Leonardo da Vinci Project
promoted by the
European Union
Handelsstrategien an
bedeutenden europäischen
Finanzmärkten
Completed by students of
Bethmannschule Frankfurt am Main
at the
European College of Business
and Management in London
24 January 2009 to 14 February 2009
Handelsstrategien an bedeutenden
europäischen Finanzmärkten
Bethmannschule
Frankfurt am Main
Participants
Diplom-Handelslehrer
Udo Stein
Studiendirektor
Bethmannschule
Frankfurt am Main
Ann Marie Schmitz-Manseck
Studienrätin zur Anstellung
Bethmannschule
Frankfurt am Main
Forty-one apprentices for the
Higher Diploma in Investment Fund Administration:
Al Saroori
Alexander
DWS Holding & Service GmbH
Albanese
Gennaro
Baron
Tobias
Bein
Andreas
Bouy
Ali
DEKA Bank AG
Brüntrup
Rene
DEKA Bank AG
Dalchow
Florian
Universal-Investment
Ewald
Marcel
Allianz Global Investors KAG
Hett
Natalie
Metzler Investment GmbH
Hetzler
Johanna
Hölper
Fabienne
DEKA Bank AG
Höntschke
Charlotte
IVG Immobilien AG
Kegler
Francesca
Keiter
Jan, Frederik
Korngiebel
Marco
Kuhl
Markus
Kuhlen
Nicole
Laucht
Andreas
Union Asset Management Holding AG
Loewe
Maurice
Union Asset Management Holding AG
Müller
Clarissa
Allianz Global Investors KAG
Union Asset Management Holding AG
Helaba Invest
HSBC Trinkaus&Burkhardt
DWS Holding & Service GmbH
Union Asset Management Holding AG
sjb Fonds Skyline OHG 1989
Generali Investmnents
Metzler Investment GmbH
DEKA Bank AG
European College of Business and Management
January 24, 2009 – February 14,2009
Leonardo da Vinci Project
Handelsstrategien an bedeutenden
europäischen Finanzmärkten
Bethmannschule
Frankfurt am Main
Mund
Martin
Helaba Invest
Neifer
Thomas
IVG Immobilien AG
Neumann
Michael
HSBC Trinkaus&Burkhardt
Nowitzki
Julia
Potthast
Christopher
Quitschalle
Toni
Regalbuto
Maurizio
Schick
Alexandra
Silva Carneiro
Rafael
State Street Bank GmbH
Sterle
Julia
State Street Bank GmbH
Stolzenbach
Julian
DWS Holding & Service GmbH
Strobel
Volker
DWS Holding & Service GmbH
Suwald
Natascha
Union Asset Management Holding AG
Tomic
Jelena
Union Asset Management Holding AG
Walinowski
Marcus
Weyer
Björn
DEKA Bank AG
Wiesmann
Benedikt
DEKA Bank AG
Witzmann
Sebastian
Wollersheim
Thomas
Wurm
Alexandra
Zimmermann
Philip
Universal-Investment
DEKA Bank AG
Allianz Global Investors KAG
HSBC Trinkaus&Burkhardt
Union Asset Management Holding AG
European College of Business and Management
January 24, 2009 – February 14,2009
DWS Holding & Service GmbH
State Street Bank GmbH
Sauren Fonds Service AG
DEKA Bank AG
State Street Bank GmbH
Leonardo da Vinci Project
Handelsstrategien an bedeutenden
europäischen Finanzmärkten
Compilation and Layout
Text Contributions
European College of Business and Management
January 24, 2009 – February 14,2009
Bethmannschule
Frankfurt am Main
Udo Stein
from all participants
Leonardo da Vinci Project
Handelsstrategien an bedeutenden
europäischen Finanzmärkten
Bethmannschule
Frankfurt am Main
Table of Contents:
Page
1.
Introduction................................................. ........................................... 1
2.
Timetable at the College............................. ........................................... 3
3.
Student’ Reports and Summaries
3.1.
Journey to London and the First Day.......... ......................................... 09
3.2.
Summaries of Lessons
3.2.1.
Welcome and Introduction to
the Programme........................................... ......................................... 10
3.2.2.
Mini Presentations ...................................... ......................................... 10
3.2.3.
Preparation Pack ........................................ ......................................... 11
3.2.4.
Language Support and Discussion............. ......................................... 12
3.2.5.
Project Planning and Presentation Skills .... ......................................... 13
3.2.6
Location for Business ................................. ......................................... 14
3.2.7.
London as a Location for Business............. ......................................... 15
3.2.8.
Globalisation............................................... ......................................... 16
3.2.9.
The impact of the Euro on Great Britain ..... ......................................... 17
3.2.10
Introduction to British Law .......................... ......................................... 18
3.2.11.
Language Support/Discussion.................... ......................................... 19
3.2.12.
The City of London and its Financial Institutions .................................. 20
3.2.13
Excursion: The City of London and
Bank of England Museum .......................... ......................................... 21
3.2.14
Business Role Plays / Discussion............... ......................................... 22
3.2.15
Introduction to the London Metal Exchange ......................................... 22
European College of Business and Management
January 24, 2009 – February 14, 2009
Leonardo da Vinci Project
Handelsstrategien an bedeutenden
europäischen Finanzmärkten
Bethmannschule
Frankfurt am Main
Table of Contents:
Page
3.2.16.
Introduction and Excursion: The Docklands ......................................... 23
3.2.17
International Marketing and Advertising ..... ......................................... 25
3.2.18
International Marketing and Advertising (Part 2)................................... 26
3.2.19.
ECBM Products and Services .................... ......................................... 27
3.2.20
Excursion: The Law Courts......................... ......................................... 29
3.2.21
Modern British Politics ................................ ......................................... 30
3.2.22.
Modern British Economy ............................ ......................................... 31
3.2.23
Communications at Work ........................... ......................................... 31
3.2.24.
The Intercultural Business Environment ..... ......................................... 32
3.2.25
Examination................................................ ......................................... 34
3.2.26
Oral Presentations...................................... ......................................... 35
3.2.27.
Feedback and Evaluation ........................... ......................................... 35
3.2.28
Farewell ...................................................... ......................................... 36
3.2.29.
The Last Day and Departure ...................... ......................................... 37
3.2.30
Spare Time Activities.................................. ......................................... 37
3.2.31
Weekend Activities ..................................... ......................................... 38
3.2.32
Experiencing Pupblic Transport in London . ......................................... 39
3.2.33
Living Three Weeks in a London Youth Hostel..................................... 40
4.
Project Topics............................................. ......................................... 41
5.
Final Comment ........................................... ......................................... 43
European College of Business and Management
January 24, 2009 – February 14, 2009
Leonardo da Vinci Project
Handelsstrategien an bedeutenden
europäischen Finanzmärkten
1.
Bethmannschule
Frankfurt am Main
Introduction
by Udo Stein
Having been to London now with several
groups of students the question comes
up whether it is still worth taking all the
efforts of preparing such a stay, doing all
the paperwork the EU requires within the
framework of the „Leonarda da Vinci“
programme to get EU Funding, going
back to a city you have visited for several
times.
After all the answer is simply yes. It is
quite a difference learning English in the
classroom two lessons per week in
contrast to staying three weeks in the
country. Our students have the chance to
practise their English every day in a
working environment and in a private
environment 24 hours a day. Everything
they come about is in English which
improves for those who make use of the
chances offered their ability to express
themselves in the English language.
Besides the professional input offered by
the European College of Business and
Management they get a lot alongside:
Experiencing life in a metropolis, getting
in contact with a large number of different
cultures, increasing understanding for the
British way of looking at and solving
Lancaster Hall Hotel
problems. They also have the chance to
explore London in a different way than
„normal“ tourists, as the excursions organized by the European College of Business
and Management offer valuable hints.
As accommodation we still make use
of the Lancaster Hall Hotel Youth
Annex. As our students have to stay
three weeks in London to get EU
Funding
(and
their
certificates)
accommodation
must
still
be
affordable. The rooms offer good
value fort he money the students have
to pay. Being situated near Hyde Park
and very close to Oxford Street it is a
perfect location to get to the college
and to the most important sights in
London.
Lancaster Hall Hotel Youth Annex
European College of Business and Management
January 24, 2009 – February 14, 2009
Leonardo da Vinci Project
Page -1-
Handelsstrategien an bedeutenden
europäischen Finanzmärkten
Bethmannschule
Frankfurt am Main
The following pages will show the timetabel in the college. Computer access means
time for the students to work on their poject topic which they had to present orally in
London and to hand in in writing after returning from their stay in London.
The main part of this report will be the summaries taken by the students corncerning
their lessons at the college and the excursions organzied by the college.
At the end there will be some thoughts on sparetime and weekend activities, public
transport and the life in a youth hostel.
European College of Business and Management
January 24, 2009 – February 14, 2009
Leonardo da Vinci Project
Page -2-
Handelsstrategien an bedeutenden
europäischen Finanzmärkten
2.
