nordic Adventours
Later on, during the course Creating a New Venture he seized the opportunity to pitch his business idea together with some friends in front of real networking partners and potential investors, for example Almi and Science Park – and won a not too insignificant amount of seed capital which enabled him to get his first business started! Yay! He invested the money into funding a beta-version for his website. Ever since, Moritz is working hard on making Nordic Adventours what he wanted it to be –
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or close. Because what was meant to be some kind of trip advisor for outdoor nerds is now rather an online booking platform for outdoor activities all across Scandinavia. What he wanted it to be unfortunately was not what the people out there needed! Moritz and his team realized that, accordingly headed in a new direction and Nordic Adventours is now going stronger than ever before. Over the past few years that Moritz has been sitting in Science Park working on his platform, he was also mentoring newbie entrepreneurs from JIBS on a voluntary basis. Working in the entrepreneurial environment between JIBS and Science Park stimulates his entrepreneurial drive even more. He traded decent offers as an investment banker for his start-up, financial security for passion! Asking him about whether he would change something if he could, he says that probably everything was meant to be exactly the way it is now. On the one hand, Stockholm as a hub for tech start-ups likely would have been much more dynamic and offered many more opportunities. But on the other hand, Jönköping, JIBS and Science Park dedicated so much more attention to Nordic Adventours than he probably would have ever gotten in Stockholm. Moreover, he regrets a little that he was too focused on his projects during his studies, skipped many lectures and did not cultivate relationships with his classmates sufficiently and hence, perhaps did not absorb all the knowledge and networking capacities that were offered to him. Precious knowledge that might have prevented him from learning certain things the hard way... The advantage, however, is that by try-and-error he has learned and grown so much as a person over time.
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Coming to an end, I have 6 tips from Moritz for you: 1) Take it slow until you really know what exactly you want to do! 2) Learn from your mistakes – it’s a process! 3) Enjoy your studies and don’t be too hard on yourself. 4) Haters gonna hate. Doubters gonna doubt. Believe in your project and be happy for the respect and support that you will earn! 5) Living here in Sweden, we need to realize that having the possibility to receive excellent education and, in the meantime, also having a bright future ahead of us is a huge privilege we are given. Thus, there is no need to worry! 6) Dreaming of having your own business? What are you afraid of ? Just do it!
COFFEE BREAK: ALEXANDER HUTCHING BY QIANYI ZHANG
Welcome to the Coffee Break section. It was my great pleasure to have a phone call interview with Alexander Hutching, who got his master’s degree in Engineering/ Industrial Management at JIBS from 2016 to 2017, and he is currently working as a systems engineer at SAAb in Linköping. The first impression he gave me was that he is very polite and patient. As I was not that familiar with Skype business, I didn’t show up to the interview on time, I felt so bad for letting him wait for me, but Alexander didn’t mind at all and he suggested for us to talk on the phone instead. Thanks to his kindness, I ended up with a wonderful interview with this intelligent person. So follow my words and let’s see what he experienced in Sweden and at JIBS.
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Alexander Hutching was born and raised in New Zealand. He enrolled in The University of New South Wales (UNSW) in 2004, where he studied his bachelor of Engineering, Aerospace, Aeronautical and Astronautical and got a degree in engineering. After three years of university, he graduated with Class 1 Honors from UNSW. Afterwards, he completed a number of work rotations and organizational courses as a Junior Engineering Officer (graduate trainee), including a year at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in 2009. Before he started his master’s at JIBS, Alexander worked for Royal New Zealand Air Force for more than 5 years as an engineer from 2010 to 2016.
Alexander is living in Linköping at the moment, a lovely city within less than a two hour drive from Jönköping. When we talked about his future plans, he said he would like to stay in Sweden. In his opinion, Sweden is a suitable place to live, “You would never know what you’re going to explore in Sweden.”
