It’s crazy to think that today is my third day in Vietnam. Time really does fly when you are having fun (and waking up at 7 AM everyday). This morning we attended at lecture at UEF by an economics professor who spoke about her research on the effect of climate change in the Mekong Delta. Since environmental concerns is something that I am passionate about, this lecture was very interesting to me. Before I failed to understand the impact that the Delta has on Vietnam’s economy and food security. Many factors impact the area but if action is not taken to reverse the ill effect of malpractices, the delta could flood. The water level is expected to rise a full meter by 2100 which will have unforeseeable consequences. It was very enlightening as a student to learn about such an important issue in a new and globalized manner.

This afternoon our group visited Glass Egg Media, a 3D art outsourcing company that primarily services race cars for videos games along with many other artistic services. Since Glass Egg is so unique, they face many challenges, some of which are traditional and others are nearly unimaginable. As the first mover in the 3D art services industry in Vietnam, they experienced no competition. Yet recently competition has come into play which increases the population of potential employees but also creates a greater opportunity for current employees to leave the firm. The future sales forecast for Glass Egg is vague, there is a possibly that in eight months the company could be out of business. As a company based solely on a service, they must be wary of growth because their business is cost-sensitive. If Glass Egg were to be in financial trouble the only way to cut costs would be to fire employees. Two problems that the company faces because of their location in Vietnam are the limited ability to visit clients in other countries, since a majority of chief officers are Vietnamese they cannot cross borders multiple times easily. Clients are sometimes unwilling to work with Glass Egg because the economy of Vietnam is not developed enough that other major business are not present in Ho Chi Minh City. When visiting Glass Egg, clients want to be able to meet with their other businesses which are typically located in major developed cities.

While there are struggles rooted in the location of Glass Egg, Vietnam also provides benefits to the company. The low wage rate is extremely helpful to this competitive company that needs to keep costs at a minimum. The education system in Vietnam helps to improve the quality of services provided by Glass Egg because schools create a solid foundation for young people in the country. The central location of Vietnam aids in easy access to nearly all the major markets in which the company competes. In the future Glass Egg is looking to open another location, possibly in northern Vietnam, and expand their division of independent video game production.