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Wednesday, July 26th, 2006
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12:59 pm - Assignment: Book Review
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The following is a book review on the book titled Asian Management Systems, authored by Min Chen. |
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Purpose of the Book
The book was written for international executives and business school students who have interest in doing business in Asia. The purpose of the book as intended by the author is to educate the readers on various aspects of the four major Asian management systems, ranging from their cultural and historical sources, evolving operational environments, the outstanding features of their organizational structures and managerial processes, and their competitive strategies. The book also includes special topics such as negotiating with Chinese and Japanese business partners, comparing the trading systems of China and Japan, understanding the Japanese distribution maze, and creating and managing successful joint ventures in China. After reading this book, readers should have some knowledge of the competitive advantages and disadvantages of companies in these four major Asian management systems.
The book is divided into four parts. The first part explains the conceptual framework of the book and introduces readers to major theoretical models as well as describing relevant cultural and traditional influences. The second part concentrates on the two major Chinese management systems: procapitalist overseas Chinese management and the rapidly changing management system in Mainland China. The third part covers a comparative study of Japanese and Korean management systems, which share many similarities but are also significantly different from each other in many ways. Part four offers general guidance for the readers wanting to understand how to cope with different management systems.
With the total of twenty two chapters, this second edition includes added chapters on post-crisis (Asian Economic Crisis of 1997) development in Asia. For overseas Chinese management, the author focused on the four ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Thailand.
Usefulness of the Book
The lessons and suggestions from this book can be used as a reference for foreigners doing business either directly or indirectly with Chinese in mainland, Chinese in ASEAN countries, Japanese, or Koreans to gain a relatively deeper understanding of issues such as the organizational structure that entails ownership, size, and structure; the management process that entails leadership and decision-making, management control, and the management of external relations.
This book provides an overview of key features of large Japanese keiretsu groups such as Mitsubishi Group, Mitsui Group, Sumitomo Group, Fuyo, Sanwa, and Kai-Ichi Kangyo. In addition, the book summarizes key features of large Korean chaebol groups such as Samsung Group, Hyundai Group, Lucky-Goldstar Group, and Daewoo Group. For overseas Chinese groups, the author mentioned Lippo Group of Indonesia, Robert Kuok of Malaysia, and Lucio Tan of Philippines. As for Mainland China group, the author mentioned Haier Group.
This book will serve best to the readers who are looking to gain general knowledge of trends and what has been happening in business circles of China, ASEAN countries, Japan, and Korea. Moreover, the book’s explaining of “Unlocking joint venture potentials in China” helps the readers gain insights into ins-and-outs of forming joint ventures in China. In addition, the author’s interjection of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean parables and expressions as appropriate, effectively acquaint the readers to the respective culture.
The readers who are familiar with Mandarin will find the authors’ inclusion of Chinese expressions helpful to gain insights into the Chinese culture. However, for the improvement of the book, the author should have included the “pinyin” tone marks and actual Chinese characters to clarify the actual writings and pronunciations. For example, on page 58, the expression, huayi, which means, “person of Chinese descent”, could be written as huáyì (華裔). This way the readers will be able to readily immerse themselves and apply the expressions in practice. Thus, it would increase the value and effectiveness of the authors’ intentions to educate the readers about doing business with the Chinese.
On the other hand, readers who are looking for detailed management systems of Asia might be disappointed as this book only contains the Confucian Asian management systems.
Major Attributes and Weaknesses
The major attribute of this book is that it includes the comparative study of four main management systems in the East Asian region such as Japanese, Mainland Chinese, Overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia, and Korea that experienced rapid economic development.
The major weakness of this book is that it does not include other emerging country such as India and Islamic influences on the Malays or Indonesians as they coexist with Chinese. Perhaps, the author only intended this book to shed a glimpse of business world that deals with Confucian influenced systems and left the rest to the readers to experience first hand.
Analysis of the Author’s Interpretations
The first part of the book, Conceptual framework includes four chapters that discuss major comparative management models, understanding national competitiveness: East-West comparisons, Sun-Tzu’s strategic thinking and contemporary business, and guanxi dynamics and network building. I think that the author is conveying the message that culture and management philosophy greatly affect the management results. And with that point established, the author further illustrates the cultural ideologies that influence the business practices. However, I think that the readers must keep in mind that the author is merely providing a foundation or background knowledge in a historical sense. Since there are mass media and relatively more mobile population nowadays, there maybe blurred distinctions between what is influencing the business practices.
The second part of the book, Comparative Chinese management systems includes six chapters that discuss the overseas Chinese: their origins and operational environment, the Chinese family business: organizational challenges and competitive edge, competitive Chinese business strategies in ASEAN, the evolving environment of the Chinese state enterprises (CSEs), reforming managerial mechanisms of Chinese state enterprises, and comparative Chinese managerial systems. Here, the author illustrates the two main types of Chinese business organizational structures, Chinese family business (CFBs) and Chinese state enterprises (CSEs). As I have lived in one of the ASEAN countries and traveled to or have conversed with people from most of the other ASEAN countries, I could relate to most of what the author described. I think it would have been much more through or enriching if the author included or drew comparisons with the other prevalent form of business organizations such as the "triads" that practice intricate organizational structures and cultural norms.
The third part of the book, Comparative Japanese and Korean management systems includes six chapters that discuss the government-business relations in Japan and South Korea, comparative large Japanese and Korean business groups, Japanese management style, developing competitive advantages of Japanese companies, managerial styles of Korean companies, and comparative Japanese and Korean management systems. Here, the author illustrates the zaibatsus of the past for Japan and keiretsus and chaebols of present Japan and Korea, respectively. Hence, again, the author could have mention or drawn comparisons with yakuza organization structures and business practices.
The fourth part of the book, New trends in post-1997 Asian management systems and selected topics on doing business in Asia includes six chapters that discuss post-crisis trends in Asian management, made-in-China and implications for China’s Asian neighbors, the Japanese distribution system in transition, unlocking joint venture potentials in China, understanding Chinese and Japanese negotiating styles, and conclusion. To continue with the author’s comparative efforts, he should have included Chinese distribution system to go along with Japanese distribution system and joint venture potentials in other countries to go along with joint venture potentials in China.
Reviewer’s Objections
After all the comparative efforts that the author communicates to the readers, he included the following passage and generalized statement in the conclusion, page 268.
“In spite of their differences, many scholars in the West tend to agree on one point: Asian management focuses on people, while Western management focuses on work tasks (Totoki 1990: 2). The most important contribution to organizational efficiency and the business success of Asian companies is probably their long-term investment in people, the development of relationships, and their humanistic approach toward management.”
