Posts filed under 'Pre-Departure'
A while back Pierre and Kyle posted on the topic of cheap cars in India and the market for them. Click HERE to refer back to their posts.
Periodic Cal Poly MBA Trip blog follower Sin Yaw Wang then jumped into the discussion and raised the following point:
The car is way too expensive for India that, by the way, does not have the road system for more cars. What India should have developed is an electric bicycle industry like China. At US $300 each for high-end model, they are (more) affordable and easier to manufacture. They also pollute much less.
Of course, they also make less money for companies like Tata. Hmm, what’s good for the company is not for the country. Maybe that’s why there should be a stronger government. Oh, never mind, that will be China.
Today’s WSJ contains a nice article on his point, Riding Two-Wheelers in India: Honda Bets the Middle Class Will Chose Its Motorcycles Over Rivals’ Cheap Cars.
The article points out that while most of the world’s auto global giants are rushing to supply low-cost cars to the masses in India, Honda is taking another route and focusing on motorcycles. I would loved to have been in the board rooms listening to the debate and discussion on whether to go car, bike or motorcycle in India.
Time to buy a few shares of Honda stock?
June 6th, 2008
Some of you have recently asked me what to do with your passports, particularly in China. Carry them on your person or other?
I can’t/won’t advise you on this. This is your call to investigate and make. For myself, I will likely carry a copy of my passport and visa on me, not the original. I will also carry with me a copy of the Trip Information Sheet and my airline ticket so that if I am stopped I can pull out a document that verifies what I tell people as to why I am in China. There is risk in my strategy. I may find that they don’t find this acceptable. So you should not assume that my way is the only way or right way. Everybody is responsible for their own selves on this issue on this trip.
See this recent good CLB post on this very topic, Is That A Passport In Your Pants or Are You Just Happy To See Me? Thanks, Dan Harris. As always, you have a way with titles for blog posts, of which I admittedly used verbatim in this post to grab my own student’s attention.
As I have mentioned in one of our recent predeparture sessions, China is cracking down on expats with the wrong or expired visa. There are a number of theories why they are doing this. I won’t go into that in detail here, but in short, my own view is that they are coupling the Olympics with visa issuance and renewal to find out who the “gamers” are in their country that are not playing by the rules, paying taxes, starting unregistered firms, to get a handle on who is legitimately there, etc., and, they are doing this as part of a fear of terrorism in lieu of the upcoming Olympics. Whatever the case, this is an issue to take seriously.
See, e.g., the below email excerpt I recently received from one of our MBA alumni now living and working in China where he/she describes a situation that is even more heavy handed than I realized:
The visa situation is horrible. The government is going to the [___ citizen] homes and trying to take away their visa by showing they are on the wrong type (i.e., working with a tourist visa). I got mine before these problems. I was on a student visa and now on a business visit visa for work. It was easier to call me an “internship” to get the visa. When I need to renew it might be difficult. My _____[omitted] company is trying to get a license here and get him/her a working visa but he/she is having difficulties so he/she keeps going to other countries to get a tourist visa. We have had guests who had a lot of problems, it is hurting our business. Last week _______ [omitted] came and spoke to ______[omitted name] [and us] because the police are calling people and asking questions to find reason to deport them. It is crazy here. They have pulled over two of my foreign friends and taken away their scooters and tried to take their passports.
As you can see, the Chinese don’t waste time endlessly debating visa, passport and immigration issues like we do in the US and Washington D.C. They make a decision, execute and get it done. Don’t blame them. They are only enforcing the laws that have been on their books for some time which hoards of companies and expats were violating en masse, but now said expats are crying that the enforcement rules have changed. Happens all the time in regulatory environments across the globe. Further, in terms of an checkpoint, or an opportunity to create a checkpoint via the Olympics, the Chinese strategy here is pretty darn effective and efficient, in my view.
And for cryin’ out loud, folks, if you DO carry your original passport on your person or in your backpack (can easily be cut open with a knife from behind), do NOT lose it or let it get it stolen!! Per the FAQ document, if your passport is lost or stolen I can do nothing for you other than drop you off at the embassy or consulate to solve this problem (plan for it to take a few days), you are on your own, and the rest of us move on. Any extra expense in you catching up with us will be yours to incur.
Take this issue seriously! Toto, we are not in Kansas anymore.
