Final Journal Entry

Ethical Issues in My Profession

In recent years Chile has transformed into a modern, industrial, capitalist country very similar to that of the United States. Upon observance, the two countries really share a lot in common when it comes to jobs and the professional setting. For example, safety of the employees is perhaps the largest employer-employee on-the-job concern. In the United States, there are various rules and regulations particular to each company and ones that are national safety standards. In Chile there were two instances where safety standards could not be ignored. First, at Codelco, the equipment required to simply be standing within working areas was astounding. Without all the proper attire, it was impossible to walk around. Secondly, at Centauro upon entering the factory there were various warnings and instructions regarding safety. They were so explicit that they even showed a finger that had been sliced off from bad usage of a machine. The impression I received was that the employer was generally well-concerned with the well-being of the employee which is why the safety rules were length and the working conditions were typically respectable. By this I mean that the employees of the companies we visited seemed to enjoy their jobs (the people in the vineyards and at LAN were smiling and joking around), and the facilities and equipment was clean and well-kept. Besides safety issues, the system of employee benefits was mainly controlled by each individual instead of mass company regulation. This is much like that of the system in the United States. Employees in both countries typically get to set aside money from each paycheck for healthcare and retirement savings. While healthcare is individually decided (usually) in both countries, the social security arrangement in Chile is more privatized than the one in the United States.

Due to the Catholic upbringing, Chile still remains to be a more conservative country in terms of lifestyle choices and beliefs. Women have slowly been gaining more and more power in the workplace, although when walking around Santiago, the number of men in business suits was dominant. However, this is no surprise to someone living in the United States who would also encounter this in the streets of Pittsburgh or New York. The way Chileans also differentiate between different races and different sexualities is similar to the United States. There are those races or groups who end up being the teased and ridiculed. In Chile, this can be seen in the way most Chileans of European descent look down upon the Mapuche. Also, we noticed while out with the Chilean students that the terms “gay” and “queer” are often used in just as derogatory manners as they are in the United States due to how “abnormal” being homosexual still is in both countries.

Ultimately, the business culture in both countries seems to be very similar. The only difference I have noticed is the market in each country. What someone would pay for an item in the United States is typically more than the price someone would pay for the same item in Chile. Any business would have to consider this when doing international business between the two countries. Additionally, both countries participate in numerous trade arrangements, which yet again prove a similarity as to how business would do equally as well in either country.

Educational Breadth as Professional Development

After traveling to Chile (and other international locales), I have found that it is possible to get by without previous knowledge or experience of the destination country. In fact, after preparing thoroughly for this Chile trip, I realized that I learned and gained the most from actually being there and witnessing it in real life. No matter how much studying you do beforehand, nothing is quite like truly experiencing it for yourself.

The bottom line is that economies constantly change. While it could be beneficial for students to take courses on global issues, there is never enough time to learn about every economy and culture in the world. During my trips to a couple parts of Europe and Chile, no major conflicts occurred due to a clash of cultures.

The true goal of engineering school is to teach students how to be problem solvers, that is, how to successfully analyze and resolve any situation. Although there may be different means used to achieve this goal, every engineering program in the United States attempts to have students reach this ultimate goal. Luckily, problem solving is a global language. Engineering relates most directly to technical issues instead of global economical struggles. For an engineering student with an already exhausting schedule, it would be unnecessary and impossible to include such an additional course load into the curriculum. Engineers everywhere can find ways to communicate across languages and cultures to solve problems due to the nature of their tasks (like solving the energy crisis or improving artificial limbs, for example).

The real struggle in handling cross cultural events would lie with those involved in international business or even business alone. Like I said before, I don’t think there is a way to study all the economies in the world, for that would be long and weary. However, it may be nice to take a course that would summarize the majority of the countries that the United States directly or indirectly does business with.

I don’t feel as though this should be a requirement; instead it should be offered as a supplementary program for those intent upon doing global business.

Lifelong Learning, Continuing Education as Professional Development

As previously mentioned, the perk of engineering school is that it sets students up to be thinkers and instills the skills needed to survive in the professional world of engineering. Essentially what this means is that they teach people how to think so that when they receive problems that need to be corrected as professional assignments, they have the tools needed to accomplish such tasks by themselves. This implies that most of the actual trial and error learning occurs when on the job. While this is true for engineering school, it does not hold for all majors and careers.

