Global Competence

Global Competence is the knowledge of international issues and the ability to cooperate with people from different backgrounds. In order to gain global competence we need to be educated on tolerance, global responsibility, and have appreciation for other cultures. It is important to study world history and read the news to be knowledgeable of global issues. It is important to have global awareness so we can understand that events can have affects on the entire world. In order to gain global competence we also have be able to accept cultural differences and be able to work in harmony with diversity. While abroad, I learned many of these aspects of global competence. I learned the importance of being patient and tolerant of other cultures, the incentive of learning new languages, and the significance of studying global issues and events.

Global Citizenship:Thinking Globally Acting Locally

     While abroad, I learned a lot about thinking globally. It's interesting to be around different cultures and realize there's more to the world than just the United States. Sometimes in the United States we get too caught up on ourselves and do not take the time to accept diversity and other cultures. In everyday thoughts and actions we need to think globally, especially in the business world. It is important to take other cultures into consideration when speaking and making decisions. It would be easy to offend other cultures and ruin business deals if business professionals do not think globally.

     The phrase "thinking globally and acting locally" could also refer to our environment. This encourages people to think of the consequences of everyday actions that could be harmful to our environment. This is important for businesses to realize the environmental damage their company could provide.

Osborne Winery

On May 31st we went to the Osborne Winery. We started the visit by touring the facilities. We learned how they age their wine and the difference between each wine. Our guide told us that the bottom row of barrels are the oldest wines and each row above it gets younger. He also told us that the barrels will go bad if the entire barrel of wine is ever completely empty. So when they remove wine from the barrels, they replace it with the next generation of wine from the row above. He also told us each barrel lasts 100 years. It was interesting to me that whiskey companies buy Osborne's wine barrels after 100 years of use. After the tour we got to taste the wine. Since the wine was sherry wine, it was not what I was use to. It tasted very bitter but I still enjoyed the trip!

Digital Business Enterprise Show

On May 26th we went to the Digital Business Enterprise Show. This was a big convention for businesses all over the world to come and share their electronic products that help make doing business easier. We stopped at three booths and went to a show. I spoke to the international version of T mobile which was called T systems. They shared with me their electronic cloud that is only used for the corporate world. I also talked to Google about their Google work program. I've always had a google account but I didn't know what all it could do. Basically Google work makes working in groups a lot easier. There's options to work on projects with multiple people all from their own computer and home. I also talked to the CEO from Videobot. Videobot is trying to make doing business through instant videos available. This will make doing business more personable. The example he shared with me was a car repair shop sending their customers a video to show them how their car repairs have been progressing. It was interesting to talk with global companies about new electronic inventions.

FAIN

On Monday May 23rd we went to FAIN. FAIN is a company that manufactures elevators. We got to speak to the CEO, owner of FAIN, and take a tour of the company building. I liked this business because their entire building was casual and had an open floor plan so all of the employees felt equally important and needed. I also liked how the CEO ran the business. He said they only hire people with positive attitudes and he only keeps employees that love their job and want to be there. We also found out that most companies in Spain do not have great customer service and employee value like FAIN does. FAIN is a medium sized business so it makes it easier to be flexible to their customers. They're able to be personable and customize products for their customers.This company is definitely unique and sounds like an awesome company to work for.

Mercamadrid

We went to Mercamadrid on Tuesday May 4th in Madrid. Mercamadrid is basically just a huge market where fisherman, cattle raisers, and farmers can sell their products in large quantities to businesses. We looked at the fish, meat, fruit, and vegetable markets. Mercamadrid would be in the food industry. The fish market was incredibly smelly but had all kinds of fish, even shark. We had interactions with private vendors and our tour guide. Our tourguide told me that the vendors pay rent in order to use Mercamadrid. I asked her how long fish last and what happens if they do not sell all of their product at Mercamadrid. She told me fish only last a few days, so the vendors have to be really good at knowing how much product they need to have and to make sure they do not have too much product or they will waste money.

