Day Eight: HRM Lecture

Today we had the privilege to hear from Professor Wang Jianyou about the importance of Human Resource Management in China. I have to admit, I was a little nervous when I saw the topic of his lecture. HR was not one of my favorite courses back at UMD, so I was worried that I wouldn't be very interested in what he was speaking about. I am glad to say that this was not the case! I really enjoyed learning about the importance of HR in an international context and the class discussion that we had in the middle of the lecture. I thought that Alex would be the one asking all the questions because HR is his major, but surprisingly, I was able to join in on the conversation and get some interesting questions answered as well! One of the most interesting things we learned from our discussion is how Chinese companies accommodate their female employees after they have children. I could not believe that women are given six months off of work to care for their newborn! In the United States this is unheard of, with women only receiving six weeks off under the same circumstances. I think that the amount of time allowed off of work for new mothers shows the importance children in Chinese culture and the amount of care that goes into raising them. This is yet another thing that I've learned about the cultural differences between the United States and China.