On the date of Nov 16th in 2019, Professor Jeng, Yih led the students of NSYSU and exchange stu-dents to have a cultural field trip in Kaohsiung. The field trip an important chapter of “Business Model Development and Practice of Social Enterprises” course which is held by Professor Jeng, Yih.
Zuoying old town was a popular town before. However, with the policy changing and adjusting, the main developing area gradually change to another district and Zuoying old town started declining. Zuoying district has abundant of historical building from Ching dynasty. It makes the whole area has sufficient energy and time to cultivate their own local culture. Kuo’s centennial house, lotus pond, 3-story tea house and the original Kau Wen Tone bookstore, all of them have their own story and meanings behind every trace on the buildings. What we aimed to do in this field trip is try to observe and learn how they renew their scenery and try to attract tourists to make the district popu-lar again.
Also, local people try to develop their handmade traditional pastry. Traditional pastry is not only an important skill for local people but whole Taiwanese people who seen Taiwan as their mother and home country. With technology developing, it accelerates the pace of disappearance our traditional skill and even the memory of flavor in our childhood. In Zuoying district, Joy Well bakery try to use their skill to keep making and teaching to inherit this important gift which gave form the own-er’s grandparents. They also share this important gift in their shelter factory for the people who have mental illness to help them to get an ability to survive or find a job on their own.
What we earn in this field trip is not only a memory or experience but profound impression to the local people who make all-out effort to perk up their local attractions and culture and also social responsibility. All of us learn the lecture “Thanks the land and give feedbacks” from the local peo-ple in this field trip.（Reported by IBMBA Liya）
ACT Global Program has always been the most popular program in IBMBA. Therefore, ever since I entered IBMBA, I kept thinking what I really want during my MBA career. Why not spend the same time and money as an exchange student, but receive to get an extra oversea master’s degree? Therefore, I made up my mind to explore the world through ACT Global Program. From ACT program, I could let myself experience the feeling of working and living abroad, and co-work on the same project with people of different cultural backgrounds. If I am used to the living style like this, or even enjoy it, then of course I would consider working abroad upon graduation.
The most impressive course at University of Victoria (UVic)
Professors at UVic tend to start from global viewpoints to compare with business environments in Taiwan, Canada, and Austria to make comparison between Eastern and Western cultures in terms of running business. Also, professors will use students’ future plans to design curriculum and make it fun. For instance, in the course ’’Global Supply Chain Management’’, professors let us make a seaplane through LEGO to have better understanding of supply chain. In the last class of the courses, we actually visited a seaplane company to learn the real supply chain model. This is the most unforgettable courses for me in the ACT Global Program.
The unforgettable experiences in terms of cultural aspects during ACT program
I would say the biggest challenge is cross-cultural cooperation and communication. For example, Taiwanese tends to speak cautiously in order not to offend others, but indirectness creates troubles. Unlike Mandarin-speaking cultures, western people prefer to talk directly, so the cultural shock impacted me a lot at the first time. However, from not understanding and not having good communication, I started to respect others and learned how to express my opinion in a proper way.
During company visits in Canada, what differences did you find between the ones in Taiwan and Canada
Business models in Canada are quite distinct from Taiwan. What surprised me the most was that managers in Canada are willing to share their business strategies and details with students, and they also introduce us to all their colleagues. Plus, they shared their experiences and the past and future plans of their companies with us.
What are your self-improvements after the program
Stronger tolerance of different cultures, and better interaction while communicating with others. Also, faster adaption to new places and cultures.
How does the experience of ACT program assist you in your current occupation?
BXB Electronics, the company which we had consulting project with, offered me a position after I finished the ACT Global Program. During the ACT program period, our task was to have projects regarding the customer relationship management. Since I used to have engineering background which helped me a lot in understanding their products, the chairman of BXB Electronics invited me to help them with oversea markets regarding customer planning after the program ended. Due to the experiences I had during ACT, I could fluently communicate with clients and made lots of friends. In the oversea tradeshows, I also have a chance to speak some German that I learned from ACT program, and even I am not fluent with it, it could still be an ice-breaking tool when talking with clients from German-speaking countries.
How would you advise students who look forward to joining ACT program
I would highly suggest students who want to join ACT Global Program to reset themselves. Let yourself to be able to accept cultural shocks from exotic cultures. Do not limit yourself to the comfort zones that you are used to, and be brave to try all kinds of new activities. Imagine yourself as a sponge to absorb everything, and I am sure you will become a brand new person after the 9-month training from the ACT program.
Patrick Liu final presentation group photo Patrick Liu's presentation in ACT class Patrick Liu hosted a welcome lunch with professor from Uvic. Patrick Liu shared his ACT experience with other students after he came back to Taiwan. Patrick Liu and classmate having a interview by Fichet
【ACT】2020-2021 ACT Global Program is now recruiting students! (till 3/20)
For those who are interested in signing up for the program, please submit the application documents to the International Relations Office (CM 4051) before March 20th , 2020.
Find out more about the ACT Global Program: http://rpb69.nsysu.edu.tw/p/412-1024-4417.php?Lang=en
Contact Information International Relations Office, College of Management (Office 4051) Contact information: intl@cm.nsysu.edu.tw
