This study abroad experience has taught me more than I could have imagined. Our first company visit, The Bank of Ireland, demonstrated how Ireland struggled during the Great Recession in 2009. Bank of Ireland was loaning out a lot of money to people that could not pay it back. With regards to the housing industry, many people were also receiving mortgages from the Bank when the homes were well above their income. As a result, many of these people were unable to pay their loans or mortgages when the banks needed their money. The Bank of Ireland learned the hard way that they must have stricter regulations in order to give out mortgages to individuals. Now the Bank will only give a mortgage 3-4x more than the amount of the individual’s salary. The Bank also still has many foreign investments and relies heavily on America. However, they are now much more careful about how they utilize their investment. While in the Bank, I realized that the Bank has a more rigid culture. For instance, our speaker said that they are now allowed to dress business casual and this was the first time he was not wearing a suit. The Bank is attempting to change slowly in order to attract many other individuals to work at the Bank because many of the younger workers are drawn to the tech industry such as working at Google, Microsoft, etc. This is very similar to the banks in America attempting to recruit talent since many younger graduates are more attracted to the tech industry. As an HR major, it is important to determine how to attract talent more traditional roles especially with the changing economy. 

Traveling through Dublin and Galway, music is a large part of the Irish culture. Whenever we entered a pub, restaurant, or cab, there was always some type of music playing. The harp is still important to Irish music. In many of the gift shops or more traditional Irish stores, they will play traditional Irish music. However, most of the time, the pubs are playing American music such as rock music as Ireland is heavily influenced by American music. Even walking through Galway, many of the street performers were playing American music whether it was from TV shows or movies. The music filled the streets with dancing and others singing along. 

Another thing that I noticed is that many people are very proud of their heritage. Ireland attempts to ensure that their citizens will still learn Gaelic as a way to keep their language and culture alive. This is very similar to the way I grew up. My parents were born in Jordan and taught my sisters and I Arabic growing up. They had us attend Arabic school on the weekends because they wanted us to retain our language and culture and I am grateful my parents spent time teaching us.

In general, the Irish people are very welcoming to travelers and are always willing to help. With regard to the businesses, each company visit brought up Brexit and they are all attempting to prepare for the worst. They are strategically placing themselves in the best position possible and hope that once Brexit occurs, it will not affect them nearly as much as some people believe it will. However, even with the uncertain future, the businesses are still looking forward to the future and have plans to continue to grow. Overall, I had an amazing time traveling in Ireland. The people were so welcoming, and it was great to see a country that was accepting of many different people, yet also proud of their culture. I am forever going to remember all my memories and am so thankful for the scholarship to allow a 1st generation MBA student to go on this program. 

Rana Haimout
Global Marketplace: Ireland
Summer 2019