Ethical Issues in My Profession:
One thing I noticed was the lack of safety in the construction workers we passed while walking through Beijing. Workers did not have the saftey equipment that is required in the United States. Workers were using blow torches and shaping metal without wearing goggles or flame resistant clothing. There was also no safety barricade to protect the civilians walking close to the construction site. This would not be allowed in the United States. Another time I saw men lifting a statue from the back of a truck and there were more men on one side, leaving the statue unbalanced. The statue could have easily been dropped and crushed someone’s foot. In the United States the proper measures would be taken to make sure that the load was balanced and every worker was in a safe environment. As for environmental issues I think companies in China and in the Unites States take this into consideration when making plans. In Beijing we saw solar panels, solar water heaters, and windows that refracted/reflected the light to help maintain the temperature inside. There is no set minimum wage in China and many workers need to work overtime just to support their families. The companies will pay workers as little as possible so that they can have a greater income. This shows in the company’s profits but the happiness of the workers is much less in China. One company we heard about had workers jump off of their building and commit suicide because they were making so little money and could not support their families.
Educational Breadth as Professional Development:
Business and everyday living is a whole new experience in China. The “business casual“ dress code of the Chinese is similar to that of the United States. There are some Chinese customs that must be followed so one does not offend a potential business partner. For example, when someone is taking a business card from a Chinese businessman he or she must take it with two hands. It is also offensive to put the card in your wallet and then put it in your back pocket. If engineers and business students hope to work with people in a global market then they must be willing to put in the time and effort to learn a little bit about the country they will be working with. Learning and following the customs of that country shows that you respect them and in return they will show you the same respect. The Plus 3 program is a fantastic way to get students thinking about working with people internationally. With the technology we have today, working with other engineers and businessmen is pretty easy and will allow for us to take the best of the best to work together. I hope to study abroad in another country and broaden my understanding of the world.
Lifelong Learning, Continuing Education as Professional Development:
Some of the professionals we talked to on our company visits had different degrees from what they were doing in the work world today. Our Capital Bio tour guide went to school for biology. He is now working from the business perspective and is not worried so much about the research and development. He told the business students they were smart and started out on “the right path” and he wish he did the same. He graduated from Tsinghua University as many of the other people we talked to did. We talked to the professionals from Tsinghua Solar and they had degrees in environmental studies. They gave us the presentation about the company. In bigger companies someone with a communications degree would most likely have given the presentation. No matter what position you start with in a company you will need to work with people and acquire a new skill set for the task at hand. You will need to adjust and continue to learn if you want to be successful in the company. With new technologies arising fairly quickly, workers need to be able to comprehend these and be able to work efficiently with this. Companies will want to hire people who can adjust to new technologies, who are willing to learn new skills, and who can work as part of a team.
The Social Environment of Professional Life:
One night at dinner Vanessa asked Dr. Gao what he did in his free time at Tsinghua. Dr. Gao answered “I studied.” Vanessa laughed and asked him again what he did in his free time when he wasn’t studying. Dr. Gao laughed and said he only studied in college and that there wasn’t time for fun. I think this can apply to many Chinese who aspire to obtain a high degree. On the other hand Vivien and Ruby were always ready to come on an adventure with the 16 of us and said they could study later. I think the connection between the professional and social life can’t be summed up for a country. It depends on the individual and varies between people and generations. The Chinese do not like to talk about politics publicly and it is very rare to hear a discussion about politics. We learned in our one lesson that politics is typically discussed between family members at home. It is important to know about politics and economics in other countries because different countries can affect the global market to a greater degree than others. It is particularly important to pay attention to countries the US deals with on a daily basis, such as China.
Functioning on a Multi-Disciplinary Team
It is very important to be able to work as a team member so that you can have the benefits of different ways of thinking and other people’s knowledge. It is rare for a person to know everything about everything. Our business team consisted of two engineering students and two business students. One problem we ran into was understanding each other’s terminology. As an engineering student I didn’t know what the SWOT test was or other parts of the assignment meant. The business students had already taken classes on the basics of business and knew what our prompt was asking. This proves the benefit of a diverse team. As an engineer my responsibility was to work out how our product would work and the business students were to figure out our market, price range, and other business related information. All of us worked together and even helped with the other aspect of the project. Working as a team we came up with a really good business plan and a marketable idea. I think this proves that engineers and businessmen will continue to work together and come up with great ideas and projects.
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