After he talked about his early experiences, I was so curios about why he chose to do his master’s here in Sweden. Alexander explained that he would like to explore culture differences “Don’t you think it is amazing to see the diverse cultures and to find how people value things differently?” For him, studying in Sweden was a good chance to experience new things, “I have never experienced darkness at 3pm”, he said, “There are always sunny days in New Zealand.” For most international students, “surviving” the swedish winter seems to be very tough, but it was not difficult for Alexander. The social life he experienced colored his stay in Jönköping. During his time here, Alexander usually hung out with friends, had fika like swedes do, walked along Vätterstrand beach in the evening, and went hiking along the Holaved Trail to explore more of Sweden. And of course Aka is an indispensable part of his time at JU, “The social side of JU is pretty good, you could get to know people in your degree and in other degrees.” he added.
One thing Alexander pointed out when I asked for tips for students who are seeking jobs, is it’s important to be diversified. “Exploring diverse cultures and to be open minded, these are what companies look for nowadays.” He also mentioned the importance of developing opportunities, “Opportunities will not come out of nowhere, the important thing is to seize opportunities rather than identify but miss them.”
When it came down to how to find a job in Sweden, I asked if learning Swedish is a necessity for finding a job, he replied it is all up to the jobs you are hunting for. For him English is enough for daily conversation, “But I am learning Swedish right now.”, he laughed.
At the end of the interview, Alexander explained carefully what he believed JIBS students should do: Keep hope in mind, keep an open mind; keep making jumps and keep doing things; keep exploring and keep enjoying.
After graduating from JIBS, Alexander was hired by SAAB - a Swedish aerospace and defense company - where he is currently working as a Systems Engineer. His main job is managing the development and integration efforts for various aircraft subsystems. Besides this, his field also includes providing advice and support to Marketing and Product Management along with specialist and general engineering advice, business intelligence and customer interaction. “I am really proud of my job, I would say the best part of my job is meeting customers and helping them by being patient.” Alexander explained, “What I’m doing will lead the world to the future.” The year spent studying at JIBS helped Alexander build skills in business management and leadership, he said: “This degree built on my engineering education and experience, provided me with complementary education in business management, innovation and entrepreneurship.” Then he added: “I am leading and guiding teams in complex projects, and it is necessary for a leader to know how to communicate with their teammates and how to work efficiently - that was what I learnt from JIBS.” He thought JIBS is a place that is full of innovation, challenge and opportunities, where people could find infinite possibilities for themselves.
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Experience in JIBS from Several Perspectives By Runzhou Chen
Journey of Exploring
Winter has passed and finally it is April, the beautiful spring. For most of us, we have spent one more year in JIBS. Maybe some of you are still wondering what we have done and what is next? These experience from students currently in JIBS might resonate and inspire you. Johanes Mulia, from Indonesia, enrolled in JIBS in 2018. During his first year as a student in International Management, he regards social life as an important memory. The students in JIBS come from all over the world, who think and act differently, culture gap is everywhere. But somehow, they know how to socialize. “Human is a social creature, we need others to live, once we know each other, we make good friendship.” He said. During this year, Johanes, or what friends usually call him, Jojo has improved connection with his friends, which brings a lot of fun to him. Moreover, friends help each other, “My friends help me with my study” Jojo said, “I don’t think I can pass the exam without them.” While talking about goals to reach this year, Jojo articulated that he wants to create an ease and relaxing environment in JIBS, he will try to expand his friend list and spread optimism and happiness to everyone he meets.
It’s not what you are doing that affects social life, it’s social life that affects what you are going to do. Negar Asgari Tari in Sustainable Enterprise Development program, originally from Iran, moved to Sweden in 2018, felt nervous and lonely when she just arrived. In her opinion, there are too many differences between Sweden and her homeland, for example, in Sweden we do groupwork frequently instead of complete individualism, people manage their
time more freely and efficiently. Negar also felt unconfident because of age and language, she was afraid of misunderstanding between her and others. However, she found a way out by learning Swedish and English meanwhile. After long-term practice, Negar has improved her language skills a lot, and has gradually become familiar with Swedish culture. Now Negar is looking forward to summer job and taking part in either academic or social activities with growing confidence.
