I was recently contacted by Christine Lu of the China Business Network re: our MBA trip to China, our MBA program, and our MS in Industrial Technology (IT) program.

Click HERE to listen to the radio interview (5 minutes) re: our annual China trip.

Click HERE to listen to the podcast (20 minutes) about our MBA and MS in IT program.

For the record, the latter 20 minute podcast is a textbook case of how an interviewee (me) can muddle up an interview.

In my enthusiasm for what we seek to accomplish and are doing at Cal Poly I talked waaaaay too much, should have let her talk more, should have let the dialogue naturally flow. Drs. Whitaker and Beamon, who teach your Communication for Mangers course, would rightfully and justifiably take me to task for this blabbing. I would rate my own performance a “D”, at best. I am clearly rusty at giving interviews.

Listen … and learn … how not to do it. Christine Lu was very good and a gracious interviewer. I was not a very good interviewee this go-around.

My main point for this self-criticism is to actually make and educational point: More and more the soft skills are becoming the hard skills in business. 

It can be tough for some students and professionals to swallow that something without a formula, something so subjective as communication, can really knock them on their behinds.

My secondary point is that these skills can easily atrophy. They need to be nurtured and developed and refreshed throughout your career — a one time MBA class dealing with communication issues only means you are on your way, not that you are set for life in this important area of business. Don’t assume that just because you made it through your MBA communication course that you can now run back to the back room of your firm and you never have to speak or write in front of people again.

Don’t believe it? Then click HERE and HERE for these recent Wall Street Journal articles [subscription may be required] on this topic.

Ms. Lu has such an interesting background — as I understand it she moved to the US from Taiwan with her family when she was very young, grew up in the Los Angeles area in a Latino neighborhood, did her undergrad at Boston University, spent 4 or 5 years in Shanghai working with/for the Home Shopping Network seeking to make inroads into the Chinese market, and she is now back living in the San Diego area.

I have been perusing her blog. It’s great. I wish I had 1/100th of her web and technology skills. It is a wealth of information and resources. Check it out.

I grew up hearing the song Route 66 playing on the AM radio (yes, this thing called an AM radio really did exist). Great memories, and I often fantasized about hoping into a convertible and experiencing the Route 66 journey.

Rob Gifford, of NPR fame, recently came out with a book titled, China Road. Gifford spent the past six years working and traveling as a reporter for National Public Radio (NPR) in China.

I bought it this past Friday, could not put it down over the weekend, and finished it last night.

I loved this book, and would put it right up there with some of the other vicarious pleasure reads about China I have experienced with such books as Peter Hessler’s, River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze; John Pomfret’s, Chinese Lessons: Five Classmates and the Story of the New China, Tim Clissold’s, Mr. China: A Memoir; and Jung Chang’s, Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China, among others.

(By the way, just ignore the negators out there who nit pick these types of books apart and often just want to rain on your party of enjoyment, and ask them this simple question, ”Have YOU ever written a book like this? Have YOU even ever written and published a book at all? Since you have not done so, please sit down and shut your trap until that occurs and you earn the right to complain. Don’t grouse by the fact that I enjoyed this book and you did not. Thank you.”)

Gifford’s book is about his journey along Route 312 in China. Route 312 is China’s version of Route 66 in the US.

As the book cover notes, Route 312 flows three thousand miles from east to west, passing through the factory towns of the coastal areas, through the rural heart of China, then up into the Gobi Desert, where it merges with the Old Silk Road. The highway witnesses every part of the social and economic revolution that is turning China upside down.

This is not an academic book, but an experiential one.

I felt that in a very intimate and moving way he captured so much of the good and bad of China, so that if one is not a “China hand” one can still grasp, understand and relate to it on a number of levels.

It’s also clearly not a “I love China and you should too” book that some would predict an NPR reporter would write. When Gifford sees something that makes him love China, he let’s you know it and and when he witnesses something that make him hate China he pulls no punches.

