ESR Fall

date: 24 November until 01 December 2019

ESR BUDAPEST, join for an amazing week full of companies, culture and clubs!

This year’s destination of ESR Fall will be Budapest! From the 24th to the 1st of December, a group of 25 bachelor and master students, 2 professors and 6 committee members will join together for a week to visit this amazing Hungarian city and conduct research. The trip will consist of a combination of cultural activities, company visits with the aim of finalizing our research, and chances to experience the amazing nightlife that the city has to offer.

ESR is an amazing experience for students. It’s an opportunity to bring something unique to your university experience, a chance to broaden and diversify your skill set, a way to improve your research skills and an amazing way to create memories and new friendships. All of this in the exciting city Budapest!

Budapest is a city that is home to a unique combination of multinationals from a variety of markets and exciting startups with great prospects. This year, the research theme will be “Budapest: the driving force behind the growth of the Hungarian economy.” You will be split up into teams of 5 students, each with a specific sub theme to focus the research on. More information about the sub themes can be found under the theme tab.

The ESR experience begins with an opening dinner, followed by 7 weeks of lectures, dinners and socials every Monday night. A variety of different topics, lecturers and points of view will be discussed each week. After we return, there will be another 2 weeks of lectures before the final dinner in order to put the finishing touches on our work.

The total cost of joining will be €200,-, which includes plane tickets, accommodation and transportation during our stay, as well as various other activities to take part in.

This ESR experience is one that is unique, and should not be missed! In order to take part in this amazing project, click on the register button! Applications open on the 3rd of September and close on the 15th of September, 23:59! The applications are open to bachelor students of the FEB with at least 45 ECTS and master students.

For any other questions about the trip, feel free to contact us at esrfall@ebfgroningen.nl.

ESR Timeline

Application Deadline

Sunday 15 September 23.59

Interviews and selection

Monday 16 September till Thursday 26 September

Introduction Dinner

Monday 30 September

Weekly Dinners, Lectures and Socials (7 times)

Every Monday at 17:00 from 7 October till 18 November (With exception from 28 October, then there is only a lecture)

Theme Party

Wednesday 13 November

Research Trip to Budapest

Sunday 24 November till Sunday 1 December

Lecture, dinner social after trip (2 times)

Monday 2 December and Monday 9 December

Closing Dinner

Monday 16 December

ESR Workload

In the 7 weeks prior to the trip there will be a lecture (5-7pm), dinner (7-9pm) and a social (9pm onwards) every Monday which you will be expected to attend. In the lectures we will discuss how to conduct research, there will be presentations by the various subgroups and guest lectures about Hungarian culture and conducting qualitative research. The dinners and socials are a great way to get to know everyone. Next to these activities you are expected to actually prepare your specific research together with your subgroup, which will mostly be done during the preparatory phase of the trip. In total ESR will cost you about 6-10 hours per week.

ESR Research

Main research theme “Budapest: the driving force behind the growth of the Hungarian economy.”

While Western European economies are slowing down, the eastern half of the EU continues to grow at a skyrocketing pace. In 2018 Hungary’s GDP grew by 4,9% this makes it the fifth fastest-growing economy in the EU. Budapest is the big engine behind the Hungarian economy together with the northwest of Hungary. Economic growth in the east of the country is lagging behind. Budapest is the economic, financial, commercial, administrative and cultural center of Hungary.

Nowadays there are more and more innovative start-ups and offices of multinationals in Hungary and especially in Budapest. The labor market is shifting towards higher-skilled employment. This reflects that over the past decades, the service sector has grown and industry has moved from mining and heavy industries to higher value-added production that are linked to global value chains. This has caused an increase in medium and high technological intensive manufacturing.

The Hungarian industry is increasingly focusing on exports. Many foreign investors also set up factories to export from there. The industrial sector is currently growing much faster than agriculture or the service sector and is in fact the engine behind economic growth. The reason the industrial production is growing so fast is partly because of to the favorable geographical location in Europe and mostly because of the high educated labor market.

Although the Hungarian economy is growing at a rapid pace, with frame breaking levels of employment and big wage growth all contributing to a demand-led expansion. The excellent performance is not without risks, because it concerns a growing inequality between Hungary’s regions. As mentioned before Budapest is growing really fast, but ensuring long-term success there need to be economic opportunities created for the whole country. Will Hungary succeed in this and become a big player in the economic world, or will their great growth decrease because of the big inequalities?

To conduct research on this research theme, you will be divided into five subgroups. In these subgroups you will investigate research questions and conduct research specific to your subject. Every subtheme is linked to the main research theme. During the lectures and the preparations you will get the chance to acquire the necessary skills to conduct business research and to come up with a theoretical framework and conceptual model. Together with your subgroup, you will discuss your findings during the lectures and get the chance to get feedback from either the committee or the professors.

With this main research theme in mind, we have established five subthemes by which we want to investigate our main research theme in a more detailed manner. The five subthemes are Foreign Direct Investments, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, International Markets, Human Resource Management and Strategic Management.

subthemes

Foreign direct investments

The first subtheme is about foreign direct investment. Foreign direct investment (FDI) is an investment made by an individual or a firm in a country into business interests located in another country. When an investor establishes foreign business operations or acquires foreign business assets, including establishing ownership or controlling interest in a foreign company, FDI takes place. Since early in the 1990s, the main growth driver of the Hungarian economy has been foreign direct investments. This was really helpful by modernizing production and supporting the successful integration into global value chains.

Innovation and entrepreneurship

The second subtheme covers innovation and entrepreneurship. Innovation is important when it comes to growth, because in the highly competitive world that we live in, innovative ideas are what will separate you from the rest. Innovation and entrepreneurship are essential ingredients in building a successful commercial venture. The purpose of innovation is to continuously grow and renew an enterprise with new or improved products, more efficient processes, or strengthened business models. Hungary already has a growing number of business accelerators and a wealth of funding sources, with growing interest from international angel and big investors. The result is that Hungary has a lot of startups with huge appeal for technological entrepreneurs.

International Markets

The third subtheme is about international markets. Some companies only want to operate locally, while others want to operate internationally. There are many companies in Hungary that operate on the international markets. Hungary's main trade partners are in the EU and because there are no customs charges this supports large volumes of trade. In central and Eastern Europe Hungary is the largest electronics producer. Electronics manufacturing and research are among the biggest drivers of innovation and economic growth in the country. Many companies in Hungary extended to international markets in the last decades.

Human Resource Management

The fourth subtheme is about the aspects of “HRM”. Human resources are one of the most valuable things for a company. Topics that are important in HRM are the level of education, the style and role of management, the flexibility of the employees and the set of skills employees have. Professionals can find international career development opportunities in Hungary. Higher salaries, rapid technological advancement, promotion opportunities and broad use of foreign languages offer an attractive alternative for young people today. This will make it attractive for high educated people to stay in Hungary or come to Hungary from outside of the country. This will really help organizations to attract high educated employees or keep their high educated employees in their company.

Strategic Management

Lastly, we have the subtheme strategic management. As an organization is generally established with a goal in mind, and this goal defines the purpose for its existence. All of the work carried out by the organization revolves around this particular goal. Since an organization is a big entity with a huge underlying investment, strategy becomes a necessary factor to make an organization successful. Strategic management includes preparation for future risks and opportunities and respond to market trends. In some countries the government plays a big role in strategic management by having strict regulations.

Click here to learn more about the ESR Budapest committee!