58 Sanico Srl in Italy

Team 42 Poster

Team Reflection

Our interview with the CEO of Sanico Srl focused on understanding how this Italian family business, a medium-sized player in the Italian market, has successfully integrated professionalism, innovation, and healthcare assistance within national and international contexts. In addition to learning about the company’s 60-year history in the healthcare sector, where it has maintained a leading position, we discovered that Sanico Srl has introduced numerous innovations. Notably, it has advanced preventive healthcare by developing blood pressure monitors, pulse oximeters, and devices designed to monitor various vital parameters continuously. This proactive approach is particularly beneficial for vulnerable populations, ensuring consistent, effective, and comfortable care.

Moreover, it was enlightening to learn how the company actively promotes decent and respectable work for its employees, providing them with professional and financially fulfilling roles. Sanico Srl also contributes significantly to the small municipality of Cusago, located in the metropolitan area of Milan, by creating local job opportunities.

Equally important is the CEO’s commitment to fostering a sustainable and innovative business model. The company continually seeks new tools to engage in environmentally friendly practices. Learning about such an inclusive organization dedicated to positive social impact was a stimulating experience, prompting reflection on the importance of advancing healthy, sustainable values for community well-being.

The encounter with people from different cultures was an invaluable opportunity for all of us to step outside our habits and comfort zones, particularly in terms of language. We needed to express and compare our ideas with those who did not speak the same language, striving to overcome the misunderstandings that shyness, technology, and lack of fluency can create. Additionally, being unfamiliar with the habits of other international students presented a significant challenge in organizing our work. We learned the importance of being patient and respectful of each other’s schedules, adapting to different time zones and accommodating the needs of others, especially when faced with organizational difficulties.

Engaging with young people from various parts of the world was genuinely stimulating. We learned to listen attentively to what each person had to say and to weave together the diverse ideas that emerged over time, all aimed at achieving a common goal. The group worked harmoniously and collaboratively without any conflicts arising. Each of us had the opportunity to express our ideas, and everyone showed genuine interest in listening to each other’s opinions. This atmosphere of mutual respect allowed everyone to feel valued and to contribute freely to the project. The diversity of perspectives enriched our work, enabling us to integrate different ideas in a balanced way while always maintaining a common goal and a strong team spirit.

So What…

Sanico connects to the triple bottom line approach, displaying that smaller businesses like Sanico, where they employ 10-50 employees, can integrate social and environmental priorities alongside the goal of profit. It goes against the idea that smaller companies lack the resources to drive sustainability, illustrating how operational changes, like reducing emissions, are accessible and impactful.

Sanico’s commitment to health and wellness, seen in its use of advanced automated warehousing for efficient, same-day order processing, aligns strongly with SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being). By prioritizing preventive care, they directly contribute to accessible, quality healthcare. However, acknowledging that their vehicle emissions contribute to climate change highlights an area for improvement, particularly within the planetary boundaries framework. Climate change, freshwater use, biosphere integrity, and novel entities represent critical environmental limits. Sanico’s plan to shift to geothermal heating systems, electric vehicles, and warehouses shows a proactive commitment to minimizing the ecological footprint of its fossil fuels production by becoming zero-impact heating.

Overall, Sanico’s strategy highlights the connection between sustainability and health and well-being by combining personal health with a strong implementation of environmental practices. This strengthened our academic understanding of sustainable business practices by displaying that incorporating sustainable decisions into the workplace can have a significant impact.

Now what…

Exploring the AIM2Flourish tale has marked a watershed moment in our thinking and future conduct, personally and socially. The common consensus is that this story will positively impact our career and personal paths.

Individual Impact

Increased awareness of social responsibility: The AIM2Flourish story has highlighted the crucial role of corporations in achieving sustainable development goals. This newfound awareness will drive us to make more sustainable decisions in our professional and personal lives, and we will strive to work in companies that embrace sustainability and social responsibility values.

