My UGBA 192P Experience
My Experience
UGBA 192P, Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility and Consulting Projects, is one worthwhile experience. One of the many reasons is because of the semester client project. I discover and learned first hand that having a live client as oppose to simply completing a past case on paper is a whole different ball game. For one, a live client can sometimes seem like there is someone breathing down your neck, putting on additional pressure. It was exciting to complete my first early morning interview with someone abroad, but I can imagine it being not so exciting the fourth and fifth time. It definitely gave me a personal insight to working in the real world. Despite that, the experience is totally satisfying. The interaction allows for further understanding and questioning of the situation and case. The feedback received for our work throughout the project was valuable and the road trip to their office was fascinating. Finally, knowing that our team’s recommendations may be potentially implemented in the future makes me feel like I am making change, a change for the better. It is at times a bit nerve wrecking, but even then, completely thrilling. I would do it again in a heartbeat.
One takeaway lesson
One of the most interesting ideas that I have found is the various meanings of sustainability. From conducted interviews, it came to my attention that companies and employees use the term sustainability with different intentions and meanings. For example, sustainability can be applied to the company’s business looking at whether their products itself are sustainable or even simply if the paper used in their office is of a sustainable matter. We defined sustainability for our project as long-term impact of a CSR initiative. There are yet still floating questions after narrowing this down. Does it include financial responsibility, product sustainability, and local engagement? One takeaway that companies can learn is to develop a clear, consistent messaging of sustainability and CSR within their employee network.
—k.l.