Bethmannschule
Frankfurt am Main
Timetable at the College
Frankfurt FR1-01-09
Group 1
th
25 January – 14th February 2009
WEEK 1
9.30 –
11.00
Monday 26
Tuesday 27
Welcome and
Introduction
to the
Programme
Language
Suppport/
Discussion
SI
11.1512.45
13.3015.00
Mini
Presentations
15.1516.45
EC
Morning Break
Project
London as a
Planning and
Location for
Presentation
Business
Skills
KH
Preparation
Pack
Project
Tutorials
Project Work/
Computer
Access
Locations for
Business
KH
SI
SI
Wednesday
28
KH/SI
Project
Tutorials
EC
Lunch Break
Globalisation
Thursday 29
Friday 30
The Impact of
the Euro on
Great Britain
The City of
London and
its Financial
Institutions
AC
GHB
Language
Suppport/
Discussion
Excursion:
The City of
London and
Bank of
England
Museum
AC
GHB
Introduction
to English
Law
Excursion:
The City of
London and
Bank of
England
Museum
EC
AC
Afternoon Break
Project Work/ Project Work/
Computer
Computer
Access
Access
GHB
Project Work/
Computer
Access
KH/SI
European College of Business and Management
January 24, 2009 – February 14, 2009
Leonardo da Vinci Project
Page -3-
Handelsstrategien an bedeutenden
europäischen Finanzmärkten
Bethmannschule
Frankfurt am Main
WEEK 2 Frankfurt Group 1
9.30 –
11.00
Monday 02
Tuesday 03
Introduction
and
Excursion:
Docklands
Business
Role
Plays/Discuss
ion
Wednesday
04
Excursion:
The Law
Courts
Thursday 05
Friday 06
International
Marketing
and
Advertising
Modern
British Politics
RS
AKG
AC
GHB
EC
11.1512.45
Excursion:
Docklands
Morning Break
Introduction
Excursion:
International
to the London
The Law
Marketing
Metal
Courts
and
Advertising
Exchange
Modern
British
Economy
GHB
EC
13.3015.00
Excursion:
Docklands
AKG
AC
ECBM
Products and
Services
Project Work/
Computer
Access
AKG
Afternoon Break
Project Work/ Project Work/ Project Work/
Computer
Computer
Computer
Access
Access
Access
Project Work/
Computer
Access
Excursion:
The London
Metal
Exchange
RS
Lunch Break
Project Work/
Computer
Access
GHB
EC
15.1516.45
Project Work/
Computer
Access
European College of Business and Management
January 24, 2009 – February 14, 2009
Leonardo da Vinci Project
Page -4-
Handelsstrategien an bedeutenden
europäischen Finanzmärkten
Bethmannschule
Frankfurt am Main
WEEK 3 Frankfurt Group 1
Monday 09
9.30 –
11.00
Communications at
Work
AC
11.1512.45
Communications at
Work
Tuesday 10
Project Work/
Computer
Access
Project Work/
Computer
Access
The
Intercultural
Business
Environment
AU
Lunch Break
Project Work/
Computer
Access
GHB
15.1516.45
Project Work/
Computer
Access
Thursday 12
Friday 13
Oral
Presentations
Feedback
and
Evaluation
SI/LW
AU
Morning Break
Project Work/
Examination
Oral
Computer
Presentations
Access
AC
13.3015.00
Wednesday
11
Examination
SI
Farewell
SI/LW
SI
Oral
Presentations
Project Work/
Computer
Access
SI/LW
Afternoon Break
Project Work/ Project Work/
The
Intercultural
Computer
Computer
Business
Access
Access
Environment
Project Work/
Computer
Access
GHB
European College of Business and Management
January 24, 2009 – February 14, 2009
Leonardo da Vinci Project
Page -5-
Handelsstrategien an bedeutenden
europäischen Finanzmärkten
Bethmannschule
Frankfurt am Main
Frankfurt FR1-01-09
Group 2
25th January – 14th February 2009
WEEK 1 Frankfurt Group 2
9.30 –
11.00
Monday 26
Tuesday 27
Welcome and
Introduction to
the
Programme
Language
Suppport/
Discussion
AC
11.1512.45
13.3015.00
Mini
Presentations
15.1516.45
KH
Morning Break
Project
London as a
Planning and
Location for
Presentation
Business
Skills
AKG
Preparation
Pack
Project
Tutorials
Project Work/
Computer
Access
Locations for
Business
AKG
AC
AC
Wednesday
28
KH
Lunch Break
Globalisation
AKG/SM
KH
Afternoon Break
Project
Project Work/
Tutorials
Computer
Access
Thursday 29
Friday 30
The Impact of
the Euro on
Great Britain
The City of
London and
its Financial
Institutions
RS
AC
Language
Suppport/
Discussion
Excursion:
The City of
London and
Bank of
England
Museum
RS
AC
Introduction to
English Law
Excursion:
The City of
London and
Bank of
England
Museum
RS
AC
Project Work/
Computer
Access
Project Work/
Computer
Access
AKG/SM
European College of Business and Management
January 24, 2009 – February 14, 2009
Leonardo da Vinci Project
Page -6-
Handelsstrategien an bedeutenden
europäischen Finanzmärkten
Bethmannschule
Frankfurt am Main
WEEK 2 Frankfurt Group 2
9.30 –
11.00
Monday 02
Tuesday 03
Thursday 05
Friday 06
Introduction
and
Excursion:
Docklands
Wednesday
04
International
Marketing
and
Advertising
Project Work/
Computer
Access
Excursion:
The Law
Courts
Modern
British Politics
AC
AKG
RS
GHB
Morning Break
11.1512.45
Business Role
Plays/Discuss
ion
Excursion:
Docklands
International
Marketing
and
Advertising
Excursion:
The Law
Courts
Modern
British
Economy
AKG
RS
GHB
Project Work/
Computer
Access
Project Work/
Computer
Access
Project Work/
Computer
Access
Project Work/
Computer
Access
AC
EC
Lunch Break
13.3015.00
Introduction to
the London
Metal
Exchange
Excursion:
Docklands
ECBM
Products and
Services
AC
EC
AKG
Afternoon Break
15.1516.45
Introduction to
the London
Metal
Exchange
Project Work/
Computer
Access
Project Work/
Computer
Access
EC
European College of Business and Management
January 24, 2009 – February 14, 2009
Leonardo da Vinci Project
Page -7-
Handelsstrategien an bedeutenden
europäischen Finanzmärkten
Bethmannschule
Frankfurt am Main
WEEK 3 Frankfurt Group 2
9.30 –
11.00
Monday 09
Tuesday 10
Project Work/
Computer
Access
The
Intercultural
Business
Environment
Wednesday
11
Examination
Thursday 12
Friday 13
Oral
Presentations
Feedback and
Evaluation
AU
SI
GHB
AKG/SM
Morning Break
11.1512.45
Project Work/
Computer
Access
The
Intercultural
Business
Environment
Examination
Oral
Presentations
Farewell
AU
SI
AKG/SM
GHB
Lunch Break
13.30- Communicatio
15.00 ns at Work
Project Work/
Computer
Access
Project Work/
Computer
Access
Oral
Presentations
Project Work/
Computer
Access
AC
AKG/SM
Afternoon Break
15.15- Communicatio
16.45 ns at Work
Project Work/
Computer
Access
Project Work/
Computer
Access
Project Work/
Computer
Access
Project Work/
Computer
Access
AC
European College of Business and Management
January 24, 2009 – February 14, 2009
Leonardo da Vinci Project
Page -8-
Handelsstrategien an bedeutenden
europäischen Finanzmärkten
3.
Bethmannschule
Frankfurt am Main
Students’ Reports and Summaries
One of the students’ tasks during the stay in London was that each of them had to
write a report on a special topic or a summary of one of the lessons the group
attended. These reports and summaries differ according to the different abilities of
this mixed group concerning understanding and the ability to express themselves in
English. Only severe mistakes leading to misunderstanding were corrected.
3.1.
Journey to London and the First Day
Saturday, 24 January 2009
by Alexander Al Saroori
Our first meeting place on our trip to London was Terminal 2 at Frankfurt Airport. At
9.55 am more or less all students arrived there and Mr. Stein took notice whether all
students had come. Only some students came a bit later because a found suit case
at the entrance of terminal 2 caused a bomb alert.
After checked in and boarded we flew directly with British Airways to the capital of
England, London. The flight was very comfortable and we enjoined the beautiful
weather over the clouds. After some snacks on board, we all were able to see the
first impressing sights like the London Eye or the Big Ben and the tremendous size of
the capital. We landed in London Heathrow without any complications 15 minutes too
early but this time we had to wait
on the ground in the plain. After
receiving our luggage, we
bought our underground tickets
(the oyster card) to get around in
zones 1 and 2 of London for a
week and another ticket to come
inside this zone. Before Mr.
Stein leaded us to Paddington
Station, he gave us a short
introduction into the
underground system. We very
fast recognized that the “Tubes”
in England are smaller and
Source & Photo Credit: Boeing
tighter than the German ones.
Up from Paddington the
"Lancaster Hotel" was only a few minutes away. As we arrived at the hotel we
checked in, got our keys and moved into our rooms. After hearing a lot of stories
about youth hostels in England, we were positively surprised about our rooms. They
were tidy and comfortable.
Afterwards we used our free time to get first impressions of our new surroundings for
the next 3 weeks and went on a little sightseeing tour .We saw Hyde Park in his
tremendous dimensions, a lot of eating stores and pubs. Later we ate and bought
something to eat for the next day. We finished our first evening by going into a
traditional British pub and after that we felt asleep very exhausted.
European College of Business and Management
January 24, 2009 – February 14, 2009
Leonardo da Vinci Project
Page -9-
Handelsstrategien an bedeutenden
europäischen Finanzmärkten
3.2.
Summaries of the Lessons
3.2.1.
Welcome and Introduction to the Programme
Monday, 26. January 2009
by Genaro Albanese
Bethmannschule
Frankfurt am Main
Our first day at the European College of Business and Management started with a
welcome and an introduction to the programme. Sarah Iles, one of our teachers, talk
with us about our time table and showed us all the floors of the college. After this she
showed us a presentation about the collage and which certificates we can receive.
We can receive three certificates.
1. The ECBM Certificate of Attendance
2. The German-British Chamber Certificate
3. The BTEC Professional Development Certificate (PDC)
The ECBM Certificate of Attendance is a certificate which everybody gets. It certify
that we stay for this time at the European College of Business and Management and
that we attended the course.
The German-British Chamber Certificate is a certificate from the German-British
Chamber of Industry & Commerce. We receive this, if we pass two of the three
exams.
