Submitted by: David McKinnon

I am sure the recent terrorist attacks in India have been on all of our minds.  As the departure date comes closer it?s only natural for us to think about if and how the Indian government will react.  As I read the following article in the Far Eastern Economic Review I tried to relate the attacks in India with the 9/11 attacks in the United States.  How did we react?  With hindsight being 20/20 we are able to analyze how we responded and use it as a reference point with India.

The article talks about the Bharatiya Janata Party pushing for a return of POTA (Prevention of Terrorism Activities Act), an anti-terrorism legislation.  You can read about POTA here.

In the article, the author gives her reasons why she is against such legislation.

What do you guys think?

Submitted By: Andrea Muntzel

Thanksgiving came around with an event that none of us could possibly give thanks for? a terrorist attack in Mumbai. I’m sure I wasn’t alone in fending off worried family members’ and friends’ comments about the dangers of India. I’m also sure I wasn’t the only one that felt fearful and concerned for our upcoming trip to the city.

In the days that followed the attacks, a deluge of articles, videos, and interviews filled the newspapers and news channels. If you haven’t heard much about the attack itself, I suggest reading this Wall Street Journal article, entitled India Security Faulted as Survivors Tell of Terror (also see the interactive graphic). Since this article was written, there has been a back-and-forth between Pakistan and India, talks about the effects this attack will have on the economy, and a theory that links China to the grenades used in the attacks (a completely different blog post in itself). Writing this post, I am overwhelmed by the opportunity to spark insightful discussions on a number of diverse topics relating to India’s horrific attack. I will write about my own perceptions and experiences; feel free to write about yours.

On Thanksgiving morning, after learning about these acts of terrorism, my first reaction (surprise) was not very surprising. After reading Zakaria’s The Post-American World, I have felt very confident about going to India. A country that can relate to the United States and that has strong ties to the United States would surely be a safe place for Americans, right? I’m not sure. After my family finished our Thanksgiving meal, I found myself in an unusual position: arguing in favor of India. Talking politics at the dinner table is a social faux pas that I try to avoid. This time, however, I was in the heat after sparking the debate with my response to my aunt’s question, “You aren’t going to Mumbai when you go to India, are you?!” As I gently explained my knowledge obtained through Zakaria, I realized that a lot of the distrust my family had for India was rooted in ignorance and fear; my uncle’s line of work has seen a lot of jobs going overseas to India, and my aunt thinks that Indians don’t like Americans. After researching the subject, I also discovered how limited the information I had about India was. I was unaware that India has been the target of 12 terrorist attacks since 2005 (see WSJ article, Murder in Mumbai). The fact that the country is pro-American does not mean that it is America, complete with the largest defense budget in the world. In fact, this attack has revealed huge weaknesses in India’s infrastructure and government.

These comments have brought up several points relating to the attacks in Mumbai. First, of course, is whether India is a safe place for us to visit this summer. I find myself conflicted in this issue. I initially thought that chances are there wouldn’t be two terrorist attacks in the same place within such a tight time period. After learning about India’s history, however, I admit to being a little more nervous. Being American in a city that has been the target of terrorism towards Americans is a little disconcerting.

The second issue is India’s slow reaction to the attacks. In light of this subject, I thought it was only fitting to include Fareed Zakaria’s discussion of this incident from a Newsweek article entitled This Fire Needs to be Put Out. In the article, Zakaria discusses India’s weaknesses in an honest and insightful way. He talks again about the need for reform at the governmental level while also touching on political, social, and foreign issues. A correlation must be made between the fact that India is a democracy yet is “plagued by weak coalition governments, patronage and corruption, with little emphasis on professionalism and competence.”

Overall, it will be interesting to see how India reacts over the next couple of weeks. Zakaria predicts that these attacks will have the same uniting result that 9/11 had on Americans. He writes: “while Indians have many troubles, they have one great counterterrorism policy - resilience. The Mumbai stock exchange reopened last Friday and closed higher. The country will persevere, the city will bounce back, and all those who have reasons to go there should not be deterred.”

Hopefully, neither shall we.

Of course, this conclusion depends what you are measuring and/or what you value.

Many of you are reading Fareed Zarkaria’s, book The Post American World for your book review this quarter.

A good discussion has been going on over at the China Law Blog re: one of the central themes of this book.

Click HERE to check it out.

And here is a nice short  video of Zakaria talking about four things that he believes bode well for America.

Your thoughts?

I am struck by how little Americans at all levels know and understand the foundations of capitalism, how little or rarely they think deeply about them, and how little they have thought about the different types or shades of capitalism and their pros and cons (e.g., in what way is China more capitalist than the US?).

I am also struck by how they are also often so willing to readily accept the benefits of capitalism but are then unwilling to vigorously defend it (or are intellectually unable to do so) when it is attacked.  Not sure if this is driven by guilt, an unwillingness to be unpopular, or other.

This above observations are especially apropos given the current financial crisis. This post is also timely in that it ties into last week’s seminar by our Orfalea College economics faculty that a number of you attended.

