Sorry for all the spam comments lately that have been sifting through. 

My platform for this blog recently received an update that I clicked on, and I am trying to figure out how to get the filter up and running again.

Below are excerpts from two wonderful posts on the One Man Bandwidth blog (click here and here or the full posts). Lonnie is an American who has lived in China for 17 years. You will meet him in Guangzhou.

[General Musings]

“[Though they have moved Westward] the Chinese are still generally shy about public discussions of sex and public displays of affection. Hugging someone or asking about sensitive issues might evoke giggling or laughter. The Chinese often respond to social discomfort by laughing.

Do not take their seeming amusement as encouragement. They are telling you they don’t feel comfortable, so don’t push on. The Chinese have long memories and it could cause them to avoid certain kinds of contact with you in the future. Other conversational minefields:

–While it is common to talk about a person’s background or family in China, it is rare to hear someone discuss their spouse or significant other. It is entirely possible that you will attend several social gatherings over several months and not know that your colleague is married or in a relationship.

– Salary and money issues are usually off-limits. The Cantonese seem to feel no fear about asking about a person’s wages or the cost of something they own or wear, but it is best to avoid the subject in young relationships. Normal salaries in Guangzhou can be between $50-400 a month, so don’t put colleagues or friends in a position to be embarrassed when compared to you or the west.

– Don’t ask a woman in her late twenties if she is married. It is a cultural expectation that they will be married by that time, so you could really embarrass her. And don’t expect them to understand why many Americans practice serial monogamy before settling down. Many Chinese have had only one mate since junior high school or college.

– Stay away from religion and politics in dialogue. Most Chinese have no concept of religion, though many are quite superstitious, and the wrong politics can end your advancement in a job setting or worse. It will be a long time before you get anything but party-line answers to questions on Tibet, Tiananmen, Taiwan and so on. Many will not answer you because they just don’t have a lot to share. The news is controlled and bringing up a topic like the role of the new Pope might get you blank stares–like I did when I mentioned it in class as a daily news item. Because of the long-standing rift with the Vatican, Chinese news devoted a total of seventeen seconds of national television to Pope John Paul II’s death.

DO ask about holidays, customs, history and business. And when you do, listen and learn. You are not going to change mindsets by being argumentative. Find out more about how and why the Chinese think the way they do before you attempt to change it. Where some westerners enjoy a lively debate or discussion it may seem to some Chinese that you are angry or oppositional and that will drop you several rungs down the ladder of esteem.

Don’t be “a crane standing among chickens.” There is much to enjoy in interpersonal exchanges if you are open and receptive.

[Creativity and Innovation]

Chinese approaches to problem solving can frustrate the newcomer especially if he/she is called on to lead a team of Chinese nationals. When Chinese students and business managers run up against an obstacle they often just yield to it.

If the Great Wall were encountered by a group of Chinese collegians they would starve to death while forming committees on how to scale it, hurdle it, live on the student side of it or while waiting for their envoy, sent to fetch a projector so they could do a PowerPoint presentation on alternatives, to return. The Wall must have been more to keep Chinese in than Mongols out because when Ghengis Khan encountered it as an obstacle to the siege of Beijing he used the simplest of solutions: He went around it.

In an article in The Economists View I found this: “… Harry Shum, a Carnegie Mellon-trained computer engineer … said: ‘A Chinese journalist once asked me, ‘…what is the difference between China and the U.S.’ I joked, ‘… the difference between China high-tech and American high-tech is only three months - if you don’t count creativity.’”

The Chinese, and Japanese, are masters of the knock-off and can often de-bug new inventions faster than the original designers. But, the Chinese, who believe that that the proverbial nail that stands above the others is struck down, are not yet keen innovators.

Mind you, that is not all bad: Sony was created on the West’s sale of the transistor to Japan. They magnified our creative tremor into a multi-billion dollar tsunami of electronics products.

The Chinese educational system is the precursor for this seeming national inventor’s block. Chinese methodology often instructs students in classrooms deliberately shorted of resources in order to foster group cooperation, sharing and cohesiveness, not individual imagination.

One group of educators from South Carolina reported on a visit to China and mused over how they ordinarily would expect to “… see a classroom that invites children to choose what they want to do, and to work individually in centers, using materials in individualistic and creative ways. Here we saw evidence that teachers expected conformity and a willingness to work toward the completion of a task the chosen by the teacher rather than the child. These contrasting instructional styles highlight an important difference between the Eastern culture that expects citizens to adapt to their environment and Western ones where the social system stresses freedom, self-expression, and self determination.”

And the Chinese style of University teaching is a true marvel: If they banned PowerPoint in Chinese Colleges half of my colleagues would be stuck dumb. They would panic at the thought of delivering a lecture that diverged from main topic headings and bullet points. The only thing worse would be to have to spontaneously entertain questions from the class. Of course the class would be just as terrified about having to invent queries; hence, foreign teachers who teach without clear guides evident to students may be regarded as unorganized or inept.

