Political temperature

The main business paper put the text 'Constitutional Anarchy' on the front page

Netherlands Weekend

Last week I and three other Swedish interns in Cologne and Düsseldorf took a train to the Netherlands. Primarily because Henrik (the one who is an Architect) promised us a tour of cool buildings in Rotterdam, but also because it was a nice opportunity to see the country next door. After a 2h train ride we arrived in Amsterdam, where we spent 4h sight-seeing (2 of which at the Heineken Experience)
Thereafter we took another train to Rotterdam, which didn't disappoint with its Architecture.
This is a view of the central Erasmus Bridge and some of the high-rise buildings in Rotterdam. It is said that the Dutch are not only very liberal on social issues, but also on experimental designs and daring additions to the urban landscape.
Three of us at the observation deck of the Euromast. Later we enjoyed a dinner watching the sun set over Rotterdam's enormous harbour.
Our accommodation was very central and cheap, but a bit lacking in space. Hostel Boat The Clipper was money well spent and something I recommend to anybody going to Rotterdam on a student budget.Last but not least (although one should see it last, since it is very relaxing) we took a boat trip to the worlds biggest harbour. As luck would have it we saw a Swedish ship unloading paper products just as we went by. It is said that in the old times, when you wanted to grasp the basic concept of en economy you could just visit the market place and watch the buyers and sellers haggle. In the modern global economy I would say that a trip to Rotterdam Harbour would be advisable for anyone who wishes to grasp the amazing forces at work.

PS All of next week I'll be in Kyiv on a study trip.

Sun Trip

Waiting for bad weather in order to blog turned out to be a bad strategy in April. It has been the driest April since 1951 and the warmest on record. As a friend of mine said: Someone has stolen April and May, taking us straight to June. To which one can add: Hope we get them back in October/November.

Köln seen from an observation deck I visited today

Watching German news about the weather, it again became clear to me how deeply history affect things in this country. The forest-keepers interviewed said that most of the fires start because old WWII ammunition self-explode in the heat(!). There are of course other (non-weather) examples, such as the issue of pensions for former DDR-guards vs. pensions for former DDR-prisoners (no prices for guessing who gets more), or just about any funeral will bring up memories of the past. And some signs are clear for all to see, like the fact that almost all of Cologne is made up of new houses. Virtually everything was destroyed during the war, leaving a scar that looks set to remain for a considerable time.

Köln, 1945

But things do change. Last Friday I did quite a tour of the Ruhr Area. Starting with Wuppertal, home to a wonderful monorail and birth place of Friedrich Engels. Then I went to Bochum, which lies smack in the middle and is a town, which no German I’ve met can say a nice word about. Final stop was Dortmund, the largest city in the Ruhr. During the this trip, which I must admit was also done in perfect weather, it was hard to get much of my prejudice against this area confirmed. Much greener and nicer and more modern, than I’d hoped for. Some optimism should therefore be warranted.

Map of the Ruhr Area

P.S. next weekend I'll visit the Netherlands.

Family Matters

For Xmas my sister and I posed for some pictures we gave as gifts to relatives. Since they are so nice (both the relatives and the pictures) I thought I'd share them online (only the pics). Partly as a means of wishing my sister good luck with her Manhattan Project :-)

Marvellous, Fantastic, Super

I realise that I am most likely inviting disaster by stating that things are VERY well right now.

After a rough patch, where at work demands were a bit high and with my housing situation far from ideal, I am now on a roll.

First I got a new much better place to stay. Then I got a visit from Sweden. It is always nice with some fresh eyes to help you rediscover a place; they also serve as an impetus to discover new things (which we for sure did). Do I need to mention that both weather and circumstances were conducive for an excellent time? An indication of how much fun we had was that the earliest we came home was 5 a.m.

Then on yesterday I received notice that my thesis partner and I have been granted the scholarship we needed to conduct our thesis work! This means that I will be in Colombia for about 2-3 months, starting in the late summer!

Uppdate: I wrote previously about the research behind our topic. Very good videos, lectures and articles are just two clicks away.