So let’s take a minute or two to think more deeply and discuss the topic of capitalism.

To that end I recently came across this very interesting PBS short video that features the famous South American economist, Hernando de Soto, with an insightful take on the relationship between capitalism, the existence of contracts and property rights, and the development of societal and cultural trust and how such trust is formed (Francis Fukuyama, by the way, has written a very insightful book that is listed in your syllabus on this latter topic called Trust: The Social Virtues and The Creation of Prosperity).

Click HERE to watch this PBS segment. (You will need to scroll down and click on the “Chapter 19 - Capitalism Redfined” link. ) This segment has direct relevance to what you will witness in China and India.

And to dig deeper see also these recent WSJ articles, opinion pieces and letters to the editor:

A Capitalist Manifesto

Capitalism Encourages More Personal Responsibility

Is the Rescue Plan Socialism? The Far Left Says ‘No Way’ Comrade

Crisis Stirs Critics of Free Markets

And for a well received book that discusses the different types of capitalism and their tradeoffs, see Good Capitalism, Bad Capitalism: And the Economics of Growth and Prosperity by Baumol, et al.

Your thoughts, biases, beliefs, arguments, concerns?

Nice piece in the 10/16/08 WSJ re Duke University, including its MBA program, trying to break into the heavy regulated and currently very protectionist educational market in India (Duke Expands India Offerings As U.S. Schools Seek Foothold).

Note their unconventional initial market entry strategy — lobby the Indian regulators to help them move India forward in the area of education and competition. This relates directly to your law, ethics and corporate governance, and strategy course. These guys, the Blue Devils, know more than just good basketball.

Note also the chart re: the dispersion of top universities in the world. The US, has lots. Japan and China, have a decent number. India, not yet many in terms of volume. But with as many bright, talented and English speaking young people that India has (unlike China whose demographics suggest it will grow old before it grows rich), such favorable demographics will create huge opportunities, winners, and yes, some losers in the educational sector in India.

Last year we visited an Indian hospital that engaged in medical tourism. Fascinating place and visit.

Today’s Wall Street Journal [subscription required] had a great article on this very subject (Paying Workers To Go Abroad For Health Care).

Short summary:

In an effort to control rising costs, a small but growing number of insurers and employers are giving people the option of seeking treatment in countries like India.

I predict said trend will continue and more and more firms will do this.

Check out the article.

Have any of you worked for or do any of you work for firms that have plugged into medical tourism to help cut costs? If so, what has been your experience?

If not, if/when that day comes, won’t this trip help you make a better/more informed decision re: the viability of going this route for you individually and/or for you as a manager of your firm trying to educate your employees on this option?

I have not written nearly enough about India on this blog, not because I am not interested and fascinated by the place, but because I just don’t know India; I only know a bit about China.

This short 60 Minutes segment, Out of India, is a required assignment for you to watch.

You will enjoy this video and will learn a lot. This segment also builds nicely on Mr. Asnani’s excellent talk with you a few weeks ago about his ecountant business, and, the call center in India we will also visit.

See also this related Wall Street Journal article that just came out, In India Parents Become Part of the Picture for Outsourcing Firms. Fascinating employee recruitment development, retention and HR issues are highlighted in this article as it applies to the outsourcing industry in India and the above video.

The world today is an amazing place. I can’t think of a better or more exciting time to be alive and in business.

Students, your thoughts?

Oh really?

And let me guess … all the products you buy are made in America and there is no value in seeing where the products we buy are made, right? Or the investment funds your stock broker dumps your money into will have no cross-border asset investments tied to China or India, right?  And there are no services you might be able to develop and one day offer in China when/if supply exceeds demand here, right?

Hmmmm.

In any event, I think most folks get it, but I do overhear this comment a few times most years. In fact, a few weeks ago I had someone in my office making the very argument that is the heading of this post and that if they had to go on the trip and “bear” it in order to graduate on an accelerated basis, they would buck up and make it through.

Double-hmmmm.

I understand where people are coming from and they mean well when they make such statements, and I am pleased they remain outward looking enough to still enroll in the course and undertake this field trip. Perhaps what they are really saying is, “I have no desire to be an expat.”

Fair enough, as the expat life is not for everybody. But I still push back against said statements, and will continue to do so, because I think said statements miss an important point and shows a disconnect with what is happening in the world and about what the term “international” means in the year 2011.

To reiterate what I noted in our early information sessions — the goal of the trip is to not turn you into an expat, although that may be the natural result of this experience for some.

Rather, some of the main goals are:

1. To better understand how the world’s business, economic, political and social puzzle fit together. You can’t do that from a book or by having coffee at Starbucks in SLO town, Santa Barbara, LA or the SF Bay area.

2. To better understand how, even if you/your firm elects to focus inward and continue to emphasize only California or US markets, there is a high probability your competition will use and leverage China and/or India against you. Thus, if you remain on the sideline, in time, your competition will kick your butt, there, or here. For every person who has made the above statement, I can point to one of their competitors who are somehow leveraging China or India to their detriment.

