Monday, February 21, 2011
Week 4 posts due Feb. 25
Despite being ironically spoken through the, anything but brief, words of Polonius, Shakespeare's quote--"Brevity is the soul of wit,"--still rings true. It takes true talent to be able to condense one's thoughts into a short, but complete statement. On the other hand, many times short thoughts are anything but complete. Keep this in mind as you post and comment over the next several weeks, being sure that your words reflect careful thought and pertinent content.
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Week 4 Post :: Vanessa Lézeau ::
ReplyDeleteIn just a matter of a few pages, I was blown away by the ways in which Chinese culture is changing. This section of the book suggested that the future of Chinese culture is not formed yet because of major changes happening to the traditional Chinese Confucian culture. Changes are happening due to: the one-child rule, the migration of people from rural to urban, the economic growth of the country, and the “36 Strategies.”
I found it interesting to see how the first three causes of change are so interconnected. Only being allowed to have one child changes relationships and increases the importance of the individual. This makes parents want the best for their only child, increasing the likelihood of sending their child to cities so they can make something of themselves. The economic growth of the country provides more job opportunities, but also emphasizes individualism, materialism, family structure changes (more divorce), and an increase in cosmopolitan ideas.
What blew my mind was the concept of the 36 Strategies – something I had never heard of before. These are a strategies derived from old proverbs, sayings, and stories, which emphasize a separation from old Confucian ways and its code of honor. The main point of these strategies is winning at any cost. So they show how to use deceit, treachery, and ruthlessness in order to “get ahead” and be successful. This made me sad to read. To think that young adolescents in junior high are taught these things… Although this was a brief section, I am very glad to have learned about these changes in the Chinese culture. I definitely want to do some research on the 36 Strategies in order to better understand that whole concept.
CEO's have replaced our generals. That was the statement that started off the chapter. It got me interested in what was to come, but as I read through, I began to understand what the author meant by that statement. What he was attempting to illustrate by saying that is the major connection between the economic war and the position of a CEO. The author brought up many examples including that of Sony, Toshiba, Panasonic, and Sharp, which are foreign companies that essentially have dominated the television market here in the US, a market which we created! The armies from the corporate overseas are beginning to conquer many segments of the United States and we need to coax our generals to take stronger actions to counter their efforts.
ReplyDeleteThe book gave suggestions on ways to do that including generation of more exports, providing employment, or creating technologies. All in all the chapter concluded that we needed to come up with better "battle" techniques if we want to have a fighting chance in this war.
Chapter 4 is about trade with China. This chapter has many interesting things about the behavior American government show towards foreigners and the difficulty for American firms to do business in China. The trade regulations that makes the trade difficult are the Foreign Corrupt Practice Act, national security based export controls on high technology exports, and immigration and travel restrictions.
ReplyDeleteAmerica’s immigration policies have obstructed trade with China specially the visa and work permit policies. This section describes many American corporations reporting loss in sales which can sometimes cause bankruptcy, because foreign business executives particularly from China cannot come to the U.S. due to restrictions in visas for commercial reasons. These restrictions are restricting foreigners to trade which then cause businesspeople to go elsewhere to do their business or investments.
The immigration and travel restriction really caught my attention, because I think I can relate to it in many ways. The visa policy that had gotten stricter since 9/11 for many, making it scary for students and investor to come to the U.S. because the way they were treated in the airports….
I understand that Americans fear that there might be another 9/11 attack, but like the author states in the book, “Other nations, including China, are not and never will be a military threat to the United States.” This way the thinking can be shifted away from fear and back to reality.
I had a book change to a book called Luxury China: Market opportunities. In the first chapter it talks about how china is the fourth largest market in the world behind japan, United States, and Europe. And how China is the Third largest luxury market in the world. This book seems interesting i didn't get to read much cause i only had the preview off of Amazon. but my books suppose to show up tomorrow. have a great spring break everybody.
ReplyDeleteDiana Lee
ReplyDeleteyour comment is interesting about the trade with china. i had no idea that by Americans immigrations policys it would have an effect on trade. and that the 9/11 attack made it hard for chinese to travel to america. i do think that is a little over the top intense. i hope you have a great spring break.
