Final Journal Entry

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.