I do not think that all Asian management focuses on people and make long-term investment in people. Maybe it is true for some select culture or companies as the author pointed out on page 184, “Korean companies place great emphasis on employee development.” And as for Japanese on page 162, “These components, together with other forms of compensation, such as family allowances, housing assistance and separation pay, contribute to the sense of common destiny among all the employees whose personal well-being will share the success or failure of the company.” On the other hand, on page 121 for CFBs, “For those who do not enjoy special relationships with the owners, or those who do not have the kind of skills that the owners are dependent upon, the owners try to keep wage levels as low as possible and openly criticize them in public.” Therefore, the readers must be aware of exceptions to such generalizations.
Summary of Overall Impressions of the book
In summary, this book wonderfully illustrates to the international executives and business school students as newcomers of what happened and what could happen in the course of doing business with Mainland Chinese, Overseas Chinese in ASEAN countries, Japanese and Koreans. This book’s use of comparative management studies maybe useful to management personnel that must deal with such a diverse workforce in this global economy in order to better understand the respective leadership and decision making, motivation, and communication. The interjections of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean parables and expressions involve the reader to vicariously step into these cultures and see it like what it is. In a way, this book is different from McGregor’s One Billion Customers, and Harvard Review’s Doing Business in China by providing the comparative management studies of Mainland Chinese vs. Overseas Chinese, comparative management systems of Japanese vs. Korean, and illustrating the Made-in-China and implications for China’s Asian neighbors.
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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| Friday, July 21st, 2006
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3:32 pm - China Trip Final Reflection
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It was in the Summer of 2004 that I wanted to travel to China to see some of the manufacturing areas before I begin my education endeavors in Engineering Management. This travel interest to China stemmed after seeing many labels of “Made in China” on countless consumer goods. After reading some books on China, I learned that the Pearl River Delta [珠江三角洲, zhū jiāng sān jiǎo zhōu] has been the most economically dynamic region since the launch of China’s reform program in 1979. Hence, I looked for tour packages to the Pearl River Delta. Although I found one tour package to the Pearl River Delta area, I found out that the tour has to be cancelled because they did not have enough people signed up for the tour. After asking the travel agent as to why there were not much people interested in signing up to tour the Pearl River Delta, she replied that most Chinese people in the Bay Area came from Pearl River Delta area and they normally do not join tours to travel back to Pearl River Delta. (I was on a budget plan and wasn’t planning on joining the tours that would cost more) So, I settled on the more popular ten-day tour that included Beijing (北京), Xi’an (西安), Shanghai (上海), Suzhou (蘇州), Hangzhou (杭州), and Wuxi (無錫).
While I had the chance to see some of China, I was still yearning to see some of Pearl River Delta. So, when I came to learned that the MBA program is planning on some sort of business study tour possibly to China, I was ready to receive more information. And after all the predeparture preparations such as guest speaker sessions, books and articles readings, and enterprise researches, we finally made our way to Shenzhen (深圳), Shanghai, Wuzhen (烏镇), Hangzhou, Suzhou, and Beijing.
If I were to travel back to China either for work or another study tour I would purchase a BESTA electronic dictionary (for portable purpose) to aid in the Mandarin language needs. I am thankful that Dr. John Wu and Dr. Chris Carr set up the China trip. I appreciate the help of Paula Liang (liáng bǎo yuán, 梁寶元) for our transportation and accommodation. In addition, we were fortunate to get a chance to hang out with the Beijing locals such as Xiaofei Song (sòng xiǎo fēi, 宋晓飞) and Thomas (sūn hào, 孙昊). And if I would like to work with race cars in Shanghai then I could look up Michael Kwan (guān zé qún, 关则群) and http://www.CFRacing.cn.
Along the way, by helping out other colleagues or for myself I came to learn of a few more Mandarin vocabularies. And they are:
1. soy sauce: jiàng yóu (醬油)
2. chili sauce: là jiāo (辣椒)
3. ice cube: bīng kuài (冰塊)
4. red bull: hóng niú (红牛)
5. dry clean: gān xǐ (乾洗)
The most important thing that I learned about China and global business that ties into my MBA coursework is that China can not be ignored when businesses are thinking about global supply chain because China has been and will be the essential global player.
The most important thing I learned that changed me as a person is that after receiving the life’s essentials almost everyone can have the same interests (or not) regardless of where they came from and where they end up.
For me, China means my ancestral land that I have not been fully initiated into.
Two course corrections that can be made to improve the trip next year are to maintain the MBA course focus during the trip and include visits with Chinese government officials.
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| Tuesday, June 6th, 2006
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11:53 am - Predeparture Research
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[Please note that if you do not see the Chinese characters and would like to see them, then you should install some Chinese fonts on your computer. It’s fast and free. See the following website if you would like to see how.
http://newton.uor.edu/Departments&Programs/AsianStudiesDept/Language/asianlanguageinstallation_XP.html#sec14 ]
These are the firms and government offices (as well as universities, halls, museums, etc.) in China that we will be visiting as part of our trip. For each establishment there is a summary of what it does and what it is trying to accomplish in China and/or why it is there as well as a few questions that I would like to ask.
Shenzhen (深圳):
1. ShenZhen NewlyEverRise Electronics Co., Ltd. (深圳市京泉华, Jingquanhua Semiconductor Chip Factory) [Visit]
http://www.everrise.net (in Chinese)
http://www.devicelink.com/company/mem/co/186/18607.html (summary info. in English)
A joint venture specializing in the manufacture of power transformers, switching transformers, degaussing coils, inductors, filters, and other electronic components. The products can be used in all kinds of electrical appliances and various kinds of household electrical appliances.
Now, what I think they do by looking at the pictures and graphs from their Chinese site. They make electronic parts for audio, air-condition, power & UPS, TV, communication, and other. The establishment was founded in June of 1996. They have a whole bunch of ISO 9000 certifications. They have been selected as Sony’s OEM since 2004. They are proud to have obtained the certificates of CE, CSA, TUV, UL, and CQC. Judging from the pictures, they seem to have a clean work environment.
Questions:
a) Do you use Statistical Process Control (SPC) methods for quality control?
b) Do you use designed experiments in process improvement?
2. BBK Cell Phone Factory (广东步步高电子工业有限公司 ) [Visit]
http://www.gdbbk.com/index.asp (in Chinese)
Using Google’s translation service, I tried to see what’s on their website. This factory was founded in 18 September 1995. BBK offers three main types of products: digital audio-visual products (DVDs, mobile DVD, mini centers, family cinema, etc.), communications equipment products (phones, and cordless phones, digital cordless phones, cellular phones, etc.), educational electronic products (language of the time machine, electronic dictionary, digital accompanied listening, PDA, etc.) They seem to have passed ISO 9001 type quality system certification. They use production management system like MRPII (manufacturing resource planning system), 5S management systems, total quality management system to ensure the reasonable cost of each product, quality, and reliable performance. They provide after-sale centers to provide users fast, convenient, efficient, professional technical support and after-sale services.