My Chapter 3 is talking about “The Revolution in Chinese Business.” It mentions Deng Xiao Ping, who was one of the important reformers and politicians, created Open Door policy. His policy has challenged many tradition cultural assumptions, but it was successful.
ReplyDeleteI found some important thing from this chapter: “guanxi” which not only means friendship, but also means personal relationships. In China the more friends you have, the more ways you can start your business. And do not make any enemies in business because they will prevent you to go forward. In China having more money does not mean you can be successful in business. Using the money to build good guanxi is important, so businesspeople spend more time on relations. “They hold so many formal banquets and lavish expensive gifts on guests or dignitaries.” Because the key people get benefit, they have to try their best to help the businesspeople. The more you give, the more they may help you. Therefore, spending time on guanxi replaces “time is money.”
In summary, businesspeople pay close attention to the establishment of extensive guanxi networks, for guanxi has real commercial value. It can reduce risks and competition; therefore, let’s start to build guanxi now.
@Vanessa
ReplyDeletei don't know what is the “36 Strategies?”
but i agree with you, the world is changing everyday, so China is. And China is one of the fast growing countries, so when i graduate, China will have more job opportunities for us.
when we go to the tour, we will see the new look of China.
have a good spring break:)
Shanshan Zhang
ReplyDeleteThis week’s reading I read about another awesome story of a girl, Min. in the beginning, it tells the migrants’ live style. The factory girls don’t know who the president is in China now, but they know the difference between those factories in different places. “It looks all right from the outside,” she said, “but you never see the inside until you have agreed to work there. And then you have nowhere else to go.” Also, it tells that in Min’s world, since she was a low level worker, she only had essay friendship, the workers and bosses were cold to her, doesn’t matter how hard she tried to be good with them. Min tells a lot of feeling about her factory life and she said, “Only someone who has experienced it knows.” After all the things that she had faced, she learned about the complicated politics.
She decided to go to Beijing from Dongguan, only because she heard from a man says Beijing has chances for her. She thought very carefully about this decision, because she knew that many of the workers who were working with her had college diplomas. After she quitted her job, she had a boyfriend, and then she went to Beijing. In Beijing, because of her strong personality, she got a better job than in Dongguan. She didn’t have everything from what the job list said, she lied when the manager asked her if she knows to do some jobs and to use computer. However, she knows that she had to lie, because if she didn’t lie, she wouldn’t get the job with high salary. After got the job, she started to study and to work hard. In this chapter, I saw the difference in China already, Min had a mobile phone, and she always used it to communicate with her friends and boyfriend.
@ Kevin
ReplyDeleteIn China, guanxi is really important since long time ago, I guess this is a culture stuff. However, I don’t think it will work well in United States, because I think that they think work is work, guanxi is guanxi. They won’t put personal relationship into the job. This is what I think, but it is true or not, you have to figure it out :)
Chapter 3
ReplyDeleteThe Windswept Kingdom- the Mongolians
This chapter focused on the differences of outer Mongolia and Inner Mongolia. Inner Mongolia is a Mongol region of the People's Republic of China. This is southern Mongolia which is closer to the center of China's civilization. Outer Mongolia just means the Northern part of Mongolia.
Inner Mongolia differs from outer Mongolia in that in inner Mongolia there is a greater Chinese influence. A majority of the people speak chinese. The Mongolian traditions are being phased out. For example, inner Mongolia did not celebrate the 800th anniversary of Genghis khan declaring the birth of Mongolia. The reason is because they didn't want to cause any conflict between the Chinese. The Chinese government thinks that celebrating the Mongolian history would empower the Mongolian minority and that would later lead to conflict.
Since Mongolia borders Russia in the North there is more Russian influence in the clothing and writing style.
A lot of the Mongols go to China for better opportunities.
I found it interesting, that some of the Mongols leave their home country, which kind of seems to be falling apart. They leave Mongolia to go to China for better opportunities. But along the way they lose apart of who they are, because China doesn't recognize any of their holidays or history to avoid conflict. To me, it seems that Mongolian culture and history is being forgotten. Just a thought.
Have a great spring break!
@ Diana,
ReplyDeleteIt definitely makes sense that the U.S. is losing business, because of how stingy the government is being with the visa regulations. They are being very cautious but in doing so they are losing a lot of their investors that we need.
