Communications
Workshop
Communication #1
Dear Students,
We hereby would like to give you some advices for July workshop.
- First of all, you are required to read the assigned material that is available in the MIT Stellar website (http://stellar.mit.edu/S/project/geip/). This material on Globalization will be discussed during one session at the workshop.
- You are also requested to prepare a power point presentation for another session at the workshop, which aims to discuss the global aspects related to your own activities at the internship. This task will be performed in a group (two or three students) assigned by GEIP. The members of the group are expected to evaluate the international relation of their job with their peers and with other company activities or even with other companies.
Communication #2
Dear GEIP-Interns,
You will soon be receiving an email from Dr. Jonathan Gordon from the Georgia Tech Office of Assessment. He is the GEIP Evaluator and will be sending you an invitation to complete the Intercultural Development Inventory, a survey designed to measure how you experience cultural differences. Your responses and results will be confidential and Jonathan will give you one-on-one feedback at the July Workshop in Frankfurt.
This survey is very important for the workshop activities we have planned for you so please take the time to complete it when he sends it to you. The survey will need to be completed by July 8th in order for him to properly process the results.
Thank you all for your participation!
Communication #3
Dear Intern,
Since the GEIP Frankfurt Workshop is now approaching, we are sending you this reminder on your assignments.
First we thank you all for sending us your profiles (assignment #0). They are now all available in the GEE-GEIP website: http://www.gee-geip.org/pages/students/participating_students2009.php
And remember also to full-fill the pre-internship survey (a set of questions addressing expectations, …) available in the stellar website.
Other assignments are reminded below, in conjunction with their relation to workshop activities.
- The reading material (stellar web-site) must be read before the workshop, since it will be subject of the discussions that will take place during the workshop. And in order to guide the discussion about the project management we issue two questions:
a. Using the information of Chapter 5 "Project Scope Management" from PMBOK try to define the scope of your internship at the GEIP. What are the global aspects of your scope?
b. Thinking on the difference between a Program and a Project, try to classify your activities into projects and programs to which they belong?
Friday, 24 – 17:00-18:00 Discussion of reading materials
Conducted by: Sigrid Berka, Heide Naderer, Paulo Kaminski
- Your personal experience at the internship*, supported by the above readings, and guided by a set of questions on the Global Scope of the Internship** is the subject of the student’s presentation. This presentation (5 to 7 power point slides), in groups already assigned, must be sent in advance (until July 20) to Luciene Rinaldi (GEIP Secretary), and is scheduled to:
Friday, 24 – Presentations of Students: global scope of internship
13:00-14:00 Student Groups 1-3
15:45-16:45 Student Groups 4-6
* (text from the welcome letter, by Marcio and Luciene)
GEIP is a special internship program, offering students more then an international opportunity. It aims to assist in the preparation of new engineering talents with those skills that are important to act professionally in a truly global world. So, GEIP has the purpose to foster the formation of engineering students giving them opportunities to be trained in a global project, keeping their minds focused on the global aspects related to those projects they are taking part in.
During the internship period you are requested to talk to your supervisor and peers aiming to get a deeper insight on the global context of your activity. This experience will be discussed with other GEIP students during the workshop under supervision of GEIP coordinators, coming from industry and partner universities.
Your job at Continental will allow you to be in contact with interesting, high-tech and real industrial problems. But more then being a Continental intern, you are also part of GEIP, meaning that you have some extra duties and benefits. You are required to look forward to understand the international links related to your activity, trying to recognize the global context of the project on which you are working.
** (text from the set of question on the global scope of your internship, by Sigrid and Baerbel)
Consider the internship project you are working on within a wider context:
- Try to determine the global scope of your work project. If you are working on a CONTI product, i.e. tires, brake systems, chassis components, find out:
- Where do the parts and raw materials for this product come from?
- Where is it designed?
- Where is it produced?
- Are there any environmental concerns that need to be addressed?
- Any concerns about labor conditions?
- Who are the customers that buy Conti’s automotive products?
- Where are they located around the world? Where are the strongest sales regions?
- Who are Conti’s world-wide competitors for these customers?
- Where do the competitors design and produce their products?
Look at the complete supply chain and manufacturing process:
- Was part of the manufacturing process outsourced?
- Which CONTI locations world-wide are involved?
- Is the process managed across disciplines, across various plants, across national borders?
- Keeping in mind Suzanne Berger’s central argument in How We Compete – that there is not ONE singular path of success companies have taken in the global world and the range of possibilities is broad: Can you find out which strategic choices CONTI made with respect to reorganization and relocation in the face of adapting to globalization – how much of the manufacturing process modules are still done “in house” (R&D, Idea for product, design, manufacturing, components, logistics, sales, after services.) How much was outsourced or off-shored?