Questions:
a) Are you somehow related to BuBuGao Trade Chain Share Co. LTD?
http://www.bbg.com.cn/en/company/about/profile.html
b) Do you use supply chain management (SCM) and customer relations management (CRM) tools?
3. Yantian Seaport & Logistics Center (盐田港位于深圳市) [Visit]
http://www.ytport.com (in Chinese)
Using Google’s translation service, I tried to see what’s on their website. But I couldn’t get much translated. So, I looked at the following website.
http://www.hku.hk/cupem/home/shenzhen/page2.htm
Yantian port is one of four key international transitional deep-water ports which is a key construction project in “Eight Five” plan. The port district has a wide water area with bay calm enough to serve as a nice natural shelter for ships and deep enough for large cargo-carrying vessels to get in and out and anchor. Entrusted by the Shenzhen municipal government, Shenzhen Yantian Port Group Co., Ltd. Is jointly in charge of the development, construction and management of Yantian Port District and its hinterland. Shenzhen Yantian Port Group Co., Ltd is an independent economic entity, possessing 1 public listed company, 13 directly subordinate enterprises, 5 associated enterprises, and 4 joint ventures. The group is engaged in more than ten fields such as port, railway, road, tunnel, motor transportation, real estate, commerce, water supply, customs declaration, project supervision, ship repair, etc.
Questions:
a) Where do you get the software needed to operate the port?
b) Do you have any demand management or forecasting methods?
Shanghai (上海):
4. PriceWaterhouseCoopers [Visit]
http://www.pwccn.com
PricewaterhouseCoopers China help organizations large and small by providing industry-focused assurance, tax, and advisory services to build trust and create value. They have offices in Beijing, Chongqing, Dalian, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Macau, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Suzhou, Tianjin, and Xi’an. They serve major industries in China and Hong Kong and focus on 4 major market sectors such as (1) Consumer & Industrial Products; (2) Technology, Info-Comms & Entertainment; (3) Real Estate, Energy, Transportation-Engineering & Services; and (4) Financial Services.
Questions:
a) Can you discuss some of the recent transfer pricing regulations developed in China and their corresponding impact on the multinationals like Coke for example?
b) How important is the Chinese language ability in order to be able to work at PWC China?
5. CB Richard Ellis [Visit]
http://www.cbre.com.cn
CB Richard Ellis combines local market knowledge with a regional and global network of offices, to provide a full range of real estate services covering research, consulting, valuation, leasing, sales, investment, and asset management. Their primary objective is to offer value added services which are aligned with the business interests of clients throughout Greater China. The Greater China Region has offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. They carry out regular property market research in China, and maintain databases in each property market sector which permit them to monitor changes in the performance of the China property market. Besides publishing property market update reports on a regular basis with respect to different property market sectors, they also conduct ongoing internal research programmes such as ad-hoc topical research reports, detailed market studies and presentations.
Questions:
a) Speaking in terms of the phases (entry, country development, global integration) of investment in the Greater China area, which phase is CB Richard Ellis at?
b) How important is the Chinese language ability in order to be able to work at CB Richard Ellis Greater Region offices?
6. Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall (上海城市规划展示馆) [Visit]
http://www.supec.org (in Chinese)
The website has ticket prices (about $3 for us), hours, and contact information. Saw some pictures and maybe schedules of what they are showing. Google’s translation service didn’t work on the site so I looked at the following website.
http://lyw.sh.gov.cn/en/scenic_spot/upeh.aspx
Located at 100, Renmin Avenue, Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibit Hall has a total floor space of 19 thousand square meters. It fully displays the achievements of Shanghai in city planning and construction and embodies the theme of “city, man, environment, and development”. Citizens and tourists can see the changes of the leased territory, the vicissitudes of the Bund, the achievements of Shanghai in urban planning and construction ever since the reform and opening-up of the country, in particular, since the 1990s, and the rapid changes of the Pudong New Area.
Questions:
a) What is the monthly operating cost of this Exhibition Hall?
b) What does CB Richard Ellis mean to you in the process of Shanghai’s urban planning?
7. HSBC (匯豐銀行, S(汇丰银行) [Visit]
http://www.hsbc.com.cn/cn/
HSBC has its roots established in Hong Kong and Shanghai in 1865 and it’s one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organizations and its flagship in the Asia-Pacific region. As the largest among foreign banks in mainland China, it offers a wide range of banking and financial services. Their current network in mainland China comprises 12 branches in Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing, Dalian, Guangzhou, Qingdao, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Suzhou, Tianjin, Wuhan, and Xiamen, and 11 sub-branches in Beijing, Tianjin, Guanzhou, Shenzhen and Shanghai.
Questions:
a) What are some of the reasons that HSBC is committed to its China business?
b) What is HSBC’s role in response to other foreign banks’ entry to China?
8. RR Donnelley [Visit]
http://www.rrdonnelley.com
RR Donnelley was the first United States-based company since 1949 to receive a license to provide commercial print and print-related services within China. RR Donnelley entered China in 1993 through a joint venture agreement with the Shenzhen Petrochemical Holding Co., Ltd. In 2001, RR Donnelley entered a second joint venture agreement with the Shanghai Press and Publications Administration. The Shanghai facility was commissioned in October 2002.
In China, RR Donnelley partners with magazine, book and directory publishers, catalogers, retailers and telecommunications companies from around the world. They have Beijing Office, Shanghai Office, Shanghai Premedia Center, Shanghai Manufacturing Plant, and Shenzhen Manufacturing Plant.
Questions:
a) Do you have an integrated SCM, CRM, and ERP system?
b) In China, are your services mostly used by other foreign firms?
9. Microsoft Global Technical Service Center [Visit]
http://microsoft.com/china/CSS/en/aboutus/default.asp
As part of Microsoft's globalization strategy and investment in technical support service, the Global Technical Support Center (GTSC) was opened in Shanghai in January of 1998 and it represents the first enterprise technical support center to be opened by a Fortune 500 companies in Shanghai. As one of the five GTSCs in the world, it has offices on China's mainland (including Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou etc.) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong. With headquarters located in Shanghai's Metro Tower, the center's more than 500 employees provide comprehensive technical support services for customers from regions in Asia-Pacific, America, and Europe.
Questions:
a) What kind of knowledge management systems do you have in place at MS GTSC?
b) Do you use SPC to monitor and improve your services?
10. Carrefour [Visit]
http://www.carrefour.com/
Carrefour started its operations in China around 1995. As of March 31st, 2006 it has 73 hypermarkets and 234 hard discount stores in China that include partners and franchisees. Carrefour has so far made its presence in 22 cities in the Chinese mainland with more than 23 thousand employees. It has made Shanghai its headquarters for its global procurement in China and set up 10 procurement offices in 10 cities in China.
Questions:
a) How is Carrefour different from say Wal*Mart, China Resources Enterprise, or Shanghai Bailian in terms of satisfying shoppers?
b) What would you say the most challenging task in your efforts for expansion in China?