The BTEC Professional Development Certificate (PDC) certifiy that you are able to
work in an english-speaking-company. We receive this, if we pass all three exams.
We talked about our exams, too.
First we have a three-hour examination with four questions and minimum 200 words
for each answer. The second exam is an 10 to 15 minutes oral presentation. The
topic we got in Germany before we started to London. The third is a summary about
the topic of our presentation. This summary will be finished three weeks after the
return to Germany and has up to 1.000 words.
After this we started with our Mini-Presentations.
3.2.2.
Mini Presentations
Monday, 26. January 2009
by Tobias Baron
After the welcome and the introduction to the programme on Monday everybody
presented his company to the other participants in his course. In the first lesson the
whole group was split into two courses. That’s why the following minutes just deal
with group number one.
Firstly Universal was presented by Florian and after his presentation he answered
some questions from Sarah about his company and his opportunities in the future.
European College of Business and Management
January 24, 2009 – February 14, 2009
Leonardo da Vinci Project
Page -10-
Handelsstrategien an bedeutenden
europäischen Finanzmärkten
Bethmannschule
Frankfurt am Main
The next presentation was given by Jan about the sjb Fonds Skyline and he also
answered some questions.
The third presentation about Union Investment was given by Andreas, Maurice,
Gennaro and Francesca who were asked about the current financial situation.
Alexandra and Johanna introduced DWS where they run their apprenticeship and
answered questions about the impact of the financial crisis on the company.
Allianz was presented by Clarissa and Marcel with a Powerpoint presentation.
The next presentation was given by Nicole, Fabienne, Ali and René about Deka.
They answered questions about their future in the company.
Helaba Invest was the next company which was presented by Tobias, he was asked
by Sarah about the marketing strategy of the company.
Charlotte presented her company, IVG, which is the only represented company
dealing exlusively with properties.
Generali was presented by Marco who answered Sarah’s questions whether he likes
working as an investment fund specialist.
The presentation about Metzler was given by Natalie and Markus who were asked by
Sarah about the tradition of Metzler.
At least we listened to Andreas who presented HSBC.
All in all the audience had the possibilty to get to know about the key facts of the
represented companies. Nearly all of them except HSBC and IVG are headquartered
in Frankfurt. IVG is located in Bonn and HSBC is located in Düsseldorf.
Every presentation was given with good use of free speech.
3.2.3.
Preparation Pack
Monday, 26. January 2009
by Andreas Bein
In the second lesson our tutor Sarah Iles started with the topic of the “Preparation
Pack”.
Before we started our trip to London we got some information about this great city.
This information was refreshed in this lesson. Sarah began the lesson with a
brainstorming session about London. We divided our knowledge about London into
three groups: Social aspects, Political aspects and Economic aspects.
We talked about the multicultural population of 7.5 million which entails a fullness of
religion, cuisine and culture. A lot of the citizens work in the City of London, which is
also known as the financial centre of London. In the City of London you can find
European College of Business and Management
Leonardo da Vinci Project
January 24, 2009 – February 14, 2009
Page -11-
Handelsstrategien an bedeutenden
europäischen Finanzmärkten
Bethmannschule
Frankfurt am Main
some of the most important institutions and companies of the world, for example the
Bank of England, the London Stock Exchange, the London Metal Exchange and the
headquarters of some of the world’s biggest Banks.
The Mayor of London is Boris
Johnson. He leads the G.L.A.
(=Greater London Authority)
which is responsible for the
safety service, the development
of the city and the infrastructure.
We recognised that London is a
real “World City”. So our next
task was to define a World City.
We defined it as a tolerant,
multicultural city with a high
influence on what happens in the
world –which enables a high
international accessability- with a
high dynamic economical and
lifestyle development.
The Gherkin
All this is represented in London with all its known Underground, five airports, its
history and its role in history and the present, the different religions and cuisines from
all over the world, its role in lifestyle or music, in the financial sector and its harbour.
We are excited to see as much as we can of this World City London!
3.2.4.
Language Support and Discussion
Tuesday, 27 January 2009
by Ali Buoy
At the 27th January we read three poems which were given by Mr. Ron Stradling and
try to explain the meaning of the poems.
One of the poems is written by Lonnie Donnegan, he writes about his father who was
a Dustman. In this poem he tries to reflect the life and job of his father.
The second poem is published by Wiliam Wordsworth and is called “I wandered
Lonely as a cloud”, and describes the situation of a young man who does not feel
respected and happy in his family. He sees his family as a cold and lonely place
without heat and feelings.
The last poem which we have discussed in the 4 hours was an old Scottish poem
with a Scottish dialect.
European College of Business and Management
January 24, 2009 – February 14, 2009
Leonardo da Vinci Project
Page -12-
Handelsstrategien an bedeutenden
europäischen Finanzmärkten
3.2.5.
Bethmannschule
Frankfurt am Main
Project Planning and Presentation Skills
Tuesday, 27 January 2009
by René Brüntrupp
During our time in London we had to work on an own project besides attending
college. Therefore we had a lesson, called “Project Planning and Presentation Skills”,
to get informed about the details of our projects. The teacher gave us information
about our executive summary, the presentation and the assessment criteria.
The executive summary was supposed to be sended to the college four weeks after
our return to Germany. It should not include more than 1.000 words. Because of this,
our teacher emphazised that it was not the most important thing for us to decide what
we put into our summary, but what
we leave out. It also was
important for us to find a clear
structure before starting to work
on our projects. This structure had
to have a start, where we
introduced the project we worked
on. The middle part included the
main body of the text with our
analysis and describtion and the
end part we wrote our conlusion
and/or recommendation.
Everyone of us had to present his
topic to a group and the
examiners. The presentation were at the end of our stay in London - at Wednesday
before our departure. We were supposed to do them with Microsoft Powerpoint. The
time limits were at least 10 but not more than 15 minutes. Our teacher mentioned that
it was really important to care for the lower limit because less than 10 min. speaking
would lead to a fail. More than 15 min. would only cause a downgrade.
The assessment criteria for our graduation were subdivided into three parts: Content,
Language and Presentation skills. The marks in England are Distinction, Merit, Pass
and Fail. We got handed out the evaluation sheet so that the criteria were
transparent for us. To get all possible certifcates, we had to get a pass in every
criteria.
After giving us information about the details of the project work, our teacher gave us
time to ask questions and told us a lot of advices for our work. He highlighted for
example the need of proper research, which is the basis for good academic work.
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3.2.6.
Bethmannschule
Frankfurt am Main
Location for Business
Wednesday, 28 January 2009
by Florian Dalchow
On a rainy Wednesday we are sitting in our college and are waiting for our teacher
Eddie to tell us something about how to decide about a location for business. In his
introduction he tells us that he is a former banker. As he asks us what we are doing,
someone tells him we are all asset managers.
After that we begin to collect all
factors which need to be thought
about in order to decide where you
open a business. We start to tell him
the typical factors. First of all, it is
really important to think about the
infrastructure of a place because
many companies have to transport a
lot of material. Not only the material
but also the people have to be
transported to the company and back
to their homes. Therefore it is
necessary to be close to streets or
railways. Some industries like the
Canary Wharf
logistic industry need a connection to
an airport or port to send their goods
all over the world. This is really important for the companies of the industry. Some
other factors are the availability and the costs of the land where you want to start
your business. When your costs are small your profit will be higher. In our modern
economy ofservice the land factor is not the most important factor for the decision.
The most important factors are the telecommunication network and the availability of
skilled employees. The telecommunication is necessary to transport news and
information as fast as it is possible
from one to another. The whole
World Wide Web is dependent on
the telecommunication network. In
the financial industry, information is
one of the worthiest factors to be
successful. It is also necessary to
be fast connected to the customers
or to the exchange to make the
business profitable. In our type of
business every company needs
well educated people. Thus, when
you decide to open a business
Modern business building in London
somewhere you have to take a look
if there are enough people with the required knowledge for your company. To keep
an eye on the salaries and the social costs of the employees is also a good idea. If
you don’t want to have too much competitors at your new location, you have to check
the situation ofyour new place. If there are too
many competitors you have to search another place for your business. In order to
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increase your profit, you should also compare the taxation on different places. When
you have to pay too many taxes your profit will decrease. The taxation for the
employees can make the difference, too. A high taxation will increase your costs and
decrease your profit. Apart from that, the political and economic stability plays a role
when you choose a business location. Who wants to be located at a place where you
don’t know who will be the leader of the country on the next day or where the leader
changes his opinion every day. An access to your markets will also be an advantage
for the new company in order to be successful at a new location.
After having enumerated most of the factors which have to be considered when you
try to choose a good location to run a business, we have to find a perfect place for a
brewery, a restaurant or a travel agency in a group work. After this, our lesson ends
and we all get a well-deserved break.
3.2.7.
London as a Location for Business
Wednesday, 28 January 2009
by Marcel Ewald
London was founded by the Romans. They built a garrison and the London Bridge to
pass the river Thames to the north with their army. Later on a habour was built to
supply the troops. In this time first goods, especially food, were exchanged.
During the colonization London became more important as a trading centre, because
of trading with the British colonies. In this time insurance companies grew as there
was a higher risk for ships,
which transported
commodities from the
colonies to London and the
other way around.
Now London is a financial
and trading centre. It has a
perfect position to
negotiate with the whole
world because of its time
zone. In the morning you
can trade with Asia, in the
Big Ben and London Eye
afternoon you can trade
with America and
continental Europe has nearly the same time. For this reason there is a pool of
employment because many large companies have their head offices in London.
The City leads the world in a range of financial services including foreign exchange
trading, international equities trading, fund management, derivatives trading,
international insurance and bonds trading. All in all London has 41% share of all
European Financial activity.
Working there is also attractive for employees even if the average salery before taxes
is lower compared to cities like New York or Tokyo. People can visit the stadiums of
13 professional football clubs or can go to museums and theatres.
