70 OTINGA in Germany

Team 71 Poster

Team Reflection

Otinga has proven to be a great example of the role that businesses have in contributing to social good. Although it is less common now, many businesses would not care about the negative impact that their operations have on the environment, but thanks to the concept of corporate social responsibility, businesses around the world are doing their part to preserve the environment. Corporate social responsibility is not just about businesses saving the environment though, it also addresses social and political issues surrounding the business as well (Zadek, 2004). We feel and believe that Otinga has done plenty of good work for the environment, like negating the carbon emissions they create through production, but there is not as much emphasis on the social and political issues—which is completely okay! Considering the scale that Otinga is operating on, it is incredible how socially responsible they already are, like with their Fair Trade certification, and the work they conduct with Wilderness International for environmental protection (Otinga, n.d.). Otinga meets many of the UN’s different Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and it is very impressive that they are able to do so with their limited resources as a small business (Otinga, n.d.). The SDGs provide an outline for achieving a better future, and it calls all countries (and businesses!) to contribute to achieving these goals (United Nations, n.d.). In general, it is very important for businesses to contribute positively in their communities because it is of course good for the community, but it can also give the business an advantage over competitors by being more impressionable to customers through their responsible work (Zadek, 2004).

Throughout this cross-cultural experience, we were able to see how alike we are despite our differences. We are all working towards a business degree, but we are living in different parts of the world, learning different aspects of business at different paces. We learned to be patient with each other, and to clearly communicate with each other in order to be effective in every activity that we complete together. We used our common goal of being successful in the COIL project to ensure that we all stayed committed and engaged throughout the entire process. We were respectful to each other, and still had fun within our meetings outside of academic conversations.

Our course learnings really helped to guide our conversations in the right direction by reminding us about the purpose of COIL, which is corporate social responsibility. We used our growing knowledge about corporate social responsibility to ask the right questions in our interview, to create the Aim2Flourish story, and to create our poster. By each and every member keeping up with the course material, we were able to keep up with each other and effectively plan out each activity by bringing our knowledge to the table. Additionally, by keeping up with the material throughout the semester, it made it easier to get to work on each of the deliverables without having to do much outside research on the course topics.

We divided up the work by assigning one deliverable for each school that was a part of our group. This made it easier for the two students that go to the same university to be able to work on the same deliverable together, without having to do it online or worry about time zones. We did help each other with each deliverable, but primarily focused on the one that was assigned to us to ensure that everyone was on the same page with the execution. As a group during our weekly meetings, we decided what was to be done by each member before the next weekly meeting. This helped everyone to stay on track with the process, like when it came to choosing the company we would be focusing on, what questions were going to be asked during the interview, the consent form that was to be completed prior to the interview, etc.

In terms of what worked for our group and what did not, we were very quick to start our weekly meetings. We usually had our weekly meeting early in the week, which allowed plenty of time to create and share the weekly minutes with every member of the group, which was especially useful for those who had to submit it to their course’s online platform separately from the group Google Classroom. We were also good at having everyone attend every meeting, with only a few instances where some members could not attend due to unforeseen circumstances. Something that did not work was planning when to start our main deliverables for COIL. As we neared the due date, we all had different things going on in our lives that affected when we could start focusing on the story, the poster, and the reflection. It was not completed as early as we wanted it to be, but everything was still done early enough to allow time for every member to look over and proofread everything to ensure that we were executing each deliverable to the best of our collective ability.

Individual Reflections

Sarah

This was a very unique and interesting experience to be a part of. Since my time zone is further apart from the rest of the group, it was a little more difficult to coordinate my time with theirs, but ultimately we worked through it to be able to meet virtually and work through different activities. Despite being from different countries, everyone was very proficient in English, so there was no difficulty with communication in that aspect. We were able to communicate with each other effectively through Whatsapp to coordinate meeting times and other comments about the task at hand. In terms of the cultural dynamics, there were different holidays celebrated in different countries in our group all throughout the process, but it never interfered with our work! I felt that this experience was important to my development in the business world and expands my abilities to collaborate with individuals worldwide in the future.

Sophie

When I first heard of the COIL Aim2Flourish project I was very excited to embark on this journey with a global team. I have never been part of such a project, where you work together with students globally, with different time zones to consider. As I went to an international school working together with students from different cultural backgrounds was not new to me. However, completing this project virtually was a new challenge I had to face. Overall, the communication at the beginning was difficult as we weren’t able to get in touch with some members of the group and responses took time which made the “getting to know” part of the project very different to an in-person group project. However, we were able to overcome this hurdle through creating a group chat via Whatsapp which made communication very fast and easy. The most challenging part of this project for me was managing the workload and dividing the work among the members fairly. This was challenging, as everyone had varying time available to work on the project and also communicating who does what was challenging. In the end we were able to manage everything well and every team member put in the maximal time and energy they had available which was awesome. We were able to manage the different time zones very well and the meetings always went very smoothly and were fun. The part I enjoyed most about the project was that we are giving businesses a voice who value sustainability and equality. I have had the feeling most of the time businesses are seen critically, as an entity that only makes decisions based on what is most profitable without considering sustainability. However, as we’ve seen during this project this can be very different which I am very happy to share.

Tom

I had never participated in a project like this before, so it was a completely new experience, and therefore I needed some time to adapt. Building personal relationships with my team members was challenging since we could only meet virtually. Personally, I enjoy meeting colleagues for coffee when working on a project, as it helps me get to know them better. Even so, we met regularly despite living in different time zones. Fortunately, there were no language barriers because everyone spoke good English. Using WhatsApp also made the communication a lot easier, as it allowed us to get quick responses, often within minutes. The cross-cultural dynamics worked well, too, as everyone was very respectful and understanding. To put it in a nutshell, I really enjoyed working with my team members on this project although it made it more challenging in the beginning. I believe I developed valuable teamwork skills that will benefit me greatly in the future.

Daljeet

This project was a completely new experience for me. I thoroughly enjoyed working with people from around the globe, which gave me the chance to learn from others and develop digital communication and teamwork skills. I regret that we couldn’t complete this COIL project in person, as coordinating across different time zones made arranging meetings and discussions challenging. However, we faced no major communication issues, thanks to a WhatsApp group chat where we regularly updated each other on tasks and checked in on each other’s progress and well-being. Cross cultural dynamics worked well as we all respected on another and even celebrated each other festivals such as Thanks Giving and Diwali.  Our strong teamwork led us to successfully complete this COIL project virtually with the help of digital technologies. In the future, I would love to meet my fellow team members in person. Travelling to Canada, Germany and Spain is now on the top of my bucket list. This COIL project has been a beneficial and eye-opening experience, especially in understanding the ethical dimensions of business and the world we live in today.