LECTURES BTS
We arrived on Monday at the university, Hogeschool van Amsterdam, a big modern building with lots of international students from around the world.
We were impressed with the architecture of the university because it was so different from what we used to be in our universities in Spain.
You could appreciate in the pictures how impressive it is.
In the first entry, our teacher and coordinator of the business study tour explained to us all the teachers and the themes that we were going to have for the week.
Monday 09
Chinese economic development, Macroeconomic policies.
Our first professor, Roger Busser, was enthusiastic about China, he introduced us to the geography of China, and how its story began.
China started as the first raw material manufacturer country but nowadays is developing more and more technology, an example is the variety of electronic devices from China.
Tuesday 10
Building up professional relationships in China. Do’s and Don’ts in China.
After our class that day we learned a lot about all the things that we could do and we couldn’t do in China.
We also learn that Chinese culture is so similar to Spanish culture. For example, they usually meet in a restaurant with their clients and talk to do business as we do in Spain.
Otherwise, other behaviours like they don’t have a close relationship with their bosses because it is considered brown-nosing, and can develop a bad reputation.
Here in Spain, it is more common to get along well with your boss but you could be a little bit brown-nosing too.
Besides, that day we learn familiar words in China, in the business area, an example is having a face, which means a bad reputation.
The Chinese concept of “face” (aka 面子 or miànzi) refers to a cultural understanding of respect, honour and social standing.
Another example of a Chinese familiar word that they explained to us was, “Guanxi”, which means “network” a China institution concept and means the same as English a net of contacts for done business.
And finally the crisis “danger-opportunity”, means signifying «danger» (wēi, 危) and «opportunity» (jī, 机; 機). Which is an opportunity for them to take risks with it.
This day had been divided into two parts, and after the cultural explanation, we enrolled in a Chinese class, which was the best part of the trip without a doubt.
Wednesday 11
Thinking patterns, open-door policy. Economic development of China.
Wednesday we learned how China has improved in their economy, as we said before China started as a manufacturer of raw materials and now is developing technological devices.
Also, in the past we used to have all the bad materials as the name “Made in China” and all the Spanish make fun of them, but that is not anymore.
China is continuing to develop and is one of the most important market economies.
PIB of China from 1985 to 2026:
Thursday 12
Sourcing from/ Market entry in China. Do’s and Don’ts in China.
On Thursday we did a first class where we learned how to do business in China due to their culture. It’s so important to understand how Chinese people think to make treats with them.
Besides, we carried on with our Chinese classes. We are not able to speak Chinese but I am sure more of us are now motivated to learn.
Friday 13
Assessment
For our assessment, we have done a Kahoot, with 40 questions about the things that we have learned.
On the last day, we all were so sad, we really had a great time during that experience.
CULTURE VISITS
The days we spent in Amsterdam during our business study tour has been very enriching on a cultural level.
We had the opportunity to visit the Rijksmuseum that is dedicated to art, crafts and history. It has the most famous collection of Dutch Golden Age paintings as well as a rich collection of Asian and Egyptian art.
During the visit to the museum, we had an audio guide that explained the different paintings and sculptures. At the same time, we were able to discuss art among ourselves.
In the pictures below we can appreciate the museum itself and different paintings and sculptures.
We also took a boat tour through Amsterdam’s canals, where we could appreciate Anne Frank’s house, the Dutch National Opera & Ballet, the Conservatorium Van Amsterdam, the highest swing in Europe and the Amsterdam library, among others.
We also visited the center of the city, full of canals and alleys. La Oude Kerk is a centennial old church where different cultural events take place. This church is surrounded by the neon lights of the Amsterdam Red Light District. On the ground next to the church there is a peculiar sculpture of a hand on a breast. In the picture below we can appreciate the reflection of the red neon lights on the breast.
To conclude, we had the great opportunity to attend the preview of the last Dutch league match where Ajax won. Amsterdam is a city with beautiful houses, a great artistic heritage, narrow houses and a true love for bicycles and beer (which we also share with them).
COMPANY VISITS
In this exciting business study tour, we have got two cultural company visits.
The first one was in a bank ABM – there we learned with two representatives of the bank. The first one was from ABN AMRO and the second one from ING.
The woman of the first intervention was talking about how ABN as a bank was so different from the rest they care for and contribute to people’s benefit.
Then, in the second intervention, we were able to learn about the Economic developments of Modern China in a post-COVID 19 world.
China was so badly positioned before but since 2019 it started to grow its economy and nowadays China is one of the most important economic countries.
We could view different statistics where we see the position of China in the world market.
And on Wednesday we went to the Huawei company.
At the visit they explained to us about how many things in this company are doing with the news technologies.
The effort the employees put in the work was amazing and admirable, they said that the work is sinonim of constant hours.
Then we had the opportunity to visit a showroom where the guides explained with more detail all the technologies they have and how it works.