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ReplyDelete@Kevin
ReplyDeleteI find that interesting that Chinese businesspeople focus so much on "guanxi." It's kind of like networking here in the U.S., but on steroids, in a sense. I find it fascination how important personal friendships are in China and they can't be just friendships, but they emphasize on the "personal." It is totally different from our culture, where we basically use other people in a sense to benefit our business. We try to get a transaction or deal done and don't worry about having a strong personal friendship with out business acquaintance, unlike the Chinese.
So, I finally received my book, China Entrepreneur: Voices of Experience from 40 International Business Pioneers, from Amazon. It is pretty interesting so far.
ReplyDeleteChapter one introduces you to the Chinese business culture and it gives a history of how China emerged into such a great country to do business in. China began transitioning to a more free enterprise way of doing business in the 1990s and now it is considered by one of the entrepreneurs interviewed in the book as, "better for entrepreneurs than Silicon Valley."
The book warns you about some of the dangers when doing business in China. For example, it states that the same law or regulation could have a different meaning or enforcement in one city than another city. I found this to be interesting. Also, the book strongly warns about bureaucratic challenges to doing business and that you must, in a sense, "win over officials." It states that if you don't have good relations with the government you won't be successful, which is kinda similar to the U.S. with the examples of lobbyist for corporations, but it's more important in China than here.
Anyways, so far the book is pretty interesting. I hope your books are interesting as well! Enjoy the break!!
Jessica:
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting that the Mongolians are leaving their home country. I understand that they are in need of new job opportunities, but it seems sad that they are leaving behind their country. Did your book say anything about how many of them return to their country once they have earned some money? I know in a lot of other cultures, people leave their country in order to educate themselves and make money so that then they can return home and improve the situation their country is in. It would be awesome to see the changes that these people could make if they returned to their home country in order to improve it. Maybe this would prevent too many people from going to China in order to have more opportunities.
@Everyone,
ReplyDeleteIs so interesting that Chinese people really value relationship specially in a business setting. From Kevin and Kyle post I can see that authors focus on the relationship and how important it is to have them to be able to suceed in China. For us is like knowing someone that can get you hired, networking, but I think in China is about who you know and how many you know.
@ kyle
ReplyDeleteI think that its awesome how fast a country can change and how powerful they can become in such a short time. You said that "China began transitioning to a more free enterprise way of doing business in the 1990s and now it is considered by one of the entrepreneurs interviewed in the book as, "better for entrepreneurs than Silicon Valley." Its amazing that history is happening right tin front of our faces. Opportunity is everything, but the differing laws from city to city is a little sketchy.
In the first 2 chapters, the author describes one of his personal working experiences in china. He writes about how he visited many factories in china, and that he was surprised with the poor the conditions of some of the factories while others were very well kept. For example some factories had horrible smells, and others didn’t. But it seemed that the factory owners were never bothered by them. I learned how to say "what a stink" in chinese,"Hao chou" Another thing I found interesting was south China is where many manufactures and factories are located.
ReplyDeleteIn chapter 2, Midler writes about how business ran in China. American Clients would contact him saying, " I got a job for you", he then made the connection with the Chinese manufactures since he spoke the language. While on a tour of a pottery factory for one of his American clients, Midler was about to take a picture of one of a samples he saw to show a client but the owner of the factory did not allow it. The reasons why is because manufactures are very secretive of what they do inside their factories and don't want the competition to know what they are doing. The owner warmed up a little to Paul and told him a couple of secrets that he did to maintain control and make his factory operate smoothly. He explained that no more then one-forth of the workers came from a single province because the groups would not be willing to conspire. Another trick was to hire more workers then necessary, because since the work was scarce, the workers would work harder to prove their worth. This and many more things I will learn about the more I read this interesting book.
Kyle, it is intereting how it does take relationships to be successful in China. Here in the US you don't always think of that. Here you don't have to know a government official to be successful. I guess that's why China can be such a hard market to get into. But apparently if you are able to get I to it it can be very beneficial and prosperous. And how your book talks about the laws and how that can affect the ability to do business in China. I guess it sounds like you will have to be very familiar with China to be able to go very far in business. I like the sounds of your book very interesting. I wonder if there is a good way to figure out all of the specific laws that you would want to be aware of when trying to do business in China, I'm sure someones book will talk about it.
