Today in Dublin we got a very special history lesson on Irish culture from Dr. Darren Kelly. Yet, what I learned was not just about Ireland and Dublin, but about gaining perspective of the world in general, which was a truly valuable lesson. Coming from an International Baccalaureate high school, I found what he had…

Despite being exhausted yesterday, I awoke with about 12 hours of sleep feeling well-rested, refreshed, and ready to start our day of exploration. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality breakfast with a freshly baked croissant (for which the server made me request in French) and Irish yogurt. Then we transitioned into our orientation session,…

After a night of flying and an attempt to sleep as much as possible, we hopped off the plane to a whole new world of Dublin. Stepping outside, we were immediately hit by the cool temperature and refreshing mist that we had been missing while in the sticky, humidity of Pittsburgh. I think the first…

Our day began with our group presentations, which developed upon our previous pitches. I think the presentations this round were much more rehearsed and organized than the previous while including more research and evidence to support their product. Personally, our group pitched the idea for Charge!, a mobile battery that is powered by kinetic energy…

Our class discussion today centered around the topic of social change initiatives within different business models. Within a social entrepreneurship, there is a mission for long-term sustainable change, while companies with corporate social responsibility (CSR) make short-term initiatives to see development within a target community. Ethics have a role in how a proactive leader in…

We started the day at another Big Four company in the area, KPMG. Walking through the office, almost every wall had inspiring art, surrounding a theme of bridges. They use the theme to symbolize connections between the three key features of the firm: accounting and finance, advisory, and professional services. Going into the visit, I…

In class today we explored the next two chapters, which included topics such as brands, marketing, and pricing. In terms of brand recognition, we explored the case study of Gaga’s SherBetter. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s most likely because it went out of business as a luxury sherbet-ice cream hybrid. The inability to…

After a fun weekend of exploring the city of Pittsburgh, it was back to the classroom and another interesting site visit. We spent some time exploring the implications of marketing and the four P’s, using past examples and the success of those campaigns. Escaping perfect competition, through segmentation, differentiation, and positioning was also discussed in…

Our day started off a little differently today, as we visited the Pittsburgh location of Google. Since this is such a well-known company, I think a lot of us had high expectations for the firm in regards to its company atmosphere and productivity levels. The tour began with a look at the unique office space,…