[TRAVEL LOG] WILKOMMEN IN LINZ!

Rest assured, our train did arrive safely in Linz at about 2pm yesterday.  The ride went quickly and the views were spectacular, as I expected they would be.  Fond memories of Austria and Salzburg came to mind as we passed through the countryside.  Upon arrival in Linz, we took the tram up to the Johannes Kelper University.  Here is where our instruction would take place for the week; our hotel is also just east of the university.  We checked into the Julius Raab Sommerhaus and unpacked.    

Sommerhaus

 At 5pm, the entire MBA seminar cohort finally assembled in the main hotel lobby for the kick-off meeting.  Most of the group had just flown into Munich that day around noon and traveled down via bus.  I felt happy to have had my bout of jet lag already.  I could tell some of them were very tired.  That trip can be a killer sometimes!  In our meeting, we were given a program outline by our Austrian university host after doing some basic introductions by each member of our group.  Outside of the UC students and their guests, we were joined by UC faculty and teaching staff members Professor BJ Zirger and Larry Gales.  An extra blessing was having one of the major sponsors for the trip, Mr. Mike Paxton, with us for the first couple of days.  After completing our introductions, we all set on foot to Pizzeria Bella-Casa for our welcome dinner.  The Italian cuisine was excellent!  Nothing beats European style pizza!  After arriving back at the hotel and shooting some hoops in the attached basketball courts with Jordan, Paul, and Clinton, I was back to my room for a good night’s rest.

Dinner at Bella-Casa

Jordan and Paul Shooting Hoops

 Today, we departed from the hotel at 8:30am after breakfast.  We made our first company visit to the eyewear manufacturing facility of Silhouette.  The tour was great and we were able to see just how intricate the eyewear manufacturing process was.  It takes more than 200 components to make up a standard pair of glasses, and the process can take up to ten weeks.  I hadn’t realized how complicated this could be!  In many ways, Silhouette is known as a high quality eyewear manufacturer because of this extensive process.  Not only does quality go into the manufacturing process, but care goes into the design and fit of the eyewear.  The company was founded on the basis of beautiful design, outstanding quality, and great fit.

While on site, we were able to witness the injection molding, stamping, cutting, bending, polishing, and coating operations of making eyeglass and protective sportswear frames.  Small instructional videos accompanied each small segment of the tour and our guide showed us many of the processes in action as we walked through the working facility.  Two shifts, one from 6am to 2pm and one from 2pm to 10pm, operate daily.  It was apparent just how much care went into making a simple pair of glasses.

After the tour, we met with one of the companies CEO’s, Arnold Schmied, who is the director of marketing, sales, and design.  He currently shares leadership with his brother, Klaus, and both are the sons of the company’s founder.  The presentation as well as the question and answer session with him proved to be an extra valuable experience.  Obviously the manufacturing tour satiated the engineering geek in each of us ACCEND guys, but talking to Mr. Schmied helped bridge the connection to the business world AND give cultural insight to this business visit.  He discussed the reason their company even existed and how their ways of approaching design and sales were very unique.  I couldn’t agree more after listening to this inspirational company leader talk.  He discussed how changing the simple perception of a production market could greatly affect business.  He explained how once Silhouette stopped viewing their product as an item of “fashion” and began viewing it as a “cosmetic” item, the company’s success greatly improved.  Much of this was marketing based commentary, but it was very interested to hear how this changed perspective affected all aspects of the design and sales process.  In the end, one of Silhouette’s main objectives is to be the “Swiss watch-makers of eyewear.”  In this case, geographic location means a great deal.  Having an Austrian-made pair of glasses should bring with it only a connotation of a natural and top quality product.  The entire conversation was very insightful, and I know our entire group was thankful to have had the opportunity to visit.

Following the tour, we had some coffee and cake provide for us outside of the conference room before taking the bus back to JKU to have lunch in their cafeteria.  Close to 2pm, we had a four hour lecture on leadership.  The university did an excellent job presenting the material and drawing some cultural connections into the session.  It was great to hear the instruction presented to us by an Austrian professor.  From a leadership model known as the Vroom/Yetton Model, it was clear that different countries approached leadership in different ways.  We discussed the importance of “tacit leadership knowledge” and how that affects global exchanges.  In the past, when one remained within a closed cultural environment, leadership skills could simply be learned through family, friends, and the environment over time (if not also in the classroom).  In today’s world, a more formal approach to leadership guidance is necessary since those tacit and natural leadership styles taught in various cultures are not always the same.  This would obviously affect when two leaders from different cultures must work together.  The content of the class was very relevant to the types of interactions we see between global business leaders today. Luckily the session did end at 6pm, so we were able to make it back to the hotel just in time to hear the second half of the UC basketball game against Texas.  Thankfully that ended well too!  Go Bearcats!

JKU Campus

Leadership Seminar

After the game, eleven of us guys headed downtown for dinner at a place called Keintzel’s.   This place had authentic Austrian dishes and good beer.  Unfortunately some of us could not partake in eating the meat dishes offered, but the salmon, gnocchi, and shrimp all turned out to be delicious as well.  The meal was excellent and a good way to celebrate the game victory and our first day in Linz.  Prost!

Prost to our Bearcats!

Tomorrow will include a walking tour of Linz and a little more exploration of the city.  More posts to come soon!