So we’re on the home stretch…last semester of business school brings with it some challenges (securing a job, maintaining some sort of diligence in completing coursework, battling the ever-increasing urge to move on to the next chapter of my life); however, I am more excited than ever for the next few months because I finally find freedom to balance my school and social life in a more manageable way.
The first half of January, I joined about 30 fellow classmates in Beijing and Shanghai to visit various corporations, attend lectures by several renowned professors from multiple Chinese Universities, and explore the culture that permeates the bustling and emerging economy. The global perspective gleaned from this trip could never have been replicated in a classroom in the United States, and I am thrilled to have learned so much with my classmates. I hope to write a paper on this experience for part of the course credit we receive for the course; however, I’d like to share some interesting discoveries I made while in Asia.
An eye-opening business practice in China is their ethical practice. In the US, an emphasis is placed on strict ethical codes and scandals over the past years followed by prison sentences and steep fines prove the importance of identifying correct choices and practices in the business world. In China, every business person and even officials of the securities commission talk about the difference in identifying the importance of business ethics. Business to many is inherently dirty and bribery, a disregard for intellectual property, and other shady practices is often necessary for success. When asked whether or not a different ethical or moral compass is indeed the reason for this difference, we received replies that people still see the same “right and wrongs” as we do in America; however, the tolerance and accepted behavior for ethical behavior is much higher. As businesses grow and become more global, the prevalence of this activity may decrease due to the requirements of other countries like the US.
People share similarities all over the world and I was so pleasantly surprised by the genuine interest and endearing nature of the residents in Beijing. I have never talked to so many people with varied backgrounds, economic stature, and life explanation who all spoke English (sometimes fragmented) and took a genuine interest in the life of Americans. The individuals in Shanghai seemed a bit more competitive and reserved in terms of approaching people; however, I still have a positive impression of the culture we encountered while in China. We were received well by all our hosts and students at the Universities we visited and I walked away several contacts that will be beneficial for my future career endeavors.
I claim to be a fairly adventurous person, although I discovered this does not apply when it comes to food. The most challenging part of the trip to China was finding something that I wanted to eat. Yes, the country is decorated with KFC, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, and Starbucks; however, these restaurants do not always exist where we had meetings. The majority of dinners served us unidentified meats and fish that I had never seen before in my life, so I discovered the best solution was to eat watermelon in the morning, rice with soy sauce and then stock up on Pocky to make it through the night (good tip to picky travelers – although most my classmates didn’t seem to have this problem).
Spending time with the first and second year students in the Tepper MBA program in addition to all the different alumni we met in China truly served as a bonding experience and the people we spent time with on this trip will most likely continue to communicate with each other following graduation. We had wonderful leaders who spoke the language which helped tremendously. I was extremely impressed with the student leadership and we always had some event (career, education, or tourism) to participate in so every day was exciting and informative. Many of us came back with some mysterious disease, but I will say it’s worth it! I recommend all students participate in the study abroad and group trips that are planned through the University because they offer a much broader, international interpretation of business that could not be replicated on a personal trip.
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