In my first project report, I aim to present the reasons for selecting this project and further discuss my preferred topics and preliminary ideas on the procedure. Additionally, I will discuss some of my concern in the final part.
During the past five years, I worked as a marketing manager at Huawei, a consumer electronics company. The more consumers bought, the more bonuses I received. With the increase in my earnings, I indulged in more luxury products and traveled to various places. However, I didn’t realize the relationship between consumerism and environmental consequences until recent years when increasing number of catastrophic disasters and unbearable heatwaves became the new norm, affecting even my hometown. This initial realization motivated me to contemplate the modern business world and choose this project.
Balancing the development of the companies, individual well-being, and environmental protection is an urgent and challenging issue. Since this is a broad topic, I would like to initially focus on two industries I have a keen interest in and choose one after deeper exploration.
First on the list is the consumer electronics industry. Undoubtedly, these products have become integral to our life and have elevated our living standards. However, consumers are often encouraged to purchase multiple products they don’t genuinely need. From a company’s perspective, there is a tendency to boost revenue by introducing product upgrades more frequently, thereby motivating consumers to replace fully functional older products with newer ones . This contrast is what I intend to delve into. How can companies sustain growth and offer consumers more benefits from digital products while reducing the production of unnecessary gadgets. The answer may involve comprehensive product development strategies, raising awareness and knowledge of environmental sustainability of products among consumers and designers, and the use of recycle materials.
The second topic I’d like to explore is the tourism, which drives the development of local economies and broaden travelers’ horizons. For example, traveling has reshaped my worldviews and helped me overcome my prejudice about other nations. However, it also imposes a significant environmental burden, such as excessive CO2 emission and waste, as well as overconsumption of natural resources. It is unrealistic to discourage people from traveling for the sake of environmental protection. Instead, solutions should be sought to strike a balance between tourism development and environmental protection. These solutions may involve the employment of advanced technologies such as VR/AR to provide immersive experiences without harming the environment, improving itinerary planning with the help of digital mapping to minimize resource consumption.
While these two topics greatly interest me, they also present significant challenges. First, they requires a substantial amount of research and analytical skills that I currently lack. Second, as an international student from Asia, I need spend time learning more about Gofore which is relative new to me. I hope to contribute to the company through the project, making my work more meaningful.
To conclude, I aim to explore how digitalization can benefit consumers as well as the economy sustainably in the fields of electronics and tourism. To accomplish this task, I need to equip myself with sufficient knowledge on these industries, advanced digitalization products and a thorough understanding of Gofore.