June 6th, 2008
On the trip you will kick yourself when you find out a classmate bought the same thing you did for much less. You will have the chance to practice the negotiating skills Dr. Peach taught you first hand. A hat tip to my friend and one of the best negotiators I have had the pleasure to work with, John Wu, for this video lead from the classic film featuring a young hottie named Harrison Ford, Gallipoli (battle) (click here for film info). Has direct relevance to China and India. Click HERE to check it out. And yes, it would be totally uncool to ask the merchant for your money back like the fellows in this clip when you were the one who was a poor negotiator.
May 13th, 2008
In your trip prep materials I have given you lots of info about business cards. The who, what, when, why behind them, and how you present yourself with a business card (two hands) when the opportunity arises. If you have never before had or used a business card, this is an opportunity for you to practice and step up your game. Check out this recent WSJ article, Ensuring your Business Cards Mean Business. Great article. Great points (most I agree with; others depend on the person, job, industry, etc.).
Addendum note: Titles are a big thing in Asia. If you don’t have one on your card, create one, but, of course, it needs to be accurate and truthful. For example, Cal Poly MBA Student is/can be a title.
If it’s too late and you already made your cards, don’t sweat it. Live and learn. I have had mine a long time and there are a few things I need to change as well; I just need the time to get to it.
As an aside, here is the university policy on business cards and using the Cal Poly name and mark on your card that has been conveyed to me, as some of you have stopped by asking what you can/cannot do in creating your cards:
You can give yourself a title on your card such as “Cal Poly MBA Student (or Candidate)” or “MS in IT Student (or Candidate)”.
Other than that, you cannot use the Cal Poly name or mark on your card. It’s called IP folks, and I don’t make the rules.
The above is consistent with what some other schools do and allow, while others allow you to use the name and mark.
Re: the other aspects of the design of your card, look, feel, color(s), etc. are up to you to make it as fancy or keep it as simple and clean looking as you wish. My own view and bias is that as long as the card has the critical and current contact info and the person’s name and title with decent font and paper, as to the rest of it ‘less is more’, as the saying goes.
By the way, sometime during the trip, I will collect a business card from each of you, lay them all out on a table, where we can all see and study how the other has tried to brand themselves. I won’t/don’t require you to make and buy one, but if you go on a business trip like this and don’t have one, to be candid, you really need to go back and retake that grad or undergrad marketing class you took and look over that material on product differentiation, as to me this is a sign that you were not paying attention in the class and/or doing the required reading, as this is Marketing 101. And if you can’t/won’t even humbly brand your own self for crying out loud, I would have a hard time understanding how you will excel at branding, publicizing and differentiating the firm you work for, as it will expect you to do.
May 12th, 2008
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?
Hmmmm.
In any event, I think most folks get it, but I do overhear this comment a few times each year. 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 2008.
To reiterate what I noted in our early informations 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, 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 2008, 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.
May 1st, 2008
This is a follow-up to my previous post on getting a suit made in China — Baby, If You Look Good, You Play Good.
Check out this recent March 29, 2008 WSJ article that points out that while high-end Chinese made suits may not yet fully be at the level of high-end Italian made suits, the gap has closed.
This is an example of how Westerners can/will sit back with the status quo, “God, we are good. There is no way the Chinese (or Indians) can touch us or our products or processing.” And then they wake up one day, find that the Chinese are making high end suits that can compete, and the next day other high end items such as computers, cars and the like. If you have been monitoring recent moves by the CCP Government (e.g., click HERE and check out this recent China Law Blog post), the government has made it clear that they will make things easy for firms that seek to move up the manufacturing value chain, while for those who wish to continue to focus on low end goods such as textiles and rubber duckies things will only become more difficult in terms of tax breaks, allowed FDI investment, etc.
Or, if you are a Brit, you might wake up one day and your former colonies, first the US (Ford Motor Co.) and then India, now own your once crown jewel known as Jaguar and Range Rover. Oh, wait, that already happened. Click HERE to read about what many thought was impossible for something like this to occur. Good for India.
I am not saying will all happen tomorrow, but I am saying over time, it will happen more and more and more. The lesson is that those in business who rest on their laurels and own beliefs of infallibility and talent, will die.
Eric K., you are right (for now) in your post, “Would Your Drive This?” … China now makes crappy cars and nobody here will touch them, but I think you would be remiss to assume that China will always be making crappy cars and/or components.
For example, you may be too young to remember this, but not too long ago most Americans scoffed at goods coming from Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan (now they come from China; those other listed countries have moved up the production value chain and if/when you visit them you will see this immediately upon getting off the plane). Now, a number of firms in those listed countries make products that are quite good and people from those same American industries that scoffed are like boxers who have had their butts kicked in the ring and are standing around asking, “What just happened?” I see no reason why that pattern will not repeat itself in China.