ReplyDeleteIn the next chapter of "China Streetsmart," Chan goes on to talk about the important barrier of language. He says that even though most people believe that you MUST speak the language to be successful in China, it isn't necessarily speaking the language as it is being observant that helps one be successful. Also, you must possess more than just language abilities to flourish in the Chinese business environment--an obvious, yet overlook truth.
ReplyDeleteChan gives the "China Streetsmart" way of dealing with the language difference: "...surround yourself with trusted people who can [speak the language]." Chan adds that using translators is not the best because of the possiblitlity of mistranslation and misunderstanding. He adds that if you wanted to learn Mandirin or a Chinese dialect, it would be very beneficial, but the effort you put into learning the language wouldnt always justify the rewards unless you are in a sales position or another lower level job.
Next, he moves on to the importance of listening. He notes that the Chinese culture tends to avoid conflict and refrain from dealing with problems heads on. Contrarily, the western business people prefer the head on approach. This difference leads to a miscommunication. Interestingly, Chan says that there is a different between saying, "Yes," and "Yes, I agree" in China. Chan describes to the reader how the Chinese locals tend to repress their voice and tend to not speak their mind, which can lead executives to believe everything they are doing is perfect only to realize later that all the workers were afraid to speak out.
So far Chan has some great tips! The book feels like a textbook a little.
I am enjoying my book even though it doesn't seem to be talking about lots of business in China. It is still setting up the story an telling about these two students who came to America from China. It is talking about their lives and what it is like growing up in all of the turmoil an things that happened in China. I did not know all of this stuff but my book talks about the revelations that have taken place in China and how it truly was the dark ages for years. One of the characters talked about how he was just hungry for knowledge. My book goes over how in in late 80's a hundred thousand students marched on Tiananmen square and protested for reform. I found this very interesting because they went on hungry strikes and it just sounded like a really big deal. Where I stopped reading is where it is just talking about how many of the Chinese are just getting ready to head back to China from the US with all their knowledge.
ReplyDeleteJulienh: Those tips sound really cool! Like the not hiring more than a 1/4 of your workers from given region. So simple, yet it probably can save businesses from massive revolts or strikes, or even simpler things.
ReplyDeleteAlso, from what I have gathered in my book, the Chinese tend to be somewhat conservative in their interactions--kind of the opposite of our country. Anyway, it makes sense that the companies would be so secretive. I wonder if it is just a custom or if it has to do with their whole mentality given the communist rule. It's very interesting to see the differences in procedures and ideas!
Chapter four in my book is talking about the automotive industry . It talks about how the Chinese auto industry has grown a lot in the last twenty years. Big auto companys from outside China came in the Chinese market in the late 1980s. They brought capital, technology, and management know-how into the industry. Now in the twenty-first century the auto industry has been booming in china. Foriegn auto firms are doing very well, learning how to market their product in the different culture, and it has increased sales. It was interesting learning about the auto-industry,and I am very excited to start on my next chapter, the pharmaceutical industry.
ReplyDeleteWinston - I think that is very interesting! I think that here in America, we take our education for granted. I think it's eye opening to see how other people live, and how they went on strike for knowledge, but we would go on strike to get a day off school.
ReplyDeleteVanessa I think your book is so interesting and it definitely reminds me so much of mine :) that's probably why I'm always making comments to your post!
ReplyDeleteWhat my book said about China changing is that it is changing by becoming more knowledgeable in how to do business with Americans and get along, but who they are will never change. Chinese people are so connect with their religion it is part of who they are and it has been for centuries. The traditions of China and their beliefs in Confucianism will never change.
Here is a little information that I found interesting for Myth 3 "The market is easy" people think that going to China and starting a business is easy and it will generated lots of money. But the reality is that China's business environment is unique, brutal and full of unexpected surprises. It can be irrational and eccentric in nature. China is certaintly not a "get rich quick" market or one for the faint hearted. It is also culturally different and highly competitive.
