Hello everyone! I’m Lukas from Austria, and I’ve always been interested in the interplay between firms, national cultures, and business models. How do multinational companies adapt their business models to the local culture? How do SMEs internationalize their business? At least as passionate about humanities as attracted by the corporate world, I pursued two undergraduate degrees to find answers to these questions: Business Administration and Transcultural Communication, with coursework in Austria and the UK. Upon graduating, I was torn between business rationale and cultural theories, looking for a master’s degree that would combine my interests (and undergraduates) in a single program – GLOCAL here I came. During my undergraduates and prior to GLOCAL, I had the chance to explore the interplay between business and culture in various organizations in different countries, ranging from the European Parliament in Belgium to the Austrian Chamber of Commerce in Brazil to Mercedes-Benz in Germany. While I’ve learned that Belgians love strong beer, Brazilians extra cold beer (maybe for this reason their favorite beer is called Antarctica?), and the Germans white beer, I also got to see a plethora of different approaches to business, culture, and everything in between. Now, GLOCAL offers me a unique academic perspective on what I’ve learned and seen over the last few years – and on what I’m about to see in three fascinating cities around the world!