Another thing to think about — what business opportunities does a car market in its infancy in a country such as China present to foreign and domestic firms?
For example, nobody can stop the Chinese from wanting their own car (materialism is by no means a foreign concept), and if anyone wants to sell cars in said market they will have to take their lower per capita income into account and be able to sell a car that is much cheaper than what is sold in the West. Further, with the CCP government leaning on said industry, the pressure will really be on to create and produce a lot of cars that are more “green” than the current SUVs and big trucks we see driving around the Cal Poly campus, in part because the government simply cannot import enough oil to keep its population driving cars that get only 16-18 MPG and if it wants to survive, it will need to find a way to foster the development of cars that can do better in this regard.
In short, I predict we will therefore see some new and interesting and perhaps even incredible technologies coming out of China (or India) in the auto industry in the next 10 to 20 years that cannot take place in the west due to our lobbyists, unions, special interest groups needing their piece of the pie, the high cost of labor here, etc. I.e., per economic theory, are the rent seekers in the West just too powerful and establish to overcome and implement change and new technologies?
I am not alone in asking this question. Jack Perkowski, an American in the auto parts business in China supplying parts to their domestic industry (not for export) and the author of the very good book that just came out, Managing the Dragon: How I’m Building a Billion-Dollar Business in China, makes this very same point. See also this NY Times piece that echoes a similar tune, A Chevy With an Engine from China.
If you think the future I am describing is unlikely, I would love to here why you disagree. But please, give me a reason more substantive than the usual, “Man we are just that good” spiel. No reasonable global person buys that anymore.
As Bob Dylan sang, “These Times Are A Changin” ….
April 27th, 2008
You may not know who Tammy Wynette is, the lady that made this song famous. I saw her perform this song live during the Stockville County Fair in Stockville, Nebraska (population 57). I was a twitter-paited hormonal boy who thought he was in love with this super star country singer and beauty. I wanted her to divorce her then alcoholic and abusive husband, George Jones, another country singing legend, and marry 11 year old me right then and there. Oh, if she could only be mine.
C’mon. Stop laughing. I will take Tammy Wynette over the Tiger Beat or People magazine ding-dong you swooned over any day.
But this post has nothing to do with the break-up of joint ventures gone bad in China, but a lot to do with marital divorces.
Check out this April 1, 2008 WSJ article, Women MBAs More Likely to Divorce Than Men (same for women with law and medical degrees).
Gents and Ladies, what say you? Fact or fiction?
Are you immune from these statistical probabilities? If so, how do you know that will be the case? How are you planning for this, today, to minimize the chances of this happening to good ol’ you?
How will you lead and manage employees, which statistically will be half of them, that go will go through this type of a life changing experience, so that they can continue to be as effective for you/the firm as possible while and as they heal?
And fellas, let me really open a can of worms here and ask you this — are we a major part of the problem for such a trend? Our manhood aside, are men threatened by intelligent, driven, confident, successful, take-no-prisoners women? Do men unconsciously put pressure on the women they love? E.g., men expect them to look like a supermodel 24/7, stay forever young, work and help the clan make a high income, raise the kids, let them watch our Monday night football and March Madness with the boys while the doting wife serves drinks, pizza and cleans the house, etc. Be honest. If you are the man foolish enough to go down in writing here and argue, “Well, I would never do that, as I am one of those enlightened, sensitive men,” which of your female colleagues and classmates do you think will jump out of her chair next to you in class and strangle you for arguing that you are different than the other bizillion cave men that came before you (and me)?
Wait. I just realized there really is a China connection here. The Chinese have a saying: “Women hold up half the sky.” True or false? And what does this mean? Maybe you can ask some of the women in China you will meet what this means to them.
April 23rd, 2008
Submitted By: Adam Windham
Below is a YouTube video titled “Shift Happens” that I came across recently. It illustrates a lot of issues regarding globalization, technological advancement and the exponential times we live in. It’s hard to comment too much without giving away the video, so please watch it before you read my, or anyone else’s comments.
I can’t say whether or not these facts are statistically accurate or not, and my guess would be that they’re probably not. What I got out of this video was the message that times are changing. And while the numbers might not be 100% correct, the message is clear and it really makes you think about what kind of world will we be living in 10, 15 or 20 years from now. The thing that got to me the most was the line “we are educating our kids for jobs that don’t exist, using technologies that haven’t been invented, to solve problems we don’t know are problems yet.”
We can see this effect of rapid globalization in business and how companies respond to new information and opportunities. The ones that are successful are able to adapt to change and deal with new and emerging business environments … China anyone?
