Back from Germany

Pictures are worth a Thousand words.

I don't have time to write 27000 words.

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The Shanghai Defence

Comment from yesterday's post:

ok, but what about the fact that production is based on sweatshop conditions, that susbsistence for the general population is abysmal and that china's record on the environment is horrific. why do business with a country that should be morally and ethically denigrated because of their human rights infractions? isn't it better to make a buck somewhere else than to encourage that kind of system by rewarding it with business? ... just wondering... -B

That's a very good issue that you brought up, and I'm glad you did, because it is something that's important for us to keep in mind.

First- in regards to the subsistence for the general population, China is no different from any other developing nations through out the world. All countries that aren't first world economically prosperous countries, and in order to help bring in parity of economic equality, the country has to achieve significant economic levels of production and employment, levels of GNP and GDP, and FDI. Doing business in China and any developing world actually helps them achieve these levels. If we were to make them pariahs, and cut them out of our little 'economic club' in the west, it would do much more harm than good.

Now, as far the environmental and human rights record of China; I was impressed with the concern of the companies for the environment. All of the corporate promotion videos we saw featured a section on environmental concerns, so businesses do know that it's an issue. Whether they take it seriously, or are just paying it lip service remains to be seen, but nothing different can be said about any other western nation.

As far as the human rights record goes- that's an issue for the government to be judged by, not for the businesses to be judged by, and not for the potential consumers of the country to judged by. Anyways- it's not like Western Countries or developed nations' records human rights are lily white either.

The more that business prospers in China, the better off the country will be. It's not encouraging or rewarding the behavior of the government you outline in your post, but by making the businesses better off, you can expect a higher level of development and economic prosperity, which the developed nations of the world enjoy, and with that often comes a higher ethical standard for the government. Not always though. In the developed nations, as I said before, and will reiterate, it's not like the behavior of the government is beyond reproach.

There is the matter of competition. If your competitors are launching products in China, and your company is not, you can miss out on a brief time frame in which the market share is up for grabs. It only happens once- and if you miss it, you will probably never be able to get it back. It's significantly easier and cheaper to build market share in a region by introducing a new company, brand or product than it is to try to capture it later on. It's not about a 'me too' approach to competitive environments, it's about securing a strategically significant region. China has a population of over a billion. If you can figure out how to market to the Chinese consumer, and secure a market share, that strategically significant region is yours for defending, and that's a great position to be in!

In conclusion (man those are a lot of points to cover for a conclusion), it's always good to look at business and opportunities from all sides. As business people, we have a responsibility to actively reject the myopia of NPV as the sole criterion for investment. Some refer to this as "triple bottom line" approach. In adopting that approach, we also have to be mindful that these issues often take significant time and resources to explore and resolve, and accordance is not guaranteed, and it can lead to acrimony.

They are important things to discuss however, and I have enjoyed our discussion about it.

No Slow boats in China

Shanghai was an unbelievable experience! The class went as colleagues and we all formed friendships and bonded. It was great fun.

Shanghai, as a city itself was impressive. China is a great place to do business. It really surprised me the level of infrastructure that's not only in place, but also being planned. Granted, we were focused in the area that's the nidus of commercial activity for the People's Republic of China, but the level of commercial development, and the infrastructure- with regards of commerce, transport, education and real estate development (commercial, industrial and residential) was astounding!

From a commercial perspective, the west is seeing how some companies are profiting form Sino-JVs, and are following, suit. As with any commercial investment or relationship, you have to do your due diligence in order to know what to expect and to adapt your approach or practice accordingly. Other companies go in expecting to apply Western techniques; marketing, manufacturing/operations or distribution only to fail miserably. There are several reasons for that disparity, and not all of them are clear from the outset. One of the great challenges of business is adaptability and maneuverability; that being said, the Sino-environment of business requires an entirely new strategy. Applying what works in Germany, Nigeria or the United States is just lazy, and unless you want to lose money, not a great idea.

I'd go back to Shanghai in a second, and I'd do business in China in second. It's a great place, with a lot of potential. It's neither risk free, nor easy, but what things in business are?

Destination: Shangahi

As of the day after tomorrow, I'm off to China.

Actually- first things first- I'm off to Amsterdam first- and this will be my first time in mainland Europe (although I've heard it argued that UK is now considered mainland because the Chunnel makes it accessible by train).

Then- my class and I are off for 8 days to Shanghai to hob-nob with dignitaries, network with business owners and rub elbows with academics at the Business School there.

As you might imagine, I am totally psyched!
I'll blog about it after I get back.

I will, however, be missing Purim, and an authentic Dublin St.Patrick's day- not that I would participate in Purim revelry anyways- I've been too busy to seek out other MOT.

Do you think there's any correlation between the occurrence of St.Patrick's day and Purim? Is it just the goys' turn to get wasted? They have fewer rules though- they don't have bound to the same protocols of drinking until you can't tell the difference between a curse for Mordechai and a blessing for Haman! Or is that the other way around?
*hic*

Beach Running

My legs have been killing me, so last week I went downtown between Negotiations and Market class and bought a new pair of running shoes. I actually found my model and size, which as anyone who's a runner knows, you usally have a fair affinity for your current shoes, and just tend to replace with the same model over and over again. I believe this is the 15th or so pair of Nike Air Pegasus that I've bought; averaging two pairs of runners a year for 10 years (have I been running that long?) and take away a few for the time that the Pegasus was stopped and I was forced into Nike Air Triax (a comparable Bowerman line shoe).

Anyways- my legs were feeling fantastic on my runs last week after I bought the shoes, and today I took a risk of it being low tide and ran along the road beside the Irish Sea.

Then at the 20 minute point along this route I come to a path that leads to a beach, and; luckily me- the tide was low, so I got to run along the beach back. My shoes became filthy! Caked with mud and sand, water logged with salt water, and legs screaming in labor from running on sand, but totally worth it, running along the beach in the sun as a start to my day!

When I got back the DART station along the beach (DART is Dublin's answer to the subway), I found that due to construction, my path back to the main road was blocked! The sea waves lapped the wall of an old structure. I had to traverse a ledge against a wall to a place where I could climb it, and walk along the top of the wall back to the road!

It was a great adventure!

Friday Post

I like Fridays- I don't have classes, so it gives me time to catch up on work. Right now I'm applying strategy theory (dad- you'd be proud; some of it is game theory) to a marketing case for a presentation on ice cream next week.

And for some reason on Friday it's the only day that I open my David Krakauer and Kroke Band heavy Klezmer play list in Winamp and listen while I work... and for a reason beyond me altogether- it never fails to put me in a great mood! Well- it doesn't matter.

So- when you see me bopping away with my headphones plugged in while I'm writing about stakeholders and boundaries of play and it's Friday- you better believe that the lyrics to my music are in a language that only Beady understands...

Summer Already?

Well- they're demolishing Dushanbe Synagogue in Tajikistan...

Funny- it doesn't feel like August 3rd already...
(FYI: That's the date of Tisha B'av this year)