Week 2 Pre-Work

Vienna Sausages-
In the duration of week 2 prework, we learned extensively about the European Union, the political environment, cultural environment, and the economic environment of Austria.

To summarize, the European Union was created after World War 2 in the hope to make a prosperous, and peaceful Europe. There were eleven founding fathers and it started out with only six states. There are now 28 states in the Union and it involves the majority of Europe. The Union accounts for almost twenty percent of all exports and imports traded globally topping even the U.S.A. which accounts for only fifteen percent. They focus on peacemaking, security, donating, and feeding starving people in Africa. Last year they donated over 53.8 billion euros to help aid other countries and to help their cause.

For the political environment of Austria, Heinz Fischer is the leader of the country of Austria. He was elected in 2004 and again in 2010. (There is also a Chancellor who is Werner Faymann.) Once Fischer was in office he became independent and renounced any party membership. The president is elected by popular vote and holds office for one term, which is six years. The president is the head of the state but he acts on the advice of the Council of Ministers. The Council of Ministers is led by the Chancellor (Werner Faymann). There is no electoral college; the president just wins by having the majoirity vote. If there is a tie they go into their second elections and only the top two candidates are allowed to run for office. In article I of the Federal Constitutional Act of Austria, it states "Austria is a democratic republic. Its laws emanate from the people." October 1, 1920 marks the day that the Federal Constitutional Act was passed. The Federal President is Dr. Heinz Fischer. Dr. Heinz Fischer was actually a professor of political science before being elected the Federal President on July 8, 2004. To become the Federal President, you are elected by the Austrian people for a term that consists of 6 years. The Federal President is the only representative of the country that is directly elected by the people. The head of government, is the Federal Chancellor, which is Werner Faymann.

To summarize the cultural environment, In Austria it is important to know that business meetings are conducted in a very formal way and they begin with a "quick but firm" handshake. When entering a room it is also customary to shake hands with everyone present; in social settings this includes children. It is important to maintain eye contact when you are greeting someone. Some older generation austrian men will kiss the hands of females when greeting them. Something I found interesting is that when women are introduced to men they also may kiss. You should use a person's title until you have been invited to refer to them by their first name. When it comes to being invited into and Austrians home you should come with a gift, something like chocolate or flowers. Something interesting is if you give flowers make sure there is an uneven number of flowers because even numbers, with the excetion of 12, are considered to be unlucky. "Do not give red carnations, chrysanthemums or lilies as these are considered as being for funerals." If you are bringing a gift that is not flowers, it should be wrapped. 

To summarize the cultural environment, Austrian companies have learned to deal with environmental and social friendlyness and also with the term sustainability. Enterprises ahve started to use the concept of sustainability in their management strategies and tools. Austrian Corporate Social Responsibility builds "upon long-lasting Austria tradition of broad stakeholder involvement within the so called social-partnership." Austria realized its pivital position when they realized they were in the heart of Europe. They came to realize the key role they could play. Over the last twenty years many differet and "social friendly economic development: programs have become part of the ongoing societal transformation process.

To summarize the economic environment, I found it interesting just learning about the European Union as a whole and learning about the European Parliament was interesting too. I found it intersting how the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union work together. I thought it was interesting learning about where they get their money and funding from but also what the money in spent on. I also found it interesting how many of the countries in the EU used the Euro.

Conner Crooker

Introductions

Hello everyone! We are the Vienna Sausages and our great team consists of four awesome members, Emille Krzyzanowski, Ashley Burnett, Conner Crooker and Grant Cozad. We did initial research over the city of Vienna and the country of Austria. Our departure is coming fast and I'm sure everyone is just as excited for the trip as our group is! Here some of the information we found about the country of Austria!

The exchange rate is 1.37 euros per 1 us dollar. 91.9% of people in Austria are Austrians, 4% Yugoslavians, 1.6% Turkish, and .9% German. Typical imports are machinery and equipment, motor vehicles, chemicals, and oil. The main exports are machinery and equipment, motor vehicles and parts, paper, metal goods, chemicals, iron and steel, and textiles. Austria is slightly smaller than Maine and about 75% of the area includes the mountainous territory of the eastern alps. Forest and woodlands cover about 40% of the land. The country contains many snowfields, glaciers and snow-capped peaks.

Austria's population is around 8,223,062. the Ethnic groups that are among the Austrian population are Austrians at 91%, Yugoslavs at 4% which includes croatians, slovenes,serbs and bosniaks another 1.6% are turks and .9% are german and 2.6% accounts for and unspecified group. The language that is predominantly spoken in Austria is German. And they are mainly Roman Catholic at 73.6%. The median age of the population is 44 years old!

One of the more famous tourists attractions in Austria is the Schonbrunn Palace. It offers a Privy garden aswell as the oldest zoo in the world and a labrinth and maze. Austria has a couple ski resorts that are very popular in the winter seasons. Seefeld, Tyrol has held the Winter Olympics twice in its existence. The other, St Anton am Arlberg is more for the experienced skier that has much experience to take on the rugged mountain terrain. Grosslockner Alpine Road is another popular attraction which give the tourist the great view of Austria's highest mountain.

Austria imports motor vehicles, metal goods, oil products, and food the most. The top four imports, in order, of Austria are cars, refined petroleum, crude petroleum, and petroleum gas. Austria's biggest import partner is Germany with 44.5% of all trade, Italy comes in second with 7.1%, and in third is Switzerland with 5.2%. Austria Exports machinery, equipment, motor vehicles, paper, metal goods, iron, steel, textiles, and food. The top five exports are packaged medicaments (antibiotics), vehicle parts, spark-ignition engines, petroleum gas, and cars. Austria's biggest export partner is Germany with almost 29.5% of total trade, Italy is second with 8.6%, and the U.S. comes in third with 4.3%. To give an idea, imports from the USA amount to more than $5.1 billion per year.

Vienna is Austria's capital and the largest city. Vienna sits right between the foothills of the Alps and the Carpathians; specifically right by the Vienna Woods which is a foothill section of the Alps. It is situated right along side Europe's second largest river, the Danube. This river cuts right through the mountains. The total area is about 160 square miles and the elevation is about 510 feet."The Vienna basin was a nodal point of ancient trade and military routes. It linked north and south along the “amber route” that ran southward from the Baltic and linked east and west along the Danube." The area first prospered as a trading center. The surrounding regions are Slovakia, Czech Republic and Hungary and strategically, Vienna commands these surrounding regions. Part of this reason is because they are in control of Europe's most important land and water routes. Vienna has become a center for art, music, architecture and education!