Post Summaries- Summer Journal

Ethical Issues in My Profession:

I am in favor of outsourcing United States companies in Vietnam. The raw definition of outsourcing is to obtain (goods or a service) from an outside or foreign supplier, esp. in place of an internal source (New Oxford American Dictionary). With that being said, the best way to maximize costs is to find a way to manufacture the product at a cheap cost with some fixed costs including labor. I spoke with a man at 5 in the morning at the Ho Chi Minh City airport on the last leg of the trip. I briefly spoke about our trip and company visits and he told me how we are so lucky to experience this at such a young age. I proceeded to ask him what he was doing in Vietnam and he explained to me how he owns a business that makes equipment for hunting and that he is moving 100% of his manufacturing from China to Vietnam because of the price difference and laws that they have. He told me how most companies are leaving China for Vietnam and the Philippines; also, Asians see money and profit and will strike a deal the day that it is offered, unlike westerners who play around with deals for months or years. In Vietnam, labor is very cheap for Americans to gather many employees and make them work hard grueling hours to make a worthwhile product. There are many things that would not be allowed in the US because of our labor laws that provide employees benefits and laws to protect them. For instance, when we visited II-VI we learned a lot about the labor laws. The Vietnamese are allowed five days off a month without a request or a prior warning, they simply do not have to show up on some days. Companies of course need to maximize their time and profit so it is bad that the people sometimes do not show up. We learned that II-VI treats their employees well and tries their best to provide incentives to make sure the employees do come to work everyday. The wages are completely different than in America. The GDP per capita is roughly $1500 a year, which is close to 25 cents an hour and not to forget they work more hours than we do a day. The prices are of course more relative in the native country but still extremely low, like a meal does not cost the same here as it does there but relatively speaking it may for the workers. The United States is too far developed to lose the labor laws and would net make more money or do more business with the same kind of labor that the Vietnamese do. A really interesting difference that I will end this with is the land ownership. The communist government owns all of the land and therefore the companies lease their land which is not only more costly but can hurt if for some odd reason the government wants to take it back.

Educational Breadth as Professional Development:

There is certainly a need for a broader education in Vietnam especially with their rapidly growing economy and more global companies settling in Vietnam. After studying for two weeks in Vietnam, I have learned that there is a need for foreign interaction in the business world. As a business major, it is important to have some focus on foreign affairs and understand. Language barriers are always difficult and I am not saying I should study the main languages of the world but if I can gather a better sense of each continent and their business, I can further my quest to success. Also, if the education was stronger and the workforces were becoming more skilled and knowledgeable the entire country and companies can only grow and help stable the country. Like I mentioned before, with many global companies settling in Vietnam, the country should include more culture and language classes for the students because Vietnam is becoming a vital piece to the global economy and has major potential to succeed. When we visited EIU we saw in person how well these kids spoke English and studied. Many of their classes are hands on activities to prepare them for the best future. They are becoming more skilled than other students, which calls for competition, which then helps everyone, try to get better. I myself learned a lot about understanding culture and how important it is. Vietnam and the US have a major historical event that we each share and being an American, we have a different perspective on Vietnam then the rest of the world. Since we took classes there about the culture and language, the locals see that we are trying to use the language in our every day life and appreciate it more. I will never forget how many smiles I saw when I would ask how someone is or talk about prices in the market. They appreciate Americans coming to visit their country that was once in a brutal war with us and we are trying to learn their culture and language. Another vital part to educating everyone is when a business is entering a different country to for instance outsource; they need to be aware of the history, what kind of people, how business is handled in the country, and many laws such as how the government is operated. Obviously, the companies that become global are assumed to be intelligent but they need to obey the laws of the host country and make sure they cooperate with the people.

