Thanks to GraSPP for giving me the opportunity to intern at Mitsubishi Corporation –a fulfilling and unforgettable experience for me.
Looking back on this internship, the first half focused on lectures and we listened to talks from various people from different departments of MC, giving me an image of what MC is doing as a trading company. As for corporate social contribution activities, we learned about the CSR activities of MC, and the story of the winery business to support reconstruction after the Great East Japan Earthquake was particularly impressive. To support fruit farming in Fukushima Prefecture, MC constructed a brewery “Fukushima Ouse Winery”. This project aims to increase the added value of agricultural products and local brands by building a new business model that integrates the production, processing and sales of fruits, which are special products of Fukushima Prefecture. It teaches me that what is important for reconstruction support is not just raising money, but giving technology and knowledge to people in the affected areas to help them start their new life.
Through the internship, I deepened my understanding of CSR. It is important for a company to do something meaningful to the society.
By doing CSR activities, a company can build trust in the relationship with the local community and these activities will further contribute to the development of a sustainable society and business. However, any company cannot solve all the social problems. Therefore, they must choose those social problems that are highly relevant to their own business.
The second half is a group presentation. Students from different universities formed a group and we were asked to do a research about companies’ CSR, both Japanese companies and overseas companies. We tried our best to investigate and discuss about CSR although we faced many problems such as missing data of the company and disagreements of team members. However, at last, we finished our task and even came up with a new project for MC as a CSR activity. It was a short time but I really enjoyed the fun of group work. I want to convey my gratefulness to every kind people I met in this experience.