Ethical Issues: The working conditions in China are definitely a lot better than I expected, as are the ways companies treat the environment. Though, I do imagine that the U.S. has quite a few more environmental regulations, and that wages are much lower in China. According to many of the companies we visit, however, the minimum wage is rising, and more environmental laws are being put in place, such as factories not being allowed to be build in cities. As far as worker treatment based on diversity, I did not see enough diversity to properly answer that, but from what I have gleaned, all workers are treated equally in China, regardless of their race or religion, they just are treated worse than in countries like the U.S. For instance, some factories seemed quite dirty, a standard that would result in heavy fines in the U.S. On the other hand, Huawei’s campus was extremely clean so I suppose it varies by company. Because of this however, it makes manufacturing much cheaper in China, making China the production plant of the world and allowing companies to produce products very cheap in China and then sell them at high markup in the U.S. or in places such as Europe or Japan.
Educational Breadth: To be a professional in China requires the same amount of education as it would require in the U.S., but some cultural learning is definitely important. And when I say cultural learning I mean more than just the language. There are significant differences in the way business is conducted in China compared to business in the U.S. These differences will become increasingly important as China grows more and more especially for business majors like me. As I have to do more work interacting with Chinese companies I will have to be aware of these practices. I am already taking Mandarin so I believe that is a step in the right direction but I believe the only real way to learn about these cultural differences is to spend significant time working for a Chinese company in China. I think this also applies the other way around as well. As Chinese professionals must engage more and more in the American market they must also learn the differences between their way of doing business and ours. I learned on our final day there that when doing business in China, emotional relationships are very important. Interacting with a business partner usually means sitting down and having a meal and tea with them, as well as drinking significant amounts of alcohol, very different than sitting in a U.S. conference room.
Continuing Education: This was very obvious from the start, it is crucial in the business world to always continue learning everyday. And many professionals would say that only about half of their learning came from school, the rest came from actually doing the job and encountering problems while working. They always had to continue learning things year by year, and not in an educational setting. They would add to their learning just by doing, by solving problems and see what worked and what didn’t and then apply that knowledge to the next problem, somewhat like a variable heuristic. Life-long learning is essential in any professional field (although, I can say it is probably more crucial in some than others). Nonetheless, adding to your knowledge of technologies, processes, cultural interactions, and business practices must be an ongoing thing to be competitive in today’s market. Not just to keep a company running, but also to keep your job, and further your career. As far as technology goes, the representatives from companies say they are constantly learning and implementing more new technology as it becomes readily available, especially as wages increase and the need for automation becomes more necessary. For instance, TE Connectivity was an almost completely automated plant, and the managers had to learn how to use that technology.
Social and Professional Life Interactions: I have to say, I did now know much about that social issues or the political issues of China, and even though I knew something about the business issues there, my knowledge was extremely subpar. As a said above, conducting business in China and having a professional career involves a lot of social interaction. Things like being friends with your boss or the other professional you’re about to make a deal with. And along with this comes taking them out to dinner or having them over for dinner, or even things like going out drinking. I am seriously lacking in knowledge of the global interplay within the business world, but I would say that knowledge of this information is an important part of conduction global business, not just in your specific field but as a big-picture analysis. For example, a stock broker should definitely be looking at the Chinese stock market but he or she should also be looking at other economic factors there, especially because China plays a crucial role in the U.S. economy as well as the world’s. For someone like me, a finance major but more towards a company’s analyst, not a stock market player would have to look at our companies options in China, not only as a source of manufacturing but also as a growing market to sell to.
Multi-disciplinary Teams: I had firsthand experience with this before the program and during it. As we were making our final presentation more and more important details came to light. It is important to understand not just your discipline on the team but also have a good understanding of the other disciplines. Yes I am a finance major but I should also try to familiarize myself with the engineering principles involved in the project we are working on. This kind of understanding also helps in interacting with the team, things like assigning roles and performing your own role without constantly asking the other discipline for help in organizing thing that you wouldn’t understand. This type of learning would also prevent misunderstandings in communication between team members of difference disciplines. Our team had minimal problems such as this because we were just creating a concept of the company, but if we were to actually start this company (which we kind of want to do) we would face a whole slew of problems that we would need this kind of learning to have a dual-disciplinary solution to. The biggest challenge we faced was in the ways in which people work, some like working in the group while others would rather get their assignment and just finish it on their own, both approaches have their advantages and disadvantages. Those working in the group mustn’t get bogged down in discussing or analyzing the project and need to do their work, but the person working alone might face problems that the other discipline could solve or miss problems that people could help see.
Plus 3 in china... I mean nitzan in china 