The following quote one page 274 his book sticks in my mind:

It’s impossible to be neutral about China. Some foreigners hate it from the moment they set foot here. Others love it so much they put down roots and never go home. I wonder if other countries divide people so intensely in their emotions. For myself, I have always tried to retain my own unity of opposites, attempting to keep the love and hate in balance. But’ it’s difficult, especially as a journalist. I’m supposed not to care. I’m just supposed to observe. But how can I not care when one fifth of humanity is being convulsed before my eyes, and thousands are making millions and millions are being crushed? And if I seem a little confused about China, it’s because I am. And if you’re not confused, then you simply haven’t been paying attention.  [Emphasis mine.]

Here, here.

I was grateful for him taking the time to write and share this incredible road trip and experience with me.

Check out his book. You won’t regret it.

Here are two must read WSJ articles you need to check out before we visit the Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP) and Wal-Mart:

Wal-Mart Sneezes, China Catches Cold.

China Nutures a “Clean Tech” Hub. (This is not the park we will visit, and it is not yet even really up and running; but SIP has facets of this in it.)

Submitted By: Kerry Huang

See this Wall Street Journal article (Chinese Investors Crunching Numbers Are Glad to See 8s).

In the US and most developed nations, investors carefully study companies before making investments. Financial institutions with seasoned analysts account for a bulk of the transactions on the stock exchanges. However, in China many of the investors are unexperienced individuals who base their decisions on “lucky numbers”;  specifically, the number eight, which signifies “wealth” in Chinese.  According to the article, investors will buy a company’s stock if the number eight
is in it.

Many will find this practice laughable but the Chinese take lucky numbers very seriously.  For example, as we ride the elevators in China one will notice that the buttons for floors 14 (”want death”), and 24 (”easy death”) do not exist.  With 60% -80% of China’s trades being made by inexperienced investors, one wonders what will happen to the stock market? Will these superstitious investors crash the market? How will the government regulate such trades?

Side note:  Even Chinese American’s who grew up with superstitious parents are affected by lucky numbers. My normally rational friend freaks out every time she looks at the clock and it reads 4:44, which is “death death death.”

Clarification to make sure there is no confusion:

1. On your individual blogs, each individual is supposed to have a short recap of each facility we will be visiting (noted *** in your information booklet).

2. Each team is responsible for approximately 5 “focus” firms to be ready to be the catalyst for questions when we are on the road - but nothing needs to be posted on your blogs ahead of time.

One of the things I love about China is that you can visit a decent sized city, drive by an empty parcel of land, and then come back six months later and see a fairly far along massive skyscraper sitting in what used to be an empty lot. It often makes me thoroughly confused and disoriented, but to be honest I sometimes like that feeling.

It also makes me realize how different SLO can be from China when it can take me a year just to get a permit from the city of SLO to build a friggin’ deck in my backyard — what a contrast in views re: development between China and some of the “now that I am here I want to shut the gate on everybody else who wants to move to SLO” locals.

Okay, enough preaching and ranting ….

Check out these recent NY Times articles, In World Skyscraper Race, It Isn’t Lonely at the Top and Embracing Koolhaass’s Friendly Skyscraper about skyscrapers in Shanghai and Beijing.

This month’s feature in National Geographic by Peter Hessler of River Town and Oracle Bones fame is also simply a must read – China’s Instant Cities.  As usual, Hessler has created a piece that is incredibly well written and thoughtful.   The guy can flat out write.  Reading this article will also help you better see and understand part of what I will show you in some of the factories we will visit in Guangzhou.

If one of the cities featured in this Hessler National Geographic piece, Yiwu, was not so darn far away from Hangzhou, I would take you there, as from a business study standpoint it’s a pretty good place place for MBAs to visit. Yiwu is famous as a commodities center (see also my related post on Dollar Stores), but other than that, I can assure you there is not much else to see there and you would hate me for the 3 hour bus ride (minimum) to get you there.

I have also always wondered why China seems so transfixed with cutting edge architecture (the Shanghai skyline — need I say more)? Think about asking Mr. Yang this question when we visit Callison.