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The Infrastructure is also very good. It is possible to use one of the thousands taxis,
buses, tubes or one of the five international airports. Heathrow is the busiest airport
in Europe and it is linked to the city by the Heathrow Express, which operates to
Paddington every 15 minutes. With the Jubilee Line you have an excellent
accessibility to the City Airport.
3.2.8.
Globalisation
Wednesday, 28 January 2009
by Nathalie Hett
At our third day at the college we talked with our teacher Eddie Charles about
globalisation and its effects on the world today and in the future.
We started with a brainstorming what globalization means and chose two points, the
multinational Cooperation (for example Microsoft with its global branding,
standardized products, tax efficiency and the lower costs) and the effects on the
technology/media (for example the global news coverage, instant reporting and the
Internet).
Then Eddie told us something
about the steps along the way
until today. We spoke about the
reasons of globalization like the
human settlement in further
times, empires and religions
which came across the world,
the press and its influence on
daily life, culture, music and art,
sport events and world cups.
Hyde Park in winter
Eddie told us that the
globalisation has different effects
on different topics. So we took three topics and searched for some effects that
globalisation has.
The first were the economic effects like the deregulation of markets, the international
trade, the cross border markets like the EU, the standardisation of money transfers
between banks all over the world, the political cooperation and the global investment
of companies and customers.
As the second point we chose the political effects. The students mentioned effects
like the exporting ideology, the supra-national bodies like the UN or UNICEF, the
immigration and Emigration, the democratizing influence, the human rights and the
free press.
The last point was which social effects globalization has. We chose the use of
common language like English, cloning of lifestyle, cultural tolerance between people
and religions, loss of tradition and culture as an advantage, the different religions and
harnessing of international aid.
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At the end of the lesson we should think about what we imagine about the future and
what might happen. We heard examples like the loss of tradition and cultural
diversity, the need for innovation in daily life to become different, that there would be
more political cooperation and maybe the loss of freedom of the individual.
3.2.9.
The Impact of the Euro on Great Britain
Thursday, 29 January 2009
by Johanna Hetzler
Today’s topic in class is Britain and the Euro.
Obviously Britain is among Denmark and Sweden
one of the few countries that kept their own currency
instead of adopting the Euro. In an open discussion
our teacher Sven – who used to work in the financial
business as well – and our class discussed two
questions:
Why has the UK decided not to adopt the Euro?
£ is tradition and part of the British culture
Part of British identity and reminder of colonial day
£ is (supposed to be) a stronger currency than €
Political implications: Labour Party promised to keep the £
Bank of England separated from European Central Bank and therefore has
total control over the interest rates
How would the economy benefit if the UK adopts the Euro?
Stability and therefore increased cash flow to UK
40 – 50% of export/import of UK is within European Union, a unique currency
would ease up things
€ would get stronger, maybe even the strongest currency in the world
Negative impact on political relations with USA because $ would weaken
Foreign exchange sector on the £ will be lost
Bank of England will lose its role
Since the price of the £ recently collapsed and experienced a 30-40% loss in value,
discussions rise up whether the time has come to adopt the Euro. But most Britons –
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with their distinctive sense of tradition – nevertheless still oppose the Euro in favour
of the £.
3.2.10. Introduction to English Law
Thursday, 29 January 2009
by Charlotte Höntschke
Our teacher Sven gave us some background information for our visit to the law court,
so that we know, what will happen during the process.
He told us also not to bring any bags or cell phones.
Therefore he shows us a power-point presentation:
The first slide was about the difference between civil and crime offences. Civil
offences are disagreements between individuals or companies. Criminal offences are
punished by the state depending on the severity of the crime committed.
After that, he told us something about the Lord Chief of Justice and his job.
The third slide was about the question “What is a tort”. There were some examples:
negligence, trespass, liability for premises, nuisance or defamation.
Then there was a slide about the Community Justice Centre. It was designed to
make justice more efficient by consulting with the local community. It deals with
“quality of life crimes related to a specific community”.
Afterwards Sven shows us three slides about the duties and responsibilities of The
Tribunal, the Police and the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service)
The Tribunal is an independent service and a judicial body. It is concerned with
employment and transport issues, with unfair dismissal, breach of contract and also
with asylum and immigration.
The Police is responsible for all emergency duties as well as for theft, burglary and
robbery responses, also for physical assaults, riot and crowd control. It has the duty
to search and arrest people, who committed a crime. The detention of the suspects
can be up to 24 hours, but not for suspected terrorists. They can be arrested longer.
The CPS has the function to protect the people, which are charged with criminal
offences. It takes cases from the police beyond investigation, advises police on
charge to bring forth preparing cases for court.
Furthermore the Magistratly court (smallest criminal court) and the Crown Court (next
level up from magistrate) are parts of the CPS.
The last slide was about the Old Bailey Court, which is the highest Crown Court. It is
based near St. Paul’s and is concerned with murder, rape and robbery.
Altogether the presentation was very interesting for us and so it would be easier to
understand the case on our visit to the crime court.
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3.2.11. Language Support/Discussion
Thursday, 29 January 2009
by Fabienne Hölper
The lesson starts at 11:15 o´clock. At first, the teacher answers questions regarding
the lesson before. After that, he introduces, the new task which is prepared in a
group of four students. Two groups had the task to find adjectives via brain storming.
The other three groups must choose a crazy product and write down in which way
the product is used for. The idea was that the students come outside of normal
thinking. For example a product for fiction or star track.
Then we start of collecting the adjectives and the different products and write them
on the board.
Product 1
Sloth ICE AGE
Bicycle
Snow chains
seat
transforms
into bed
integrated pan
try / fridge
SNEG- snore
noise
electricity
generator
IBHSintegrated
biological
heating system
gas fulled
FPS- food
positioning
system
FSSS- federal
sloth searding
system
Product 2
Strech cup
Product 3
Mobile phone
for Dagobert
Safe / treasury
Adjectives 1
Theme park
Adjectives 2
soccer
Service / refill
button
Internet access Money / gold
finder
Touch sreen
Anty theft
Voice- reactive Travel map
Scary
Green
Funny
Dirty
Surprising
Exciting
Crowded
Dusty
GPS (if the cup Solar / battery
is lost)
powered
Boring
Dynamic
Thermalcontrol
Time machine
Exhausting
Load
Under fusion
Fingerprint
reader
Multi- purpose Fast
Car / helicopter Tidy
Vibration alarm Credit card
reader
Round
Crowded
Extraordinary
Painful
After that the teacher gives us the next exercise. We should put the words from each
group together and make a sentence for a crazy product that make sense.
Every group must presents their own sentence and the teacher writes the sentence
on the board.
Group 1:
Sentence: A green and dynamic nuclear fusion snore noise electricity generator with
travel map.
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Product: It could be a Microphone / loudspeaker.
Group 2:
Sentence: A crazy green food positioning system teleporter and space adjustment.
Product: It could be a fridge.
Group 3:
Sentence: A recreational female sloth search system with vibration alarm and
teleporter which is fast and dusty.
Product: It could be a product for a man.
Group 4:
Sentence: An extraordinary seat to bed transformer with vibration alarm which
transforms you tidily into a car.
Product: It could be a bed in a car which is tidy up on its own.
Group 5:
Sentence: A surprisingly crowded integrated fridge with refill button and credit card
reader.
Product: It could be a fridge maybe in the future that will be created with a credit card
reader for the customer in the supermarket.
At last we come to the result that all our products are useable and the lesson ends at
12:45.
3.2.12. The City of London and its Financial Institutions
Friday, 30 January 2009
by Francesca Kegler
In the lesson of Graham, we talked about the City of London and its Financial
Institutions. We talked about the banker’s different positions.
MCIB (Student)
ACIB
FCIB
Member of chartered Institution of Bankers
Associate chartered Institution of Bankers
Follow chartered Institution of Bankers
Graham talks about our trip to the City of London. At first we will walk around and
look how different and strange London is. Then we visit the London business and the
bank street.
By the way we visit a street, where was filmed a part of the movie “Harry Potter”.
Then we cross in a street where an important pub is located. It’s called “Jamaica Inn”.
Jamaica Inn is a place for the bankers to communicate. It’s also a place where
bankers go to lunch or to drink some coffee.
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The next visit is the Edward Lloyd’s coffee house centre of the insurance business.
After the Edward Lloyd’s coffee house we go to the Royal exchange. It was a big
centre for luxury shopping. There were over 400 shops and restaurants, but the
shopping mall was closed many of years. Now it’s re-opened but they don’t have 400
shops at all. There are only a few shops and circa 2 restaurants.
At the end of our tour we will visit the museum who is called “The bank of England”.
After the information lesson, we travel to the City of London and visit all the
monuments.
3.2.13. Excursion: The City of London and Bank of England Museum
Friday, 30 January 2009
by Jan Keiter and Marco Korngiebel
On 30th January we visited the City of London and the Bank of England Museum.
In the morning we were introduced into the topic by Graham. He told us something
about the history of the City.
After that we started our tour through the City of London, the financial district of
London. We went through the narrow alleys in the City. The area Jack the Ripper
was in action.
At 30 St Mary Axe there stands the so-called “Gerkin” the tower of the Swiss Re.
Some meters away was the Lloyds Building. It was innovative in having its services
such as staircases, lifts, electrical power conduits and water pipes on the outside.
After that we went through the Leaden
Hall. On this market there will be sold
fresh food. It became famous in a
“Harry Potter” movie.
Our next stop was the “Jamaica Wine
House”. It was the first coffee house in
London opened in 1652. Today it’s a
pub where the London City Bankers
are going to. We also did it like the
bankers and drunk a pint of beer.
After the beer we went over to the
Royal Exchange. In 1565 it was
founded as a centre of commerce. The building burned down two times over the
years.
The tour finished in the museum of the Bank of England. There we got to know the
long history of English central bank founded in 1694.