Each company we visited in Chile had different careers available and different tasks relevant to each position. Higher education is deeply valued in the industrialized parts of Chile much like it is in the United States. Many employers expect employees to have college degrees. It is up for debate, however, how much of what was learned in college actually is used on the job. For some places like at the Chilean Stock Exchange, employees needed to have updated information that could only be learned in college. For example, the engineers who served as technology specialists needed to understand computer programming in order to set up operating systems and to be able to combat kinks in the system. Likewise, chemical engineers at Codelco must have an understanding of metals and mixtures to gain the best composition for the copper that is being produced. Employees at LAN probably required the most college training due to the intense, technical nature of their job. Other jobs, however, developed knowledgeable employees through on the job training. Most people who worked at Vina Indomita most likely learned things from working and from other employees. I do not think that college teaches people how to correctly pick grapes off of a stem. Nevertheless, I did hear from someone down in Chile that they have a wine-making program at some colleges. Additionally, people working at Centauro only had to do simple tasks like removing tomato paste from an assembly line and putting it into a large bin.

It was evident in all the companies that technology has greatly relieved the employees of numerous duties and of great time. From all the machines that directly can the products at Centuaro to the information system designed to help the Stock Exchange flow more easily, technology has improved the quality of life at the jobs.

Lucky for me, engineering school does a great job of preparing us for life as professionals. As engineers, we are prepared to find our own way in the professional setting so that we can compete against other professionals aimed at finishing tasks ahead of us. From our visits, it appeared that Chileans were qualified for the jobs they were working, even though they may or may not have had formal education. In the case of some Codelco employees, the job had been theirs since a very young age. What set them apart was the way in which they adapted to the addition of technology into the job setting and they way it propelled them forward into the future of the company.

The Social Environment of Professional Life

When in Chile, I experienced television programs, magazines, commercials, and even political debates that reminded me of my home country. From watching the series finale of Friends to a slightly delayed version of Gossip Girl with some serious Spanish subtitles, I enjoyed a pseudo-comfort. Through all the American media and pop culture that has invaded Chile, many Chileans are aware of the current state of the United States. It showed Chileans a sense of what is being talked about right now like President Obama, the economy crisis, liberating homosexual relationships, the class system, etc. Unfortunately, the same cross-culture invasion has not happened in the United States. Before we travelled to Chile, I knew very little about current issues happening in the present day. While they were so educated about us, I felt disgraced that we knew little about them. Fortunately, Mimo taught us a lot, and showed us even more how the United States and Chile are related. The education of Chileans on the United States probably increases over time because the day I talked to the children on the beach, they knew very little about the United States and hassled me with questions.

The fact that Chile is experiencing impact from the economy crisis and also the competition for the presidential election at the end of the year both aid the understanding of the direction American business and the American economy is headed. Chileans that have much knowledge about their own country and about the United States can interpret what plans of action would be best suited in tackling any business operation.

It is unfortunate that the United States and its culture have more effect on Chile than Chile does on the United States. However, maybe this is the advantage that Chilean firms have over their United States competitors.

Functioning on Multi-Disciplinary Teams

For starters, I’m not positive that it is always necessary for people to function on diverse teams. Sometimes having people from similar backgrounds proves to work out well in terms of getting the job done because everyone is more on the same level. However, I understand that it is never a good thing to shy away from diverse teams because they can be effective and rewarding. On this occasion, I found myself working with two other engineers and one business student. It was great to have company that thought along the same terms as I did; however, it was difficult to get a business perspective on a lot of things due to business minority in our group. My strategies for these type of groups seems to always be the same: make a simple step by step list of what needs to get done and try to delegate the work as much as possible. Usually this works well to get the task completed.

In professional settings one might also expect to encounter diverse groups. Language and cultural barriers would be the toughest things to get over. In these types of settings, it is best to focus not on what beliefs are different between conflicting members, but what compromises could be made to correct the situation. The most important thing is to look at the task at hand and what needs to ultimately be accomplished, so that it can always be kept in mind.