INTRODUCTION

Study tour was the part of curriculum of the International Business course. It gave us an opportunity of interaction with European market. The course outline dealt with features like Strategy , M&A, SCM, Clusters, International customs & clearance, micro economics , terminal operations, European Environment, Business Procedures and visit to companies , terminals and port. Detail account on each day is given in following slides.

DAY-01 5, NOV
On this all the candidates arrived at Nyenrode Universiteit from various locations of India. In the evening there was welcome dinner hosted by Dean Of The Universiteit. Formal introduction and brief on program schedule was given.

DAY-2 6,NOV
Session- One First session was on strategic alignment conducted by Drs. Danielle Melis. Main features of lecture was about complexity in the corporate world , how to achieve goal was more important than related factors , value creation against total wealth and future capabilities. Four factors of the capacity for alignment were explained. Session-Two This session was conducted by Mr. Frank Heijmann-Director , Dutch Tax and Customs Administration. In this session International Customs and Clearance Procedures were explained. Session-Three This session was conducted by Dr. Richard Janssen In this session Micro Economics of competitiveness was explained with a help of case analysis of Dutch Flower Auction.

DAY-3 7,NOV
Session-One There was a guest lecture delivered by Mr. Dennis Olesen , Global Head Of Operations ,APM-TERMINALS. Brief history of company was given supported with statistics and strategical strength. Companys vision and mission was explained . its capacity & turnover and future plans were informed. Stress was on Clarity ,Focus and alignment was explained. Session-Two Company visit-Kuehne Nagel. Its a large logistic company having all major FMCG,IT HEAVY ENGINEERING clients on its customer base. Session Three This session was conducted by Dr.Haico Ebbers. Main focus was on process of European Integration , Politics ,Governance in Europe. Cause of European crisis and lack of robust institutional framework in monitoring. Modus of governing EU.

DAY-4
This was the much awaited day. It was really a once in a lifetime experience. That was Dr. Philip Kotlers whole day session. Session was derived in four sub sessions -Using marketing to drive your companys growth. - Moving towards Marketing 3.0 - Building strong Brand. - Innovating your path to success. There were three other case presentations which covered respective sessions learning. Its worth mentioning that Dr. Philip mentioned about innovations from India like Tata-Nano , Jaipur Foot, IndiOne Hotel , The Narayana Hrudayalaya and The Arvin Eye Care.

DAY-5

This was the most hectic day of all the days. We started as early as 7 am for Flora Holland the largest flower auction in the world. Some statistical data is given below Number of locations 6 Number of auction halls 14 Number of auction clocks 50 Avg number of transactions/day 115,981 Number of processed trolleys 8,163,819 Surface area of building 2.2 min sq m Number of suppliers 9500 Number of traders 5600 Number of employees 4,600 Annual turnover 4bn euros

DAY-5
Second half of the day was dedicated to the port and container terminal. It started with the presentation by Prof. Bob de Wit , strategy at works. A new dimension of strategy was explained in terms of companies having major thrust on either social responsibility or profit. Later on we headed for container terminal of Port Of Rotterdam. All the entry , exit points, custom clearance and modes of handling container were shown Then we went to the fortune land which is expansion of Port Of Rotterdam which is as big as current port. Some statistical facts about Port Of Rotterdam is given below No of vessels per day 250 Annual cargo turn over 434 mn tonnes Annual container volume 11,876 mn TEU Annual Revenue 600 mn Euros Last but not least there are few countries smaller than Nether land but few port bigger than Port Of Rotterdam.

DAY-6&7
Day -6 was free day meant for shopping, sight seeing. Day -7 everybody departed for respective destinations with bag full of memories for lifetime.

ROTTERDAM PORT-GATEWAY TO GLOBALIZATION

ENTRY POINT