Ethical Issues in my Profession:
The issue that stood out to my the most in comparison to the
United States was definitely the factory workers. Here in America even simply
firing a worker can be a very difficult process with having to deal with Unions
and paper work and plus having to pay unemployment. However, in Vietnam the
workers seemed very disposable as they just come and go freely. The work hours
and living situations of these factory workers amaze me. I cannot imagine
living and working like that for such little pay. When we were told about how
factory workers live in a small room with possibly three other works I was
shocked. In addition to how most are probably so far from their families it
does not seem work it to me. Lastly, as a result of this the Vietnamese workers
seem very dedicated to their work since they are willing to do this while
sometimes American workers can have the reputation of being lazy. In the higher
up rankings of business the professionalism seemed very similar to in America,
in which the ideas and strategies were very thoroughly thought out and planned.
Educational Breadth
as Professional Development
With so many new technologies, such as Skype, E- mail, and
even planes, the world now can seem like a very small place because
communication is much more easy and convenient to do through long distances. But
even though people can seem closer they really are not and cultures are very
very different. I think it is important for people to understand this and make
attempts to learn other people’s culture. This can make business a lot easier
because then you can understand that person’s ideas a little better. I think
business can still be conducted without this understand because there are many
similarities but it would facilitate and be helpful in making the process a
little easier. Courses such as Business with an Asian focus can help this.
However, I believe that going abroad is the best way to truly understand a
culture. Experiencing a culture is much more beneficial then learning about it
in an American classroom. I had studied Vietnam in history classes in America
but after visiting it and meeting its people I have a completely different
understanding and appreciation for the country and its culture.
Lifelong Learning, Continuing Education as Professional
Development
A lot of the skills and strategies used have been learned
and understood throughout their careers as new projects create in issues and
new solutions need to be formed in order to accomplish tasks. I believe that to
excel in any job one must be always learning. The world is always changing and
new things are always being created. In school we learn the basics that allow
us to do this. It would be impossible for us to learn everything we need to
know forever just in a couple years in school. But the basics that we do learn
give us a solid starting foundation that will be built off with with creative
thinking and new influences. I believe this applies to both business and engineering.
Both are such unique and changing fields that to stand out you must be one step
ahead and learn new things in order to be very successful.
The Social Environment of Professional Life
The social issues in both Vietnam and America seem rather
similar to me, however they are different in which they are on such a different
scale. Even in America we have the issue of poverty and a seemingly unfair
distribution of wealth. This is definitely present in Vietnam where there are
the factory workers who live in such difficult living situations and then the business men who live in places like Phu
My Hung. Another issue that was similar to America was the issue of women’s
rights. Although women are still prominent in the work place they are not
treated or held to the same standards as the men. I believe it is important to
have a thorough knowledge on the contemporary issues in countries when doing
business because one needs to be aware of the obstacles those issues can pose
doing business in or with that country. Social issues in the work place are
evident uniquely in different countries, however, on the global scale in my
field I have noticed that women in engineering is extremely rare, especially in
foreign countries such as Vietnam.
Functioning on Multi-Disciplinary Teams
The biggest challenge of working as a team with people from
different countries is definitely language. The language barrier we faced when
communicating with the Vietnamese students was very difficult and could sometimes
be extremely frustrating. Trying to finish a project, which can already be very
frustrating, in addition to not being able to communicate as easily as we are
used to would most likely be hard. I was very very surprised when the engineer
we met at II-VI said he could not speak Vietnamese and had lived there for so
long. I can not imagine doing daily activities such as going out to eat or
going to a grocery store and struggling to communicate and explain the things
that I want. In the case when its business people and engineers working
together I do not think there are any major issues. Both people are working
together to complete a common goal as efficiently and successfully as possible.
Both have different backgrounds allowing them to contribute different ideas
which, when working as a team, can be molded together to form a solution that
works best from both a business and engineering perspective.
