Reflection Paper. Personal and Professional Insights Gained from the Experience

Reflection Paper
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Reflection Paper
The field study trip to Korea was an eye opener for me especially on the concept of social enterprises and corporate social responsibility. The field trip helped me better understand the benefits of social enterprise and corporate social responsibility such as the integration of the local community within the enterprise and competitive advantage. This was especially the case with Hyundai where we learned that their social enterprise involves a program that caters for elderly and disabled people, thus driving their social agenda by helping these people to navigate through life easily. I would say that Hyundai is the ideal company that has embraced social responsibility in a way that encouraged me to follow the same path shortly.
As per the learning outcomes that had been set before the trip, I would say that this trip was very satisfactory. Seeing first-hand how companies that have embraced social responsibility are faring in a world that is highly competitive was quite an eye-opener for me. One of the main aspects of CSR and SE that I was looking forward to seeing in a real-world scenario was how social responsibility had created a competitive advantage for companies. Take for instance the niche that Hyundai identified by designing products for the disabled and the elderly. Being the first company in Korea to do so (Hyundai, 2016) gave the company an edge because their rivals had not established that there was a market out there that had unmet needs. What is more interesting is the fact that this move was not a strategic one but rather, a social responsibility one. It is evident that in the current business environment, any entrepreneur who wants to succeed should not look at CSR/ SE as a charity that should be done at a scheduled time in a year but as a core business strategy that should be incorporated in everyday business activities. LG is an exemplary example of a company that has integrated this in their core business. I mean, the company is focusing on increasing competitiveness by offering products that have eco-friendly features such that other than protecting the end user by providing safe products, they are also protecting the environment. This encouraged me to work with social enterprises in the future so that I can be part of the change.
I also liked how Amorepacific has approached CSR. The company’s main target clients are women from all walks of life, and while at face value the company may look like it is only addressing the interests of women, I finally realized that through their CSR, they are helping an entire community. Take for instance their Hope Store, which provides financial support to single mothers who have an interest in entrepreneurship. These women are therefore able to feed their children and provide support to their extended families. As such, I believe that the company has driven a social agenda beyond its target market and end-users of their products. To learn that they have opened over 300 stores for women since the inception of the initiative is a clear indication that the company is taking its social responsibility seriously. I understood that social responsibility is about taking the first step in helping just a few people and an initiative can have a global effect eventually. I was encouraged by such initiatives which have focused on the underprivileged groups of people in society and has helped them rise above the ground. Such are the reasons why I want to work with social enterprises and set my career in that path.
Personal and Professional Insights Gained from the Experience
The field trip provided me with quite an experience because it was the first time I got to interact with my course mates on a personal level, especially outside the class. It was during the field trip that I got to work as a team with my course mate without thinking about assignment deadlines and working within a schedule allocated by instructors. We have worked in groups before, but it was quite different outside the classroom because I noticed that people were freer and more open. I also learned that teamwork is essential for the success of any social enterprise. A good example is LG, which has partnered with many organizations, especially hospitals in developing countries, to drive their social agenda and create a positive impact on the lives of people in the communities. I realized that this kind of partnerships are only possible if there is effective teamwork such that one partner does not feel overburden with responsibilities. I think that organizations cannot reach the latest stage of CSR evolution, referred to as the transformative stage, if there is no collaboration between organizations and the community. This stage is one that is desired by society and organizations but is difficult to achieve, and this is where the concept of partnerships comes in.
I also learned that some of the CSR programs established by the companies we visited require interaction with local communities. In order to foster understanding and to relate well to the community, it is important for one to possess the necessary interpersonal skills. I realized that Amorepacific employees had mastered some of the best interpersonal skills that I would want to emulate at a personal and professional level. The company has established several programs in support of female cancer patients as part of their CSR, and a little interaction with some of the staff revealed how they could deal with the patients during their various initiatives. One skill that I found quite helpful is empathy. The ability to understand what other people are going through is what has enabled Amorepacific to establish the makeup your life initiative. During the trip, I learned that this initiative provides a beauty workshop where women with cancer are trained on skincare and make-up process to help them feel beautiful even when their hair and skin is getting affected by the disease. To know that such an initiative will greatly impact the patients’ life requires empathy. The employees from Amorepacific have to show empathy when providing this training so that the patients are comfortable. This is one interpersonal skill that I would want to have because every day we encounter people who are going through different challenges and one way of building a relationship with them is by showing empathy. This also applies in the workplace where the interaction between employees, employees and customers, and employees and management requires some level of empathy for business continuity.
Improving the Learning Experience
One of how I would have improved the learning experience is by having a sharing circle with some of my classmates at the end of each presentation or visit to the various companies. The sharing circle would have also improved my synthesis of the concepts learned such that when writing this formal reflection as part of the requirements by our instructor, I would not only recall what we learned from the presentations but also what we discussed within the sharing circle. The advantage of a sharing circle is that it eliminates any formality and there are no rules such that people can share their thoughts freely.
Further, I believe that horning my understanding of the theory of social enterprise before the field study trip would have improved my learning experience. I understood the major concepts of the underlying theory, but when it came to seeing them in practice, I was a bit taken back. For instance, while I understood that social enterprise helps in promoting diversity, I did not understand the depth of the diversity until the visit to Hyundai. Hyundai revealed that some of their social enterprise projects incorporate the elderly, case in point the Easy Move project which has integrated the elderly and disabled people in the manufacturing process of products for the same group of people. My understanding of diversity within the social enterprise boundaries did not account for the elderly because, in my opinion, this group of people is in retirement and as far as diversity in terms of age is concerned, they were not part of the workplace diversity.
I had also underrated my expectations of the field study trip, and as a result, the goals I had set were not sufficient to measure the expected outcome of the trip. I did not anticipate that social enterprise forms such a huge part of large companies such as LG, especially as part of their core strategies. From the presentations, I learned that LG is continuously reorganizing its core business to incorporate strategies that enhance corporate sustainability by aligning it to the changes in the ecological system. If I had anticipated this, I would have been in a better position to ask questions and deepen my understanding on why this is so important to a company that already has an existing CSR framework and established core businesses.
Evaluation of Past Works
My previous work focused more on corporate social responsibility and the theories and concepts that encompasses corporate responsibility. The field study trip was especially helpful to me in understanding the application of the theories and concepts examined in the previous assignment.
Corporate Citizenship
In my previous assignment, I had addressed some of the concepts of CSR such as corporate citizenship and business ethics. The field study trip was especially informative about the conce...