When we are in Shanghai, the buildings around The Bund and the Pudong District will amaze you, especially at night, particulary the Pearl of the Orient TV Tower and the Jin Mao Building.

When we visit The Bund, you can use the tunnel that runs under the Huangpu River to cross and check out one or both of these famous buildings and sites, and take in a quick visit to one of their observation decks. The view is well worth it, and if/when the night in Shanghai is foggy or has higher then normal humidity it gives a real Gotham feel to the city.

I plan to take you to The Bund during the early evening — in my view this is the best time to go because of how the light hits the buildings and the river along The Bund. It’s magical each time I go. I really love it.

Our visit to The Bund will also be a nice bookend to your visit to Callison in Shanghai and the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall.

One of the best business speakers I have ever heard present is Mike McBreen, formerly of Nike and now with Wolverine World Wide based in Rockford, Michigan.  I was fortunate to be invited to a lunch on campus where Mike spoke to us about himself and his work at Nike, and we could ask him questions. A very humble man you could not help but like and respect. Mike also spoke at our winter undergraduate Orfalea College of Business graduation ceremony and did a great job.

One of his points during that lunch that resonated with me and still sticks in my mind … successful corporate strategy, at least in his industry, is becoming more and more tied to the supply chain and how quickly and efficiently goods can be moved from creation to the customer.

As one of his examples, he indicated that the retail “shelf life” of a T-shirt is/was about 33 days. Yet, it takes 28 days just to ship a shirt from a port in China to Nike’s intake facility on the US East Coast. Thus, if consumer taste takes a big swing while the ship carrying your T-shirt is going through the Panama Canal, you are not in a terribly enviable position. Future victory, then, at least for those in the T-shirt or other textile sales business, may hinge more and more on who can cut that 28 days down to, for example, 10 days — and Mike talked about how he is seeing some T-shirt production starting to move back to the US from abroad.

If so, does this make one of the books that a number of you read to help prepare you for the China trip, The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy, outdated? Just a thought.

Man, the world of business changes at light speed and that is one of the things I love about it. I hope you do too. No day is the same or boring in business.

For more information on the supply chain issue, check out MIT’s Center for Transportation and Logistics web site, where the techies there go nuts over this supply chain stuff.

This issue also relates to the Port (or a similar one) we may possibly visit in China (depends on our ultimate travel plan and details).

Professor Carr March 13, 2008 addendum: See this related post I just made, Gone Baby, Gone … Even From Mexico.

When do you do it? How do you do it? Do you do it?

See this WSJ article, Not Even Politicians Can Out-Campaign Office Grandstanders, for some good advice. I agree that it’s a big mistake to toot your own horn with people or peers who are already familiar with your accomplishments. But, as uncomfortable as it may be you need to be open and learn to (deftly, of course) do so where appropriate with those who are not familiar with your credentials, or the “office grandstanders” out there may eat you alive. And here is a related blog comment from Dan Harris of the CLB re: the interview process which follows up on the recent posting I made about a the NY Times article, Answering the Unanswerable, that I could not agree with more (see Dan’s comment to the article):

I realize now that my 9 year old daughter has rendered me better prepared to interview than back when I was actually interviewing. She asks me questions like these just about every day when I drive her to school: how many garbage trucks are there in Seattle? Do the drivers drive the same route every week, or do they rotate?

Best interview I ever had was when I walked into an office filled with Cub memorabilia. I told him I was a Cub fan and he was very skeptical, being as how I was from Michigan. So he started quizzing me on what the Cubs needed to do to improve the next year and we ended up going through their entire 25 man roster discussing each player, whether he belonged on the team or not and if so, what his role should be next year. I even remember this person loving my assessment that one of the starting outfielders is a great sub outfielder but lacked the power to be a starter. I got the job.

What students need to understand is that interviewers are incredibly busy and if your paper were not good enough you would not be there and really the ONLY thing they want to see in the interview is who you really are. I had never heard of the “airport test” until now, but that’s exactly what it is. It’s can you go out to dinner with the client and the client’s spouse and talk about more than just work and not be viewed as an ass.