Expanding My Worldview: multiple interpretations of global issues and events

It's interesting to hear people from Spain talk about the stereotypes and assumptions they have of Americans. I've heard multiple people speak to us about our election, the candidates, and gun control. Spain and America have complete opposite opinions of guns. Gun control has been a huge global issue lately, especially in America. It's interesting to see that our election and gun control issues are well known globally. When we spoke to the speaker at the European Parliament, he made a joke that "he didn't want to get into an argument with us because in America we use guns." He didn't understand why we would need them. We explained that it's for safety and even recreational sometimes. It was crazy to him that we were allowed to shoot someone if they were trespassing on our personal property. However, in Spain I've seen a multiple body guards standing outside important buildings with huge military guns. They are only a few feet away from locals and literally stand on the sidewalks. It's interesting to hear that personal guns are uncommon but law enforcement carry such huge and extravagant guns. These are two completely different interpretations of global issues happening right now.

Expanding My World View

I had a goal to try new foods while in Spain. I can be a picky eater, but I wanted to venture out of my comfort zone. Not only have I found new foods I enjoy, but I have a new appreciation for different cultures as well. Food is fun, tastes good and is definitely part of our social lives, so mixing it up and trying new things can be a great adventure. It's been awesome to see the foods that are not offered as often in America and realize there's more to the world than just our country.

 Another experience in Spain that expanded my world view was speaking to locals. The people here are so kind and you can tell they depend on tourism for a lot of their income. I'm sure they get tired of Americans but I haven't had a single employee be rude to me. They're always so nice and try to understand me even if they do not know much English. I've also noticed that stores around big touristy areas have employees that speak more English. It's interesting to see how their culture caters to us in certain aspects. I didn't expect that so talking to locals in Spain has definitely expanded my world view.

Global Issues: Positives and Negatives of Globalization

Globalization affects everyone everywhere. There are many pros and cons to globalization. Globalization brings opportunity to countries around the world. It increases competition and consequently lowers prices as well. Competition globally encourages creativity and the new inventions. This gives the world access to more choices of products and services. Less developed countries also get the opportunity to new technology faster as well. Although there are plenty of positive impacts from globalization, there are many negative impacts as well. Since country's products and innovations are blending together, there is a loss of culture and unique products. Globalization also encourages outsourcing which takes jobs away from the home country. Globalization also increases the chances of spreading diseases. The most important negative impact of globalization is that the rich are becoming richer while the poor are becoming poorer. Globalization is increasing as technology is developing. It is important to understand the impacts of globalization because it affects us everyday.

Global Issues: Impacts of globalization in Spain

Globalization affects every country in positive and negative ways. One way globalization has made a negative impact is by making outsourcing increasingly more popular. Outsourcing does have its benefits for productivity in manufacturing. However, it also takes away jobs from the home country. This is one of the ways that outsourcing has harmed Spain. Spain has an incredibly high unemployment rate and outsourcing has not helped. A positive benefit of globalization is that it has greatly benefited Spain's economy. Spain's Real GDP per capita has continued to increase over time. Spain's economy has also benefited from having more countries trade and do business with them because of globalization. Overall, I believe globalization has had more positive impacts on Spain than negative impacts.

Global Issues: American Stereotypes

As I was doing research about American stereotypes, I found that most of the American stereotypes were negative views. Although I agree with a lot of the views, I also believe the same assumptions could be made about people all over the world, not just in America. The most common assumption about Americans is that we're materialistic. We are viewed as people that only care about money and judge those who do not live up to our status. Another major negative stereotype is that Americans are obese. It is viewed that we consume an absurd amount of food, including a lot of fast food. Unfortunately it is true that we have almost a 36% obesity rate. It is also assumed that we have a gun-loving and violent society. This might be because we have one of the highest death rates caused by fire-arms and the media portrays us this way. We are also viewed as arrogant and that we do not care about the environment. It will be interesting to see how American stereotypes follow us to Spain and see how strangers react to us.