Last week, I had the chance to present the industrial and economic facets of Germany to MBA students from The University of Hong Kong. Our journey began in Berlin, then proceeded to Wolfsburg, Dortmund, Duisburg, Hannover, and concluded back in Berlin. I extend my heartfelt gratitude to our hosts …
Moving to Canada on relatively short notice made me lift my boat out of the water in the Netherlands. This will allow me to do some maintenance work, which is more difficult in the water. Moving the vessel to New Orleans and going up the Mississippi may be an option. So far, this is only an idea…
Imagine you are in your twenties, have a natural science or engineering PhD, and speak 4 to 6 languages. You have won prizes and awards, read over 2000 books, have profound knowledge, and enjoy literature, visual arts, history, and music, perhaps even playing a few instruments. You are not socially awkward, …
Life is easy in Canada. Sure, moving to a new place across an ocean has it’s challenges. But Toronto is a good place to settle. It’s a vast land, and there is not much infrastructure. So one of the next tasks will be to find a good 4x4. But the main challenge lies not in Canada, but still back in Europe. There is a boat to store and potentially transport over to the new world …
It’s finally getting chilly in Toronto, and I decided to get shoes for my dog. Not so much because of the cold but more because of the defrosting agents on the paths. This morning, while walking along the Northern side of Lake Ontario, I heard some comments on the Index of Economic Freedom provided annually by the Heritage Foundation (click here) …
I started my birthday on an Air Canada flight, up in the air over the Atlantic, South of Greenland. In the afternoon, I drove to visit my parents in Westerwald and crossed farmers’ protests on the way. This was one of the most friendly and well-organized protests I have ever seen, …
Oh, what a year this has been! Now it’s ending, and I wish everyone a peaceful Christmas time, happy holidays, and all the best for 2024. It will be a year to make it or break it. What worries me, with my parents at very old age, is the loss of this generation of witnesses to war and famine and how fragile societies are …
It has been a few days now, since I arrived in Canada. Eddie had to stay in his transport box for 14 hours but took it with ease, in both airports and then in the pressurized luggage space. On advice of my vet, I did not sedate him. She told me, that it may happen that dogs even panic more when they feel the non-familiar impact of medications …
Last night, I had the pleasure of joining the vernissage of the solo exhibition of Rosette Bonello at Rudy Buhler’s Art Gallery in Marsaskala. I walked along the coast from Kalkara, at the end of a stormy day, which expanded into the night. It is always impressive to see how the rock has been able to withstand the waves for ages. Rudy was a Swiss banker …
I am always amazed by Turkey. The economic fundamentals of the country should be pretty strong. This is why I am puzzled by the economic turmoil it has been in for decades. Sure, there are some political decisions which are mind-boggling, like the interest rate policies of the Turkish Central Bank…
My time in Hong Kong was very condensed this year. My apologies to the friends I could not meet this time. Thanks also to the great students from the MBA programme of Hong Kong University and the GBA stream coming in from Shenzhen to participate in a 5-day intensive course on Turn Around Management and Corporate Restructuring …
This week we kicked off the new round of the Tilburg University Master of International Management. I have been teaching a course on Management Consulting in this program for a couple of years. Today, we had the first lecture, and from tomorrow on, it will be project work …
I embarked a train trip from Germany to Switzerland and unfortunately there was no Swiss train matching my schedule. So, there was no other choice than using a connection supplied and operated by the German Railway Company, called Deutsche Bahn. I really like travelling by train, and I did so in many parts of the World. But it’s always important to know what to expect …
On my way back up the Maas, I stopped over at the Linne jetty at the end of a dead river arm. The small town has a shop where I needed to get some supplies. Also, there were good reviews on “google maps”. But it turned out to be a “hippie jetty” …
A “Passantenhaven” is the Dutch name for marinas which allow guest boats for a limited of time to stay. On the way to Roermond, I had difficulties finding such. For the first attempt, I followed a recommendation to turn right straight downstream the “big bridge” …
Between Venlo and Maastricht, the Maas River splits into some sections of straight canals and besides those, there are the quiet arms and lakes of Maas, also called Meuse. You still can’t go along them to avoid the humongous locks, as you will hit the wall at some point, …
After all the earth works were done for the construction of my “Dacha” in Hundsrück the ground was really bare. The ground in some places also became a mix of soil and gravel, as the excavator left it’s heavy traces of turmoil. To get things green again, …
After a quick trip to Germany, I moved the boat further the short way to Maasbracht. These Lakes are really pretty and they give a bit of the feeling I had last in Biesbosch. I was lucky, because the easily morning was still calm and I could moor the boat safely in the harbour …
It takes about three days with my boat to go from Tilburg down the Wilhelmina Canal to the Maas River. I was lucky to find a “Passantenhaven” just up the river when leaving the Panheel Lock, which is at the end of the “Kanaal Wessem - Nederwert” …
From May to September, the Maltese villages proudly celebrate their Festas to honour their patron saints. It’s quite competitive among villages: decorating with flags and statues, traditional music bands parading the streets, sweets and food, and amazing fireworks …
I have been recently volunteering at the Academy of Fashion and Design (AMD). Neither fashion nor design is my field, but I filled some gaps in necessary management disciplines. To my surprise, a student of fashion management, Ms Mia Just, chose me as a second reader for her thesis on the ambiguity between creativity and commerce in fashion …
Recently, reading the news this quote by the American Journalist Edward Roscoe Murrow came to my mind: “Anyone who isn't confused really doesn't understand the situation”. If I remember right, he coined it as a war correspondent in Vietnam …
My construction in Hundsrück is going forward, even though a lot of obstacles have not been anticipated and now cause additional steps and delay. But given the fact that the first one and a half years, it was all just paper pushing, now I can see progress nearly every day …
Iceland does not feel like changing scenery - it is like changing planet. Going for a week off road in Iceland’s South is a good thing to do, while on my construction site the house foundation went through the finish line. April is a little to late for a good chance to see Northern lights. But Iceland has a lot to offer: glaciers, volcanos, waterfalls, geysers and all you need to push a 4x4 to the limit …
The last stretch is actually less than a mile. But getting the building material on the construction turned out to be quite complicated. The truck came with amounted crane and a trailer with a trailer. So the procedure was …
Besides work, quite a few things are keeping me busy at the moment: 1) building a wooden weekend house in a forest region up the Upper Middle Rhine Valley and 2) moving my house boat away from Lathum (Netherlands) south through the canals …
Last week was the first time I taught my Strategy Course at TIAS (Tilburg Institute of Advanced Studies) in the EMBA Programme. And I really enjoyed it. Great participants from all kinds of industries and walks of life, which reflect the structure of the Dutch industry landscape …
The time of my birthday is usually the coldest time in the Middle-European winter. But not this year. I made the boat winterproof in December, when there were actually some minus degrees. But now it is at times + 14 °C, while -14 °C would be seasonally possible …
On December 2nd and 3rd 1989 Michael Gorbatchev and George H.W. Bush met on the Soviet ship TS Maksim Gorkiy south of Malta, mooring in the Bay of Marsaxlokk. The sea was choppy, which brought the meeting the name “Seasickness Summit”. It is often described as one of the most important summits since the Yalta Conference in 1945, …