Exploring Berlin's History, Culture, Politics and Business Life!

On Thursday and Friday we got to know Berlin better.  Thursday was the fat tire bike tour where we saw many of the city's famous cultural and historical sights and learned more about Berlin's history.  Friday we ventured out into Berlin's diverse neighborhoods and learned more about the challenge of managing the growth and stability of these neighborhoods since the wall came down 25 years ago.  Both tours were deeply engaging and helped us understand how culture, history and business all intersect in Germany's capital city!  Then on Saturday we visited the Reichstag - the building that houses Germany's version of congress (Bundestag).  We again learned how history has shaped German politics which in-turn shapes German business!

Universitaet Potsdam

We did our annual cultural negotiation day at Uni Potsdam.  With 22 US students, 22 German Students and 13 Russian students the day was a great success.  A job offer case was used and after a culture lecture and a negotiation basics lectures the students met to hammer out the best deal.  We had a great awards ceremony for the top performers and then a wonderful meal together at Ulf's restaurant on campus.

 Dr. Uta Herbst (2nd from left) and her team recieved one of our signed W flags 

as a way to say thank you!

 Kelly Darling was one of the negotiation winners!

 The class was full and full of culture!  We learned a great deal from Irina Slot on how to navigate a complicated cultural world!

Lloyd Herndon trying to score as best he could while bargaining with his German counterpart!

Volkswagen World Headquarters

 We presented our W flag to Dr. Stefan Hoernemann after his great lecture on branding at the Volkswagen Group

 We got a great tour of the largest manufacturing facility in Europe where they make the Golf and Tiquan

 We arrived by train from Berlin to Wolfsburg, the VW town!

Dr. Hoernemann answers some questions about bringing the mini-bus back to the US market.