A government sponsored study done in 2000 showed that only 14.9 percent Chinese youth polled believed they had creative ability; so, do not be surprised when students, friends or co-workers balk at having to tackle a problem without a clear solution. Do not be shocked when they hover around you for answers to difficult problems.

The survey mentioned above also indicated that 60 percent of the youngsters polled recognized the importance of creativity and 65.3 percent have curiosity about the world around them. Consequently, the government is studying ways to break the PowerPoint habit and circumvent the wall. When they do, the economic race will really be on.

Now, if we could just get American kids to do math ….”

Lonnie, you are the man.

Submitted By: Joe Callinan

There are 1.3 billion people in China and that number is expected to increase by 300 million over the next 25 years. Many of these Chinese are uneducated, poor and as the last few posts have mentioned, without health insurance. They are employed at unbelievably low rates that barely allow them to survive. As if this wasn’t bad enough, the Chinese government has recently begun encouraging its domestic companies to move towards mechanization by offering tax breaks for the purchase of domestically manufactured production lines. This mechanization will result in fewer jobs for an increasing number of people which will most likely result in an increase in the income gap between the rich and the poor and social unrest.

While you read this article posted in the China Daily here are a few questions to think about:

What can China do to prevent a social uprising?

Is the Chinese government responsible for improving the scientific literacy of the poor and the farmers?

How does this article relate to the Professor Ramezani’s presentation on Chinese financial markets?

As Chinese companies search for more skilled workers, would you consider working in China? Will Chinese companies look to other countries to fulfill these positions or will they limit their search to the domestic market?

What country will be the next big provider of cheap labor?

A number of you did your book reviews on Jame’s McGregor’s One Billion Customers. McGregor is the former China Bureau Chief for the Wall Street Journal.

Here’s a podcast of an interview with him from the Danwei blog you may find of interest. I liked his book, very much, and agree with the CLB, though, that much of it is only really applicable to the big MNCs in China.

About three months ago, my phone rang at home, I picked it up, heard the words “You f***** China lover.  Go live with those Commies if you like them so much,” and then the line when click.   A week later it happened again.  Then it recently happened again.  

I laughed each time, and if anything, was surprised the call did not come earlier.  I can see where the caller was coming from — there are some out there who, in their fear of the world and own geopolitical insecurity, interpret another’s intellectual curiosity, passion, writing about via a blog such as this, taking a group of students to a communist country (politcally but certainly not economically), resisting the urge to judge or condemn the warts of China without knowing all the facts, etc., as un-American. 

I plead guilty to the first part, but definitely not to be being “un-American.”  Do those issues impact business in some way, shape or form?  Of course, but so does how the English commoners view the monarchy of England, but I don’t write and blog about that.

In any event, I do occassionallly write about and highlight the dark side of China.  I try, though, not to make a ”the world/China is half-empty” view the focus of this blog because:  (1)  the purpose of this blog is to focus on interesting business issues related to global business and China, not to wake up every day and bash Beijing re: its ineptitude and/or corruption; and (2) the dark side of China is complex and I highly doubt I can offer an answer or practical solution to those problems that someone far brighter than me has not already thought of — e.g., the “Taiwan issue”.    

This post is another example of how sometimes I do write about the dark side of China, and on that note I highlight and refer you to Lonnie Hodge’s great post on “When the Revolution Comes“.  His post, and the video and pics it refers to, say all that need to be said about China needing to get parts of its act together.  I am bullish on China and certain other parts of Asia, but I am also not naive or ignorant of some of the many messes they will need to clean up and address over the coming decades.

Now back to the person out there who keeps calling me at night … ”How do you like them apples now?”   Good Will Hunting.  Man, I adore that movie!

This post is a follow up to my earlier post, Living and Working Aboard — Why Not?

This is also a mid point test case to see who is reading and checking in on the blog as required, and who is not. Comment submission and input have been pretty quiet lately.

One of the recommended books on your reading list, China CEO: Voices of Experience From 20 International Business Leaders has an entire chapter that addresses the following question: What are the qualities of a successful expatriate business manager in China?

What do you think is the answer?

Seriously, think hard about this question and timely respond. Your skills in stats, marketing, finance, accounting, etc. are critical, but they will only take you so far. Moving a firm forward and its leading people is hard, stressful, difficult work. So think about the following levels of skill and ability that expat managers need to have in a country like China: (1) what qualities does such a manager need to possess on a professional level; (2) what qualities does such a manager need to possess with respect to personal global qualities; and (3) what qualities does such a manager need to possess with respect to personal China-specific qualities?

Without going out and reading this part of this book, discuss in the comment section below what you think, and I will toss in a Starbucks gift certificate (Peter, yours is coming from the last contest!) to the Cal Poly MBA student going on the trip who best uses their street smarts to offer a response that most closely mirrors the recommendations from the CEOs interviewed for this book.