11. Shanghai Museum (上海博物館) [Visit]
http://www.shanghaimuseum.net/en/index.asp
As a museum of ancient Chinese art, Shanghai Museum possesses a collection of 120,000 precious works of art. Its rich and high-quality collection of ancient Chinese bronze, ceramics, painting and calligraphy is specially celebrated in the world. Its unique architectural form of a round top with a square base, symbolizing the ancient Chinese philosophy that the square earth is under the round sky, is a distinguished architectural combination of traditional feature and modern spirit. The present Shanghai Museum has eleven galleries and three special temporary exhibition halls. The galleries listed on the website are Chinese Ancient Bronze, Chinese Ancient Ceramics, Chinese Paintings, Chinese Calligraphy, Chinese Ancient Sculpture, Chinese Ancient Jade, Chinese Coins, Chinese Ming and Qing Furniture, Chinese Seals, and Chinese Minority Nationalities’ Art. In addition, it has European art collections such as collection of Italian Medici Family and Art of Cartier. They also have restaurant, tearoom, and museum art store. Overall, they have set up a pretty informative website that includes a virtual tour.
Questions:
a) Do they ever have a gallery dedicated to Tang Dynasty artifacts?
b) How much monthly operating expenses are needed for this museum?
Hangzhou / Suzhou (杭州 / 蘇州) Area:
12. Wuzhen (烏镇) : An ancient water town in the Yangtze River Delta [Visit]
http://www.wuzhen.com.cn/oldweb/wuzhen.eng/
http://www.wuzhen.com.cn/index/index.asp (in Chinese)
Wow, general impression from the layout of the websites is just amazing. But I wasn’t really satisfied by the information they put out so went on to the following website to get more information about Wuzhen. The previous websites are developed by Wuzhen Tourism Development Co., Ltd. that consist of 12 member structures and registered capital is 24.3 million yuan and the enterprise has 120 staff members, including 15 technicians and managing personnel.
http://www.shanghaifinance.com/attractions/zhejiang/wuzhen/wuzhen.php
The river in the town is actually a canal, and water is being pumped in and out twice a week. Wuzhen is one of the six “water towns” in Jiangnan (South-of-Yangtze-river-region), and it is one of the less developed one. The citizens in the town itself are not allowed to do any sort of business due to local government regulation. So if you want to get a feel of what the original “old town” looks like, you should visit this place. Here you can find some nice Chinese dish such as baishui fish and Wuzhen lamb. Wuzhen has been included by UNESCO in the reserve list of world cultural heritages.
Questions:
a) What are some of the reasons behind local government restricting the citizens of Wuzhen to not do any sort of business?
b) Where can I get some Sanzhenzhai(three treasures) Braised Chicken, Gusao(sister-in-laws) Cake, and Stewed Mutton?
13. The Grand Canal of China (大運河 or 京杭大運河) [Visit]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Canal_of_China
The Pudding Canal of China, also known as the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is the largest ancient canal or artificial river in the world. The oldest parts of the canal date back to the 5th century BC. The Grand Canal starts north in Beijing and ends south in Hangzhou of Zhejiang with a total length of 1,794 kilometers (1115 miles) and passes Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang. The northern portion of the canal is now of little use as a means of communication between north and south. It is badly built, neglected and charged with the mud-laden waters of the Yellow River. The central and southern portions of the canal are very largely used.
Questions:
a) How much does it cost to maintain the Grand Canal on an average year?
b) How long does it take to travel from Beijing to Hangzhou by the Canal?
14. Suzhou Industrial Park (苏州工业园) [Visit]
http://www.sipac.gov.cn/english
Alright, to make the long story short, Singapore was looking for overseas investment and Chinese wanted Singapore’s modern management methods, so the China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park (CS-SIP) was born on Feb. 26, 1994 when Chinese Vice Premier Li Lanqing and Singapore Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew signed the Agreement on the Joint Development of Suzhou Industrial Park in Beijing. The three pillar industries with international competitiveness are semiconductor industry, opto-electronics industry, and electrical mechanics.
Questions:
a) How is Singapore benefiting from this arrangement?
b) What is the relationship between CS-SIP and Suzhou National New & Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone?
http://www.snd.gov.cn/EN/index.jsp
Beijing (北京):
15. US Embassy/Commercial Attaché (美国驻中国使馆商务处) [Visit]
http://buyusa.gov/china/en
The U.S. Commercial Service China help grow U.S. sales in China by offering free U.S. exporter business counseling, free and low cost market research, China’s top trade promotion events, and finding Chinese partners. They have six offices in China – Beijing, Shanghai, Shenyang, Chengdu, Guangzhou, and Hong Kong that offer customized solutions to help U.S. companies enter and expand in the China market. They also have a new U.S.-China International Partner Network in 14 major business centers across China. This Network establishes service centers in Dalian, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Harbin, Kunming, Nanjing/Jiangsu Province, Ningbo, Qingdao, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Wuhan, Xiamen, Xi’an/Shaanxi Province and Zhuhai. They also provide commercial opportunities in China by industry.
Questions:
a) Have you seen more of U.S. companies at the trade events/shows in China relative to companies from other countries?
b) How much yearly budget does U.S. Commercial Service China get?
16. CB Richard Ellis [Visit]
http://www.cbre.com.cn
SAME AS SHANGHAI OFFICE
Questions:
17. Beijing Planning Exhibition Hall (北京市规划展览馆)
http://www.china.org.cn/english/culture/128869.htm
http://www.btmbeijing.com/contents/en/btm/2004-11/know/on
http://www.bjghzl.com.cn/ (in Chinese & some English)
Beijing Planning Exhibition Hall located just east of the Old Beijing Railway Station offers its own unique perspective of the ancient city. Among all the items on display, the most compelling is a huge aerial photograph in the eastern section of the exhibition hall’s third floor that is 10 times as big as a medium-sized apartment. Wow, there are some pictures on the Beijing Planning Exhibition Hall’s website. So, that you can get a glimpse of what they have at the hall. The Beijing Planning Exhibition Hall primarily features the past, present and future of the great ancient city of Beijing. It also serves as a platform for both domestic and overseas scholars to exchange academic ideas, as an education base of patriotism and morality for youngsters, and as a place to stimulate public passion for understanding and loving more and participating in the development of Beijing.
Questions:
a) How much budget does the Exhibit Hall get on a yearly basis?
b) What is the decision process for the displays?
18. Sun Microsystems Engineering Center [Visit]
http://www.cn.sun.com (in Chinese)
Just to see what’s on the website, I used Google’s translation service to view the pages. I saw that some of the information is the same as what they had on the U.S. website. Sun Micro is an innovative industry leader in servers, storage, software, and services with a 100 percent focus on network computing. Since their inception in 1982, the vision of “The Network is the Computer” has evolved into the Participation Age and they see everyone and everything participating on the network. They engineer solutions for their customers’ biggest, most important problems. Sun offer IT solutions to various industries such as automotive, education, energy, financial services, government, healthcare, life sciences, manufacturing, media/entertainment/publishing, retail trade, telecommunications, and transportation & travel. Sun’s customers include Atento, eBay, Guangdong Local Taxation Bureau, Major League Baseball, T-Mobile, and TV4. They have partnerships with AMD, Microsoft, Fujitsu, Oracle, SAP, and Google.
