Going to South Korea has always been a dream of mine. I always wanted to explore the country, learn the culture, and make some friends along the way. With this plus3 trip, I got all that and more. It’s remarkable to think that many of the members on this trip were strangers before. Now I can happily say I have made some lifelong friends, and we will all have this shared experience together. I loved how every day was something new, and we were able to explore all parts of the city. Some things I’m definitely going to miss, like Korean BBQ, the advanced toilets, and the hospitality of everyone we encountered. I will not be missing the plane ride or lack of napkins, though. I feel like looking back on this trip, I have grown academically as a student. Going on the company visits helped me understand businesses and how they operate. This inside look also let me gain insight into the future of companies and the innovations that could change how society is run. I feel like I have so more knowledge now about my major and how I can succeed in the future. Going into that, here are some of the things I noticed on the company visits throughout this trip.

One thing that companies made a priority in Korea was the social environment of professional life. Some companies that I thought went above and beyond for this were Samsung and TKE Elevators. Like all businesses, they have a common workspace area where they try to create the perfect environment to get work done. Additional things that Samsung had to make a good space for the employees were a recreational space and a cafeteria, which served three meals a day. They even have a hospital for their employees. It’s almost like they created a little town for their employees to use. This idea specifically targets employees who might have to be at work all day. With these amenities, they can do so while being well fed, getting the exercise needed, and being taken care of if any incident or sickness occurs. TKE Elevators also created a social environment, and they did so by adding a golf simulator, ping pong, and pool tables. If employees were overstressed or just needed a little break, they could go to this area to relax for a bit. One would think these things would be a distraction, but it’s quite the opposite. Their employees are incredibly productive. Having great social environments like these not only helps to bring new talent into the companies, but also makes employees want to stay at these companies. Caring about the welfare of your employees is important to making sure they’re working at their best. It’s a big investment for these companies, but it’s paying off.

Another topic that I saw firsthand in South Korea was companies functioning on multi-disciplinary teams. While all the companies in Korea did this well, the main one that stood out to me was at Camp Casey. When touring Camp Casey, we talked to a group of soldiers who worked together. All of them had different levels of education and backgrounds. The main thing that stood out was that they each had a role. One person’s role was to drive the tank, another was to perform chemical sample testing, and one was a Korean soldier who helped translate for them. With all the group members in their specialized fields doing their roles well, missions could be completed effectively. The soldiers talked about how important it was to be efficient, and the system they had was the best way of getting it done. If one person doesn’t do their job well, it can bring the whole group down. Not only were they relied on by members of their team, but other squads and their operations.

The Korean companies showed us the importance of lifelong learning and continuing education as professional development. All the companies we visited are very successful, still they are always looking towards the future. Samsung was a great example with their S.I.M., or Samsung Innovation Museum. In this museum, they had new innovations in the works, like a smart fridge. As a business major, I need to be able to understand the product I’m trying to invest in or sell. I need to keep learning about the new technology that is being created so that whatever company I am a part of can benefit from it. A common question that we asked about at every company was How are you using AI to help your company. Some companies didn’t have an answer, and others talked about how they just started using it. Seeing that it’s become more and more used, this will become a part of my professional development. Understanding AI enough to know where to implement it to help be a part of a company.

Talking about AI brings up another topic, which is ethical issues in my profession. Being in business, you always want to do what makes your company most profitable. AI being implanted into businesses would help make companies more efficient and help save a lot of money. This money being saved would be because AI just took someone’s job. AI could take hundreds to thousands of people’s jobs in a company. This brings up the question of whether it is worth it to save money over people’s jobs and lives. In Korea, the factories we looked at were mostly run by a few workers who would fix the robots if there was a problem. At Hyundai, robots would mold and put almost all the pieces of the car together. The only section we really saw people working in was when putting the backseat of the car. At Fredit, the factory only had a few workers. The drinks were created and distributed by robots. Both of these Korean companies made the decision to be profitable over job security for their employees. As time goes on, more and more AI will take jobs away from humans. Unless companies start valuing job security, fewer and fewer jobs will be available for all. Making the hard decision that could cost you money might be the reason your company gains respect from others.

Lastly, the topic of educational breadth is professional development. Seeing the limited jobs that these companies offer, the people they take have to be very qualified. To win a position, you have to have value. Being able to do more than just what your major implies is extremely important. You need to be able to cover a plethora of roles. As a business major, I keep seeing more and more value in learning computer science. Having both business and computer science under my belt will set me up for the future, where computer scientists will definitely be needed. Having this additional skill could be the difference between beating out some of the competition or not. The University of Pittsburgh is understanding this now as well. They have added Business Analytics as a mandatory course for business students. It is a lot different than my other courses, which is good for learning new things. Some things that we have covered in that course are coding with Excel and Python. At first, I was skeptical of the course, but after taking it and learning what I know now, it will be very beneficial for me.

This trip to Korea really was a dream come true for me. Before getting to Korea, the only part of the trip I wasn’t completely on board with was the company visits and the blogs. In my head, I thought they were going to be boring and just take up time of the day. Thankfully, I was mistaken, and some of the visits became a part of the highlight of the trip for me. I feel like I understand business way more now. I learned about things I should strive for in the future with the topics of lifelong learning and educational breadth. Companies showed me the importance of multi-disciplinary teams to acquire efficiency. Samsung and TKE showed me the importance of creating a good social environment and the benefits that come from it. Lastly, the ethical issues in my profession became apparent to me. Not only are they a problem now, but they will continue to get worse. Using what I have learned about all five of these topics, I have a way better understanding of business. Closing out this last blog, I will look back on these in a couple of months or maybe years to remember the great time I had. I’m glad that I put my whole experience into writing and have pictures for myself to relive later. While the blogs weren’t fun to write when I was exhausted at night, I’m glad that I did them. I am so grateful for this trip and can’t wait for more journeys like this in the future. I’m going to miss you, Korea, and thank you for the great experience.