“I loved going into the
bank and seeing all the aspects of it. I loved going on the
corporate banking trips to see their clients, and seeing how
massive corporations work locally with communities they’re based
in. And it was interesting seeing how they try to have everyone in
the company heading for the same goals, despite coming from hugely
different backgrounds and cultures.”
Fellows spent two weeks
with HSBC in Brazil, China and India. Below are some
of their thoughts and experiences.
Brazil
Tom
HSBC shown me that
corporations of its size can also act responsibly to support
corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects such as the farm we
visited in which HSBC have donated twenty five
thousand reais to improve the farmers' education
about how to become self-sustainable. Not only does the corporation
inject capital, it works hard to ensure that people fight their own
battle against poverty in a sustainable way. Admirable to say the
least and I hope such projects continue and expand in the future,
because the work they do can help change peoples'
lives.
Visit
to a corporate social responsibility project run by HSBC in São
Paulo
Oshana
Global business adapts to the
local market whilst maintaining international standards. I think
one of the people summed it up nicely by saying HSBC aims to "Be
local but think global." Another important lesson was how HSBC
ensured quality standards were kept the same abroad as at home with
regular checks - the same training of their employees is
followed in China. This has made it stand out against local
competitors who dont offer as much as these facilities as a global
business like HSBC who have a lot of experience have long
established these internal programs and therefore have an
advantage. Also it was very interesting to find out the variety of
roles in a bank and the different roles and therefore different
skills needed within the bank with employees graduating with a
variety of degrees from computer science to psychology.
China
Josh
My eyes have been opened as to the
major culture differences and indeed I have learnt a lot about
myself, Chinese people are extremely hard working and value having
a happy family more than pay.
Leanne Race
I particularly liked the fact that
we got to hear from various different departments which gave us an
overall picture of how HSBC worked as a bank and what it's place is
globally. I also liked the fact that we were made to feel as part
of the team, from the very first day, I learnt how teamwork comes
above money or promotions and staff happiness is extremely
important and I learnt that even though I didn't have any
background to economics or business that I could still be
interested AND take a lot of useful information away.
Abhijit
Chandgadkar
Firstly, I learnt the strategy
that HSBC is currently looking to implement in China – rural
banking. The majority of China’s population reside in the rural
areas and with growing capitalism in these regions, HSBC will be
looking to invest vastly on various small to medium size
businesses. I have learnt that this move is highly significant to
HSBC growth in China.
It gave me a complete overview of
how a global business (HSBC) operates - in only two weeks. I
really enjoyed listening to managers giving us presentations on
their departments. At first, I was just getting a lot of
information about so many aspects of the business. By the end of
the first week, I began to understand the link between them. The
two weeks were well structured and much of the credit goes to the
HSBC staff involved in the scheme. All of them were very jealous of
us because we had the privilege to look at nearly all the aspects
of HSBC in just two weeks. My work placement really helped me
appreciate some of the characteristic of a global
business.
India
Amy Yeap
I thoroughly enjoyed the time I
spent with HSBC India. HSBC had done their utmost to arrange
meetings for us with all the senior executives from each arm of the
company: actually being able to have a conversation with Naina Lai
Kidwai (CEO, HSBC India) was just incredible.
The two day Corporate Social
Responsibility visit was just long enough to give us a rich insight
into the work that HSBC is involved with. This was probably one of
my favourite experiences form these two weeks.
Adam Robins
Globalisation is providing new
opportunities for British companies and business in developing
countries, which in turn provides them with jobs, investment and
growth.
Lisa Morgans
Our favourite part of the scheme
was the two days spent with the Corporate Social Responsibility
department. Many people claim this is simply a front for
corporations to offset bad publicity and get themselves more
customers, however I was distinctly impressed with HSBC’s record
and whatever their motive, the work done was definitely good. We
visited a crèche that HSBC funds to look after the children of
construction workers who are often in severe poverty through unfair
employment. We saw a rescue for young girls to help them steer
clear of prostitution and we spoke to the people of a mobile toy
van scheme that travelled to government schools with backing from
HSBC. The 2nd day of this proved to be just as good too.
HSBC is heavily involved in helping villages and local people
reserve water so they do not have to deplete their water reserves,
and some of the techniques we observed were really efficient. After
a short tea break in a low roofed straw hut with some amazingly
hospitable local women, we were all in love with India. And through
the work of HSBC!!! Quite a surprise I thought!