Enhanced innovation and critical thinking skills: The AIM2Flourish story has inspired us to innovate and develop creative solutions to global challenges. This will enhance our ability to think critically and solve complex problems, making us more valuable in the job market.

Expanding our cultural horizons: Working on this tale has allowed us to interact with students from many nations, exposing us to various views and opinions. This cultural diversity will allow us to understand the world better and communicate with others.

Collective Impact

Building strong relationships: Working together on this story has provided an opportunity to build strong and close relationships among group members. These relationships will form a solid foundation for future collaboration and success.

Developing teamwork skills: This project taught us the importance of teamwork and shared responsibilities. These skills will be crucial to our success in any future project.

Motivating the desire for positive change: The AIM2Flourish story has ignited a spark of hope and positive change within us. We are more eager to contribute to building a better and more sustainable world.

Future Vision as Businesspeople

We believe that the experiences gained from exploring the AIM2Flourish story will be critical in shaping our professional journeys as businesspeople. In the future, we aspire to establish successful companies that contribute to achieving sustainable development goals. We will focus on:

Integrating sustainable development goals into our business strategies. We will work to integrate sustainable development goals into every aspect of our business, from the supply chain to the products and services we offer.

Building a strong corporate culture based on values

We will work to build a strong corporate culture based on values, where employees feel like they are part of something bigger than themselves.

Investing in innovation and development

We will invest heavily in innovation and development to develop innovative solutions to global challenges.

Building strong partnerships with the local community

We will work to build strong partnerships with the local community to contribute to its development and improve people’s lives. Companies can drive positive change, and we are committed to playing our part in achieving this change.

Our courses covered various sustainability, innovation, and effective communication topics. These learnings were instrumental in shaping our approach to the group project. For instance, the theories of sustainable business practices we studied provided a solid foundation for understanding the company’s strategies. Additionally, our coursework on interview techniques and storytelling helped us craft insightful questions that elicited meaningful responses from the interviewees.

We also learned the importance of collaboration and leveraging each team member’s strengths. This understanding encouraged us to assign roles based on individual expertise; some focused on research, others on drafting questions, and a few on synthesizing the information into our final narrative. This division of labour improved efficiency and enriched the final product, as each member contributed unique insights that enhanced our overall understanding of the company’s innovations.

Our work began with a brainstorming session where we outlined our objectives and key themes we wanted to explore in the interview. We then divided the tasks based on our interests and skills. For example, one member took the lead on researching the company’s background and sustainability initiatives, while another focused on drafting the interview questions.

During the interview, we adopted a collaborative approach, with each member taking turns asking questions, which fostered a dynamic conversation. After the interview, we regrouped to discuss our findings and how best to present them. This collaborative spirit continued as we created the poster summarizing the company’s success in sustainable innovation. Each member contributed ideas for the design and content, ensuring that the poster was visually appealing and informative; this project reinforced our understanding of sustainable practices and highlighted the effectiveness of teamwork. Combining our knowledge and skills, we produced a compelling story showing the company’s innovative contributions to sustainability.

Identify – what worked and didn’t work 

Throughout the COIL group experience, we have faced a lot of strengths and excellent outcomes, but we also have experienced some miscommunications and weaknesses. As for most groups, we were all shy and quiet from the first meeting. However, we used icebreaker questions to get everyone to introduce themselves, learn exciting facts about each other, and what companies we chose for our COIL group project. Throughout this assignment, we built a lot of trust with each other, and through each week’s meeting, we were more comfortable with each other, and there were no dull moments. Additionally, we communicated effectively through our team group chat and through Zoom calls what work we had to accomplish this week, dividing the work accordingly and asking if there were any questions any of the group members had so that we were all on the same page, and planning our next meeting.