Lifelong Learning, Continuing Education as Professional Development:

The education of the current workers seems to be diverse like the United States workers. The difference is the job market is very open in Vietnam. Jobs are everywhere and unlike University students, the people are less concerned with how well it pays and how many hours a week, the Vietnamese work because they need to survive. There is less luxury in the country and more working to put meals on the plate. Of course, this happens in America but the people that are in my environment at home and school for the most part have more white-collar jobs. Many jobs are taught at work and the workers could have been farmers with a low education. Obviously, there are jobs that they need skilled workers and because of that, the schools teach them the necessary skills for the job. For many of the companies we visited, I saw a trend of the CEO and foreigners who bring in the unskilled workers for labor operate other authoritative positions. However, Vietnam is becoming more competitive and when competition arises people strive to get better and in turn will help increase the amount of skilled workers like engineers and business students. In the near future, workers will be more prepared and will boost the economy because the companies will not have to waste money on training and other needs to make sure the employees are producing the product correctly. As for technology, it is always rapidly improving but the workers are rapidly improving with it so there will be a time when everyone is caught up and the workers are supplying companies with a worthwhile skill unlike the workers now.

The Social Environment of Professional Life:

There are definitely connections to the social and professional life in Vietnam. First off, the culture is much more relaxed and less metropolitan. Patience is a virtue and is shown in the work place because most companies that we went to were more relaxed and easier to approach. I feel like if we were to do the same company visits in the US we would be much more intimidated with the environment and the people. The labor laws reflect the relaxed social life because of the amount of days off one gets and there is no such thing as a two-week notice. Also, many companies have good luck charms like a Buddha or certain number of steps, always odd, little things like that connect the social life and professional life. As for the locals staying on top of US news, they are pretty updated, mostly about sports. When I told several people I was from Philadelphia they knew all the teams I root for and the major players besides the American sports like baseball and hockey. They mostly knew about basketball and could recite to me several entire teams and how the playoffs were. Some students have been to the US particularly New York City and I was able to connect with them and discuss American topics with them. I will say it myself, I am not good at staying updated in even my own country so to say that I read newspapers and articles about Vietnam daily is certainly not true but since I have been back I have been reading and watching the history channel to further understand the war. I will say that because Vietnam’s businesses are from around the world, it is important to stay on top of the local news in different countries to understand the economy and politics in the country. As a communist country like Vietnam, our government is operated completely different so when there is business being done, it is sometimes difficult to come to an agreement because the government does and owns everything.

Functioning on Multi-Disciplinary Teams:

Communication is one of the core sources to success in the business world. One needs to be able to understand everyone’s input, the best solution that pleases everyone and also to finish each step of success, things always need to be spoken about. During the trip, I felt a lot more comfortable with the engineer students because I did not know a lot about engineering. I grew up with a dad who was an attorney and an older brother who went into accounting. Engineering was never spoken about in my house and because of that, I really did not have a sense of what an engineer does until the trip. I was excited to learn with these students and show them the business aspects of the companies while they share with me the technical understanding of a product. I was offered a new perspective of the business world through the engineer students because like the business school says, business majors think differently, its always maximizing success and the engineers think differently. They think about how one thing gets to another and a step-by-step process. It was neat to hear what they had to say about how business is very complicated with the relationships of the buyer and seller and different ways to distribute the product. Also, as a business student group projects occur all the time so working with kids from different backgrounds was a challenge but one that I endured and liked. A specific time during the trip when the engineers were most confused probably occurred when we visited the port because it was strictly business and trying to wrap their minds around supply, demand, costs, fixed costs, variable costs and other distribution techniques can be complicated and I was glad to help explain the different ways of doing business with ports. I thought we both helped each other very well and it was nice to have them for back up on confusing visits like II-VI.

When I returned home from the trip was when everything came together. It was almost like a revelation. I appreciated every second of the trip and knew that I was doing something that is once in a lifetime opportunity but when I landed in America and I spoke about the trip to my family was when I seriously loved this trip. The fact that I was able to interact with giant cooperation in Vietnam, study the language and culture, visit historical sights, and meet friends from school is unbelievable. I’ve been abroad a few times in my life in group settings but never had the time I had in Vietnam. It was the greatest experience and one that I will carry forever and I know will help me for my future. I would like to thank the people who organized the trip, the companies and university, and of course the individuals who were with me on the trip.