Questions:
a) Did Sun choose JV or WFOE for its China operations?
b) What is Sun doing for Google in China?
19. Beijing University (北京大学) [Visit]
http://en.pku.edu.cn
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing_University
 
Peking University, colloquially known in Chinese as Beida, was established in 1898, and is one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in China. University policy has mandated the use of Peking University in English rather than Beijing University due to tradition and the desire to avoid confusion with Beijing Normal University and other, similarly named institutions. The Times World University Rankings for 2005 rated Beijing University as the best university in Asia, and 15th in the world. The campus of Peking University is located in northwest Beijing, in the Haidian district which was designated for universities. It is located on the former site of Qing Dynasty royal gardens and retains Chinese-style landscaping as well as many traditional buildings. It is known throughout China, along with its neighbour Tsinghua University, for having one of the most beautiful campuses. Peking University has one of the largest pools of international students in China. The dorms for international students are located at “Shao Yuan” (Shao Garden). Every year, Peking University has approximately 2000 international students on campus. Approximately 40% of the international students are Korean and the remaining 60% are made up of students from most countries in the world including most of Western Europe, North America, South America, all parts of Asia, Australia as well as many parts of Africa. The university is a member of Universitas 21, an international association of research-led universities.
Questions:
a) What are some of the reasons that most international students choose to study at Peking University?
b) Do you have any industry partners or sponsors/donors that you can mention?
20. Tsinghua University (清華大學) [Visit]
http://www.tsinghua.edu.cn/eng/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsinghua_University
 
Tsinghua (outstanding and beautiful) University is one of the most prestigious and selective universities in China. Originally a preparatory school for Chinese graduates pursuing further studies at American Universities, Tsinghua developed into a university in 1925 offering four-year undergraduate and post-graduate programs. Tsinghua University was established in Beijing in 1911 on the site of a former royal garden belonging to a prince, and was funded by an indemnity which China paid the United States after the Boxer Rebellion and was later refunded. Most Chinese university rankings place Tsinghua first in China. It is usually considered the best university in China for science, engineering, and business. Its longtime rival Peking University is more known for law, arts, science, and medicine. Tsinghua stands out for its strong school traditions originated from its early days as a school to prepare its students for American universities. Traces of American influence can be seen in Tsinghua’s school culture. Sports play a big role on campus life. The campus of Tsinghua University is located in northwest Beijing, in the Haidian district which was designated for universities. It is located on the former site of Qing Dynasty royal gardens and retains some Chinese-style landscaping as well as some traditional buildings, but many of its buildings are in a Western-style reflecting the American influence in its history. It is know throughout China for having one of the most beautiful campuses. In terms of the size of students, faculty, and staff, Peking University seems almost twice as big as Tsinghua University.
Questions:
a) Do you have any industry partners or sponsors/donors that you can mention?
b) What are some of the reasons that Tsinghua offers more programs in Engineering and Sciences as opposed to medicine and law?
21. Panjianyuan Antique Collection Market (潘家园旧货市场) [Visit]
http://www.panjiayuan.com.cn/panjiayuanyingwen.asp
The Panjiayuan folk culture market is a market in Beijing that deals with secondhand good of private citizens and art and craft articles. [I wonder if I can find some Lion Dance related items here =).] As a market for people to visit in holidays and leisure, it also involves all varieties of goods for collectors in the nation and is China’s biggest collecting and distributing center of art and craft articles. Situated in a place of city traffic hub, south of Eastern Third Ring Road and west of Panjiayuan bridge nearby Second Ring Road, it is very easy for visitors to reach. The market covers over three hectares of land and accommodates over 3,000 stalls open to business. Everyday, many Chinese people and foreigners patronize this market of traditional Chinese style. The secondhand goods and antiquities on sale in the Panjiayuan market is really a market of Chinese traditional culture. Owing to its unique charm, it has become an important place of interest for Chinese and foreign tourists to visit in Beijing. You can browse through some items on Chinese version website that has picture, description, and price.
http://www.panjiayuan.com.cn/
Questions:
a) Do they have any authentic (or not) Tang Dynasty artifacts(painting, sculpture, seals, calligraphy, etc.)?
b) How much does it cost to have a stall at Panjiayuan?
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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| Sunday, June 4th, 2006
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8:12 pm - Assignment: Book Review
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The following is a book review on the book titled Harvard Business Review, ON Doing Business in China and authored by various authors. |
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Purpose of the Book
The purpose of the book as intended by the authors and publisher is to bring fundamental information to today’s managers and professionals so that they may stay competitive in a fast-moving world. The book portrayed China as having a quarter of the world’s population and with its rapid growth, expanding openness, and developing consumer market, it has become a hotbed of opportunity as well as risk for today’s multinationals. Furthermore, the book claimed to offer a timely and insightful analysis of what it will take to successfully do business in twenty-first-century China.
The book itself is made up of eight articles written by various authors from US, Switzerland, China, and France, whose professions consist of professors, attorneys, or business consultants. The title of articles and their corresponding authors and published dates are given as follows.
1. “The Great Transition” by Kenneth Lieberthal and Geoffrey Lieberthal, originally published in October 2003
2. “The Chinese Negotiation” by John L. Graham and N. Mark Lam, originally published in October 2003
3. “The Hidden Dragons” by Ming Zeng and Peter J. Williamson, originally published in October 2003
4. “Short-Term Results—The Litmus Test for Success in China” by Rick Yan, originally published in September-October 1998
5. “Entering China—An Unconventional Approach” by Wilfried Vanhonacker, originally published in March-April 1997
6. “To Reach China’s Consumers, Adapt to Guo Qing” by Rick Yan, originally published in September-October 1994
7. “Trouble in Paradise” by Katherine Xin and Vladimir Pucik, originally published in August 2003
8. “The Forgotten Strategy” by Pankaj Ghemawat, originally published in November 2003
The first article deals with the importance of identifying the purpose and choosing corresponding strategies and operations when firms are doing business in China. The second article deals with the cultural background of Chinese negotiation circumstances. The third article deals with the four types of hybrid Chinese companies that multinationals what out for such as national champions, dedicated exporters, competitive networks, and technology upstarts. The fourth article deals with the importance of monitoring the short term results as stepping stones for the long term goals. The fifth article deals with the new trend of establishing wholly foreign-owned enterprise (WFOE) as opposed to establishing joint ventures when multinationals are doing business in China. The sixth article deals with importance of understanding the guó xìng (國性) which means “national characteristics” or “a country’s special circumstances” when multinationals are doing business in China. The seventh article presented as a fictional case study that illustrates what an expatriate senior manager would experience as he juggle to please the differing views of his boss back in home country and those of his joint venture partners in China. The eighth article discusses the relevant applications of cultural arbitrage, administrative arbitrage, geographic arbitrage, and economic arbitrage as they relate to globalization process.
