As students who want to be successful in life, lead and inspire, we seek perfection. We seek someone who motivates us, gives us direction, and shows us what it takes to climb to the top. We are keen to find out more and gain experience. Yes, the classes are a great way to start, but nothing beats the benefit of the real-life experience, seeing tangibly the final product of our effort.

Course instructor, Dr. Heidi Chang, invited the Chairman of Alexander Marine Co., Ltd., Johnny Chueh, to NSYSU as a guest speaker for the Organizational Theory Class. Ocean Alexander is one of the biggest yacht manufacturers in the world and ranked in third place in the global superyacht market. To introduce the students to the business, Mr. Chueh and Dr. Chang arranged a field trip to visit Ocean Alexander’s manufacturing site in Qianzhen District in Kaohsiung.

The company visit contained everything we could hope for and more – the company tour with the opportunity to step inside the nearly-finished yacht to take a look at one of the final products of this firm. The tour was led by friendly and passionate workers Dephnewen and Jeanie who stuck with us through the whole tour and willingly and passionately answered every question. Followed by a gathering in the meeting room with

Johnny, the CEO of this huge company himself, for a short presentation and a couple of questions from the students.

We split up into two groups for the tour around the factory to get a more intense and convenient experience. We could admire several yachts that were currently under construction, each one of them in a different stage of the process. It was fascinating to see the whole timeline of manufacturing in one moment. We observed the workers during the precise job of shaping raw materials into a magnificent boat while listening to interesting facts about the process.

After the tour, all 35 students reunited in the meeting room for an interactive session with Johnny Chueh, the CEO of Ocean Alexander. He talked about the start of the firm, the circumstances, the difficulties he faced while taking over the company from his father, and the expansion to the United States of America. Students were fascinated by Johnny, they asked so many questions that, sadly, not everyone had the chance to ask since the time was quite limited. Mr. Johnny answered every question very competently and passionately, and he gained everyone’s attention very easily.

The company visit to Ocean Alexander was one of the most memorable experiences and field trips for our students. Everyone was attracted by Johnny’s openness and down-to-earth willingness to communicate with us like equals. With a little bit of luck, we convinced him to find one more space for us in his very tight and busy schedule to come to visit our class at NSYSU one more time and finish where we left off. I would like to, on behalf of all participants, thank Ocean Alexander for letting us take a look at how they operate, CEO Johnny Chueh, who, despite his incredibly high position at the company, found a way to come see us and exchange knowledge with us, our course instructor Prof. Heidi Chang who accompanied us to the company and arranged this trip for us, and

National Sun Yat-sen University who made this trip possible for us. Thank you kindly, we will never forget you!

It was an incredible field trip! Through this visit, not only did we understand the complicated production process behind the large yacht, but also realize the needed manpower, resources, production cycle time, and so on. We even had the opportunity to visit the top luxury yachts. When we went on the yachts, it was like entering the movie world, and everyone kept saying wow, wow, wow...That was the most impressive part of this field trip. Overall, we were so lucky to have this kind of chance to visit their factory and see the production process in person.

– Jenny Lin, 1st-year GHRM MBA student

For me, the best part of the trip was meeting the CEO of Ocean Alexander. He is as inspiring and interesting as the people I’ve read about in books. He articulates all of his ideas with such precision and knowledge that I couldn’t help but listen to every word that he was saying. Hands down, one of the most intellectual people I’ve met this semester.

– Ishali Dawoodani, 2nd-year IBMBA student

This field trip was the most inspiring and interesting field trip I have had. Visiting the production halls and being able to go on the yacht in the end, and see the finished product was very inspiring. In addition, the presentation of the CEO gave us a deep and different view of an organization and the processes behind it. I appreciate that he spent his valuable time presenting his company and answering every question.

– Lennard Knorr, an exchange student from Germany