I finished class tonight and will catch a flight early in the morning. All-in-all, a very good experience: a well run place, good students, gracious hosts, and I learned as much as I taught.
My conclusion for China is that it is doing a good job of following the same paths Japan and Korea took, only third-mover advantage, improvements in technology, and more gender equality will shorten the time it takes China to climb the last few rungs on the ladder.
It is interesting to compare this place to about 95% of the other countries that became independent after WWII (I'm thinking the 55+ nations of Africa, for example, India, and much of the Middle East and Latin America). Compared to those distasters, China and a lot of the rest of Asia (Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, even Vietnam now) must be superior in some regard to Africa, etc. I'm guessing it must be Confucian values of hard work, education, long-term planning, and thinking of the common good. These countries have none of the mineral wealth of Africa, but have built real countries - democratic and not - raised people out of poverty, and have become global innovators. Africa remains just a dying, drying land mass destined for the footnotes of history.
China still has a long way to go, that much is certain. But perhaps just as certain is that it will get there. Can't say that about most of the developing world.
2007年6月21日 星期四
2007年6月20日 星期三
A restaurant TAIL
I ate lunch on my own today - having slept in, my morning walk became a late morning walk and I was hungry. I went to normal looking place, ordered what turned out to be rice with a chili-like sauce, and enjoyed it.
While there, a young man (maybe 30) at a table of three suddenly shouted. And shouted again. He and another guy at his table pulled out their cell phones and took a picture of his bowl of soup. I'm pretty sure he got something in his soup he didn't order ... :<)
A waitress came over eventually and looked in the bowl, nodded, and walked away without taking away the bowl. Later, the manager came over, picked the bowl and started a discussion with the customers. He left with the bowl and then I left.
Rice is nice.
Especially with some spice.
But I won't go back twice.
While there, a young man (maybe 30) at a table of three suddenly shouted. And shouted again. He and another guy at his table pulled out their cell phones and took a picture of his bowl of soup. I'm pretty sure he got something in his soup he didn't order ... :<)
A waitress came over eventually and looked in the bowl, nodded, and walked away without taking away the bowl. Later, the manager came over, picked the bowl and started a discussion with the customers. He left with the bowl and then I left.
Rice is nice.
Especially with some spice.
But I won't go back twice.
Intellectual discussions
I got to meet with some senior faculty of the school and ask them all the politically incorrect questions as only an American can. The first was easy - why is the Shanghai Daily only 2 RMB? In fact, the intended audience is local, not foreign - the government subsidizes it so that the people can learn/practice English. Makes sense now.
The cultural revolution? A total disaster at every level, everyone agreed.
The Communist Party? Still very powerful. Must approve virtually all positions in any government organization, including the universities.
I also asked what was the current view of Mao. Everyone agreed that if you polled everyone in China over 45, half would say that Mao was crazy/evil and wrong and half would say that Mao was well intended, but wrong. Wrong is 100%. Deng Xiaoping is who is studied now, certainly in the business schools. I love his quote when, after implementing his reforms, he was asked if China still had a Communist economic system. "White cat. Black cat. Who cares what it is called, so long as it catches mice." He also said, "To get rich is glorious."
According to Time Magazine (1997):
"Leaders," Deng Xiaoping once said, "are men, not gods." To China's 1.2 billion people, the diminutive Deng, who rose to become one of the most significant figures of the 20th Century, was a little of both. Although it was Mao who destroyed the old, feudal China, it was Deng who brought the country into the modern age. Amid the wreckage of Mao's Cultural Revolution, Deng launched reforms that have quadrupled the size of the economy, leaving China poised to become an economic giant in the 21st Century. By the end of his life, the communist leadership had elevated "Deng Xiaoping Thought" on economics to gospel and almost deified him.
The cultural revolution? A total disaster at every level, everyone agreed.
The Communist Party? Still very powerful. Must approve virtually all positions in any government organization, including the universities.
I also asked what was the current view of Mao. Everyone agreed that if you polled everyone in China over 45, half would say that Mao was crazy/evil and wrong and half would say that Mao was well intended, but wrong. Wrong is 100%. Deng Xiaoping is who is studied now, certainly in the business schools. I love his quote when, after implementing his reforms, he was asked if China still had a Communist economic system. "White cat. Black cat. Who cares what it is called, so long as it catches mice." He also said, "To get rich is glorious."
According to Time Magazine (1997):
"Leaders," Deng Xiaoping once said, "are men, not gods." To China's 1.2 billion people, the diminutive Deng, who rose to become one of the most significant figures of the 20th Century, was a little of both. Although it was Mao who destroyed the old, feudal China, it was Deng who brought the country into the modern age. Amid the wreckage of Mao's Cultural Revolution, Deng launched reforms that have quadrupled the size of the economy, leaving China poised to become an economic giant in the 21st Century. By the end of his life, the communist leadership had elevated "Deng Xiaoping Thought" on economics to gospel and almost deified him.
