56 Eviden in France

Team 13 Poster

Team Reflection 

What: Story Analysis 

In this AIM2Flourish story, we explored Eviden, a technology company specializing in eco-friendly software innovations aimed at achieving carbon neutrality. The company launched “GreenSpectre,” a system that monitors CO₂ emissions in software development to minimize environmental impact. Eviden’s open approach, like publishing a handbook and training competitors, demonstrates its commitment to a greener tech industry. Reflecting on Eviden’s strategy, we found the story inspiring. Eviden’s approach encourages businesses to move beyond profit motives to prioritize sustainability. This bold focus aligns with UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) like “Climate Action” and “Responsible Consumption and Production.” As a team, we appreciated Eviden’s openness to share their green practices, challenging the norms around proprietary business practices for the greater good.

So What: Academic Connections and Deeper Reflection

From an academic perspective, Eviden’s story highlights important concepts we studied in sustainability, such as the triple bottom line (economic, social, and environmental accountability). Eviden has embedded environmental responsibility in its core strategy by focusing on carbon reduction through innovative software. This story reinforced our understanding of the importance of sustainable development and revealed a gap: we often focus on end-product sustainability, yet Eviden emphasized sustainability in software development itself. The concept of “sustainability as a competitive advantage” also stood out. While Eviden leverages green practices for a market edge, it also promotes industry-wide sustainability by sharing its strategies. This approach made us reconsider our assumptions about competition. Unlike typical market rivalry, Eviden’s story shows that cooperation can drive shared goals, like climate action, further. The story further sparked our curiosity about how green practices affect employee morale. We learned that employees at Eviden are more satisfied, as they see themselves contributing to meaningful change. This insight aligns with studies on how purpose-driven work increases job satisfaction and productivity, reinforcing concepts we’ve discussed about employee well-being’s impact on business outcomes.

Now What: Personal and Group Reflections on Future Impact

Reflecting on Eviden’s story has had a lasting impact on our team’s mindset. If we become business professionals, we envision implementing sustainable practices, especially those that are open-source, as Eviden did with its green handbook. Each of us feels inspired to advocate for eco-conscious practices in our careers, promoting business strategies that balance profit with social responsibility. We aim to challenge corporate structures that prioritize competition over collaboration, as we’ve seen how shared knowledge benefits society at large. Additionally, working as a team on this project taught us about the power of collective reflection. By sharing our thoughts, we gained a broader perspective on how sustainability efforts like Eviden’s can reshape industry norms. This teamwork experience has also shown us that group discussions foster deeper understanding, as we helped each other identify connections we might not have noticed individually.

Reflection on Specific Points

Reflecting on this cross-cultural teamwork experience, we learned numerous lessons that highlighted the importance of diversity in a project. Working with team members from three different countries—Saudi Arabia, Spain, and Canada—taught us the value of incorporating varied cultural perspectives. Each team member brought unique insights and approaches to problem-solving, reflecting what we have learned in our coursework about the strengths and challenges of cross-cultural collaboration. In particular, this experience reinforced the concepts of cultural sensitivity and adaptability discussed in our studies, enabling us to approach each task with an open mind and respect for each other’s viewpoints. Our coursework also provided theoretical knowledge that helped in structuring our teamwork. For instance, principles related to effective communication and task delegation allowed us to create a clear, organized plan for task distribution. We divided the responsibilities into three main sections: three members worked on the story, two members focused on the post, and one member handled the reflection. This segmentation of tasks was informed by our studies, which emphasized the importance of aligning individual strengths with specific tasks to enhance productivity and cohesion within a team. Regarding what worked and what didn’t, the diversity of our team proved beneficial in generating creative ideas, as each person contributed distinct insights. This diversity enriched the story we developed, making it more appealing and nuanced. However, we did face some challenges, primarily in communication. Different time zones and occasional language barriers caused delays and misunderstandings at times. Additionally, coordinating everyone’s schedules to meet was more difficult than anticipated, highlighting a need for more frequent and flexible virtual check-ins. Through this experience, we learned that while diversity enhances creativity, it also requires strong communication strategies to ensure smooth collaboration.

Individual Reflections

Dina Alanazi

Participating in the Aim2Flourish project on sustainable business was an enriching and eye-opening experience. Being part of a global initiative that brought together students from various countries allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of sustainability in business from multiple cultural perspectives. Working collaboratively, we explored how businesses can drive positive change not just in their local communities, but on a global scale, aligning with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). One of the most impactful aspects of this experience was interviewing local business leaders who are making tangible contributions toward sustainability. Through these interviews, I discovered the unique challenges and innovative solutions that businesses in different countries are implementing to address environmental and social issues. This not only broadened my understanding of sustainable business practices but also inspired me to think creatively about potential solutions. Another key learning from the project was the importance of effective communication and teamwork across cultural and language barriers. Coordinating with team members from diverse backgrounds taught me valuable skills in collaboration, patience, and adaptability. We faced challenges, such as time zone differences and differing perspectives, but overcoming these obstacles made our final project much more meaningful. In conclusion, Aim2Flourish allowed me to connect theoretical knowledge with real-world applications, deepening my commitment to sustainable business practices. The experience has motivated me to continue learning about and advocating for sustainability in my future career.