What I have learnt here is not only language, but also culture of groupwork and peace, and the spirit to get yourself stronger. Things always go better. In 2017, Aurimas Mickus left Lithuania for his bachelor program in JIBS, and then was, as he depicted, blown away by its multicultural atmosphere during the amazing kick-off and fun activities such as Food Safari, Language Café and JUSA sports club. “The life in JIBS gives me a lesson on how independent life goes. It’s the best transition from a boy to a man.” Aurimas said, “Also it helps me adapt to Swedish society.” Now he is struggling with finding a job. “I realized that it requires a lot to get a job like driver’s license and language proficiency.” He continued. Thus, as a plan, Aurimas is striving for driver’s license and so on. Let’s wish him good luck. Jeffery Chiu is a Chinese student majoring in Sustainable Enterprise Development in JIBS who would like to describe himself as an introverted and quiet person. Jeffery paid much attention on his study in the last year, but he thinks that was too imbalanced. Jeffery feels unsatisfied with his social network; he hopes to
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be more active and make more friends. “Definitely I have grown a lot in JIBS, to be more self-scheduled, to take care of myself, but I still feel like I need to improve my communicating skill.” As for future planning, Jeffery is very far-sighted, he is going to consider whether to take his master program next year or not. Isaias Morales, who is from Bolivia, came to Jönköping last August. When he first arrived, he was a bit overwhelmed with so many changes, but the kick-off and living with other 6 people in the same apartment quickly changed that and helped adapt. He is an active member on JUSA board and organizer for many intriguing activities such as Bumble ball tournament. While being asked about the experience as a freshman in JIBS, “I have definitely been growing in JIBS not only in my knowledge on the subjects that my major has but also my networking and understanding a bit how people from all over the world think and their culture” he replied. This year, Isaias has some realistic goals, that is to have a great time while studying and look for internship opportunity. Spring denotes brand-new year, and people should have brand-new expectation and hope. From experience of these five students, they all seemed to have some problem unsolved, but who do not? The only thing we should do, is to explore and fearless, because we never lose, either we win, or we learn.
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Growi By Runzhou Chen
What will it be? The Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2019 was held in Barcelona on 26th of February. Major telecom operators, equipment vendors, and chips vendors have highlighted 5G-related technologies and products and announced will be deployed before 2020. People are quite familiar with the word “4G” since many of you are employed by this service. It has already been amazing what 4G has brought us – mobile internet across the world, endless information resource, instant message interaction. As the 5G era is approaching, what is enhanced? What is new? What will it be? Well, before that, let’s take a look at what 5G means for us. Generally speaking, 5G stands for the 5th generation mobile networks. Recalling previous generations, the first and second generations offered digital voice calls and extremely slow data transmission. Then, for the third generation it realizes a communication system characterized by multimedia that can simultaneously provide voice and data services. Today, we enjoy 4G technology with greatly improved communication rate and a 1K high-definition video program which can be smoothly watched online. By the fifth generation of mobile communication technology, one would expect that a brand-new evolution is growing.
ing 5G
Speed Basically, 5G would enhance mobile broadband with lower delay and carry more devices connection in more massive storage capacity. Although today's 4G is already fast, it is not enough. The goal of 5G will be 10Gbps. Some people will ask what is the concept of 10Gbps? Well, it means it takes about 1 second to complete the download task of a 4G HD movie! The peak rate of 5G network users will reach 20Gbps, which is 66 times that of 4G networks; and the transmission delay of 1ms is only one fiftieth of 4G networks. Therefore, transmitting rate in 5G era will be monumentally rapid, and complaints about stagnant internet will be in the past.
