Last Friday a number of you attended WorldCom whistle-blower Cynthia Cooper’s lecture on ethics and corporate governance.  Her discovery helped pass the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which vastly enhanced the financial controls and oversight at publicly traded companies.  This past Fall quarter several of you also took Professor Carr’s Legal and Regulatory Enviroment of Business course, where guest speaker and OCOB law professor Eddy Quijano also spoke at length on the topic of corporate governance. 

Ironically, in 2001 China had its own Enron style corporate scandal.  What does a Google search reveal as some of the corporate governance issues that China is currently grappling with?  Moreover, in your view are international corporate goverance standards diverging, or, as Thomas Friedman argues in his book (”The World is Flat”) converging, and how/why?  Discuss.

Please listen to some of the Public Radio links currently listed on this blog and, using the add comment link/field below, share your thoughts, impressions, insights, take-aways, etc. re: one or more of those segments.

“Big Picture” Segments:

• Marketplace Live From China
• China’s Evolving Business Environment
• On The Road In China
• China And Its Neighbors
• Portraits Of A Changing China

Other Segments:

• Starbucks Bets On A Chinese Expansion
• Chinese Court Rules For Starbucks
• Jailed “Times” Researcher Awaits Trial In China
• Chinese Reporters Protest Government Firing of Editor

Welcome to the Blog established for the upcoming Cal Poly MBA trip to the People’s Republic of China!

In June 2006 the Cal Poly Orfalea College of Business will take 30 talented MBA and MS in Industrial Technology students to China for a two and a half week business study tour.

This Blog seeks to, among other things, enhance the pedagogical experience of the students taking this course, to connect with others across campus and the world with an interest in business and Asia, and to highlight just how talented our students are and some of the innovative things they are doing — for example, technology and logistics permitting this Blog will allow you to monitor their trip as we progress from city to city while in China.

We invite and welcome your participation in this Blog and our experience. Indeed, this will be the business trip of a lifetime for these students!

-Chris Carr, Orfalea College of Business Associate Dean of Graduate Programs

Photographs from our pre-departure sessions and the China trip appear below. Please click on a thumbnail to view a larger image.

Below are a list of documents that are related to the 2006 China Trip.

Book Review Guidelines and Reading List for China Trip:

• See syllabus

Emergency Contact Info and Procedures:

• To be announced in May 2007

Frequently Asked Questions:

• See FAQ document handed out in Fall predeparture session.

Predeparture Session-Lecture Power Point Frames:

• Andrew Morris MBA Program China Trip Presentation (April 2006) [PPT file]
• Colette Frayne MBA Program China Trip Presentation (May 2006) [PPT file]

Roommate Assignments and Team Lists:

• To be announced

Status Reports:

Travel Insurance:

• Student Travel Insurance Policy [PDF]

White Papers, Articles, etc.:

• AllianceBernstein Investment Research and Management White Paper (2004) - China: Is The World Really Prepared? [PDF]
• The American Chamber of Commerce in China White Paper (2005) - American Business in China [external link]
• China’s Best Places For Business [PPT file]
• Five Tips on Chinese Banquet Etiquette [PDF]

Miscellaneous:

GSB 563 Course and International Business Tour Description
This MBA course and international business tour are organized and led by the Cal Poly Orfalea College of Business. 35 Cal Poly MBA students will participate. The tentative dates of the tour are June 20, 2007 through July 8, 2007. Participants travel to the People’s Republic of China, to study the world’s largest manufacturing economy and market. The two and a-half week course and tour include mandatory pre-departure and on-the-road meetings, readings, case studies and discussions. Participants study American and Asian business practices (primarily Chinese) while visiting large cities as well as the rural areas of China. Professor Chris Carr will lead the tour.

Sample Itinerary (for illustrative purposes only):

• Day 1: Depart from Los Angeles for Shenzhen/Guangzhou, China
• Day 2: Arrive Shenzhen/Guangzhou; local orientation and welcome reception
• Day 3-5: Tour traditional shoe, textile and electronics factories, multinational firms and government offices
• Day 6: Depart to Shanghai
• Day 7-12: Tour additional factories, multinational firms, the Port of Shanghai government offices; also visit traditional Chinese villages, and small family firms/businesses along the Grand Canal in Suzhou and Hangzhou
• Day 13: Depart to Beijing
• Day 14-16: Visit the Great Wall, Forbidden City, Beijing hutongs, government ministries, and technology firms; meet with local MBA students to discuss visit and experiences
• Day 17: Shopping; Farewell dinner
• Day 18: Debriefing session; depart Beijing

Miscellaneous Information:

• Currency Converter: FXConverter
• Current Weather Conditions:

Below are related links, arranged by category:

Program Links:

• Cal Poly MBA and MS in IT Program
• Cal Poly MBA International Business Study Tour
• Doing Business in Asia Study Tour
• Cal Poly Orfalea College of Business
• Cal Poly

Important Travel Related Links:

• Map of China
• China Daily
• Center for Disease Control
• U.S. State Department
• The United States Embassy in China
• World Health Organization

Related Sites about China:

• All Roads Lead to China
• Black China Hand
• Chief Asia Inspector
• China Challenges
• China Dialogue
• China Economic Review
• China Law Blog
• China Rises: Notes from the Middle Kingdom
• China Snippets
• China Sports Blog
• Danwei
• Diligence China
• Granite Studio
• Imagethief
• One Man Bandwidth: An American Professor in China
• Peking Duck
• Shenzhen Fieldnotes
• Silicon Hutong
• Simon World: East Meets Westerner
• This is China