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3.2.14. Business Role Plays / Discussion
Monday, 02 February 2009
by Marcus Kuhl
The "business" is a load-bearing size in every economy. It isn't easy to establish a
company and to extend it then.
We had faced this task in the lesson. We were divided up into groups to make a
company more attractive for investors to ensure the forthcoming expansion. It was to
create a survey of the company to filter out the strengths, weaknesses, chances and
threats of the enterprise first. As a basis we had a food processing cooperation, with
a new "healthy cooking sauce".
After the teamwork we have introduced our companies. Through the marketing
strategies and the SWOT analysis you can recognize the company. In addition arose
from this analysis new products, such as those" Sauce Hero" or “Flying Sauce”.
Introduction to the London Metal Exchange
Monday, 02 February 2009
by Nicole Kuhlen and Andreas Laucht
The London Metal Exchange is the world’s premier non-ferrous metals market. It was
established for over 130 years and is located in the heart of The City of London.
Metals were traded for hundreds of years in London, but the demand for metal was
not huge until the industrial revolution. In that time the demand for metal increased
dramatically. Today it is a well established and liquid market.
40 Billion USD are traded at the London Metal Exchange every day. 95% of the
business is from outside the UK.
Just 3% of the trading is physical settlement. The other 97% are speculation!
The primary roles of the London Metal Exchange are “hedging”, “pricing” and
“delivery”.
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The idea of hedging in that case is that participants, primarily from non-ferrous base
metal and plastics related industries, have the opportunity to protect against risks
arising from movements in base metals and plastics prices.
The “pricing” is providing reference prices which are accepted globally and widely
used in the non-ferrous metals and plastics industries for benchmarking.
The “delivery” enables market participants to make or take physical delivery of
approved brands of LME traded contracts.
There are currently three ways to trade on the LME. Through open outcry, telephone
and electronic systems.
There are only eleven brokers in the trading ring.
In 2007, the London Metal Exchange had celebrated 130 years since its founding in
1877.
Introduction and Excursion: The Docklands
Tuesday, 03 February 2009
by Mauurice Loewe
On this day has been the biggest snowfall since 20 years and the traffic in London
broke down. The consequence was that the excursion to the Docklands has also
been canceled. – But then we find a date on which we could catch up this trip.
HISTORY
The Docklands are located in the east of London. They are called like that, because
the docks were a part of the London harbor which was the biggest harbor in the
world. In the Middle Ages the ships only docked at City of London or Southwark.
Today this area is called Pool of
London. After some time there was too
less place and so the Docklands
became bigger and bigger. The docks
were used for charging and discharging
the ships, repairing them and at least
building them. Of course there were
also a lot of warehouses, piers and
landing stages.
During World War II the docks were
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destroyed in most instances, but although in the 1950’s the area obtain prosperity.
Then between 1960 and 1970 the docks had to be closed, because big
containerships were created and they were too big for the docks.
Today the docks are no longer used for
shipping. It is now an area for living and
working in services.
Tour
On this rainy day we started our tour at
the ECBM College and went by the Circle
Line from Liverpool Street station to
Tower Hill station. There you could find
the old roman city wall, near to the old
lighthouse centre.
From there we went along the Tower of London to the first Dock. This Dock is called
St. Katherine Dock and was build up in 1927. In the
past it was a centre for ivory and living elephants.
Today there are lots
of expensive ships and luxurious apartments.
Then we crossed the Telford Footbridge, which is the
entrance for the next dock, the East Dock. After this
we passed the river themes police and our teacher
showed us where the pirates were hanged.
We walked through the Docklands and crossed the
Tobacco Dock and the Cable Street where a lot of
emigrants are living and in the past there were a
rebellion by the emigrants. This rebellion is illustrated
at a house wall.
We reached the underground station Shadwell, there
we went by the DLR Line (Docklands Light Railway)
to the West India Quay Station. This is
the entrance to the Isle of Dogs; the
headquarter of the financial sector.
There is also the highest building of
London located, the Canary Wharf
Tower (245m).
We walked across the Canary Wharf
tower to come to the underground
station Heron Quays, there we went
again into the DLR to Island Garden.
This ride was really fascinating,
because DLR railway was built up
above the ground so you had a nice
view over the Canary Wharf Docks.
Then we had arrived at the station and walked to the waterside of the river Themes.
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There we had a nice view on Greenwich; this district of London is world famous for
his time gauging station at the meridian. At the waterside there was pedestrian
tunnel, so we could take a walk under the river Themes to reach Greenwich where
our cold and wet but interesting trip ends.
International Marketing and Advertising
Wednesday, 04 February 2009
by Michael Neumann
As the name of the lesson illustrates, did we talk about marketing and advertising.
The lesson began with a discussion about what marketing means. Thus all members
of the course picked up thoughts. In the end we used the brainstorm approach to
combine our thoughts about what we associate with the term marketing including
ideas like “promotion”, “products”, “research”, “place”, “innovation” and “price”. Our
first cognition was that marketing is always about making profit in the end.
After all, we tried to find a definition of marketing and talked about the factors on
which marketing is based on. We came to the conclusion that marketing describes a
business process of identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer needs and
profitability. Companies must provide products and services that customers wish to
buy.
Next we talked about needs, wants and demands and how to distinguish the three
terms:
Needs are all tangible and intangible things that people are not able to survive
without. That includes physical (like food, clothing, warmth and safety), social
(belonging and affection) and individual needs (like knowledge and self-expression).
Wants are needs which people desire because of their culture and individual
personality. This could be the desire for a blue sweater instead of just desiring a
sweater.
Lastly demands are wants translated into buying power. Most of the time customers
wish to buy products or services that satisfy them enough in relation to what they
have spent.
Furthermore we talked about the marketing mix, a process which helps to sell
products and services successfully and answers the following four questions:
1) What product/ service do we want to sell?
2) For what price do we want to sell our product/ service?
3) How do we want to sell our product/ service?
4) How do we want to market our product/ service?
Thus the marketing mix is the way in which products and services are marketed by a
business and includes four elements, the so called “4Ps”: product, price, place and
promotion.
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“Product” stands for new developed products, branding, design and packaging. In
regard to this it is pretty important for a business to define what its product or service
means to customers.
“Price” describes costs, profitability and value of money and incentives.
“Place” describes where the product is sold and how it gets to the customer. It
especially means the distribution, access to market, channel structure, channel
management, retailer image and logistic.
“Promotion” gives information about how customers become aware of the product
and services and how to persuade customers to buy them.
At the end of the first lesson we got a short insight into the SWOT analysis. This is a
business tool that helps analysing how successful a product, brand or company is
performing in a market. The word SWOT is an acronym including the words
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
Strengths are all advantages a company has over its rivals in the market.
Weaknesses are areas in which the product or brand is performing not that good as
rivals. Strengths and weaknesses are internal factors that can be changed.
Opportunities are circumstances that put the business in an advantaged position form
which it can perform better than its rivals.
Threats are factors that can damage the performance of a company. Opportunities
and threats are external factors that cannot be controlled and changed by the
business.
International Marketing and Advertising (Part 2)
Wednesday, 04 February 2009
by Thomas Neifer
Based on the information we got during the first lesson, we should prepare a
presentation on two different companies and their marketing strategy. Three group
dealt with the brand “Ben Sherman” by looking at its Marketing Mix-strategy, here are
the conclusions:
Group I with a focus on its promotion
The brand “Ben Sherman” appeals to youth market and the identification with its
style. This is achieved by the brands direct marketing, its sponsorships (“best
breakthrough artist”) and its events of fashion and music. Furthermore it invests a lot
of money in advertisement to address its young audience.
Group II with a focus on placing
The second group analysed its placing procedure. “Ben Sherman” is a strong brand
with a clear philosophy. Its locations to buy are rare to keep the value of it high. It has
got three traditional channels of distribution: own stores, department stores and
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shops in shops. Additionally is uses media and press by launching a website in 2007
with a shop and a large community.
Group III with a focus on the position
“Ben Sherman” has got medium-priced products. The brand has got an image of
good quality and a good style by which the price is reflected.
The other two groups dealt with the car company “Skoda” by analysing it using a
SWOT analysis.
Group I
Skoda’s strengths are its connection to VW and its useful image of “happy drivers”.
But its image is also a weakness, because of its understanding as a low-budget car.
The opportunities are the technology of VW and the “happy customers”. Threats are
other low-budget cars.
Group II
The strengths are that there is no low-quality any more and the new technology of
VW, so that it could be competed with other brands. The weakness is the still existing
image problem as a low-budget car. Its opportunities are the “happy customers”, the
technology of VW and that it could be repaired in all VW garages. Skoda’s threats are
also other low-budget cars.
ECBM Products and Services
Wednesday, 04 February 2009
by Julia Nowitzki
History
The European College of Business and Management was founded in 1988 by the
German-British Chamber of Industry and Commerce and a number of international
companies. Robert Bosch, Siemens and Commerzbank are all members of its
advisory board.
To date it has provided more than 6,000 young people from various European
countries with business, cultural and language skills to enable them to work
effectively in international markets.
The ECBM is the affiliated college of the German-British Chamber of Industry and
Commerce (AHK) and specializes in providing high quality programmes at Bachelorentry and post-graduate (leading to MBA) level.
The name of the Company was changed on 22 April 1988 from "Standpolar Lmited"
to "British-German School for Vocational Training", on 15 June 1995 from "BritishGerman School for Vocational Training" to "European Vocational College" and on 6
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July 2000 from "European Vocational College" to "European College of Business and
Management".
What is the ECBM?
The European College of Business and Management (ECBM) is a registered nonprofit making charity specialising in the provision of customised business training by
working in close partnership with employers.
It has grown to be a highly respected
and successful provider of education
and training in an English speaking
environment.