Usefulness of the Book
The lessons and suggestions from this book can be used as a reference for foreigners doing business either directly or indirectly with China to gain a relatively deeper understanding of how China’s business sectors unfolded for others.
This book provides an overview of what happened in China’s various business sectors such as home appliances, telecom industry, computing industry, home entertainment, transportation equipment, biomedical industry, automobile industry, and beverage industry.
This book will serve best to the readers who are looking to gain general knowledge of trends and what has been happening in business circles of China. Moreover, the book’s listing of “Twenty Questions About Your China Strategy and Operations” helps the readers gain insights into strategy formulation about doing business in China. In addition, some article’s authors’ interjection of Chinese parables and expressions effectively acquaint the readers to the Chinese culture.
The readers who are familiar with Mandarin will find the authors’ inclusion of Chinese expressions helpful to gain insights into the Chinese culture. However, for the improvement of the book, the author should have included the “pinyin” tone marks and actual Chinese characters to clarify the actual writings and pronunciations. For example, on page 42, the expression, shehui dengi, which means, “social status”, could be written as shèhuì dēngjì (社會登記). This way the readers will be able to readily immerse themselves and apply the expressions in practice. Thus, it would increase the value and effectiveness of the authors’ intentions to teach the newcomers about doing business in China.
On the other hand, readers who are looking for a detailed “how-to” book for doing business in China might be disappointed as this book is classified as general management.
Major Attributes and Weaknesses
The major attribute of this book is that it includes the viewpoints of many experienced China watchers. The major tone through out most of the book is expressed from academic viewpoint as the majority of authors are professors.
The major weakness of this book is that it does not include detailed technical information on how to do business in China. Perhaps, the editor and authors only intended this book to shed a glimpse of business world in China and left the rest to the readers to experience first hand.
Analysis of the Author’s Interpretations
The collection of eight articles offers various angles and viewpoints about doing business in China. The first article, “The Great Transition” by Lieberthal and Lieberthal has very useful questionnaire for guiding the newcomers who are considering China as part of their business portfolio. In addition, the article explains the three phases of investment as entry, country development, and global integration as well as the corresponding key goals, role of the China office, and ideal China manager profile. Therefore, the authors of this article are setting up solid foundations for the readers to understand the business environment of China.
The second article, “The Chinese Negotiation” by Graham and Lam illustrates the eight elements such as guānxi (關係, personal connections), zhōngjiānrén (中間人, the intermediary), shèhuì dēngjì (社會登記, social status), rénjì héxié (人際和協, interpersonal harmony), zhěngtǐ guānniàn (整體观念, holistic thinking), jiéjiǎn (節儉, thrift), miànzi (面子, “face” or social capital), and chīkǔ nàiláo (吃苦耐勞, endurance, relentlessness, or eating bitterness and enduring labor) that shed some light into the so called Chinese negotiation style. I think these elements are not restricted and unique only to the Chinese but can be applied to other parts of the world.
The third article, “The Hidden Dragons” by Zeng and Williamson shows the nature of four types of hybrid Chinese companies that multinationals must keep an eye on. The authors of this article displayed how China became the manufacturing powerhouse that it is today. I think it will be interesting to see how Overseas Chinese are heading the companies in China.
The fourth article, “Short-Term Results-The Litmus Test for Success in China” by Yan showcases a number of businesses to illustrate that short-term results can help build brand recognition, attract local talent, and secure support from the parent company. Even though the author painted rosy pictures of Ericsson, Kodak, Tingyi, Coke, or Budwiser that produced short-term results for their respective businesses, the readers must bear in mind that the term “short-term” is relative and may depend on the nature of the industry. But nonetheless, the author drew comparisons of industry competitors like Peugeot and Volkswagen as well as Coke and Pepsi to illustrate how each short-term success led to the overall market performance.
The fifth article, “Entering China-An Unconventional Approach” by Wilfried Vanhonacker compares equity joint venture (EJV) and wholly foreign-owned enterprise (WFOE). The author showed the transition from EJVs as multinationals gained business operating experience to establishing WFOEs and therefore creating new bed and new dreams. I think this is totally feasible and possible option after about two or three decades of multinationals doing business in China. Initially, the multinationals had very little options regarding the structure of companies in China due to restricting laws and relatively few foreign direct investments (FDI). However, nowadays, with less restrictions and other consulting firms and experienced people such as James McGregor and Wain Beard offering their advice about how to do business in China, it is becoming easier for other multinationals to establish WFOEs.
The sixth article, “To Reach China’s Consumers, Adapt to Guo Qing” by Yan explains how to deliver a product with the value, quality, and convenience that will appeal to Chinese consumers. He pointed out the trends or peculiarities of Chinese consumers and that information might be useful if the readers were reading when the article first came out in October of 1994. Nonetheless, the article provided historically satisfying information for some academic researchers.
The seventh article, “Trouble in Paradise” by Xin and Pucik provides a fictional case study that was analyzed by Eric Jugier, the chairman of Michelin (China) Investment in Shanghai; Dieter Turowski, a managing director in Mergers & Acquisitions at Morgan Stanley in London; David Xu, a principal at McKinsey in Shanghai; and Paul W. Beamish, the director of the Asian Management Institute at the University of Western Ontario’s Richard Ivey School of Business in Canada. This article represented a realistic scenario that typical expatriate senior managers experience in China. The solutions provided by the analysts revisit the topics of first, second, and fifth articles as they relate to strategy, negotiation, and firm structure. I think it is a good way to tie the different topics in a relevant way.
The eighth article, “The Forgotten Strategy” by Pankaj Ghemawat suggests that multinationals can and should consider the opportunities in cultural, administrative, economic, and geographic arbitrage as appropriate. The author pointed out that this arbitrage strategy has been in use by various firms in the world throughout history. The examples include early spice traders, American fast-food chains, Li & Fung, Embraer, GE, and Cemex. And of course, the author showcased other less successful player in the arbitrage game such as Acer. I think the moral of the article is that like any strategy arbitrage can be beneficial depending on how the firms applied arbitrage.
Reviewer’s Objections
I am not too sure what the editors of Harvard Business Review, Harvard Business School Press were thinking when they decided to include the sixth article, “To Reach China’s Consumers, Adapt to Guo Qing” by Yan originally published in September-October 1994 into the book that’s published in 2004 without any updates. Since the article was originally published 10 years ago, the trends may have changed and maybe less valuable to readers. One example is that the article mention about how Chinese are now saving money to purchase six da jian, or “big things”: videocassette recorders, televisions, washing machines, cameras, refrigerators, and electric fans. I don’t think videocassette recorders are one of the items on most Chinese’s shopping list in 2004.
