Visiting various businesses in
Vietnam, I have gained a better sense of their potential for economic growth.
Vietnam offers fair taxation rates, and cheap labor: both contributing to their
increasing role as a player in the international business world. These two
factors have also made Vietnam a great destination for corporations to
establish factories and offices. One of the companies we visited, the II VI
International Company, recently established their first Vietnamese factory. Their
chief engineer told us about the company’s establishment, and the reasons they
settled in Vietnam. The cheap labor was most appealing to II VI; the labor
rates in Saigon are slightly lower than even those in China. I was pleasantly
surprised with the benefits offered by II VI to their employees. Employees
received 5 excused absences per month and received bus tickets to visit their
families during vacation. The strong education system in Vietnam also helps to
produce highly skilled employees. The employees at II VI are not trained
engineers, but solely trained to do their specific part in the assembly line.
The conditions in the factory were safe: the chemicals were also kept under a
fume hood to keep the toxins out of workers lungs.
A company with the same finances
would be far more successful establishing in Vietnam than in the United States
because of the lower net costs in Vietnam. When leaving Vietnam, I met a man
waiting at the gate for the plane. He told me that he had just built two
factories for his outerwear company in Vietnam. He was originally established
in Arizona, but then went bankrupt because he could not make enough profit to
pay for insurance and rent. He explained the difference between the business
environments and showed me the attraction to doing business in Vietnam. The
government also has contributed to economic growth: the corporate income tax
has been lowered in order to make Vietnam an even more appealing destination
for corporations to settle. Vietnam is becoming more powerful as their economy
continues to grow, and I look forward to seeing what they may accomplish in the
next 10-15 years. From the experiences on my travels, I have seen that Vietnam
is treating their employees similarly to the way that Americans are treated; I
hope workers wages will rise with the growing economy and that the money does
not simply benefit the upper class.
Having a wide understanding of
different business strategies and techniques is valuable for problem solving in
varied situations. The more knowledge you have, the quicker you will be able to
work through any problem you may encounter in the business world. A broad
education is necessary for anyone working in the business world. Everything is
international: we are more globally connected than ever before. It is impossible
to work in business without being conscious of other cultures and societies
around the globe. It is imperative for American youth to be educated and
exposed to global differences and problems that may not apply within American
culture. Globalism is rapidly increasing, and those who can stay educated and
up to date will have the most advantage to being successful in any industry.
The topics most beneficial to understand about the international world include
demographic differences, and growth rates. Classes solely focusing on global
differences may help students to better understand their role in the
international economy.
The origins of ones skills for their
profession can be varied. I believe general education is most important to
teaching students how to be critical thinkers and find solutions to new problems
they encounter. Once one has the ability to think critically, they will excel
in finding solutions to these new problems. Education must be formed around a
country’s economy, and the industries they participate in. For Vietnam, for
example, the education system would be most beneficial to the students if it
provided them the skills to work in an international business setting as they
have a rapidly expanding economy. It is also important for student to be
educated on the most recent advances in the technology worlds. If a student is
studying nursing, it is essential that they are educated using the same medical
equipment that would be used in the real hospital. These points also hold true
in America; with the recent boom in technology and with the growth of
globalism, American students must be educated and ready to work through any
obstacles they come across. The more adept one is to change, and the faster
they can react, the more successful they will be.
There was not a strong connection
between people’s social and professional lives in Vietnam. Certainly people may
involve their religion into their workplace, in some cases placing the symbol
of their religion around places in their work. I was very interested with the
Vietnamese students knowledge of current events in American sports. One
student, Vung, was a huge fan of Kobe Bryant; he wore his official shoes and
loved his baseline jump shot. While very knowledgeable of Bryant and the Lakers,
Vung was not even aware the NBA playoffs were taking place at the time. I
realized that while the Vietnamese were updated with new shoe lines, and jersey
sales, they were not able to consistently follow the NBA besides checking on
the Internet. I am curious to what awareness the rest of the Vietnamese have
about American sports, as well as American current events in politics and
economics. In American news, I am aware of some current events in Vietnam,
mostly solely having to do with the economy. It seems logical the American news
would be more concerned with economic issues in Vietnam, rather than social
issues because the economics have more of a direct effect of the United States.
Government policy and regulations do have a direct effect on the business
world; Government’s may impose regulations helping or deterring big business
ideals.
Working with students in different
fields of study, I was able to gain a better understanding of the problems we
faced because we had a wide variety of views of such topics. Often times when I
am working alone, I may miss key ideas because I can be very narrow-minded.
When working with engineering majors as a business student, I was able to more
easily understand certain concepts with their explanations. Brian was especially
helpful; without him, I would never have been able to understand what II VI
actually made. In other cases, I helped explain to others the differences
between insourcing and outsourcing, and other business concepts.
