China’s newness to prosperity and the wonders of things like all-you-can-eat buffets and boat cruise dining can make for some interesting YouTube videos.  As China becomes more “modern” so will some of the dining etiquette. But for now “buffet” remains a contact sport in mainland China on a par with a rugby tournament.  See this YouTube video to see what I mean.  And you thought that traffic in LA, the Bay area or Seattle could be bad?  Think again.  Click HERE to read about this recent 60 mile traffic jam in China.

The size and scale of emerging markets like China and India, including their immense populations, can be overwhelming to many Westerners.   Get ready to adjust your sense of personal space and distance when we travel to China!

Terms, and how they are defined are important.  A good friend and colleague once told me how he can remember a number of discussions/arguments he has had with individuals where they were both basically saying the same thing, but their terminology was just different. It reminded him of The Unbearable Lightness of Being and the idea of an experiential dictionary, where two lovers have dramatically different reactions to the words, “I want to make love with the lights on,” based on their past experiences. Culturally, it’s the same game at stake; we each have different experiences forming our perceptions of certain concepts. Articulating how we get to those concepts and what these words mean to us is important.

So before we arrive in China, I would like you to reflect and give the (loaded) terms that are embedded in the title of this post some critical and serious thought.

To that end, click HERE and listen to this Sinica podcast and discussion in Beijing on the topic of China apologists among China hands Kaiser Kuo, Jeremy Goldkorn of the respected Danwei blog, journalist Gady Epstein of Forbes, Will Moss of the respected Image Thief blog and David Moser.

Note:  Start at the 16:00 mark of this podcast and listen to the end at 42:30.  You do not need to listen to any part of this podcast before the 16:00 mark.  And you can link to Shaun Rein’s short article in Forbes that fueled a part of this debate and podcast by clicking HERE.

After you listen to this podcast and these commentators, what did you learn and what do you now know about this topic and debate that you did not know before?

And do you have a better sense of what a Panda Hugger, a Dragon Slayer, a Centrist, is or could be, and when, where and why?

For this course there is no litmus test or expectation that you be one or the other, but I do have the expectation that you be able to intelligently define and discuss such terms, even when their meaning shifts, when asked by a person in the US or China when they come up in a conversation or debate.

Discuss.

“Yo’ dawg,” as some say.

Click HERE and HERE (scroll down a bit for this second video) and check out this NPR story and two short videos on rap daddy Eli Sweet, who is breakin’ it down in Chengdu.  For some time NPR has been running such spotlights on China and its growing influence on the world.  I have enjoyed many of these features as I sip my morning cha.

But the purpose of this post is not to suggest that we travel to China to admire and hang out with rappers.

Instead, and notwithstanding the artistic and cultural intrigue of these videos on our man Eli, this post recognizes that Eli the rapper is an entrepreneur and in business, regardless of whether as an “artist” he will cop to such a label.

To be more specific, his hometown of Atlanta appears to be over saturated with rappers, he sees a possible need for what he has in another place - an emerging market called China — he is trying to fill said need, and he is trying to make money doing it (gotta pay the bills).   MBAs could no doubt teach him a thing or two about business, but he could also teach them a thing or two about guts, stepping off the ledge, getting on the plane, and seeing where moving out of one’s comfort zone can take you.  That too, is an unappreciated part of business.

There are also two money quotes in the first video I want you go back and replay and listen to closely.  First, where he says, “There is always a possibility [here in China] that you will see something today that you have never seen in your entire life”.  And second, “I didn’t come [to China] because I thought that the life would be better than it was in America.  I came here because I couldn’t envision a great life for myself in America.”

I agree with most of that, but I am not sure that I would agree that a great life cannot still be had in the USA with some hard work and luck.  But you get the point — emerging markets such as China present business opportunities that we either don’t have or may no longer to be able to reasonably access in the West.  One of the reasons we go to China is to explore its business opportunities (and challenges).

So welcome to the first of these online readings, videos and assignments I give you during the academic year.  They will help bring you up to speed on some of the “China basics” and they will also help keep the drumbeat of China fresh in your mind during the academic year.   Once we arrive in China, I don’t want that to be the first time you have given any thought to this trip, the firms and industries we will visit, China, and/or any of its history, culture and business practices.

We will rock and roll once our boots hit the ground in China, the pace will be fast, and the days long, hot, humid, and challenging.  But this trip and course will also enrich and reward you, both personally and professionally, if invest in yourself and put in the necessary time, work and effort along the way.

Cal Poly MBA students, “Welcome to the People’s Republic of China, where, as the saying goes and as you will learn, anything is possible, but nothing is easy.”

- Professor Carr

[Click for larger view]

This is from a posting in Forbes I came across in my file.  It reminded me that that for the 2011 trip we will visit several of the listed places perceived to be favorable venues in China to conduct business!  Don’t know that this list has changed much from the publication date of this article.  Click on the image for a clearer view.