It welcomes over 200 apprentices and
undergraduates from Siemens AG each
year on customized short-courses, and
it is also the partner of Siemens UK
(Ltd) in the establishment of their
Siemens Commercial Academy in the
UK.
It has developed strong links with a
number of UK universities which allows
the institue to provide the benefits of
fast-track and high quality education to
its students, many of whom are from
Germany or work for German
companies.
It co-operates with universities,
Chambers of Commerce and major
German companies in order to offer
internationally recognised qualifications.
The courses
The institute offers three main areas of
business education:
>> Bachelor: We provide courses
leading to a ‘top-up’ Bachelor for
German students who have a ‘kaufmännische Ausbildung’ or who are members of
one of our UK corporate partner schemes (for example Siemens UK or
Commerzbank traineeships). These programmes are delivered via blended
learning.
>> MBA: This course is suitable for students with sufficient business experience and/
or Betriebswirt-level qualification. The ECBM offers its two-year Diploma in
Management Studies/ MBA programme which is organized mainly through
weekend study, mainly in Germany.
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>> Intensive Courses: We have developed an intensive short programme for
Berufsschulen and Berufskolleg which is a customised one to three week
intensive professional development programme for an average group size of 20
students.
Excursion: The Law Court
Thursday, 05 February 2009
by Tony Quitschalle
Before we went to the Law Courts, we had a short introduction about the Law Courts
and the British law system.
In general, we talked about the Magistrates Court and the Crown Court and their
relation to each other. The Magistrates Court is the lowest level of court in England
and Wales, it is the County court. Magistrates' courts deal with minor offences (fines
of up to £5,000 and imprisonment of up to 6 months). Often, in this court, the
defendants plead to be not guilty. Because of this, they were brought to the Crown
Court.
The Crown Court is the higher court of first instance for criminal cases and includes a
jury. This jury consists of 12 people and the purpose of the defendants pleading not
guilty in the Magistrates Court and pleading guilty in the Crown Court is that
cooperation in the Crown Court often leads to a lower punishment.
After this short introduction, we went to a Crown Court. Our group was separated and
we saw parts of two different proceedings.
In one of these two, two persons were prosecuted for murder. It was said that their
fingerprints were found at the location of
murder and that they also touched a knife
which was found at the location, but which
was not the weapon with which the victim
was killed.
In the other case, 3 men from Bangladesh
were prosecuted for murdering a man in a
house. It was said that there were
organizing this crime before and were
planning everything in detail. The evidence
showed that they used a hammer and a
knife to kill the person. After he was
murdered, they tried to escape via plane to Bangladesh, but because of their phone
calls they made in Bangladesh, they could be traced back.
In my opinion it was a very awkward feeling sitting right next to people who obviously
had killed somebody else. I think this trip was a very interesting experience for all of
us and showed us, how different a system of justice can be.
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Modern British Politics
Friday, 06 February 2009
by Marizio Regalbuto
Our tutor informed us about modern British politics on friday the 6th of february.
We were talking about the meaning of the term politics.
In generally speaking politics means power and representation. Politicians get power
by their voters. The voter expects that the elected politician will fight for his or her
interests.
Most politicians are leading so to say two different lives, a public and a private one.
Furthermore we were discussing the various electoral systems in London for instance
the election of Hackney Council, the election of the greater London authority. Those
different kinds of elections take place regularly, namely every four years. There are
also existing the elections to the National government and the European Parliament.
Our Tutor told us about the structure of
British legislation. The United Kingdom
has two mayor political authorities,
namely the House of Commons which
can be compared with the German
Bundestag and the House of Lords
which can be compared with the
German Bundesrat. It is important to
know that the House of Lords has less
influence. It’s members have no direct
influence on legislation whereas the
members of the House of Commons
are in charge of a huge part of the
legislative power. They are able to
decide over the amended laws which
were made by the members of the
House of Lords, whether they have to
be changed or passed.
Queen Elizabeth II is the last step of
that system, she accepts laws with the
help of her signature.
Finally we were talking about the differences between the German and the British
electoral system. In Great Britain there are only existing the various (660) election
stations. Those 660 districts or stations vote their deputies. The party with the most
votes will win the election. That party will be governing the country for the next five
years with the help of the Prime Minister who is part of the elected party.
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Modern British Economy
Friday, 06 February 2009
by Alexandra Schick
Today we talked about the British economy.
First of all we talked about the factors which influence the British econonmy and how
they had changed in the last years. These factors judge whether an economy is
performing well or badly.
These factors are :
-
the GDP (Growth Domestic Product)
the standard of living
the average income
the value of currency
the economic confidence
the performance of the stock market
the level of inflation
the balance of payments (difference between value of imports and exports)
the level of savings an debts
the government deficit
the level of taxation and the level of unemployment
Because of these factors we came to the conclusion that the British economy turned
down in the past years.
Beside these factors there had been some other external effects which influenced the
British economy in this way. These are the housing bubble, credit and debit problems
and the financial services boom.
We finally came to the conclusion that the industrial and the financial sector of the UK
are unbalanced.
Communications at Work
Monday, 09 February 2009
by Silvia Sterle and Raphael Silva Caneiro
The lesson started with a discussion about a good communicator. A good
communicator should have a loud voice, he has to speak slowly (but not too slowly
that the partner fell asleep in that time). He has to speak clearly, not too monotone
and he has to use face mimic or facial expressions. The main thing is that both
speakers have to look in the eyes, because it gives the other person a feedback
about what he is thinking.
There are a few types of communication:
Face-to-face
Email
Telephone
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Face-to-face is the best of them, because you can see in the eyes, you can check the
reaction of the partner, you have a feedback directly. A kind of relationship was build
during the conversation. The advantages of email are that the sender can send in
multiple directions and it’s faster as well. But the feedback is missing and there are
no reactions and emotions. By telephone you can say what you want, but you have
no face contact. Sometimes its just for small talk.
Afterwards we made an exercise with logo. 2 partners are sitting back to back, one of
them told what to do with the logo and the other one has to do that. He is not allowed
to give any feedback.
Communication of a team leader
Downward communication is about receiving information from the top down
leaders for example in form of an Email
Upward communication is in form of a meeting called for example Town Hall
where employees can speak to the leaders and tell what they criticize.
Sideways communication is when team members are talking to each other
Communication process
The sender has a massage. He is about to reach the receiver to give him the
massage. By the way he has to choose a channel, the way how he wants to speak to
the receiver for example from face-to-face or by telephone or Email. The receiver can
give a feedback to response the massage of the sender.
3.2.24 The Intercultural Business Environment
Tuesday, 10 February 2009
by Julian Stolzenbach and Volker Strobel
On the 10th of February 2009 we had four lessons with Mr. Harman-Baker. The topic
was “The Intercultural Business Environment”. At the beginning we started with a
discussion about culture. What is culture? We defined it as “a certain kind of
behaviour”. A kind of behaviour that is different from place to place. And even more
importantly, culture influences the behaviour of the people and the people are
influencing the culture with their behaviour. In this context we talked about a football
match as an example. Fans are normally screaming and cheering for their supported
team. A non-involved person who doesn’t know that it is normal will also start
cheering. So the cultural environment is influencing his behaviour.
The next point we talked about was the development of the area around the ECBM.
Today it is known as the centre of modern art. In former times, there were several
furniture factories. The conclusion of this development is that there are constant
cultural changes all over London (e.g. Canary Wharf, the Olympics and the City of
London). And London is definitely one of the best examples of a multicultural
population with influences from all over the world.
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Everywhere, but especially in this city, dynamic things are constantly going on.
We also talked about companies, for example Ryanair and Easyjet, who support the
cultural exchange. They provide a cheap possibility to get from London to Hamburg,
Munich, Prague, and numerous other culturally rich destinations. In each of these
places, you can experience a different culture and meet unique people.
The final conclusion of Mr. Harman-Baker for the first two lessons was that
everybody is unique and something special. And everybody lives in a cultural
environment. So culture and cultural exchange is to get the best out of anyone.
The teacher introduced the second part of the four lessons about “The Intercultural
Business Environment” with the description of a role-play that he had held years
before in a management training course with German and English managers. The
managers from each country should specify their
characteristic opinions they had about the other
country. Therefore the English said about the
Germans that they don’t joke, don’t laugh, are
unfriendly, just do business and act like robots. The
Germans said about the English that they just talk
about personal things, are always late and that they
create a carefree atmosphere in business. After this
exchange of views, both groups discussed and
argued their manner of business environment. Both
parties realised that all the time they had lived in a
fantasy world. After three days of teamwork, they
made really good business, understood each other
and achieved a high increase in performance. They
all realised that the performance level is very
dependent on the social level and that intercultural
business means to get the best out of each other.
After that Mr Harman-Baker underlined that we are all products of other people. The
society makes us what we are. However, everybody is an individual because
everybody has made different experiences in his life. Therefore it can be difficult to
cope with the distinctions in different cultures, however, you must not judge the
culture but handle with the culture.
Afterwards, the teacher described the development of the quantity of bank accounts
in Great Britain. In the 1970s, marketing in banks in Great Britain was very unpopular
and only 44% of the English population had a bank account. In the 1980s, however,
Margaret Thatcher changed and passed several laws and acts and therefore all
companies started paying their employees every month instead of every week. In
order to save the money, the people were in need of bank accounts and in short time
93% of the population had a bank account. Since this time, marketing in Great Britain
has increased rapidly. From then on, the main activities in banks have been selling,
selling and selling. But nowadays the economy is in a mess: the banks went too far
with their selling activities and now bankers have a bad reputation in the society. But
Mr Harman-Baker clarified that the current credit crunch is not the sole fault of the
banking sector: bankers cannot lend money when nobody wants to borrow it.
Therefore the culture is also partly to blame for the current financial crisis.
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The teacher completed his explanations about the “Intercultural Business
Environment” with the words: “You should get to the truth and make yourself more
productive by being yourself”.