Intellectual Life The advent of 5G also indicates the “network of everything”, in which the incredibly fast speed will make cloud life possible. What is cloud life? Many of you might have used iCloud in Apple products, it collects data of every apple device to manage your documents. Similarly, cloud functions would help make everything go online seamlessly, for example: intelligent home control. Imagine that in the morning your pillow, quilt or bed wakes you up naturally, then the light is well-adjusted for your eyes while you walk to bathroom. After grooming, you are reminded of today’s schedule and then hop in the car with auto-pilot, which drives you to anywhere you want, all those will be continuous. Furthermore, smart city, smart grid, intelligent grazing/planting, industrial control will all be applicable with 5G.
Virtual Reality The movie ready Player One went viral last year, have you ever expected a virtual world like OASIS? 5G shows us that this is achievable! Qualcomm has released several technological prospects on XR (Extended Reality) by uploading data to the integrated servers; where one may interact with other users all over the world and get an immersive experience in association with holographic projection. Remote cooperation such as office work and even remote diagnosis in cases of emergency could be applicable because of perfect synchronization supported by a 5G network.
Shortcoming Although all telecommunication companies are advertising 5G as a technology revolution, it is not relevant to most consumers in a short time. For the most part, the early 5G network base stations will only start testing in densely populated cities. It will take several years to build a 5G network in full, especially for rural areas. From our standpoint, 5G cannot be viewed without skepticism as the infrastructure construction is non-evident and thus unstable for now. Secondly, 5G network will have higher requirements for battery life. You may have forgotten that when the first batch of 4G phones came out, they drained battery life quick. The same effects can be expected to follow if technology does not advance at the same rate as 5G. Conclusively, the development of mobile communication technology has always played an important role in promoting the progress of society. The industry generally believes that the Internet of Everything, virtual reality and smart driving will be the most critical applications in the 5G era. Which is why 5G is often referred to as “a new generation of mobile communication system for 2020�, which turns out to be the key technology aiming at connecting people and advancing society.
Educational development within Jönköping International Business School By Beata Edlund
Being a student or a teacher at Jönköping International Business School (JIBS) gives you the opportunity to be a part of an operation that offers international education to students across the world, welcoming the differences among students, teachers, and cultures so that we can learn from each other. Not to mention JIBS also holds a double accreditation from EQUIS and AACSB which is very impressing. However, JIBS doesn’t stop with this, but instead it continues improving and developing its education system. For this article Björn Kjellander - Director of Quality Assurance and Accreditation - was interviewed to further explain how JIBS is improving its education. Unfortunately, not all of his viewpoints could be covered here but we will definitely receive an insight on how the development process works. Starting with: To be able to deliver good education the recruitment of both students and teachers is a key factor. As Björn said in the interview JIBS wants to know who are the students that apply for which program, do these students know what the program is all about? Is the program competitive enough and will the students in the end get something from it?. This is important for JIBS since they want good students and they want them to succeed with their education at the school. Then we have the recruitment process of the teachers. There’s a detailed recruitment process for hiring teachers and JIBS’ aim is to appeal to teachers that like to research and scientists that like to teach - this to make sure that the students will receive the best of both worlds and the latest research findings imbedded in their education. Due to JIBS accreditations there was a spike in applications of teachers that wanted to work at JIBS, this could be seen as a reward for all the hard work, and with good teachers comes more students. Furthermore, another key factor which contributes to continuous improvements at JIBS is the program and course evaluation system. It’s mandatory that each course provides the students with a course evaluation where the students can voice their concerns but also what was good about the course. These results are then collected and presented in a course evaluation quarter report which is presented for the JSA, the
Quality board and concerning organ within JIBS. Any course that does not fulfill the requirements are followed up, and a plan for improvements are put together. This shows how valuable it is for students to take their time to do this evaluation seriously and their answers are for aiding further progress. Björn gave me a lot of good insights on how JIBS work constantly with developing their education and programs which they offer to their students, but the programs are not their only focus because Björn also mentions their latest addition for improvements that I believe is very interesting and that is peer review. This new concept will have its start in S2. Peer reviews is a creative tool for teachers where the main focus is on teachers learning from each other. The process starts with a pre-meeting where the reviewer goes through all the content and all aspects of the course. The reviewer’s task is to read further into the course and know about the course anatomy. When this is done the reviewer will come to a lecture to analyze how the teacher acts in the lecture hall - this is a key factor to later constructive feedback, tips, and advice to the teacher. To evaluate the results a debrief meeting is booked to further go over what the reviewer has concluded. Moreover, to get as much as possible out of this experience, the reviewer will write a report about the outcomes and findings, then the reviewee will write a self-reflection on what he or she wants to improve and develop further. So, if an unknown teacher shows up in one of your lectures, you now know what the purpose of that is. To finish up, as Björn mentions through the interview, JIBS is on a continuous improvement journey and it’s clear that the school as a whole take their responsibility to develop the education and let the teachers grow so they are able to deliver the best possible education for their students.