Summary of Overall Impressions of the book
In summary, this book wonderfully illustrates to the newcomers of what happened and what could happen in the course of doing business in China. This book’s use of different topics in the articles by different authors provides a variety of angles or viewpoints about doing business in China. The interjections of Chinese parables and expressions involve the reader to vicariously step into China and see it like what it is. In a way, this book is different from McGregor’s One Billion Customers by providing the questionnaire of China strategy, showcasing of China’s hidden dragons, and illustrating the players of short-term results.
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(2 comments | comment on this)
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| Friday, May 19th, 2006
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9:31 pm - May 19 Predeparture Session
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On Friday(10:00-12:00pm), 19 May 2006, CEO of Dioptics, San Luis Obispo, CA, Mr. Henry Lane presented the Dioptics' niche nature of business in sunglasses industry. He touched on the topics such as the need for alternate suppliers due to increased pressure from retailers for reduction in prices. In addition, he discussed his experiences in dealing with suppliers in Asia(Taiwan, China around Xiamen area). I find these issues enthralling as well as advising. |
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On Friday(12:00-02:00pm), 19 May 2006, International Trade (Shipping and Logistics) Expert Mr. Ray Bowman presented the shipping and logistics issues of international trade. He touched on the topics such as value creation process of freight forwarders. In addition, he discussed the business process aspects such as product/services, negotiate, agreement, regulation, finance, and logistics. I find these issues very intriguing and insightful. |
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| Friday, May 12th, 2006
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9:27 pm - May 12 Predeparture Session
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| Thursday, May 4th, 2006
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8:37 pm - May 4 Predeparture Session
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On Thursday(11:00-12:00pm), 4 May 2006, International Business and Human Resource Professor Dr. Colette A. Frayne presented her experiences with China while involved in international management consulting and executive development activities in the Asia-Pacific region. She touched on the topics such as China's changing labor trends for blue collar, white collar, mid-level managers, and senior managers. In addition, she discussed the challenges of managing people in global markets. I find these issues informative and advising. |
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| Thursday, April 27th, 2006
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8:39 pm - April 27 Predeparture Session
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On Thursday(11:00-12:00pm), 27 April 2006, President of the Western Division of CB Richard Ellis, Mr. Bill Chillingworth presented his experiences with China while working for CB Richard Ellis in the area of Commercial Real Estate Services at Asia-Pacific location, Sydney, Australia. He touched on the topics such as China's rules and regulations regarding movement of capital and how they tend to be in the nature of protectionism. In addition, he discussed the relevancy of expanding globally with their customers to take a defensive stance for home businesses. I find these issues advising and reinforcing. |
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| Thursday, April 20th, 2006
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10:28 pm - April 20 Predeparture Session
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On Thursday(11:00-12:00pm), 20 April 2006, Graphic Communication Professor Mr. Kevin Cooper presented his experiences with China while working for R.R. Donnelley and Microsoft. He touched on the topics such as China's rules and regulations and how they tend to be in the nature of protectionism. In addition, he discussed the piracy issues and trade-offs between labor & logistics issues. I find these issues informative and advising. |
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| Tuesday, April 18th, 2006
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9:52 pm - Importance of Grades for MBAs?
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| Friday, April 14th, 2006
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8:08 pm - April 14 Predeparture Session
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On Friday(10:00-12:00pm), 14 April 2006, History Professor Dr. Andrew Morris presented the social and economic history of China. He touched on the topics such as the "Tributary System" and how China viewed itself relative to the rest of the world. In addition, he discussed how we might defined "Modern" when we compare China's civilization to the West. I find these issues very fascinating in historical sense. |
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On Friday(12:00-02:00pm), 14 April 2006, Sociology Professor Dr. Barbara Mori presented the social issues of China. She touched on the topics such as social norms and possible implications of one's behaviors on the host. In addition, she discussed the importance of toasting and one's social status. I find these issues very astounding and insightful. |
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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| Thursday, April 13th, 2006
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9:26 pm - April 13 Predeparture Session
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On Thursday(11:00-12:00pm), 13 April 2006, Dr. Cyrus Ramezani presented the financial and economic relationship between China and U.S. He touched on the topics such as "balance of financial terror" and how China might try to buy-in on the multinationals. In addition, he discussed how foreign banks try to gain first-mover advantage by investing as minority holders in the Chinese banks. I find these issues very intriguing and insightful in the financial and economic sense. |
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| Wednesday, April 12th, 2006
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9:19 pm - Updated List of Students
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| Thursday, April 6th, 2006
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9:34 pm - April 06 Predeparture Session
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On Thursday(11:00-12:00pm), 06 April 2006, Dr. Chris Carr presented the China trip status update and the itinerary. The emphasis of this trip is for us to seek out information, ask questions, and explore. I like the fact that this trip has business focus/strategy. In addition, I think that the itinerary is well planned out. |
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| Sunday, March 26th, 2006
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11:57 pm - Assignment: Book Review
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The following is a book review on the book titled One Billion Customers, Lessons From the Front Lines of Doing Business in China and authored by James McGregor. |
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Purpose of the Book
The purpose of the book as intended by the author is to teach newcomers about doing business in China while also articulating and affirming the essential truths and core business behaviors that seasoned China businesspeople know by instinct but often can’t put into words. The author depicted and illustrated lessons from his near two-decade experiences as a journalist and business executive in Greater China. Some of the author’s experiences include the China bureau chief of The Wall Street Journal following the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre, the chief executive of Dow Jones’ China business operations during much of the roaring 1990s, chairman and governor of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, and a venture-capital investor during China’s dotcom boom.
The book shows the lessons and complex details of how certain deals came together or fell apart, how the people involved viewed and treated each other, and how politics and prejudices tainted expectations and outcomes. These lessons are structured as anecdotal chapters and covered the topics that consisted of; history of China’s experiences with the West; joint-venture investment bank (China International Capital Corporation) between China Construction Bank and Morgan Stanley; Lai Changxing’s smuggling operations of oil, autos, and cigarettes; the struggles of Dow Jones and Reuters against Xinhua to continue providing financial news and data to customers; the strategies and corresponding results of McDonnell Douglas, Hughes, and Boeing to tap into China’s growing Aerospace market; the ins-and-outs of China’s entertainment broadcasting and economics and financial publishing; the burgeoning telecom industry; and the summarized business and management styles of a real estate developer couple, beverage producer Wahaha, IBM-Lenovo deal, and Beijing International MBA(BiMBA).
Usefulness of the Book
The lessons from this book can be used as a reference for foreigners doing business either directly or indirectly with China to gain a relatively deeper understanding of how China’s business sectors unfolded for others.