Ever take the time to ask, “How does an immigrant see us/the USA?”.

Check out this comedy presentation by Joe Wong at the Radio and Television Correspondent’s Dinner in Washington DC  (click HERE).

The Joe-Man is brilliant, in my view, and funny.

Imagine flipping this … you/us know enough about China (or India), speaking Mandarin (or Hindi) well enough, and know Chinese (Indian) culture, history, its jokes and humor well enough to stand before a room of Chinese (Indian) press correspondents and high ranking CCP officials and do what Joe Wong did at this dinner.

And his joke about the how the President should be fluent two languages … (1) English to sign legislation; and (2) Mandarin to be able to work with Chinese debt collectors?   Priceless …..

Here is Joe Wong’s website if you want to learn more about him - click HERE.

Joe is the man ….

- Chris Carr

I assume that anyone with even a remote interest in business and the global world at large has been loosely monitoring the recent WWF pissing match between the Chinese CCP government and US firm Google.

See/read the below January 30, 2010 Wall Street Journal article on this topic (be sure to click on the “Comments” link at the top of the article and peruse some of the comments that were posted in response to this article):

Battling the Information Barbarians: China Often Views the Ideas of Foreigners, from Missionaries in the 17th Century to 21st-Century Internet Entrepreneurs, as Subversive Imports.  The Tumultuous History Behind the Clash with Google.

Ring a bell from your admission essay question when you applied to the program?

Were you aware of this historical tension between China and the West?

See also/read this nice blog post from David Wolf of the always insightful Silicon Hutong blog, based in Beijing, Why Global Internet Companies Fail in China and his really, really good Ad Age article cited therein, The Internet Does Not Rise Above Nations and Cultures.

Books will be written on this dispute and much dust still needs to settle before any sane writer takes on this subject and starts to write these chapters, but what are your early thoughts on this dispute for now?  Did Google to the right thing?  Did it take the right approach?  Why did it do what it did?  How do you predict this will all end?

Not really.  But a title like this always grabs the reader’s attention.  Worked on you, didn’t it?

American’s can be pretty naive, overly trusting and even downright lazy in their due diligence when doing business in an emerging market like China and India and in addressing some of the commercial/corporate espionage risks involved.

See/read this China Law Blog post, China: Do The Walls Have Ears? See also this Times of India article, Corporate Espionage: India Inc. Means Business and this Asia Times article, India’s Growing Corporate Spy Threat.

Your thoughts?

Did you know and appreciate how big of a deal corporate espionage has become not only in China and India but right here at home/in the West?   See, e.g., this recent Wall Street Journal article on this very topic, Hugger-Mugger in the Executive Suite.   Don’t think this stuff does not happen here/in the US.  It does.  All the time.  In my other life as a practicing attorney, I worked on several civil cases that involved commercial dumpster diving allegations.  At times I felt that I was in an Austin Powers movie.  Yeeeeaahhh  Baaabbbyyyy!

– Professor Carr

Professor Carr post:

I hope each of you as a graduate student regularly read business news in outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The Economist, etc.  If I owned a company and you interviewed with me, one of the first questions I would ask you to verify if you were truly interested and passionate about business in general (versus a technician just picking up a graduate degree) would be a current events type of a question along the lines of, “It’s great to be able to interview you.  What have you been reading about in the Wall Street Journal or Financial Times or other that has peeked your interest?  How does that relate to my company and industry and/or what you studied in your MBA program?”

If you were silent, stumbled or babbled … not good … and I might move on the the other five people I brought in to interview for the position.  Don’t shoot the messenger, and on that note …

Please see/read this week’s Wall Street Journal article, Expanding Abroad?  Avoid Cultural Gaffes.  A nice article that will come to life even more when you visit China (or India).  But also be thinking above and beyond the “don’t look like a fool” issue that this article raises.    That is, ask yourself, “What business opportunities do I see not being met or satisfied that exist due the cultural differences I am seeing?  Could I build a business around them?  If so, how?”   This is not an meaningless academic exercise.  Many of you will work for firms that do or one day will do business in or with markets like China, India, Brazil, Russia, etc. have clients based there, work with colleagues or clients from those markets, etc.

I am a big fan of James Fallows, who now writes for The Atlantic.  Fallows has written some great stuff on China over the years (e.g., “Postcards from Tomorrow’s Square”), but his latest piece that I just came across, “How America Can Rise Again”, is one of his best works and well worth reading.  It applies to what you will see in emerging economies and emerging markets such as India and China.  Click HERE to read it.  The 6 minute video interview that accompanies the article is also worth watching.

What are your take-aways from this article?    Your trip to China/India is important, in that it will help you test some of Fallow’s arguments.  Can’t do that if you stay home and only read about it in a book, and never visit the business future in a places like the PRC or India.

And to see him come at this from a bit different angle, also/listen to Kaiser’s presentation at TEDx Honolulu.  Click HERE.