52 Blue Ocean in Canada

Team 111 Poster

Team Reflection

The company we chose was Blue Ocean Office Supplies and Solutions. This company was founded by a very steadfast leader Stephanie Birt. As a group we decided this was the best company to do our COIL project on as she implemented many different ideas into her business structure which created a remarkable positive change in her community. Stephanie found a way to support charities through the business selling remanufactured ink and toner. She donated 10% of pre-tax sales to 44 different charities across Canada. She wanted to be the change she desired to see in the world and she got to witness this first hand in her community. She also sold remanufactured products to promote a sustainable environment. Unfortunately, Covid-19 shut her company down before she was able to reach her goal of donating 1 million dollars to charities. We briefly spoke to Stephanie about her million dollar donation voyage and it was prominent that she was upset she couldn’t give as much as she wanted to. Stelphanie truly has an amazing heart and has an amazing vision. She may not have reached a million dollars but she helped save people in need which deserves to be recognized.

Because of Stephanie and this assignment, we were able to learn a lot about working in cross-cultural environments. For a lot of us, this is the first time we’ve worked with students overseas and in different time zones. Thankfully, all of our group members were extremely accommodating when it came to setting up a time to meet every week to discuss where we were with the project and what needed to be completed before the next week. Additionally, if anybody had a question that they felt was needed to be answered before the next meeting, it was brought up in our group chat and somebody was able to give an informed answer within a reasonable amount of time. The collaboration on this project made it extremely easy to work together and complete our work effectively (Lozano, 2007). Therefore, for a lot of us it didn’t really feel a lot different doing a cross-cultural project rather than any of the other group projects we’ve done before. On the other side of things, it was very cool for all of us to see the wide variety of companies that were first proposed to our group at the start of the project. To get a different perspective on what people felt would be important for the assignment based on the content they were being taught in class and their culture (Lozano, 2007). It was refreshing for us to see this and it made it a lot more enjoyable for everybody to work together. Ultimately, we felt like this assignment was really pleasurable and nobody had a disappointing or negative experience working in this environment.

When it came to working on the assignment, Blue Ocean proved to us as a group that in order to act in a sustainable and responsible manner, you need to be transparent. When it comes to Stephanie’s business, there are many “stakeholders” that are impacted by her decisions and actions (Burga, 2022). For Stephanie, her stakeholders include the consistent customers that would come back to her business to purchase ink toner, the charities involved that would receive a percentage of sales and obviously herself given as she was one of two people running the business. Because of the wide variety of people and organizations that were impacted by Stephanie’s decisions with Blue Ocean, it was important that she was making the decisions she felt were right for the company and the stakeholders (Burga, 2022). What this sometimes meant is that when a charity applied to be in her program and she didn’t like how the operations were handled within that charity, she would turn them down. This was obviously a tough decision to make because she was inevitably turning down business and the opportunity to help others. But were not upfront with her regarding where the money was going or she wasn’t a fan of how managers carried out business, she didn’t feel comfortable adding them to the program. Because of what some of our group members had been taught in class about responsible management, we were able to identify this when conducting the interview and then implicate this into our story. This ultimately made it a lot easier for us to pull together the assignment because we saw a first hand experience where the content we were being taught inside the classroom, can be applied in the business world.

In conclusion, the deeper we dove into Stephanie’s work with Blue Ocean, the more we learned about her responsible management and sustainability styles. Her business impacted almost all of the UN SDG’s and set an example for other companies. She taught us how one can help others and run a successful business at the same time. As a cross-cultural group, it was interesting to evaluate how Stephanie used her styles in Canada and compare it to companies across the world. A lot of companies don’t know how to give back to communities but with the existence of Blue Ocean, you can see how losing a small percentage of profit can create positive change everywhere. Her ideas instilled hope in us for the future and we are very thankful that she gave us the time to discuss her company for this project.

Individual Reflections:

Rachel Birt:

This activity taught me several new techniques while doing group work and professionally conducting business. The main skill I learned was how to communicate and plan meetings with others in a different time zone. I also learned how to set up a business meeting and conduct it professionally. For my participation, I helped plan group meetings alongside my teammates, I also contacted our business owner and conducted the interview with my teammate Bradley. I also condensed and organized our interview information to share with my group and set up all the documents we needed to complete this project. Due to my role in the interview, I added much information to our Blue Ocean story and selected the SDGs most aligned with the company. I also helped ensure everyone’s information was in the proper spots in our story as I set up the document. Lastly, I contributed a large amount to the reflection paper to ensure Stephanie and her company received their deserved recognition.