Ich bin ein ”Head-hunter“

For two weeks now, and for coming 3 months, I’ll be learning the ropes as an international head-hunter. (If you are wondering “What is international head-hunting?” click here)

I am doing an internship with Kienbaum Executive Consultants (more about Kienbaum). Our corporate headquarter is in Gummersbach, a short drive outside of Köln, where I live. (more about Gummersbach and how I get there every day)

They are very good at keeping me busy, with increasingly challenging tasks. So far I have been doing Client analysis, Created target lists, Worked on Ads, Identified candidates, Vetted said candidates, Interviewed references, and well pretty much everything else (except things that require me getting on a plane, such as Direct interviews, but maybe that will change also).

Of course, I have already developed some deep insights into this headhunting thing ;-)

Three things have struck me so far.

1) How incredibly open Scandinavian companies are. It is extremely easy to get access to people, whom we want to lure away.

2) God bless the Americans! One of the best sources of people is companies recently taken over by US Corporations. Disgruntled managers are more than willing to make a move.

3) Sometimes the most unlikely people will aid our efforts. One company’s HR manager even supported our recruiting of her CFO. Strange, to say the least.

Headhunting ABC

The Economist recently published a survey on the ”War for Talent”, highlighting that with globalisation (and the increased fragmentation of business) the value of good management has increased substantially, and is set to continue its rise. There are simply too many business opportunities with high demands and too few qualified managers.

So what are companies to do, in order to recruit and retain these scarce and valuable people? Increasingly they turn to companies specialized in the art of tracking down and recruiting business leaders. This is especially true if they are about to expand into unfamiliar terrain (such as a new country of operations). These companies are nicknamed Head-hunting firms, but are formally known as Recruiter firms.

Meet the Kienbaums

Germany is the leading export nation in the world, and they have many international companies. Some of Germany’s biggest companies turn to Kienbaum to help them with international recruitment. Kienbaum was founded in 1945 by Gerhard Kienbaum and has now grown into Germany’s largest recruitment firm. In addition, Kienbaum has a Management Consultancy. All in all, Kienbaum is active in 15 countries and counts over 600 employees. Most of these are however in Gummersbach, where our headquarters are located.

More info at www.kienbaum.com

Going to Gummersbach

Every morning I meet the colleagues from Kienbaum who also live in Köln and ride with them to Gummersbach. (route plan)

It takes about 25 minutes, during which I can either get depressed by seeing the endless traffic jams on the roads heading into Köln, or I can get inspired by the beautiful scenery as the road makes its way up into the hills. I never cease to be amazed by how hilly, and therefore scenic, Germany is. Regarless of view, it goes by pretty quickly since my most frequent "driver" likes speed (I usually tell him to go a bit easier on the gas when we hit 185 km/h).

The downside with this car pool arrangement is of course, that I am to a large extent bound by the schedule of the driver. This has so far meant that I leave Köln at 8 a.m. sharp and usually return around 8 p.m.

Frei Tag

Fridays are (almost) free days. Today I'll be part of a study trip to Europe's largest Steel Plant which claims that it's
approximately 3250 employees produced 5.47 millions tons in 2005 - about 12% of the crude steel manufactured in Germany.
Could be very interesting. We have been instructed to wear clothes completely covering our bodies, so my expectations of something exciting happening are high. If I don't get to see some boiling/flowing iron, I would be most disappointed. ;-)

Compare this with last week's Friday, when I was visiting the Picasso exhibition in Düsseldorf.This self-portrait (made only a year or so before his death, at the remarkable age of 91) caught my eye, but other than I only really like one more painting (and for some mysterious reason it can not be found online and shared)

Much better were the paintings in the permanent exhibition. Who cannot like Dalí or fall for these two Magritte paintingsThis (La Modèle rouge) is actually one of my favourite paintings, and I did not know it was here in Düsseldorf.

This picture (Le Plaisir) prompted all kinds of thoughts: is this human destruction of nature, or perhaps a comment on that even sweet things have a dark side?