I thought it was a really interesting video and welcome any comments.
April 16th, 2008
Given the popularity and demand for this course and trip, as a matter of statistical probability, the day will come where a student on the trip loses his/her focus and makes a mistake that changes his or her life forever …. such examples might include committing a drug offense in China while they are off the clock, getting liquored up and drawn into or starting a fight and arrested at a bar while they off the clock, taking a girl back to their hotel room and she has a boyfriend in wait ready to burst into the room and rob you (and no, fellas, she really did not “like you” to begin with), proselytizing (folks, whether you like or agree with it or not it’s against the law in China), deciding that their conscience “demands” that they unfurl that “Free Taiwan” or “Free Tibet” in the middle of Tiannanmen, etc.
No matter how many pre-departure sessions we have, lengthy syllabi and FAQ documents I distribute, the Application and Assumption of Risk agreement that people fill out and sign, something along the lines of the above will, in time, occur and it will be a nightmare for that person and his/her family.
You might check out these mesmerizing National Geographic shows I watched some time ago. They are excellent and powerful. They present, in visual, inescapable form, what can be challenging to effectively communicate in paper form to young people who may feel they are invincible and powerful under the aphrodisiac that travel and adventure can bring, just how severe the consequences of a poor decision abroad can be.
These segments also highlight how nobody is going to give them special treatment in their favor just because they are an American (in fact, they may come down on you harder if you are an American). This is especially the case in Asia, where crimes involving drugs or violence are big-time no-nos. China, Thailand, Vietnam, etc., are NOT Amsterdam.
Locked Up Abroad: Colombia (Parts I, II, III, IV and V) (Addendum: yesterday these segments were available but this morning when I tested them they were not coming up; if these do not work for you perhaps you can do a Google or YouTube search to find them)
Locked Up Abroad: Peru (I can’t find Part II)
Locked Up Abroad: Venezuela (perhaps the best one but I could not find it on YouTube)
If you are that poor chap who makes a similar bad choice like the people featured in the above segments, the ONLY response you should expect from me and Cal Poly, and as laid out in the trip and course application and materials, is that I will notify the US Embassy and/or Consulate that you are in trouble and/or sitting in a local jail (or that we cannot find you), and that they need to try and find you and/or pay you a visit.
The rest of us will need to move on with the trip and leave you behind. Nobody will wait for you. You will be on your own.
The US State Department issued a Fact Sheet on the 2008 Olympics that notes:
All visitors should be aware that they have no reasonable expectation of privacy in public or private locations. All hotel rooms and offices are considered to be subject to on-site or remote technical monitoring at all times. Hotel rooms, residences and offices may be accessed at any time without the occupant’s consent or knowledge. Many hotels and apartment buildings may be of substandard construction, lack emergency exits, fire suppression systems, carbon monoxide monitors and standard security equipment (locks, alarms, and personnel). Americans traveling abroad should be reminded to review fire evacuation procedures for hotels, apartments or offices …. The Department of State or the U.S. Embassy and Consulates General cannot have an American released from prison (emphasis added).
Dan Harris of the China Law Blog said it best:
Though I am sure most experienced travelers understand that US (or German or French or whatever) law typically ends at the border when it comes to criminal violations, you would be surprised at how many travelers either do not know this or think that their embassy or consulate will be there to bail them out no matter what. Now before you laugh, please realize many US companies believe their US trademark or patent registrations extend to China, so it is certainly not that large a legal leap for people to believe US criminal law extends to them wherever they may go.
My firm has assisted on a number of criminal cases inside China for American (and European) defendants and, nearly without exception, we are told (usually by both the defendant and his family) that the US Embassy is not doing enough to get the defendant freed from the Chinese jail. When we explain that the US government will not usually employ its political capital on this or that drug or fraud case, our clients seem downright surprised.
So … let me make it perfectly clear. If you get arrested in China, the role of the US government (be it the consulate the embassy, or whatever), will almost certainly be limited to helping you find a lawyer, helping you contact your family for assistance, and maybe helping you with the logistics of having your family or friends get food or magazines into you at the jail.
I am NOT expressing an opinion as to how anyone should act during the Olympics, but it certainly does not hurt to know the potential repercussions.
Lawyers. People hate us … until they need us.
Be smart. Be safe. Come home to your warm bed, on schedule, with the rest of us.
April 9th, 2008
Check out this piece Dr. Ashok Bardhan (one of our winter quarter speakers) wrote that just came out in Yale Global. Click HERE.
April 8th, 2008
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