The credit crisis visualized

Here is a great explanation of the credit crisis. 

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

Swiss voted "yes"

Today has been a pretty important day for us, Romanians as we have finally been recognized as EU member country. This means that we are moved from the category "other countries" into the category "new EU member countries" when it comes to being granted a residence or a work permit. 

This is a good news, since it shows that Swiss acknowledge the fact that they are in need of work force. However, the result is to be seen in the light of an important specification: should the treaty have not been agreed on, all the other treaties regarding the free movement of persons between the EU and Switzerland would have been null. 

However, the the Neuer Zürcher Zeitung says: 

"Für manche Rumänen steht das anbrechende Zeitalter der Freizügigkeit innerhalb der EU und auch der Schweiz angesichts der akuten Image-Probleme ihres Landes unter einem schlechten Stern. Solche Überlegungen trüben ihre Freude über den Ausgang der Volksabstimmung in der Schweiz." (am 9. Februar 2009)

This paragraph draws attention to the importance of country brand. What is known today about Romania in the EU and in Switzerland can be summarized under the following statement: poor, third world country, where people have difficulties even to afford enough food, gipsy, dark skinned, and on the more positive side, lower salary demand in EU standards, hard working. 

However, very little or nothing is known about the country. Dividing on the EU citizen's imagination, Romania could be drawn as:

- a slavic land, having a language similar to Russian

- rich in natural beauty and virgin lands

But we know that Romania is more than this. So, we'd better not wait for a national branding campaign to be launched on CNN and use the word of mouth to advertise our country. 

Integrating open innovation in the strategic planning process

Here is some piece of work to which I have dedicated my last three months. It's an academic paper which serves as a master thesis and represents the final step in finalizing the master program in Strategy and International Management from the University of St. Gallen. Before taking a look at it, I just want to warn you that for the non-specialists it may be very resource intensive to read as it contains many specialized terms.
Integrating open innovation in the strategic planning process

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Theses Academic Work strategy formulation strategic planning p

Vals

As part of a Graubünden tour (the canton in Eastern Switzerland), I've visited a more remote location called Vals. Vals is a village of 800 inhabitants, situated in the mids of the Romansch speaking region, whose main income source (75%) comes from tourism. 

What is interesting though, is that for the first time visitors, the village seems to be at the end of the world, as one usually has to change trains two times and then take a bus for the rest 20 km in order to get there. For the "less initiated" with the Swiss small mountain roads, it is recommended to go by bus. As you will see from the images, the road is too narrow to allow two cars to take a turn. 

While walking through the village, the first idea that stoke me was: how does this village survive and why is it such a touristic attraction? As previously mentioned, it is a remoted place, with a typical Swiss mountain landscape. 

So how do they do it?

After a brief analysis from different information sources, the following important elements could be drawn, which contribute to Vals's success as touristic area:

- A very open local administration, that markets its region very well and which also took the role as a one time stop for everyone who is interested in visiting Vals. That is, they not only advertise the natural beauties of the region, but also already suggest possible touristic activities and active support the visitors in planing their trip, finding accommodation, offering insights about what is to be seen.

- The peasants which were mainly active in agriculture, saw and reapt the opportunity to diversify their income sources by enlarging their challet and accommodating a small number of tourists (aprox. 10-15). The provided food is advertised for originating from the area, as well as the served dishes.

- Vals has thermal water sources and posseses a hotel made of two eight storey buildings and the building which accommodates the baths. Although the two hotel buildings are architecturally typical for the seventies, the inspiration came when the most renowned Swiss architect Peter Zumtor was appointed to re-design the bath building. As in other examples such as the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao, Spain, the new building became "the point of attraction" for the entire village. By using only local materials and taking its inspiration from the particularities of the region, Zumtor has designed a special place for relaxation and health, where the combination of light and shade, open and enclosed spaces and linear elements contribute to a sensation appealing pilgrimage through the Vals region.

 

If I were to compare this to a place in Romania, I would name Baile Herculane as being the most similar to this place. Briefly described, they are also situated in the mountains, being not very well connected, but still close enough to big cities such as Craiova or Timisoara. It benefits of a mild, sub-Mediterranean climate and vegetation, of thermal waters and fresh mountain air. So, why isn't it as known as Vals is, and what can be done about it?

I would recommend to compare the three elements mentioned and see where this resort lies in terms of competitiveness in comparison to Vals. Take the example of Vals and particularize it for Baile Herculane region.

First impression about Frankfurt

After four days of living in Hessen, in one of the so called „selected areas“ of Frankfurt, Bad Homburg, I’ve adventured myself into discovering the non-touristic areas of the innercity.

Only pure luck could have brought me to an area which I really like called Sachsenhausen. It begins at the Museum quai and continues to the south along the Swiss Street (Schweizer Strasse).

Not too green, not too crowded, not too perfect, this region has been love at first sight. I love how the houses form a continuous, uniform,  front to the street, the warm colours used for painting the houses, the small caffee shops, diverse restaurants and people who walk on the street. Posh bistros and upper scale bio-stores are intertwined with restaurants whose names speak for the kind of food served:Taj Mahal, Eis Cafe Milano, NYC bar & restaurant, trattorias, etc. Above this reigns the metalic sound of the tramway, which runs in a ten minute tempo.

But enough with the sentimentalism and let’s get down to business. I wonder how much it costs to live here. If you look at the people walking on the street, they are a mix of multicultural residents, some much better dressed than others. From this, one could conclude that the prices shouldn’t be up in the sky. However, the proximity to the bank quartier which is right on the other side of the Main river, speaks against this.

Though Richard Florida’s criteria, this would be an area for the creative class, which is on the verge of being gentrified due to its short distance to the bank quartier.

So, being at the coffee shop Fellini at the Swiss Place (Schweizer Platz), I add to my today’s „to do list“ a research  about the rent prices in the area.

Finally, I leave you with a collage of pictures freshly taken from „THE PLACE“.

Dacia is heading to the top

Dacia is one of the companies that benefit from the crisis. According to a consumer survey made in Germany, 11,5% of the ones questioned, are considering to buy a Dacia in response to the "Environment Package" offered by the German government. This policy is meant to indirectly support the car manufacturers during the crisis. 

However, according to the "official version" of the policy, this is meant to be an environmental policy, aimed at progressively changing all the old cars to new cars which conform to the EURO 4 standard. Described in a sentence, the package was voted at the end of January 2009, and offers EUR 2500 to the owners of cars which are older than nine years, who opt for composting their old car and buy a new one.

All in all, the German package of promoting European car manufacturers is in fact promoting Romanian cars and small cars.