Moreover, we didn’t have many complications or what didn’t work, except we had a few miscommunications with scheduling a meeting with the time changes as the time changes all occurred at different times and through World Time buddy, there was confusion as we had an extra meeting on November 3rd to go over our group reflection. The website said 10 am in Guelph was 4 pm in Spain and 6 pm in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, except for 3 pm and 5 pm. Through clear and robust communication and understanding, we could get around this miscommunication and have our meeting. Through strong communication, teamwork, and collaboration, we worked uniformly together and fostered strong relationships to complete this project effectively and learn new things from each other worldwide.

Individual Reflections

Zach Hobson

Participating in this project was highly beneficial as I got the opportunity to meet and collaborate with amazing people worldwide, which I wouldn’t usually get the chance to do. I also expanded my overall knowledge by participating in weekly Zoom meetings where we got to share our perspectives/ideas on what we have learned so far in our classes and have the opportunity to use our knowledge in a real-life problem. Moreover, through these Zoom meetings, we also had the chance to learn a lot more about each other and our culture, which helped foster strong relationships which led us to be very successful throughout this project, and everyone was very motivated to branch off others’ ideas and create a robust analysis through our story and poster.

Throughout this project, we had minor misunderstandings when trying to schedule a time for a meeting through the three time zones; however, with everyone’s flexibility and collaboration, we were able to tackle this problem seamlessly. The language barrier was also tricky at times; however, we overcame this minor roadblock with a strong level of respect and understanding, an urge to ask questions if unsure, and positivity. However, through this project, everyone was open and respectful of each other. When we divided the work each week, everyone was willing and open to work on whatever part, which made assigning tasks very simplistic.

From the start, everyone was so comforting and outgoing, which made the team’s morale and motivation skyrocket, which made it a very enjoyable and positive working environment. Throughout this experience, I have learned so much more about sustainability, the UN Global SDGs and taking the knowledge we learn in class into real-life examples, as most times we don’t have the opportunity to utilize the information we learn in real life. This allowed me to understand how I can make an impact on creating a more sustainable community and how we can impact others around us to make a positive change. Overall, this project gave me a more precise and deeper understanding of sustainability, its impacts on the environment, and the changes I can make in the future. Moreover, it allowed me to build healthy and meaningful relationships with people worldwide and learn from backgrounds and perspectives other than my own.

Alex Spencer

This project was a great experience for me that helped me deepen my understanding of global issues and broaden my perspective on teamwork and sustainability. Meeting people from various parts of the world was both exciting and informative and getting exposed to their different stories and perspectives helped open my eyes to ideas and approaches, especially regarding the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). I gained a clearer understanding of how these goals aim to address significant issues like healthcare, sustainability, and workplace equality, inspiring me to consider how I can contribute to these global efforts. The highlight of this project was working with the group throughout this project. I was lucky to have been matched up with intelligent, open-minded individuals who each had something to bring. Another strength our group had was a willingness to make compromises for the benefit of the group. Working across three different time zones made things challenging at points, but each week, we worked together to find what would work best for everyone, which was one of the keys to our success. Overall, this project was a big eye-opener and helped me grow personally and professionally. It also challenged me to think about how complex sustainability is and made me realize how important our efforts are to contribute to a more sustainable world.

Joudi Alhuwaymil

Participating in this project gave me wealth of knowledge and new experiences. Working with a diverse group of students from other cultures, including Canada and Italy, provided me with a wonderful opportunity to extend my horizons and obtain a more global perspective. I really enjoyed interacting and talking with my peers, and we met regularly on Zoom to discuss the newest project advancements. These meetings provided a wonderful opportunity for participants to exchange ideas and perspectives while also learning from one another’s experiences. I learned a lot about their distinct cultures and how to collaborate with folks from other backgrounds. The ability to apply theoretical information obtained at university to a real-world environment was the most valuable aspect of this endeavor for me. The process of picking the proper company, determining its sustainability goals, and conducting interviews with its managers was both thrilling and satisfying. I learned a lot about the value of sustainability and its effects on businesses and society. Overall, this project was a wonderful experience, and I will always value the knowledge and skills I learned from it. It helped me improve my communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity skills, which will be useful in my future professional and academic endeavours.

