Field trip to the Samsung factory in Bac Ninh: learning PR from a world-class Factory Tour.

The Public Relations Department's field trip delegation visits the Samsung Bắc Ninh employee dormitory.

To make this high-class Factory Tour possible, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen (Head of the PR - Advertising Department, Faculty of Journalism and Communication) had to contact and work with Samsung Vietnam more than a month in advance. Samsung provided the field trip with meticulous care and attention to detail. At exactly 7:00 AM, two 45-seater buses picked up the PR faculty and students at the school grounds. After more than an hour's drive, we arrived at the Yen Phong Industrial Park in Bac Ninh and stopped at the Samsung Talent Training Center. The group was welcomed in the Lotus Hall – considered the most beautiful room in terms of both facilities and "feng shui" at the Samsung Bac Ninh (SEV) factory.

Our Factory Tour began with an elaborate presentation by Ms. Vu Dieu Linh, External Communications Specialist at Samsung Vietnam. Through Ms. Linh's introduction, Samsung Vietnam appeared to us as a friendly home where its most valuable asset is its people. SEV is Samsung's second-largest factory in the world. At Samsung, regardless of whether you are a worker or hold a high-ranking position, you are all respected and addressed as an employee. Samsung Vietnam's employee benefits are incredibly thoughtful, even exceeding legal expectations, for example, employees are entitled to 8 months of maternity leave instead of the legally mandated 6 months.

Besides sharing about the history and structure of Samsung in Vietnam, the delegation had a Q&A session with the staff of Samsung Vietnam's communications department. Through this, we learned that they only have 8 staff members for all communications work in Vietnam, 4 for internal and 4 for external. Internal communication and building corporate culture are highly valued by Samsung because they consider their 160,000 employees a precious asset that must be connected and their collective strength leveraged. Despite the enormous workload and pressure to deliver internal communications products on time (one magazine issue per month, one news video every 15 days), and constant overtime, these people always greeted us with smiles from arrival to departure. A professional and tireless work ethic was what we perceived from the communications staff here.

PR students asked questions to Ms. Vu Dieu Linh - External Communications Specialist at Samsung Vietnam.

Leaving the Lotus Hall, the first thing we received was... anti-static shoe covers to ensure our safety. The field trip group moved to a phone component manufacturing plant within the SEV campus. Adhering to the factory's strict regulations, all of us, including the media staff, left all electronic equipment before entering the workshop. It would be redundant to say that SEV's production lines, machinery, and equipment are modern and advanced. Perhaps the most impressive aspect was the incredibly professional, serious, and efficient work ethic of the production staff. Despite the "disruption" from the field trip group, no one put down their equipment, no one was distracted for even a few seconds; everyone seemed very well-trained and meticulous. To continue the Factory Tour, all of us had to go through security checks, without exception.

Leaving SEV, we moved on to our next destination, the staff dormitory, located about 2 km away. This place is described as an "international-class kindergarten." All the buildings feature vibrant colors and striking patterns in a color-block architectural style. The management revealed that this design helps production staff relax and relieve stress after a day's work. The dormitories here are built in the style of modern apartments. Each floor has a common room with a TV, sofa, and friendly, cozy decor; a dressing room with a hairdryer and mirror; a bathroom; and apartments with six people per room. On the ground floor of the color blocks are various services such as a supermarket, book cafe, gym, karaoke room, game room, mini cinema... To use the dormitory and these services, SEV employees only have to pay 50,000 VND/month (fifty thousand dong) as a symbolic cost for electricity and water, to help them feel more comfortable in their own living space.

K62 PR students taking photos at a color-block in the SEV staff dormitory campus.

After exploring the SEV staff quarters, the Factory Tour concluded with a completely free meal at SEV's enormous canteen. The canteen serves thousands of meals daily, with food supplies measured in tons. There were eight menus to choose from; after selecting a menu we liked, each person followed the lines to get a tray and exchange their voucher for their meal. At SEV, all employees are treated equally, from low-level to high-level staff, following a queuing and self-service system in the canteen; there is no discrimination whatsoever.

Samsung Vietnam's Factory Tour for PR students seemed to have concluded with a perfect meal, but there was one more part that made the trip truly worthwhile: gifts from Samsung for the field trip group – Tucano laptop backpacks with the Samsung logo printed on them. So, we went to Samsung, listened to them speak, watched them work, visited their living quarters, ate with them, and even... took their "name" with us home. The trip ended with smiles and waves from the communications staff, the bus departed, and we returned to Hanoi at 1 PM that same day.

Ms. Vu Dieu Linh, External Communications Specialist at Samsung Vietnam, presented a commemorative gift to the delegation.

The Factory Tour at Samsung has concluded, and the hands-on experience of a PR activity to promote the company's image has broadened the horizons of the PR students at the Faculty of Humanities in countless ways.

Sharing her experience of the trip, Mai Lan, a final-year student, said:"To make it to this trip, I had to catch a 4 AM bus from my hometown to Hanoi.to be able to meet the delegation in time.For us PR professionals, whenever I travel somewhere, I pay special attention to the people there. Because PR is culture, and culture, ultimately, comes from people."After the trip, the image of a Samsung person and a Samsung culture became much clearer in our minds."

As a PR student, it's never acceptable not to ask questions wherever you go, shared Ngoc Linh, class president of K60PR:"Samsung's excellent employee care system is a clear reason why it consistently attracts talent and retains its existing workforce. Everyone longs to be loved, and Samsung has treated them like family. However, the unspoken, hard-to-talk-about stories of Samsung employees remain a mystery to me. Do they truly love and are content with what they do at this factory? And is the relationship between senior management and employees truly without class distinctions, as it's often said?Perhaps this is something I'll always want to find the answer to after the trip."