Your education - a tool for growth and development for the future By Beata Edlund
As a second-year student myself, who is more than halfway through my own education and running towards my next chapter in life, it’s hard not to look back and think of what Jönköping’s business school has given me and what I still have left to learn before I explore new adventures and possibilities. So, what is better than to actually have a chat with one person who is fairly close to the end of her time at Jönköping International Business School. Svenja who is a second-year master student here is currently in the IT management and innovation program at JIBS. Her current position in life is that she just came home from her exchange period in Amsterdam, which we will talk about later on, and has started writing her thesis. A project we all have to go through , but what really is the experience of writing your thesis? Svenja explains it as “It feels kind of scary knowing the end is near and that brings a certain insecurity, but it also gives me happiness knowing i’ll start a new chapter, which I look forward to.”Even though writing your thesis can be a long process and very hard you’re not left by yourself, JIBS’ supervisors and mentors try as hard as they can to give you advice and push you into the right direction.
me for future challenges, and lastly, JIBS has an international spirit which is very welcoming”.
As mentioned above Svenja just came home from Amsterdam, which is another opportunity that JIBS offers their students, the opportunity to do an exchange semester. Svenja took this chance and went to Amsterdam, in which she describes as a challenge to find new friends, step out of her comfort zone and get used to a different learning system. What JIBS give their students with this opportunity is a chance to grow as a person, explore new countries and their cultures but also an opportunity to find yourself and maybe find out what you want to do in the future.
Lastly, I, of course, wanted to know if Svenja would recommend JIBS to future students, and her answer to that was “I would definitely recommend JIBS to other, it has internationality in its name and has a great atmosphere. It’s a lot of fun here with open-minded people, new opportunities and the Kick off, however, my advice is to check out the syllabus and talk to current or previous students before applying so you don’t get surprised”. And with that I hope most of you feel like you’re at the right place during your studies, I know I am, and I hope that you all feel like you would recommend JIBS to others.
Other than the opportunity of going abroad, JIBS have given Svenja, and a lot of other students, the freedom to get to know Sweden, the Swedish culture, and also meet other students from all over the world and have a taste of their cultures. Svenjas’ own answer of what opportunities JIBS have given her was “Studying here has given me a chance to connect with companies, meet many different cultures from all over the world, the experience of working more in a group which has prepared
Being a student at JIBS definitely helps you grow personally, and together with the education and the experience you’re certainly more prepared for the future than before. Handling challenges during the study period which at the time feels overwhelming and frustrating actually help you be more prepared for life. Furthermore, what will Svenja bring with her from her time at JIBS into the future? It is to be more open to new ideas, different mindsets, and cultures, but also to think more outside the box and challenge herself to try new things. Though your education is not only a tool for you to get a good job in the future it’s also a tool for us to grow and develop as individuals which is an important part along the road. For Svenja, her education opened up doors for new perspectives and to see things differently and she feels more open for innovation and abstracts things.