Petra Zhabjaku

This project was really exciting and it gave me a chance to meet new people from all over the world, and it was great to hear their different stories and perspectives. I learned a lot about the SDGs, which I didn’t know much about before. It was eye-opening to see how these goals aim to tackle big issues like healthcare, sustainability and the promotion of equality on the workplace. Understanding this made me think more about how I can contribute to making a difference. One of the most interesting parts for me was talking about my dad’s business. I’ve known about it since I was a kid, but I never really dug deep into how it operates. Discussing the ins and outs of the company made me appreciate how complex running a business can be. It helped me see various work environments in a new light, especially how they can incorporate sustainability and positively impact people’s lives. Plus, I really enjoyed getting to know my project partners. They were all smart people with interesting opinions and stories to share. Our conversations were always lively, and I loved how we bounced ideas off each other while working on our project. It felt like a team effort, and I enjoyed collaborating with everyone.

Overall, this project was a fantastic experience that opened my eyes to important issues.

Nourah Alshaibani 

Participating in this pilot activity as part of a multicultural virtual team was rewarding and challenging. Our group of six, with diverse backgrounds, brought a wealth of perspectives that significantly enhanced our project focused on a company’s sustainable innovation. However, navigating communication in a remote setting was a complex journey. From the start, our different cultural approaches to collaboration sometimes led to misunderstandings. Language barriers were occasional hurdles, but we cultivated a respectful environment that encouraged clarification and open dialogue. This openness was essential for maintaining productive discussions and preventing miscommunication. Establishing clear communication guidelines helped keep us aligned and focused. Coordinating across multiple time zones also posed challenges. Finding common meeting times was often daunting, leading to frustration at times. However, we learned the value of flexibility and compromise. By creating a structured schedule and using various digital collaboration tools, we transformed this challenge into an opportunity for effective teamwork. Each member’s commitment to adapting their schedules demonstrated our collective dedication to the project’s success. Our team’s diversity proved to be a significant asset. Each member contributed unique insights that enriched our storytelling process. As we developed the narrative around the company’s sustainable innovation, I was continually impressed by how our varied perspectives generated innovative ideas. Our brainstorming sessions became a creative melting pot where every voice was valued, strengthening our final output.

Throughout the project, I learned the importance of patience and active listening. When misunderstandings arose, addressing them proactively fostered camaraderie and mutual support. By navigating our cultural differences together, we improved our working relationships and deepened our understanding of sustainability through diverse lenses.

I felt a deep sense of accomplishment as we wrapped up the project. The final poster we created effectively captured our collective efforts and showcased the company’s sustainable innovation compellingly. This experience reinforced my belief in the power of collaboration and highlighted how diverse perspectives can enhance problem-solving.

Overall, this pilot activity was an invaluable learning experience that emphasized the strength of teamwork, the importance of cultural awareness, and the impact of effective communication in reaching shared goals. I left the project inspired by what we accomplished together and grateful for how our unique backgrounds contributed to a successful and meaningful endeavour.

Giulia Gaetani

This project was truly a valuable opportunity. First of all, it allowed me to step out of my comfort zone; expressing my opinions in front of a group has always been challenging for me, but this time was different. I felt comfortable right away, especially because I found fantastic people within the team. It was really interesting to work with and learn from people from cultures completely different from mine and everyone showed great respect and a willingness to listen to each other. The division of tasks was also managed easily. One of the things I appreciated most about our group was everyone’s willingness to collaborate. Everyone consistently made an effort to find the best solution for organizing our meetings, despite the challenge of working across three different time zones. Coming from different parts of the world, finding the right time for our meetings required flexibility and a willingness to compromise, which made the experience even more rewarding. This project also opened my eyes to how broad and complex the topic of sustainability is. I discovered that, regardless of the context, there are always ways to promote positive change and contribute to achieving the SDGs. This experience made me realize how essential each of our efforts is in making the world more sustainable