Teaching day four
For those devoted readers (it looks like about a number between 20-25) expecting this post last night, I came home after teaching and fell asleep for 10 hours. I'm very much enjoying Shanghai, but I think I just ran out of gas.
Last night we had three presentations, including one done by a group of soon-to-graduate undergraduates who are auditing the course. One of the team members is the 2007 national English speaking speech champion in China - no kidding. He just won it Macao. I think if you win the national anything in China, that is pretty amazing. As Thomas Friedman wrote, "Remember that in China if you are one in a million, there are 1,300 people just like you." Anyway, he doesn't sound like a native speaker, but his confidence and incredible vocabulary would leave him way ahead of most U.S. college students. And his accent is Australian.
His team presented on a Chinese textile company trying to enter the U.S. market. Great slides. Lots of interesting content. They are full time students and spent a lot of time on this to impress the Dean and me. Mission accomplished.
The second team presented on SAIC, a Chinese company making cars in Shanghai in JVs with GM and Volkswagen. They bought the bankrupt British Rover name and a jeep-like company in Korea, Ssangyong. Now they want to enter the U.S. market with low-end models, like Toyota in the 1980s and Hyundai in the 1990s. Anyway, the class tried to encourage them to focus on Eastern Europe instead where there is less competition and lower expectations for car quality.
The third team presented on Rolex with the goal of eliminating all the fake watch factories in China. They concluded that the local governments have no interest in supporting this because the factories provide employment.
Last night we had three presentations, including one done by a group of soon-to-graduate undergraduates who are auditing the course. One of the team members is the 2007 national English speaking speech champion in China - no kidding. He just won it Macao. I think if you win the national anything in China, that is pretty amazing. As Thomas Friedman wrote, "Remember that in China if you are one in a million, there are 1,300 people just like you." Anyway, he doesn't sound like a native speaker, but his confidence and incredible vocabulary would leave him way ahead of most U.S. college students. And his accent is Australian.
His team presented on a Chinese textile company trying to enter the U.S. market. Great slides. Lots of interesting content. They are full time students and spent a lot of time on this to impress the Dean and me. Mission accomplished.
The second team presented on SAIC, a Chinese company making cars in Shanghai in JVs with GM and Volkswagen. They bought the bankrupt British Rover name and a jeep-like company in Korea, Ssangyong. Now they want to enter the U.S. market with low-end models, like Toyota in the 1980s and Hyundai in the 1990s. Anyway, the class tried to encourage them to focus on Eastern Europe instead where there is less competition and lower expectations for car quality.
The third team presented on Rolex with the goal of eliminating all the fake watch factories in China. They concluded that the local governments have no interest in supporting this because the factories provide employment.
2007年6月19日 星期二
The Shanghai Daily
Every weekday morning so far, I have walked a couple of miles outside the campus, stopping at the end to buy the local English-language newspaper - The Shanghai Daily (http://www.shanghaidaily.com/) - and read it over a light breakfast of something resembling a sugarless croissant and a cold drink, usually an orange juice like substance. Three consequences:
1. These walks, coupled with the two long walks on Monday and Tuesday afternoons, coupled with the bike riding I started before I left the USA and the daily swimming I did everyday in Seoul last week (that is a lot of couples), have given me super hero calf muscles. Alas, that appears to be the only similarity.
2. I have the sniffles. I often get this in China. I attribute it to the pollution.
3. I have come to see the Shanghai Daily as my window to the world. The price is 2 RMB (about US$0.30), which I understand given that this is China. But the audience is not local and they should charge much more. It has many stories that the central government would be proud of, but it also has stories criticizing various local governments. Most of the articles seem to be from western news bureaus and thus don't appear particularly biased pro or con China, though obviously the decision as to what to include is where any bias might be more obvious.
Every day there is a pull out section, like Entertainment (new movies, events in town), Weekend, or today's, StyleHai, with fashion news and great pictures of beautiful women (Asian and western) wearing beautiful things. There is an interview with David Wu, a local TV star, explaining how his black Armani suit makes him look thin. I beg to differ. In the words of Liz Taylor, "Clothes don't make you look fat; fat makes you look fat."
Christina Aguilera is on an Asian tour and will be Shanghai next week after finishing in Osaka. The "sultry Aguilera is ascending compared to her counterparts who are busy rehabbing, divorcing, or serving a jail sentence," reports the Daily. Wow. Christina for sainthood. In the land of the blind, the one eyed man can become king.