This book provides an overview of what happened in China’s various business sectors such as investment banking, smuggling operations, financial news and data, aerospace industry, entertainment broadcasting and publishing, telecom industry, and management consulting.
This book will serve best to the readers who are looking to gain general knowledge of what others learned as a result of doing business in China. Moreover, the book’s listing of author’s observations at the end of each chapter in Mao’s Little Red Book style provided pithy summarization of the key points. In addition, author’s interjection of Chinese parables and expressions effectively acquaint the readers to the Chinese culture.
The readers who are familiar with Mandarin will find the author’s inclusion of Chinese expressions helpful to gain insights into the Chinese culture. However, for the improvement of the book, the author should have included the “pinyin” tone marks and actual Chinese characters to clarify the actual writings and pronunciations. For example, on page 96, the ancient adage, Chi Huang Liang, which means, “eat the emperor’s grain”, could be written as Chī Huáng Liáng (吃皇糧). This way the readers will be able to readily immerse themselves and apply the expressions in practice. Thus, it would increase the value and effectiveness of the author’s intentions to teach the newcomers about doing business in China.
On the other hand, readers who are already familiar with the nuances of doing business in China might not find this book too useful. These types of readers may find this book too general and “not enough meat”. In addition, readers who are looking for more technical content may find this book extremely lacking in technical content. The technical content in this context is referred to the actual engineering concepts in aerospace industry, the concepts in field of management, and the concepts in financial investment. Hence, the readers who seek for detailed technical content and specialized information may not find this book to be helpful for their purpose.
Major Attributes and Weaknesses
The major attribute of this book is that it includes the author’s first-hand experiences as he dodges and fights the attempts from Xinhua to regulate Dow Jones and Reuters. His explaining from the first-hand experiences illustrates that the observations are a part of his own and not merely those of that he gathered and simply compiled. His vast experiences and encounters with Chinese people from different positions he held while he was in China also add to the credibility of this book.
The major weakness of this book is that it does not include detailed information on how to do business in China. Perhaps, the author only intended this book to be only inspirational and not to be instructional.
Analysis of the Author’s Interpretations
The readers of the book must bear in mind that the interpretations made by author in this book should not be treated as absolutes to minimize the chances of generalizing and stereotyping. Too often readers forget to properly apply the statements to their corresponding situations.
The readers also must keep in mind that most of the scenarios the author presented and summarized as keynotes are not just limited to China. These joint-venture scenarios and smuggling operations may happen in just about any other country. As always, readers must bear in mind that past performances cannot guarantee the future performances. The author points to the correlations from history and Chinese people’s behaviors to stress that the explanations for future may lie in the answers from the past. This belief may aid in the hypothesizing process and may not necessarily pin point to the causes.
Reviewer’s Objections
I think the author sometimes draw generalized observations in “The Little Red Book of Business” section and create contradictions or devaluations. For example, consider the following statements from page 223 and page 224.
“In business relationships, the Chinese seek stability and trust more than intimacy. They want to feel comfortable that you will offer no surprises that will hurt them, but they don’t need to be your best friend.”
“Educate key reporters about your business, maintain regular ties, and show them a good time. It is all about personal relationships. It is hard for Chinese journalists to attack friends, easy to attack faceless foreign companies.”
Then compare the previous statements with the following statement from page 294.
“The Chinese appear to the West to be a collective society. They eat together, travel together, and have fun together. But always simmering just below that collective veneer is a dog-eat-dog competitive spirit that makes the Chinese among the world’s most individualistic and selfish people.”
So, after reading the previous statements one would be thinking that relationships should be formed with attention to foster stability and trust to promote friendship. However, with dog-eat-dog competitive spirit that the Chinese have how is one going to ensure any stability and trust in the relationships?
Summary of Overall Impressions of the book
In summary, this book wonderfully illustrates to the newcomers of what happened and what could happen in the course of doing business in China. This book’s use of story-telling style and highlights of key points clearly paint the pictures in the readers’ minds. The interjections of Chinese parables and expressions involve the reader to vicariously step into China and see it like what it is.
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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| Saturday, March 4th, 2006
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8:19 pm - How Some People in China Pass Time
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I saw some of the videos at  supposedly made by two chinese boys in China. It is just amazing to see what some of the haves in China are doing. |
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(comment on this)
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| Thursday, February 16th, 2006
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9:24 pm - Cal Poly MBA Trip to China in Summer of 2006
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OK. So I decided to take a "GSB 563-International Business Tour-China" class for the Summer term, 2006.
The Class
Unlike my other classes, this class's registration was handled through Cal Poly Continuing Education. This class will also be using a Cal Poly China Trip Blog to facilitate the students' learning process while holding minimal classes. In addition, I will be using my blog site to reflect on my business tour experiences of China.
The Faculty
This China Business Tour will be led by two faculty coordinators, Professor John Wu (CSU Monterey Bay) and Professor Chris Carr (Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo).
The Students
So far, we have the following 32 students signed up for the trip.
1. Adam Franklin
2. Adrienne Lindsay
3. Austin Hsia
4. Azad Sadriestahani
5. Brian Cronin
6. Brian Korfhage
7. Caroll Moya
8. Cassandra Rowland
9. Charles McMurray
10. Christopher Riffel
11. Craig Partridge
12. Daniel Beaton
13. Darren Deedon
14. David Cross
15. David Lotierzo
16. Deirdre Byrne
17. Drew Lassen
18. Elizabeth Suiter
19. Emile Davis
20. Gary Lam
21. James Lee
22. James Sun
23. Jessica Valpey
24. Michael McSweeney
25. Michael Rogers
26. Nicholas Tigner
27. Peter Begley
28. Samuel Plambeck
29. Sean Martin
30. Steven Weston
31. Victoria Tasnic
The Tour
The tour will begin by leaving from LAX tentatively on 15 June 2006 and end by 1 July 2006. Some of the cities we will be visiting includes Shenzhen(深圳), Shanghai(上海), Suzhou(蘇州), Hangzhou(杭州), and Beijing(北京).
My Thoughts
Although I have been to most of the abovementioned cities of China in August of 2004, I decided to go again in June of 2006 to experience China the Cal Poly MBA way. We shall see how this trip unfolds.
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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| Wednesday, February 15th, 2006
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9:38 pm - Feb. 15 Predeparture Session
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| Sunday, February 12th, 2006
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9:39 pm - Blog Tool Selection
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OK. By now I think I am leaning towards using LiveJournal as the preferred Blog Tool. I have looked at 3 Blog Tools and they are Blogger, Xanga, and LiveJournal. Here are some of the reasons that I am planning to select LiveJournal to blog.
1. Simple Layout.
2. No ads on page.
3. People leaving comments do not have to be registered with LiveJournal.
4. When someone leave a comment e-mail notification will be sent out.
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8:28 pm - At Kyaitiyo Pagoda
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![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.1){kind=small}
jklee99's journal
