Ethical Issues in my Profession:
Compared to the United States, working conditions in China are not up to the same standards. After talking with a student from Tsinghua University, the same opportunities found in the United States are not available in China, and pay is not as high. Benefits such as unemployment compensation and social security do not exist, and there is no minimum wage. Also with the failing economy in the United States, China has suffered as well. This presents problems for graduating students to enter the workforce. Bribery is almost expected in order to obtain good jobs. This fact brings about the concept of professional ethics that are nearly unheard of in the United States. Here we can get good jobs based on experience and education while in China it can be based only on who gives the company the most money. Also, due to lower wages many American companies can benefit from having factories in China to cut down on costs and to increase profits. This presents many problems in the U.S. because jobs are hard to come by with the bad economy and if companies continue to ship their job opportunities abroad, the American economy could potentially collapse. In addition, based on the company visits there did not appear to be much diversity within the workforce. However, I was surprised to find that many of the companies had foreigners in higher positions.
Educational Breadth as Professional Development:
I absolutely believe that everyone who has a chance to study abroad should. I think it is extremely important in today’s society to have the experience living, studying, or working in another country. The business field continues to form relations with other countries worldwide and those entering the workforce need to be prepared to deal with this. It is important understand cultures and languages to break any barriers that form from business opportunities abroad. It is also important for engineers to gain the international experience. Those from other countries have different views and ways of running things. As engineers, new and innovative technology only comes from these unique ideas. Specifically when dealing with China, the written language causes issues when dealing with the United States and other countries. When visiting Lenovo, we learned about the difficulty of using computers in China and how they have just recently caught up. Also Hanwan presented character recognition systems. Both technologies could have American contributors if they studied the language and had the global experience to be involved in the engineering of such devices. What may be the most important reason for studying abroad could simply be to diminish stereotypes. Workforces are becoming more diverse in the U.S. and people must be able to work in groups with those from other countries. If individuals have had the experience of traveling, they will be able to better understand where people come from and can then better work together.
Lifelong Learning:
There are obvious differences in the education systems of China and the United States. Chinese schools before college are much more strict and difficult. The students must spend all their time preparing for a test that basically decides their future. The test allows them to get into Universities if scores are good enough. Once getting to a University, workloads ease up and students take advantage of their freedom. I think workloads in American Universities are heavier, but I can’t say the same for high schools and below. Though education in school is important, it is not the only thing that contributes to a successful career. Both in the United States and in China, workers are constantly learning new things. As they work at a company longer, they become familiar with the system and can therefore perform better on any task. Technological advances must also contribute to lifelong learning. Computer systems are used in nearly every company, requiring individuals to be able to adapt to any software or even hardware changes that often occur. Those that are unable to continue their education in the workforce may fall behind and will ultimately lose their jobs and be unable to be competitors in their field of work.
Social Environment:
One apparent restriction on the social lives of those in China is the internet. Facebook and Youtube are completely blocked. Also when one performs a search on Google, many of the sites are blocked or do not appear. This restriction by the government was the only obvious form of censorship that I noticed in China. There appeared to be good coverage of international news on the TV. I was able to hear information about all the problems in Thailand and on the oil spill in the Gulf. I was not able to read newspapers, but I gained some insight from the Tsinghua student that I talked to. As an International Studies major I’m sure he was more educated than most, but he probably knew more about American politics that I did. He was also very educated in International topics, which I believe is not common in the United States. Most people do not keep up with such topics, falsely believing it doesn’t apply to them. It is extremely important for those in business and engineering to have knowledge on what is going on in the world. Right now, China has huge market for buying cars. Those in business and engineering must know this in order to make money.
Functioning on a Multi-Disciplinary Team:
Diverse groups have the potential to accomplish great things with their broad knowledge, but communication can be a difficult item to overcome. There are those people that do better giving orders and those who would rather listen. This must be addressed when first forming a group, so everyone is able to first get along. People must also trust one another to be able to complete their share of the work. Success can be attained if the group works with every member’s strengths in particular areas. One of the most important aspects of working well in such a team is the ability to listen and be open to other people’s ideas. Everyone’s input is a key part of success because the best ideas can be mixed together to become some brilliant. Specifically with engineers and business students, there are certain aspects that each has more knowledge on. Engineers have the ability to think in unique ways to solve problems and they have technological skills that surpass those in business. On the other hand, business students are able to provide insight into how to run companies and make profits. Though there may be clashes with certain topics, I believe that compromises can be made to benefit everyone.