3.2.25. Examination
Wednesday, 11 February 2009
by Natascha Suwald
EXAM STRUCTURE
•
•
•
The written examination is three hours long.
No students will be allowed in the exam room beforehand.
There will be a total of 8 questions divided into 4 sections.
•
You must choose 1 question out of each section and write 200 words to each
question.
EXAM PAPER
Sections
Topics
A
1. Preparation Pack
This topic is about London’s World City status
2. Location for Business
This topic is about London’s development
from an industrial economy to a service
economy and the advantages for business to
locate their company in London.
3. Globalisation
This topic is about the definition and key facts
of globalisation
This topic is about the definition of Marketing
Mix and the SWOT analysis.
B
4. International Marketing
and Advertising
C
5. Modern British EconomyThis topic is about the development of the
UK economy and the modern British
economy factors e.g. GDP growth rate.
6. Modern British Politics
D
This topic is about the British Parliament and
the power of the Prime Minister.
7. The Intercultural This topic is about the definition of culture
Business Environment and the cultural influences.
8. The Impact of the Euro This topic is about the role of the Euro
on Great Britain.
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3.2.26. Oral Presentations
Thursday, 12 February 2009
by Jelena Tomic
On 12th February 2009 we had our oral presentations.
In my group we were four students and our tutor was Anna.
The four topics of the presentation:
Explain the role of the Financial Services Authority (FSA)
Do you think that London or Frankfurt will be the dominant financial
market in Europe?
Why do some corporates prefer debt capital to equity capital?
The performance of the UK economy since 1945 and the role of the
Bank of England
After the presentations we got a short feedback and improvements of our grammar
mistakes and the structure of the presentation.
3.2.27. Feedback and Evaluation
Friday, 13 February 2009
by Marcus Wallinowski
Our three weeks in London and at the European College of Business and
Management have gone faster than we expected and now our final day and farewell
has come. Now it is time to think about the past weeks and to give some feedback on
what we have experienced.
On our last stay in the College we were asked to fill in a form to evaluate the lessons
we had, the topics we talked about and the skills of our teachers and the quality of
the working material.
In general most of us were very satisfied with the time at the college. Although the
topics of the lessons were quite restricted to British economy, politics and
development they were very interesting. We enjoyed hearing about the
developments of the last decades in the United Kingdom. Our teachers often
compared their findings to Germany and showed differences or similarities to
situations in our country. Generally the teachers did very well in explaining things so
that even complicated aspects could be understood easily. We could not only earn
knowledge in business but also improve our language skills a lot because of the
language support lessons we had. The teachers were patient in answering every
question and very friendly and helpful. Concerning our projects and presentations the
staff of the college supported us as well and gave material on the topic as well as
assistance. Moreover we liked the opportunity to get access to the library or to the
internet at any time we needed it.
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Another aspect we appreciated a lot was that we made several excursions
throughout London, where we got to see places we normally would not see and got
very interesting and detailed information.
Finally we have to thank all people at the college for their effort and cooperativeness.
We really enjoyed our time in London and can recommend the college every time.
3.2.28. Farewell
Friday, 13 February 2009
by Björn Weyer
I want to write about my topic and it is the Farewell in our college in London.
The Farewell was last Friday, 13/02/2009, 1:00 pm in the room of the second floor. In
the classroom were orange juice, red and white wine and crisps on the tables. All 41
students, our teachers Mrs Schmitz-Manseck and Alan, as well as the organisator
Sarah and the director of the college came together. All of us had a drink.
All students of my class at the ECBM.
Sarah started with a summary of our previous weeks and how fast these three weeks
passed. She also commended our good and professional presentations, which made
an impression on our teachers. End the of March or at the begin of April we will get
our certificates for our stay and work in London. Even the director congratulated us
for our work. After the expression of thanks we got information brochures of the
college. Finally we all had a drink and we took a photo of our group. After the photo
has been taken we all said thanks to the college staff and went out to enjoy the last
couple of hours in London.
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3.2.29. The last day and departure
Saturday, 14. February 2009
by Benedikt Wiesmann
Today was our final day in London. Though many of us still had a little hang over
from yesterday’s partying, quite a number made it down to the breakfast table to
enjoy their last breakfast in the United Kingdom. Afterwards the last remaining things
were packed into the suitcases of which many were almost bursting with all the
London shopping in there.
At 10:30 a.m., check-out time, everybody gathered in the hostel’s lobby to hand over
the room keys to the reception staff and deposit their luggage in the baggage room.
Some already left for Heathrow Airport not really knowing what to do with an extra
one and a half hours in London (12:00 o’clock was the official meeting time for the
group at Paddington station).
All of us liked the comfortable and fast ride to the airport because this time we did not
have to take the underground but one of the far more convenient Heathrow-Connect
trains. After just 25 minutes we arrived at Heathrow’s Terminal 5, the brand new BAonly terminal, and used the modern quick check-in kiosks to get our boarding passes.
Two hours prior to our planned departure we could eventually check in our bags
making use of one of the numerous fast bag drop-off counters.
When all the bags were checked, we all went through the security checks and
enjoyed approximately 90 minutes in the departures hall/mall to have some food or
do some final shopping to get rid of our last pounds. At 3:00 p.m. our flight back
home to Frankfurt was called for boarding and the entire group went aboard the
aircraft, an Airbus A320. After a slightly delayed push-back we taxied to the runway
quite quickly, with only a few other planes ahead of us.
Once we were airborne the cabin crew took care of our well being treating us with
complimentary snacks and drinks. One hour and 20 minutes later we already landed
in Frankfurt. There were no problems at border control and customs but some of us
had to wait quite long for their checked baggage. Everyone bit each other farewell
and left for their homes…and here end our three weeks in London – an interesting
and mind broadening experience. Don’t forget to “mind the gap”, folks! ;-)
3.2.30. Spare time activities
by Sebastian Witzmann
London with its high number of sights gives a lot of possibilities to arrange free time.
So, our group consisting of forty students for a higher diploma in investment fund
administration had got many ways to get deeper impressions of the English culture.
That’s why we benefited more from our stay in London than just to adapt the hard
skills learned in the European College for Business and Management.
Already during the first week most people have visited London’s most important
sights such as the Clock Tower in which a bell better known as Big Ben is installed,
the Houses of Parliament or Buckingham Palace. But the students did not visit only
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the centre of London but also other districts such as Notting Hill. Students who have
been there said it would be a nice place.
According to the situation that the majority of the group worked on the presentation
until 5pm or even 6pm spare time started in the later afternoon. The way home lead
through the city. That fact gave us the opportunity to go on shopping and to benefit
from the weak Great Britain Pound (around 90 Pence per Euro) and the sale offs in
the stores (up to 70%).
But the most important thing for nearly everybody was an advantageous possibility to
call friends and family in Germany. However, from day one onwards students have
bought Pre-paid SIM-cards for their cell phones to call home from 4 Pence per
minute.
After arriving at the hostel the students met with Mrs. Schmitz in the lobby to review
the day and to discuss the arrangement for the evening. Usually these meetings took
place at 7pm. The students had many ideas how to spend the evenings in London.
Once a group of more than ten went on a casino tour and doubled its input.
Others played cards or board games, watched a film or formed discussion groups to
talk about the experiences made in London and to make plans what to visit next.
There were some special events like football matches in the Premier League, a
friendly match between Brazil and Italy and the Chinese New Year Festival which
were all well visited by our group.
Some people were very sportive and jogged in the Hyde Park in the morning or in the
evening.
3.2.31. Weekend activities
by Thomas Wollersheim
During our three weeks in London we have had much time to explore the city for our
own. Many of us took the bus line number
11 starting on Liverpool station. This bus
line goes past some of the most famous
landmarks of London. Going with this line
you can see for example St. Paul’s, House
of Parliament and Westminster Abbey.
Some of us have also had a trip to the
Tower of London and the Tower Bridge.
This excursion continued with a visit of the
London Eye and the House of Parliament.
But we did not just sightseeing in London.
Caused by the current weakness of the
Pound Sterling compared to the Euro
nearly everybody of our group managed to
buy some clothes in the area around Piccadilly Circus or Shepherd’s Bush. We have
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also visited the Camden Markets. This very crazy area with all its tiny shops and
takeaways can’t be compared with any other shopping area.
Some of us could manage to get some tickets for a football match between
Manchester United and West Ham United.
Having the Hyde Park just a few metres away from our hotel was a good opportunity
for some of us doing some sports to stay
fit.
Caused by a snow chaos on Monday
the 2nd February we and our teachers
had no chance to go to the college due
to the fact that neither the tube nor the
buses were working. So we went to the
Hyde Park and had very much fun doing
a snowball fight and building a
snowman.
Last but not least we also found some
very nice pubs in the near of our hotel
and some clubs in the area around
Piccadilly Circus were we went for
having a drink and doing some party.
All included we used the various
opportunities which we have had in
London and I think everybody of our
group liked the trip very much.
3.2.32. Experiencing Public Transport in London
by Alexandra Wurm
The public transport in and around London is really exciting, because all depends on
the time you want to use the transport system. But first I would like to give a short
introduction in the different types of public transport.
Busses: Driving by bus is really comfortable in London,
because in the centre of London you find a bus station nearly
every 500 meter. The space between the busses depends on
the time and on the line. But even by night it`s easy to drive by
bus. The longest time we had to wait were 25 minutes in the
night for a night bus. And if you compare with the tube the bus
is often faster than the underground. Another advantage is that
you don’t have to pay for expensive tours for tourists. If you
choose the right line for example line 11. With this line you can
see Westminster Abbey, St.Paul’s etc.
Tube: The tube was the most awkward topic for the three weeks. It’s the world’s
oldest underground railway. With over 270 station and over 400 km length it’s the
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longest underground system of the world. But because of Olympia 2012 the
government promised to spend a lot of money in the tube system.