Relatedly, a number of you have asked me, “How do/should I describe the China and/or India trip on my CV?”

There is no black and white answer and you need to adopt your own style of presentation, but if it was me, I would likely type the following into my own CV (the below relates to the trip when we visited just China and India had not yet become a part of the trip):

California State Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo, CA

M.B.A. (July 2009)

• International Business Tour to the People’s Republic of China —A 10 day to two week global business practices study of the PRC, with visits to small, medium and large companies in key Chinese cities (Shenzhen, Shanghai, Beijing), studying global business practices of American, Chinese, Taiwanese, Japanese, Korean and European firms (June-July 2009).

Each of you has made a significant capital investment in your education and professional future by taking this elective course and traveling to China and/or India. Don’t be shy. Be proud of it. Now is not the time for humility. Consider “blowing your own horn” to help move you forward with prospective employers. It’s business — differentiate yourself from others.

May 24, 2007 addendum:  In your resume you might also consider adding or working in a bullet that is even more specific than the above. For example, list some attributes of a factory you visited (size, sales, product capacity, customers, etc.). If/when we visit the Wal-Mart in Guangzhou, plug in a bullet about that as everyone can relate to that Wal-Mart and what it does. Or list a firm we visited who is a competitor of the firm you now want a job with.

This highlights that your resume should be tailored for each firm you interview with — blanket and boilerplate resumes are dangerous to send out en masse and not as effective as they could otherwise be.

Finally, at a recent College Dean’s Advisory Council meeting I ask some of our members how, from their industry prospective, students might best market the China and/or India trip on there resume. The following suggestions were offered:

• Focus on key lessons gained from experience.
• Concentrate on a particular focus for the trip.
• Discuss as a key life experience.
• Use as a topic for discussion during interviews.
• Highlight the interaction with Chinese citizens, the mixture of viewpoints, culture, religion, etc.

Professor Carr February 6, 2009 addendum: And check out this recent related Wall Street Journal article on how to effectively interview, A Question To Make A Monkey Out Of You.

Submitted By: Steven Feng

Speaking Mandarin or Cantonese would enhance the experience of the trip. We could interact with more people if we could speak the dialects. Unfortunately, it takes years of practice, and we have less than six months before the trip. Still, we should make an attempt to learn some basic words and phrases or to practice the language for those that already speak one dialect.

I am proposing we have an informal discussion/practice once a week for an hour during the spring quarter. If you are interested, please leave a comment. Include in your comment:

• The language, Mandarin or Cantonese, you would prefer to speak

• The weekday and time you prefer to meet (I figure the following times would be most appropriate, but you could suggest an alternative:  Tuesday 11-12 and Thursday 11-12 on the days we are not in a China lecture)

I will count up the votes, and majority to set the time and language. I looked on the internet for books and the least expensive is about $15 with a CD.

Submitted By: Erik Slayter

I recently received an email from Grant Thornton (a large, global accounting firm) describing to me what they call their “Interest” program. It is interesting to me that they are rolling out this program focusing specifically on the Chinese market. We have several accountants in the MBA program…is this enticing to you?

Under phase 1 of this program, Grant Thornton (GT) works with Chinese Nationals from the People’s Republic of China. Through this program, these accounting professionals are sponsored by GT for a 2-3 year work visa and work in a GT US office. Interest participants have a compensation package similar to that of other professionals at their same level in the US. Additionally, participants receive the same firm training as their colleagues and are provided a coach to assist in their skills development.

At the end of their 2-3 year stint in the US, they return to China for a position with the Grant Thornton International firm in China.

GT states that their program is different than a traditional exchange program offered by other firms because they have a larger dedication to their participants. Interest professionals meet annually with the firm’s national and international leadership to learn about specific Chinese initiatives. Biannually they participate in a videoconference link to the Shanghai or Beijing office to receive an general business update by a partner in the Chinese member firm. Finally, an annual visit home provides the Interest participant to meet with other Chinese professionals to develop relationships they can build on upon their return.