- Can you answer the question: Where was a Conti product made considering all the steps that went into its production? Made in _____________________.
- Based on your reading of the Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy, could you write a short travel-log inspired by the book about the international paths your product might have traveled on?
- On the down-side of globalization, can you say a few words about how the economic crisis has affected an automotive supplier company such as Conti and its employees? Please read “A New Deal for Globalization” from Foreign Affairs to strengthen your argument.
Please use your co-workers or mentors as sources for information or refer to the reading material on the website. You may also post a question in the discussion forum of the Stellar site and ask your peers around the world for input.
And do not forget. At the end of your internship you will be required to:
- Fill out the on-line post-internship survey (a set of questions addressing evaluation, …).
- Fill out the post-internship report, sending it back to us (Ms. Luciene Rinaldi).
So, once again, welcome to GEIP and Continental. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions at any time. Soon we will be together at Workshop. We wish you a pleasant and challenging time with us.
São Paulo, July 06, 2009
Invitation Latter
Dear Internship,
We are glad to have you as an intern in GEIP (Global Engineering Internship Program), a special program of the GEE (Global Engineering Excellence) Initiative.
GEIP is a special internship program, offering students more then an international opportunity. GEIP aims to assist in the preparation of new engineering talents with those skills that are important to act professionally in a truly global world. So, GEIP has the purpose to foster the formation of engineering students giving them opportunities to be trained in a global project, keeping their minds focused on the global aspects related to those projects they are taking part in.
Your job at Continental will allow you to be in contact with interesting, high-tech and real industrial problems. But more then being a Continental intern, you are also part of GEIP, meaning that you have some extra duties and benefits. You are required to look forward to understand the international links related to your activity, trying to recognize the global context of the project on which you are working.
As part of your duties we ask you to perform some specific tasks, listed below.
BEFORE (OR AT THE VERY BEGINING) OF THE INTERNSHIP
- Read a set of selected materials on globalization and engineering, whose subjects will be addressed during the GEIP Workshop
- Available at the MIT Stellar website (further information at the end of this letter)
- Fulfill the on-line pre-internship survey (a set of questions addressing expectations, …)
- Available at the MIT Stellar website (further information at the end of this letter)
- Prepare the personal profile, informing your peers about yourself (as reference you may look at the slides from your colleagues from last year on the stellar website), and sending it back by email to us (Ms. Luciene Rinaldi). This profile will be uploaded to the student’s personal page on our site.
DURING THE INTERNSHIP
- During the internship period you are requested to talk to your supervisor and peers aiming to get a deeper insight on the global context of your activity. This experience will be discussed with other GEIP students during the workshop under supervision of GEIP coordinators, coming from industry and partner universities. And your experience will also be reported in a post-internship report.
- Participate in the GEIP Workshop (July 23-25, 2009 – Frankfurt, Germany)
- Attending all meetings and performing the requested tasks. The workshop agenda will be distributed to all students one month before this event. There you will find a description of the expected activities.
- NOTE: Due to the world economic crisis, this year just the students that are currently placed in Europe are going to be invited to participate in the workshop.
AT THE END OF THE INTERNSHIP
- Fill out the on-line post-internship survey (a set of questions addressing evaluation, …), before leaving the company (last week of your internship).
- Available at the MIT Stellar website (further information at the end of this letter).
- Fill out the post-internship report, sending it back to us (Ms. Luciene Rinaldi) before finishing your internship.
- Available at the MIT Stellar website (further information at the end of this letter).
So, in order to start we present the first set of assignments:
- Visit the GEIP Website:
- Prepare your own profile, and send it back to us
- Register for an MIT touchstone account by filling out the form at this link
- And then, in the MIT Stellar website:
- You find all relevant selected reading materials, including those on globalization and engineering, whose subjects will be addressed during the GEIP Workshop.
- You will find the assignments and can up-load the completed assignments, and get access to the on-line pre-internship survey (hosted at Georgia Tech). You also find the assignments and samples from past years.
So, once again, welcome to GEIP and Continental. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions at any time. And note that we will meet in the July Workshop. We wish you a pleasant and challening time with us.
São Paulo, May 07, 2009
Prof. Dr. Marcio Lobo Netto
GEE/GEIP Chair (2009-2010)
Associate Professor – Polytechnic School
University of São Paulo
marcio.netto@poli.usp.br
Ms. Luciene Cristina Alves Rinaldi
GEE/GEIP Secretary (2009-2010)
lucienerinaldi@gmail.com