“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 2^nd 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!