Dana Binqwid

Participating in the AIM2Flourish project with Eviden, a global technology company, has been a uniquely enriching experience. Eviden specializes in advanced computing solutions, supporting digital transformations through innovations in cloud computing, AI, and big data, with a strong focus on sustainability. Their commitment to becoming carbon neutral demonstrates how tech companies can lead in environmental responsibility, which made our work feel meaningful. Our team includes members from Saudi Arabia, Spain, and Canada, which brought a range of perspectives but also presented challenges, particularly with time zones and varied work styles. Initially, coordinating schedules proved tricky, but we soon found solutions by embracing flexibility and using digital communication platforms effectively. This experience improved our organizational and communication skills and taught us to be patient and adaptable. Exploring Eviden’s sustainability efforts has inspired us to think more about the role of technology in addressing environmental challenges. The AIM2Flourish project has deepened our understanding of sustainability and broadened our view on how companies can drive positive change globally. This journey has not only strengthened our professional skills but also given us valuable insights into teamwork and the power of diverse perspectives. Overall, it’s been an inspiring and transformative experience.

Nick Pratter

My experience with this Aim2Flourish assignment has been great overall. I found it really interesting to be a part of a virtual team that has members all around the world. Having team members from Canada, Saudi Arabia and Spain brought a handful of unique experiences and perspectives that were used to complete this assignment. We chose the IT company Eviden for this assignment as they have implemented a focus on becoming more sustainable and becoming carbon neutral. Overall participating in the online meetings and group discussions demonstrated the importance of planning ahead and becoming a good communicator. When our group wanted to have our first meeting, it took us a while to figure out a time slot that would allow all members to join because of the time zones and such. However as a group we made sure to communicate and were able to overcome this challenge pretty easily by having our meeting at the same time every week. It was a great experience meeting new people, having fun on the calls, and learning about our cultural differences all while still maintaining a professional relationship.  This project not only taught me about the SDG’s and how they are important in modern society, but it also taught me how to work in a group. For most of my group assignments, I have had  my friends as members. Not being able to pick my own group and getting paired with members outside the country forced me to improve my communication, leadership and teamwork skills. Aim2Flourish has been a great experience and I hope to have another opportunity similar to this one in the future.

Lars Boer

The Aim2Flourish project was really interesting for me, as it was a completely different way of working in a team then I have ever done before. In the beginning I mostly thought that it was hard to be able to work together when we are all in different parts of the world with different time zones, and we experienced that obstacle with planning the first couple of meetings. But after a while I noticed that it got easier and easier for us to work together as we mostly did the meetings at the same time every week. I already have had a course before where we learned a fair amount about the SDG’s and that knowledge came in handy doing this project. However, this time it was very helpful to see how companies act on those goals in the real world, instead of just learning about the theory. As we did the project with my proposed company I got to do the interview together with Marie, which I really liked doing. We had a useful and engaging conversation with Jeroen where he spoke in detail about how Eviden uses innovation to become more sustainable. After this project I also think that I learned more about the other cultures of my teammates and their way of working. As companies are often so connected globally I am glad that we got this opportunity, so I already have some experience when I need to work in the future with people from other counties.

Marie David

My experience with Aim2Flourish has been enriching in many ways. Managing to communicate and work effectively with people all over the world has been a real challenge. With participants from all over the world, we had to adapt to different cultures and time zones. For the first meetings, we had a hard time finding a schedule that worked for all time zones. Then it was a matter of understanding each other and working together. All the members of the group were good communicators and good listeners. So, it was easy to get down to work and figure out what we needed to do. I also had the chance to organize the interview with Lars, which I found particularly interesting. In conclusion, this work has enabled me to acquire valuable skills in cross-cultural communication, teamwork, and project management. Coordinating with diverse team members required adaptability, patience, and an open-minded approach, all of which strengthened my ability to work in an international environment.

Luc Reaume

The Aim2Flourish assignment was the most unique assignment I have ever done and it has given me plenty of useful experience working in an international environment. Seeing as this was my first time ever doing a group project with people outside of Canada, there was plenty of challenges and adjustments I needed to make at the start with the main one being working across time zones. I never anticipated how difficult it would be to do something as simple as set a time for a meeting. However, as the we progressed through the project our communication as a group improved drastically and we were able to coordinate meeting times much better. In addition to educating me on how to communicate and organize better in an international group, doing the Aim2Flourish also gave me experience diving into a foreign company which taught me lots about international business. Before doing the Aim2Flourish assignment I had never heard of Eviden and I little knowledge of any businesses outside North America. It was extremely interesting researching a European company because I never knew how integrated each country was into the overall European market. For example, I learned that Eviden has a team that does trainings in the EU as well as in England for other companies. Finally, the Aim2Flourish project broadened my knowledge of the UN sustainable development goals. In particular, researching Eviden’s innovation gave me an in depth understanding of the climate action goal as well as more knowledge of climate change as an issue. On top of this, it was my first time hearing exactly how sustainability can be integrated into the operations of a successful company. On the whole, the Aim2Flourish project was extremely unique and gave me useful experience and important insights into international business and sustainability.