1. These walks, coupled with the two long walks on Monday and Tuesday afternoons, coupled with the bike riding I started before I left the USA and the daily swimming I did everyday in Seoul last week (that is a lot of couples), have given me super hero calf muscles. Alas, that appears to be the only similarity.
2. I have the sniffles. I often get this in China. I attribute it to the pollution.
3. I have come to see the Shanghai Daily as my window to the world. The price is 2 RMB (about US$0.30), which I understand given that this is China. But the audience is not local and they should charge much more. It has many stories that the central government would be proud of, but it also has stories criticizing various local governments. Most of the articles seem to be from western news bureaus and thus don't appear particularly biased pro or con China, though obviously the decision as to what to include is where any bias might be more obvious.
Every day there is a pull out section, like Entertainment (new movies, events in town), Weekend, or today's, StyleHai, with fashion news and great pictures of beautiful women (Asian and western) wearing beautiful things. There is an interview with David Wu, a local TV star, explaining how his black Armani suit makes him look thin. I beg to differ. In the words of Liz Taylor, "Clothes don't make you look fat; fat makes you look fat."
Christina Aguilera is on an Asian tour and will be Shanghai next week after finishing in Osaka. The "sultry Aguilera is ascending compared to her counterparts who are busy rehabbing, divorcing, or serving a jail sentence," reports the Daily. Wow. Christina for sainthood. In the land of the blind, the one eyed man can become king.
Teaching day three - student presentations
Tonight was very interesting. Just two days ago I gave the students their assignments to prepare a PowerPoint presentation about their respective issue. They didn't need to make any conclusions yet (that is for the paper due two weeks after I leave), just introduce the company or the issue to the rest of the class. The first two (of seven) teams went tonight.
Team 1 is tasked to help Barnes & Noble enter the Chinese market, both where (location) and how (build a store, buy a store, e-commerce only). Given how little time they had, the team did well. The English was completely understandable and the ideas showed they are on the right track. Some uniquely Chinese issues came up in their analysis - the store will complete against the state-owned powerhouse, so maybe the government will try to make B&N's life miserable. Also, the government must approve all foreign books to make sure they don't contain "harmful" information or images.
Team 2 is tasked to help the city of Shanghai increase residential recycling. The team focused on the power of the government to force changes in behavior. Later we discussed the difference between "carrots" and "sticks" and the students seemed interested in incentive management. The team also recommended "punishing" companies that use excessive solid waste in packaging - a pre-emptive strike. Good idea.
This was the first evening class (Sat and Sun were all day). Class started at 6:30 pm. Only half the students were there by 6:45 pm. Traffic and work schedules make evening courses difficult.
The discussion tonight focused on "success" in business. Virtually all of the students said they would choose less money in exchange for less stress and more stability (read: job security). Working for a foreign firm is the best money, but comes with lots of stress. They also fear that no matter how hard they work, the foreign firm will bring in Hong Kongers or Singaporeans to run it after the American or European management staff leaves.
We also talked about Shaomin Li's theory of traffic policemen vs. traffic lights as a metaphor for the migration from China being a relationship-based culture to a law-based culture. The students seemed to agree.
Wed and Thurs will be the other five teams and continued discussions.
Team 1 is tasked to help Barnes & Noble enter the Chinese market, both where (location) and how (build a store, buy a store, e-commerce only). Given how little time they had, the team did well. The English was completely understandable and the ideas showed they are on the right track. Some uniquely Chinese issues came up in their analysis - the store will complete against the state-owned powerhouse, so maybe the government will try to make B&N's life miserable. Also, the government must approve all foreign books to make sure they don't contain "harmful" information or images.
Team 2 is tasked to help the city of Shanghai increase residential recycling. The team focused on the power of the government to force changes in behavior. Later we discussed the difference between "carrots" and "sticks" and the students seemed interested in incentive management. The team also recommended "punishing" companies that use excessive solid waste in packaging - a pre-emptive strike. Good idea.
This was the first evening class (Sat and Sun were all day). Class started at 6:30 pm. Only half the students were there by 6:45 pm. Traffic and work schedules make evening courses difficult.
The discussion tonight focused on "success" in business. Virtually all of the students said they would choose less money in exchange for less stress and more stability (read: job security). Working for a foreign firm is the best money, but comes with lots of stress. They also fear that no matter how hard they work, the foreign firm will bring in Hong Kongers or Singaporeans to run it after the American or European management staff leaves.
We also talked about Shaomin Li's theory of traffic policemen vs. traffic lights as a metaphor for the migration from China being a relationship-based culture to a law-based culture. The students seemed to agree.
Wed and Thurs will be the other five teams and continued discussions.
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