Once we see what comments and responses come in and I report back to you what these CEOs said, I think you will be surprised by their collective response. Then, once we are in China, you can compare what these CEOs said to some of the managers and CEOs you will meet on the trip and ask them follow-up questions emenating from this post and discussion thread.

Due to a scheduling conflict that has popped up on Professor Frayne’s calendar, I have rescheduled her session from February 1 to Thursday, February 15 from 11 to 12 (same room). See below and see you there.

• Thursday, February 15 from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm, Room 114 — OCOB Management Professor Colette Frayne will discuss Managing People in the Global Environment: A Look at China. See Professor Frayne’s bio by clicking here.

I love Shanghai.  You will love Shanghai.  We will see Shanghai and spend three (3) full days there (which includes two full days of firm visits, one full day of seeing the sites — see below).  While you will have some free time in Shanghai, you won’t have a lot — evenings there will likely be your best bet for solo exploring and adventure.

Here is an article that just came out in the New York Times of some things to see and do in Shanghai.  The article has some good ideas, but the NY Times’ idea of a $500 being “frugal” or doing Shanghai “on a budget” for a few days for this amount is laughable.  If travelling solo, this Midwest boy could do Shanghai for the same amount of time for a lot less than $500, and have even more fun than this Manhattan based author did.

While there, as one of our three days and for some fun and culture, we will likely visit, as a group, the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall and the Shanghai Museum.  We will also likely check out, as a group, the famous Bund (along the Huangpu river and right across the river from the Oriental Pearl TV Tower), the French Concession (a district left over from the Western colonial days of ”let’s carve up China” that still retains many shops and mansions with a French feel), and the famous Yuyuan Garden.  Each place, in my view, is a must see stop while in Shanghai, and I think you will enjoy them (last year’s students certainly did; at the end of the “hit the sites” day you will be pretty worn out). 

After Shanghai, up early in the morning, check out of the hotel and load the bus, and we will be off to Suzhou or Hangzhou … 

Great front page article in today’s Wall Street Jorunal, “Pigs Get the Ax in China TV Ads, in Nod to Muslims“, showing how Beijing has made the call to pull ads with pigs in them, even though this year is the Chinese ”Year of the Pig“, so as to not offend China’s 20 million Muslims, who consider pigs unclean. 

As I read this article, I could not help but think back to the recent PBS series, “China From The Inside” which I did a post on.  That show did a nice job touching on Xinjianghina, the Northwest province of China which purportedly wants independence but Beijing disagress under the subterfuge of “only the terrorists there want independence”, and they proceed to crack down on folks in this province in a way that teaches the USA what ”shock and awe” really means.   The article suggests that pulling this advertising is a ploy by Beijing to buy political capital with these folks and not inflame them even more.  I agree.   If so, a pretty savvy politcal move.  Hey, the folks in Beijing aren’t dumb.  Great article. 

On the business side, I also wonder whose head rolled in Nestle’s marketing department who made the call to spend millions on an ad campaign centered on a cute pig, without giving thought to how Beijing might pull such advertising so as to not offend a small segment of its 1.3 billion population.  This is the type of foresight and intuition that no business school class can teach you.  You either have such a skill to think ahead like this and have a Plan B in place when things go wrong, or, you don’t.

Submitted By: Stacey Westenberger

As we look to China with all of its potential for growth, physically and economically, I can’t help but be concerned about the sustainability of these conditions. Focusing on the physical environment, the urban population in China is projected to increase by over 250 million people in the next two decades (Libby). The increased consumption of resources allowing for this growth is startling and needs to be confronted. As Libby explains, the Chinese government is also concerned about the rapid growth of urban areas. However, the claims made at the U.S. Green Building Council’s Greenbuild Conference in 2004, were startling, yet seem to be far from fulfilled. “For example, Qiu Baoxing, vice minister of Ministry of Construction, People’s Republic of China, told the conference’s 6,000 attendees that by the end of 2010, all Chinese cities will be expected to reduce their buildings’ energy use by 50 percent; by 2020 that figure will be 65 percent” (Libby). Although these claims are hard to track, the China Rises video, which we all viewed last fall, was released in 2006 and the environmental issues were still a major concern.

With these issues escalating, Danish Architecture firms teamed up with Chinese Universities to create visionary proposals for sustainable urban development in Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai, and Xi’an. (Co-evolution) These creative approaches generate discussions and begin to address the problems in China with conceptual solutions.

As the Danish Architecture Center states, this collaborative approach “illustrates the value of sharing knowledge, ideas, and experiences across borders” (Co-evolution). Denmark, with a population of almost 5.5 million people, is a much different place than China, with a population of over 1.3 billion people. However we can learn from each other, adapting lessons to culturally appropriate solutions. This exhibit won first prize at the 10th International Architecture Biennale in Venice, recognizing its importance as a subject to be addressed among the world.