3. This is a big one. You can/will return to the US and … surprise! … you will be better at your business here at home because you traveled to places like India and China to study business, to see what is happening there first hand which will in turn help you separate fact from urban legend, and you gain a deeper understanding of why. If you really pay attention and ask lots of questions and go into both countries with total humility (meaning let them do the talking and you just listen), you might even pick up some best business practices from the Chinese or Indians.

4. How do you know the day won’t come where your boss walks in your office and says, “I need you to take the next red-eye to Guangzhou or New Delhi” and he/she picked you because he/she heard you have been to one of these places before on business? Will you jump at the chance and opportunity of a lifetime and in turn become the firm resident expert on China or India, or, will you run for the hills and miss an opportunity that may never come your way again?

5. Finally, one day you might decide you hate your job and working for “the man” and decide to start your own business. You will need capital to do that. You will find that if your idea is decent, potential investors will look at your business plan and ask, “why is there nothing global or relating to global expansion or strategy or how to respond to the global competition here?”

I could go on, but you get the picture and in summary, read this post, “Top Ten Reasons Why China Matters To You” from pundit Thomas Barnett. He says it better than I ever could (or have tried).

His list highlights why in the year 2011, an educated person cannot convincingly argue, “I am not international” or “I am not going to work international.” If you make such a statement, be aware that there are a number of people in the world that will look at you askance and even question your intelligence and the value of your Cal Poly degree and/or what you learned here (as an undergrad or grad student).

At least I would ….

To close, here is a great quote from Coca-Cola’s current CEO, E. Neville Isdell (Biz Ed, May/June 2008, pages 19-20):

Question by interviewer: If you were to come into a business classroom for a day, what would you want to say to business students?

Answer: I would want to teach students to understand different backgrounds, cultures, religions, and perspectives, even if those perspectives are antithetical to their own. If student’s don’t listen to and understand other people’s points of view, it creates misinterpretation and confrontation. It certainly will cause them to lose business opportunities. They should never give up their own principles, but they need to be able to find common ground. It’s what all good business leaders do to move business forward. Its’ what all good negotiators do to come to solutions.

Prof. Carr May 5, 2008 addendum: See this related article that just appeared in the NY Times, In Inner Mongolia, Pushing Architecture’s Outer Limits. The money quote in the article (as I have also had students with an architecture background argue that “they” don’t need to know or be “international”):

Indeed, Mr. Ai said, pointing to the architects who had traveled thousands of miles looking for work - “These days, it’s the architects, dressed in black, who are the tribe of nomads.”

Read the article, and you will see why.

Thanks to Jessee Dundon for these video leads.

Harvard Business School professor and author of Billions of Entrepreneurs: How China and India Are Changing Their Futures - and Yours, Tarun Khanna, is featured in these very informative short videos on China and India.

Comparing Development in China and India

Entrepreneurship Is Social Entrepreneurship

Government and Entrepreneurship: The Evolution of Entrepreneurship in China

Social Entrepreneurship in Medical Care

His book is outstanding, by the way.  Check it out.

Submitted By: Shasta Palmer

Education is a hot topic amongst the nations. Who has the best, who will become the best, and where should parents send their children? The article Losing an Edge, Japanese Envy India’s Schools states that the Japanese are worried about their educational system, and are trying to put their children in Indian schools. The idea is that Indian schools teach the children more at a younger age.

Japan sees India as an emerging country to, “Beat in a more benign rivalry over education”. Tokyo, which has the two largest Indian schools, is receiving large quantities of inquiries from Japanese parents about admitting their children. According to the article, “Japan once turned out students who consistently ranked top of international tests, but that is no longer the case.” This just goes to show that things can change quickly. Just because a nation is the best at one point, doesn’t mean it will always be the best. This is something we should consider with the schools in the United States.

The article Study: Foreign Students Added to the Economy states that 14.5 billion came from international students home countries to fund tuition housing etc in 2006. Overall, the students spent 20 billion dollars here in the U.S. (including the 14.5 billion from their own countries). Indian and Chinese students account for a quarter of all 2006 international enrollments; however, Japanese students declined by 9%. Americans can brag about having the “best” school system, but how long will it last? Far more money is being put into the military than into our education system, yet these systems seem to been one the things we do well here in the U.S.

Lastly, something I have noticed reading these articles, and watching the blog video The William Jefferson Clinton Science & Technology Center, is the attitude of students abroad vs. here in the U.S. The video mentioned above shows Indian children who want to go to school. They feel lucky to be in school and are willing to try hard. They see it as a privilege, but here in the U.S. I think this is taken for granted. How many college students do you know that are in school because they want to be? I’ve met a lot who are there because they think they have to be, not because they want to be. True, most students agree college will benefit them, but the same privileged outlook doesn’t seem to be as predominate here in the U.S. as overseas.

These articles bring up interesting questions.

Who is the new leader in education?
Who will be the next leader, and why?