1.) Ethical Issues in my Profession
While we were in China, we had the privilege of seeing the inside of many factories. Some of these included Phicomm, ASA, and TE Connectivity. These companies had predominantly manual assembly lines. The conditions did not seem like they would be acceptable in the United States. With workers in tight quarters and constantly attached to grounding wires to ensure they weren’t effecting the products, the conditions seemed very poor compared to those of workers in the United States. This was very unsettling to many students on our trip as we are all accustomed to the pristine working conditions in the U.S. The Chinese, however, seemed fairly content to work like this. They seemed to be happy to be employed. We learned that, even though most of theses assembly lines seemed to be capable of being replaced by machines, China offers incentives to the companies that employ people over machines to reduce unemployment in China. This made more sense as to why the people seemed okay with these standards of working conditions. We also learned a lot about diversity in China, which is primarily the Han people. There isn’t much racial diversity, and most of them aren’t very religious, reducing much animosity between people. All of this was very helpful in understanding the ethics of Chinese business.
2.) Educational Breadth as Professional Development
In order to fully understand engineering and business, a student must have a very broadened education. Students must have a global understanding in order to succeed in the world today. Being knowledgeable about other cultures is very important, especially today with all of the trade in the United States. Knowledge of China and its economy and culture is especially important as the United States does most of its trading with China. While on our trip, we learned much about doing business with the Chinese. Our lecturer, Mark Davis, informed us about doing business with the Chinese and how it works differently than many other cultures. In China, contracts don’t mean as much as personal conversations do. They find it more meaningful to go for lunch with a potential business partner than to sign a piece of paper with them agreeing to something. They feel it is more important to trust their partners. After learning about these things, I believe that it is far more important to study abroad in order to understand how to do business with other cultures. Without abroad experiences, many students will lack the understanding of other cultures required to do business with them effectively.
3.) Lifelong Learning, Continuing Education as a Professional Development
At company visits, we were given many opportunities to ask questions. This allowed us to understand that school only allows us to learn so much. While the skills acquired in school allow the employees to be able to understand their jobs and effectively work for their corresponding companies, the actual on the job learning allowed them to progress and advance their careers and themselves. Most of the employees of these companies admitted that they learned almost all of their professional skills in their first job. They also emphasized that they truly enjoy lifelong learning and the feeling of accomplishment they get from mastering a new skill or task. In an ever changing professional and technological world, it is very important to continue adapting skills and growing as a professional and as an employee. In engineering, professionals must constantly innovate and learn on the job in order to keep at the forefront of the ever changing technologies. When we visited Huawei, they continually emphasized the necessity of innovation in order to keep up with companies like Apple and Samsung. It was very interesting to hear employees of these companies discussing their constant strive for innovation.
4.) The Social Environment of Professional Life
While in China, we went to the Beijing Foreign Studies University. When we were there, we were able to talk to students very closely, which was very interesting. While no one was really interested in talking politics, we did discuss many social differences between our cultures. Our tour guide was very surprised when I said my parents are strict. She said she thought American parents let their kids do anything they want, especially when they have boys. She found it very surprising when I informed her that I grew up working and that my household had many rules. She also asked us if Americans really wanted to be as tan as possible. She said the Chinese women really value light colored skin and find it very attractive. She also said that this is why many Chinese women walk around with umbrellas, to shield themselves from the suns rays. She then asked about our universities and said how much she would love to go to school in America, as we have such prestigious universities. Talking with our tour guide at the university was definitely helpful in giving us a good idea of the Chinese culture.
5.) Functioning on Multi-Disciplinary Teams
Working in teams is one of my favorite things about engineering. I work so much better when I can bounce ideas off of other people and adapt to their opinions and thoughts. Most of the work in the Swanson School of Engineering is done in teams. However, all of my teamwork experience was with engineering students, never any from the business school. The idea of broadening my horizons in working with other people was very exciting to me. Going on this trip allowed me to meet so many new people and learn how others work and think. Working with business students allowed me to experience the thought process of nonengineering students. This knowledge will allow me to work more effectively in the future in a job that requires an employee base of both business people and engineers. This trip has really helped me to learn to work in a truly effective manner, as well as communicate more effectively. It was very beneficial to me to fully experience the business world when we were speaking with professionals at company visits. I feel that I now have a better understanding of how business and engineering relate to one another.
Plus 3 China 