Lesson on internationality in Whirlpool

They come from all over the world, they communicate only in English, and wherever they come from – Asti or New York, Calabria or Turkey – they have international ambitions and they can see their futures divided amongst the various branches of the multinational companies to which they aspire; eighty-five special students spent a day visiting the Whirlpool Europe premises, in Comerio and Cassinetta.

 

These young people come from the lecture halls of Bocconi University, in Milan; they are almost all in the first year of one of the most prestigious and exclusive two-year postgraduate courses in Italy, International Management, which is taught entirely in English, to which students are admitted after being selected on merit. “This two-year course represents the cutting edge of Bocconi University,” explained the co-ordinator, Gabriella Lojacono. “It has only one class, of carefully selected students, and it is about to be included in the Financial Times ranking.”

 

The “trip to Whirlpool” was their annual company visit, an opportunity to have a closer look at a multinational company, with its figures and organisation. But it was also an occasion to discover how talented people distinguish themselves in such a big company, thanks also to real managers dedicated to this purpose, namely, the talent managers; the students listened to one such manager in the company, Francesca Bevilacqua.

The trip also provided an opportunity to have a closer look at the place where the company’s electrical appliances for the whole world are designed, with a visit to Global Consumer Design, the stronghold of Whirlpool’s industrial design.

There was also a very special interlude, a packed lunch (which that should have taken place in the picturesque setting of the Brabbia marsh, but which actually took place in the company’s offices in Comerio because of very bad weather), which gave the 85 international students a souvenir of Varese. Indeed, the yellow bag containing the packed lunch had been prepared by the association Varese da Gustare (A taste of Varese), and it contained rolls filled with locally-produced salami, “brutti e buoni” biscuits, acacia honey from Varese, and even some fruit juice made of peaches from Monate.