Bradley Welsh:

I personally really enjoyed this assignment, since joining the University of Guelph in 2022, I have yet to have done an assignment even close to the nature of the COIL one. It was very interesting to see everybody come together in the first zoom meeting with members all across the world tuning in and I look forward to the send-off meeting in the coming days. Additionally, it was really fascinating to see everybody come together and present the company they had and to see the wide variety and cross-continental differences. When it came to the assignment and the communication required I felt like I was at the forefront of organizing the work. Thankfully, all of our group members were very accommodating when it came to setting up a time to meet every week, and if there were any issues they were revised very quickly and smoothly. The communication between all of our group members made it very easy to tackle any language barriers that we had, making it a very enjoyable experience all around. I feel like I was able to contribute my fair share to the assignment, as I helped conduct the interview, align the story and pitch in a lot of the work for our reflection.

Tasneem Alkhulaifi:

Working as part of a virtual team for the Blue Ocean Company project was an enriching experience that broadened my understanding of cross-cultural collaboration. Navigating different time zones was initially a challenge, but it taught me the importance of flexibility and proactive communication. Coordinating with team members from various countries allowed me to appreciate diverse perspectives, which enhanced our creativity and problem solving approaches. We established clear communication protocols, like setting regular check-ins and using shared project management tools, which helped us overcome language barriers and avoid misunderstandings. I also found that being open to feedback and showing respect for each team member’s cultural background fostered a supportive environment and strengthened our team’s cohesion. This experience not only improved my teamwork skills and patience but also strengthened my adaptability and ability to handle cross cultural dynamics. I am confident these skills will be valuable in any future international collaborations or virtual teamwork.

Deema Aldohiman:

Here’s a different take on this scenario according to the author’s opinion: In this context, I would like to emphasize the benefits that this international project offered me. It was a learning experience for me and at the same time a great example depicting how teamwork should be if it is done right. This also gave a new perspective to my professional development as it was to be a part of virtual cross border team collaboration. I would like to mention that time difference and its ramifications when combined with a group of individuals from different backgrounds was irksome but we dealt with it through understanding and collaboration. Intercultural collaborative work made it easier to see possibilities and pursue the course of action because there were divisive angles that helped focus efforts into resolving issues. To prevent misunderstandings, we scheduled ongoing communication through ‘Project Management’ and team meetings. As a result, language barriers became less of an issue. I have also witnessed how much constructive criticism and feedback is exercises amongst the members and how every team member’s individuality makes way for appreciation and enhancement of group effort. Such kind of endeavor has improved my ability to be a team player, be flexible and be rather patient at all the right times and be able to assimilate working in teams of diverse backgrounds. I believe this will come handy to all the members of the team during international assignments.

Atheer Alharbi:

I greatly enjoyed this global project, which was a unique and important experience to support my skills and expertise and served as a good model for that. My experience in this project within a virtual team was enriching and remarkable, adding a lot to me, such as my understanding of cross-cultural collaboration and enhancing my communication and teamwork skills. Initially, dealing with the time zone differences between team members posed a challenge, but we managed to overcome it as all team members were cooperative in their work. Through working with colleagues from different countries and cultures, I learned that we value the diversity of ideas, which significantly supported our creativity and problem-solving approaches. We established clear communication rules, such as holding regular meetings and using common tools to manage the project, which helped us overcome language barriers and avoid misunderstandings. I also realized the importance of welcoming new feedback and ideas with open arms and respecting each team member’s background, which created a supportive environment and increased our cohesion as a team. This experience not only helped me develop my teamwork and patience skills but also strengthened my adaptability and ability to handle cross-cultural dynamics. I am confident that these skills will be valuable to all team members in any future international collaborations or virtual team work.

References

Burga, R. (2022). The Integration of Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability into Responsible Management.

Lozano, R. (2007). Collaboration as a pathway for sustainability. Sustainable Development, 15(6), 370-381