Tube stations are a kind of adventure, because
it’s built like a labyrinth. You really need a little
while to understand the system and where you
are and how you get to the point you want to
go.
Especially the central, district and circle line
are really crowded in the morning and in the
evening for the so called “rush hour”. At these times you often have to pass 2 or 3
tubes before you get a chance to get in the underground. It’s kind of “sardines in a
can”. But between these rush hours the tubes are
normal loaded.
But on the other hand the tube is one of the most
interesting places in London. You can find nowhere
else such a variety of people. Start with the rich banker
with the Financial Times in his hands to end with the
punky fashionable kids.
3.2.33. Living three weeks in a London youth hostel
by Philip Zimmermann
My first experiences of the youth hostel were very well. It was simple and sometimes
a little bit small but such ok. So I think the basic atmosphere was on a very good
level.
But now you have to check weather the atmosphere is good enough to live three
weeks very close together in a very small room with four beds and a table. For
someone more a problem than the other because of privacy and hygiene it came
very often to trouble.
But not only were the unhealthy living conditions a problem. Another big problem was
the way to get food. That means not that it was very difficult to get something to eat
but in the most cases the food opportunities were based on a fast food level with
burgers and grilled chicken. To get very well and healthy food was in some cases a
very expensive way to eat or such impossible. That made a lot of persons mad about
it. But our basic language knowledge made every experience to such a great thing
that the food conditions were quickly forgotten.
The last part in my short essay living three weeks in a youth hostel is the point of the
London sights. We did not really spent a lot of time on sight-seeing tours but I guess
to visit the London eye to get a good overview is just a need if you visit London. And
some other sights were interesting, too. But all in all I think the three weeks were very
interesting and good for my own personal development.
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4.
Bethmannschule
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Project Topics
The following text covers the information provided with the preparation pack the
participants received from the European College of Business and Management
before they left for the course in London.
Your project is an important part of your course at the European College of
Business & Management. You should conduct your own research both in
the UK and your own country but guidance and help will also be provided by
course tutors. The work required to complete the project will help you to
further your knowledge of written English and will also improve your oral
skills.
•
•
•
•
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You should read the "Project Planning and Presentation Skills"
section in the coursebook and use essay or report format.
No topic may be chosen by more than 3 students.
All topics must make reference to the UK.
You will have a project tutorial at the beginning of the course, in which
you will be given advice about the structure of your presentation and
where you might get the information you need. You should be able to
explain your ideas about the project in the tutorial.
If you would like to do a project that is not in the list this may be
possible, but you should speak about it to the course organiser or a
turor.
You may be interested in one project but not be happy with the
precise wording or all that it asks you to do. If you would like to do an
amended version of one in the list, speak to your project tutor or the
course organiser, and a suitable new wording for the project can
probably be agreed.
Oral presentation
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The oral presentation will normally take place on one of the last two
days of the course and should be made using Powerpoint, and
handouts where appropriate.
Each oral presentation should last no less than 10 , no more than 15
minutes.
You will normally make your presentation to a small number of
students from your course group ( typically 4-6) and a tutor. The tutor
will give you feed-back after the presentation on the strengths and
weaknesses of your presentation. You will not be told your grade at
this point.
Executive summary
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The Executive Summary should be max. 1000 words.
It is to be completed three weeks after the course finishes and should
be submitted to your group leader. If you do not have a group leader,
you should send the executive summary to the College directly.
The College will not accept executive summaries which arrive late
except in exceptional circumstances.
The College is not responsible for executive summaries going astray we strongly recommend that you always keep a hard copy and a copy
of your project on computer.
European College of Business and Management
January 24, 2009 – February 14, 2009
Leonardo da Vinci Project
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Handelsstrategien an bedeutenden
europäischen Finanzmärkten
Bethmannschule
Frankfurt am Main
Resources for your topic
The college has a limited range of books and journals in its library. You
can ask in your project tutorial for more advice if needed.
Each topic has suggested resources in the Project Support folder on the
college computers.
On the college computers you can find a number of folders with material
on UK Economy 2005, on Housing, on European Economy, on London.
European College of Business and Management, London Professional Development
Programmes
Proj ect list
Investment Fonds
1. Describe the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats i n respect of the märket
for unit trusts in Europe in the next 5 years. Explain the significance of your answer in
respect of your own company.
2. The UK has seen rapid growth in the provision of banking services by `nontraditional'
banks. (e.g. Sainsbury, Virgin.) Explain and evaluate these developments.
3. One recent development on the UK investment scene is ethical banking and investing.
Explain and evaluate this development.
4. Explain the role of the Financial Services Authority (FSA).
5. What is money laundering? How does the banking sector facilitate or combat it?
6: Analyse and evaluate the types of savings account and investment products available on
the UK market. You need to be able to advise your clients on shortterm, medium-term
and long-term products. Consider your client's attitude to risk in your report.
7. You are a stockbroker who has to advise a private client who wants to invest £100,000.
Advise him/her of the financial opportunities available on the London Financial
Markets. Use examples quoted over your period of stay in London to illustrate your
advice.
8. Compare the effects on the UK and Euro land banking sectors of your country being
inside, and the UK remaining outside; the Euro.
9. What are the main functions of the major financial institutions in Great Britain? How do
they differ from those in your country? How are they affected by developments within
the European Union?
10. Do you think that the relationship between the financial markets in Frankfurt and the
City of London will be one of co-operation or competitiori? Explain with reference to
recent developments.
11. Analyse the history and policies of the two major British political parties, and their
policies towards the financial services over the last 50 years.
12.Outline the performance of the UK economy, since 1945 and the role of the Bank of
England.
13. What is the current situation regarding investing via the Internet in the UK and your
country?
European College of Business and Management
January 24, 2009 – February 14, 2009
Leonardo da Vinci Project
Page -42-
Handelsstrategien an bedeutenden
europäischen Finanzmärkten
Bethmannschule
Frankfurt am Main
14. Evaluate the marketing of at least one bank in the UK and compare it with the
marketing of a bank in your country. Analyse how they have developed their marketing
activities over the years.
15.There have been a number of mergers in the financial services sector in the UK and
Europe. Explain and comment on why this has happened.
16. Discuss the different products in the derivative market and why the financial derivative
market exploded post 1971.
17. Discuss the growth of the Eurocurrency market (not the Euro) and why large borrowers
and lenders use this market.
18. Discuss the various factors that can affect the exchange rate of a currency.
19. Why do some corporates prefer debt capital to equity capital?
20. What factors affect the market price of a bond and a share?
21. Discuss the various classes of shares that a company can issue in the UK, together
with the shareholder's rights and the company's obligations to them.
22. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of open out cry trading and screen based
trading.
23.Compare an Initial Public Offering to raising equity capital by way of a private offering,
covering the advantages and disadvantages of bath.
24. Discuss the future of Stock Markets around the world.
25. In ten to fifteen years time do you think that London or Frankfurt will be the dominant
financial market in Europe? Give reasons for your choice..
26.You may select your own topic for your project. The subject area and title must be
agreed with your London course tutor. This must be agreed before your arrival in
London. The topic must make reference to the UK. We cannot guarantee that we will
be able to provide research information for those who choose their own topic.
5.
Final Comment
by Ann Marie Schmitz-Manseck
Schneechaos- Schokoladentorte- London immer wieder gerne!
Dies war meine nun dritte Fahrt nach London im Rahmen des Leonardo-da-Vinci
Projektes. Zum ersten Mal stellte ich den Antrag auf Förderung bei der EU komplett
alleine. Zwischen der 1. Schulphase und Februar 2009 füllte ich online einen viele
Seiten umfassenden Fragebogen aus. Im Mai 2008 kam die erhoffte Zusage, so dass
sich 41 Schülerinnen und Schüler auf London freuen konnten.
In der vierten Schulphase und mit Hilfe des Preparation Packs vom College fand die
Vorbereitung statt.
Am 24. Januar 2009 begann der London-Aufenthalt der Schüler, am 28. Januar 2009
mein eigener.
Während unseres Aufenthaltes erlebte dann London erstmals nach 18 Jahren
richtigen Schneefall. Als deutlich schneeerprobter, konnten wir die Hilflosigkeit der
Londoner im Umgang mit Schnee nur amüsiert beobachten. Es fuhren keine Busse
(keine roten Busse auf Oxord & Regent Street), es fuhren keine Züge, Geschäfte
European College of Business and Management
January 24, 2009 – February 14, 2009
Leonardo da Vinci Project
Page -43-
Handelsstrategien an bedeutenden
europäischen Finanzmärkten
Bethmannschule
Frankfurt am Main
öffneten nicht, weil das Personal fehlte. Er wurde mangels Schneeschaufeln
nirgends Schnee gekehrt und auch nicht gestreut, aber dafür entstanden auf allen
Grünflächen Schneemänner.
Ein paar Tage später feierte ich in London meinen 30igsten Geburtstag. Einige
Schüler schenkten mir daher eine Schokoladentorte. Diese ganz normal große
Schokoladentorte war wohl typisch englisch, denn sie bestand gänzlich aus
Schokolade. Solche Torten sind wir nicht gewöhnt und so sättigte die Torte uns alle
(42 Personen).
Die Teilnehmer erwiesen sich wieder einmal als sehr selbstständig in dieser ihnen
fremden Metropole. Sie bereiteten sich in der letzten Woche alle sehr engagiert auf
die oral-presentation vor und so diente die Hotel-Lobby zur Generalprobe von einer
Vielzahl von oral-presentations.
Das Feedback der Schüler zu diesem Aufenthalt war durchweg positiv, auch wenn
wir uns am Ende alle auf ein eigenes Bett und eigenes Bad freuten, so dass sich das
Projekt mit „immer wieder gerne“ resümieren lässt.
European College of Business and Management
January 24, 2009 – February 14, 2009
Leonardo da Vinci Project
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