ReplyDeleteAlso the legal and regulatory framework and get really sticky if you don't speak good Mandarin or have a great friend that will speak in your place. There are no comprehensive bankruptcy laws to protect businesses, and it was only in the National People's Congress in March 2004 that the principle of private property was enshrined in the Chinese constitution.
So if your planning to start a business in China don't go in with the idea that the market is esay and that you will make lots of money fast.
Chapter 4. "Military classics of ancient China and their implications."
ReplyDeleteThis chapter reveals and breaks down the decades of military influence that still plays a major role in living and working in a society with a culture of stratagems. China has had a very extensive warfare involved past, and therefore has produced a great deal of military literature and thinking. Because of the military background, it has placed a very low level of trust, a quickness to raise guard, lack of good communication, and a natural tendency to compete through deception into their way of life.
This stratagem culture, together with Confucian and Taoist thinking along with the economic system, has shaped some major characteristics of Chinese business today.
@tyler
ReplyDeleteEven though you haven't gotten the book yet,it sounds interesting and I cant wait to hear about it.
In my reading, it was revealed that China has a large population as well as many ethnic groups. Many well known companies like Whirlpool abandoned the Chinese market because they failed to realize that and in turn failed to address the uniqueness of brand building.
ReplyDeleteThe chapter also touched on the history of China's economic reforms
@ Kevin Tang:
ReplyDeleteIn Multicultural Management prof. Oberholster showed us a video about Chinese business culture, and one of the things that it talked about was guanxi. I thought it was interesting that the personal relationships you have are one of the most important things in business. It struck me very odd at first because I try not to do business with friends because I am scared of feelings getting hurt and loosing a friendship. It is interesting how differently we think.
In chapter three, I found one thing that is a critical situation for Volkswagen people who is from Germany. German employees with multiple year contracts were referred to as expatriates or expats at that time. Some of them were volunteers to China, but some of them were sent by the co. corporation. There was a problem happened when expats had completed their tour of duty abroad. It was hard for them to find a job. The reason is the experience those expats had abroad did not help them to find a job in domestic. Due to their long absence, relationships with co-workers, friends, and even with their own families were ruined. As a result, some people became nomadic workers, moving from one country to the other. If they stayed in Germany, they would be treated as outsider. When I read this part, I felt sorry for those German who did lots of contribute to China. This is not fair which some of German were not willing to go abroad. For those people who worked in China, they should be treated as a hero. Because they overcome lots of difficulties, they achieved their success at the end. It is hard to believe Germany had such a big bias to people abroad at that time.
ReplyDelete@ Ms. Toruno
ReplyDeleteI like your last sentence that don't go in with an idea that market is easy to make money. In reality, everything we do should start with a plan and process of implement. That is how we achieve success.
Vanessa: I'd forgotten about the fact that China limits each household to one child. Can you imagine what that would be like? I wonder if hospitals automatically "tie the tubes" of women after they've had a baby in order to ensure that they don't have a second. And what would happen if they do have a second? But you're right about that making it so that parents would value their children so much more.
ReplyDeleteIt seems strange to thinking that these kids are being taught that trechery and cheating are the only way to survive. I'd always had the idea that the Chinese were honest people, so I'd be very interested to look more into the 36 Strategies idea too.
my book talks way too much about financial stuff. that's all i ever get and it's really difficult to understand. this part that i read talks about how the population of China is aging and thus the productiveness of the population is reduced. over the last 50 years, the proportion of working population to total population had increased while population dependence ratios decreased. as China is going through this transition phase, the economy is experiencing changes in consumption patterns, savings behavior and labor participation and therefore the differing age groups have different effects on economic growth. this is another reason that the economists are unsure about the sustainability of China's growth.
ReplyDelete. Relationships are need inside your company as well as outside. One interviewee said “to the Chinese, the company is more like a family. Therefore picking the right supervisors is essential. I agree with President Ekkehard Rathgeber, when he says “you must be very open to new things, excited by new things—not someone who wants to preserve his own culture and identity. The wrong supervisor could destroy a business.
ReplyDelete@ Brittany
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting to note. China is going through a transition though. But I don't know if it's safe to say that China is the best system. Their economy is growing but they are sacrificing a lot to make that happen.