For some time now there have been a lot of things I’ve thought about and a lot of things I’ve wanted to share. But it has been difficult to put them down in words.
Working under the „Building Bridges” motto, I’ve decided to make an effort to put it all down on paper and start writing a blog in an attempt to give you all an idea of my point of view.
The thing that’s been bothering me the most lately is the fact that people around me seem to not fully comprehend the importance of good relationships, may that be between individuals, organizations or even large groups of our society. What I am about to address here are the relationships of the SA and SSER as such with other Baltic universities.
Most of the time, as soon as the topic of improving said relationships is brought up, response is quick: ‘But what do ‘I’ get out of it?’ or ‘We are already the best, there is nothing that we could get from others that would be worth putting effort in’.
It seems obvious to me that improving relationships is an inherently beneficial thing. But it is a large, long-term improvement, and it seems to me that a question about it warrants a thorough answer. I believe strongly that one should always provide solid arguments to back up any idea that one wants to spread, thus I’ve been considering the answer to this question for quite some time. Today I will not spend time listing the emotional and poetic benefits of friendship and harmony. Instead, I would like to address you as a future economist addresses other future economists. I will list some of the „real”, tangible benefits that improved relationships with other Baltic universities would provide.
First of all, by improving cooperation and connection with other universities, SSE Riga polishes its own reputation and recognizability. This consequently attracts the brightest minds to the school, including new students, professors and others, who ultimately will raise the bar for academic achievement and well-being of SSE Riga as well as add value to the diploma. Moreover, I would like to point out that even though public awareness of SSE Riga is undeniable in Latvia, the situation is less bright in Lithuania and even worse in Estonia, where public knowledge of the school in Riga is virtually non-existent. Cooperation with other Baltic universities would allow SSE Riga students to take part in different large-scale events and raise awareness of the school not only among high schools (which is a task already carried out by the Ambassadors’ project) but also among other college students as well as employers and potential sponsors.
Second, the mission of SSE Riga is, among other things, to improve the level of economic development in the Baltic states through education. This is a success already; SSER provides an excellent education, thus preparing a highly competent work force. Yet, why stop here? We might as well broaden our field of action at a relatively low resource cost by sharing our positive experience with other universities, thus encouraging real improvement for the next generation that is taking over the Baltic economy inside as well as outside our own school.
Third, even though we have exceptionally high academic achievements, we can all see that certain issues in the organization of our work remain (say SA’s contact with student body, say the convenience of finding an internship, say time management, say the visual image of SSE Riga). I do agree that we are good at solving these issues efficient as we can. However, shared experience can aid us in discovering solutions that other colleges have employed, inspire us and help us deal with our own problems more creatively and efficiently, broaden our horizons and enable us to see things from a new perspective.
Furthermore, we can create a two-way street. SSE Riga specializes in business and economy. There are universities in all Baltic states that have different specializations, students of which have different skills. Also there are schools with large football fields and concert halls. There are schools with wide social networks. In short, there is a whole assortment of untapped resources. And cooperating with these schools would help SSE Riga students to do their job in a more efficient way or even discover new ways.
So, what I am trying to say here is that one can always improve, no matter how far ahead and self-sufficient one is. Look at, say, the USA economy: no matter how big and powerful it is, it wouldn’t be half as good without its smaller trading partners. In addition, for those who have studied macro and/or International Economics already: there is a concept called comparative advantage, which describes how trade (in my point – a healthy relationship) is advantageous for both sides, even though one might show higher performance in all aspects.
No comments:
Post a Comment