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.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Week 4 Posts due Mar. 8
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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This week I read about China's lack of severe punishment with local government protection of auto makers that make counterfeit parts. Volkswagen made a car called Santana,and spent about $170 million for repair parts. But because of the counterfeits Volkswagen only sold a third of the parts they ordered costing them millions. While the Chinese government has tried to destroy factories that produce these counterfeit parts, they are barely scratching the surface. Also, computer sofware piracy cost China billions. Businesses are not wanting to sell products in China because once a knock-off has been made for less, people buy the pirated version.
ReplyDeleteI also happened to read about the same thing in my book this week. Since the Chinese benefit so much from counterfeiting and do not see active punishment from the government, it is much more difficult for them to see how this activity is wrong. Since the Chinese are so pragmatic, they ask themselves, "Can I get away with it?" over "Is it ethical or legal?"
DeleteThat's crazy to think that China is counterfeiting car parts. I never thought that someone would try to counterfeit a name brand car repair part. And it's crazier that the government is barely scratching the surface in attempts to stop these crimes. I can see how pirating smaller items such as movies would be harder to follow but something as big as car parts seem like they'd be easier to trace.
DeleteBook Title: Invisible China: A Journey Through Ethnic Borderlands
ReplyDeleteIn my recent reading, I learned so much more about China's minorities. I've read so much about different minorities, some of these include the Mongolians, the Kinh, the Wa, the Naxi, the Mosuo, the Dongxiang, the Tibetans, the Uyghurs, the Tajiks, and the Chinese Jews. I have also heard a lot about the Han group, they are not considered a minority but rather the dominating group.
I have noticed one thing throughout the book, because of the Han's power each minority's culture is in endanger of being over run. There was an interesting quote in the beginning of the Uyghur's chapter, "Why is it that out here we make two to three thousand kuai per year, but in Beijing and Shanghai people wear belts worth ten thousand? This is all one country, one government. Does it make sense for a father to raise one child well while ignoring his other?"
The last part of your quote about raising a child well is a profound statement. In order for these inequities to cease to exist, the different groups in China will have to see each other as siblings with their government acting as a caring father. However, with racial divisions and a biased government, it would seem as though they cannot reach that place at the moment.
DeleteChapter 3 in my book is about the economic development in China. China has a dual economic system, which embraces socialism and has many tenets of capitalism and has produced an economic boom. The GNP has averaged at 10% every year since 1970 and is predicted to grow and equal the United States by 2015. (This book was written in 2007. And as of this year, it looks like this prediction could be right on the spot.)
ReplyDeleteThat is very interesting that the economy is growing even with socialism and capitalism clashing. I guess they have found a happy medium between the two.
DeleteIt's always interesting to see how successful the Chinese economic hybrid has caused a huge growth over the past 30+ years. What will be very interesting will be to see how this growth continues to plays out, especially if China's government changes, possibly becoming more democratic. Will it be positive or negative to their economic growth?
DeleteIn continuing my reading, my book sought to describe China's culture and customs compared to the U.S. One thing that stood out was this: While Americans are taught empathy and gratitude, the Chinese are very pragmatic. For example, in repaying a favor, the Chinese will only do so if it is in their best interest. If it is not in their long-term interest, they will not repay a favor.
ReplyDeleteIn relation to this is government incentives. The Chinese government will give incentives to businesses that operate in its best interest. For example, if the Chinese government wanted to develop inland areas, it would offer financial help to businesses building new facilities in these areas to help foster growth. However, the government will give and take away incentives in order to meet its current goals. Therefore, if these goals change, then government incentives can change in an instant, thus affecting a business. Plainly put, "In dealing with government promises, the only thing certain is uncertainty."
I find it interesting that the government, allocates these intensives to businesses, for their benefits.. I have always thought of Chain as unselfish, as in they do what’s best for everyone vs. here where the government cares more about their plans. If the plans of the government, does not align with the people, that could be a potential problem.
DeleteAs I continue my reading, I realize that the book is analyzing the Asia-wide implications of China’s rapid and largely unanticipated emergence as an economic, political and military power, and its significant presence in both regional and global affairs. I feel as if the US is losing its balance, while China is going back to the traditional notion of a ‘balance of power’ which is currently the symbol of a magnet, capable of causing political and economic realignment throughout Asia. Today we see that the balance of influence is shifting in China’s favor.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting, because my book is also talking about how the U.S. is losing its lead in the global economy. However, my author suggests that this doesn't have to be the end result. By working together with China, the U.S. can continue as a global leader.
DeleteMy third chapter was about the myth of China being an easy market to enter. Because the Chinese market is so big and growing, foreign companies think that they can make a lot of money easily by entering the market. However, it has been quite the opposite for most companies. Some of the challenges that face companies trying to enter are the fact the Chinese companies usually make even cheaper products, the legal framework is difficult to navigate, underdeveloped infrastructure and distribution systems, and corruption. The authors suggest that to combat these challenges the company must ask themselves what their focus is to be in China. Is china going to be their manufacturing base, a huge domestic market, or an outsourcing base? It is important to have a strict focus of what you aim to accomplish so that it can be your guide in navigating the choppy waters of Chinese business.
ReplyDeleteThat is interesting to hear about some of the difficulties that are faced for companies trying to enter the Chinese market. I have to agree with what the author has to say about companies needing to decide what their purpose is for entering the Chinese market. It is very important for all companies to decide what their purpose is as they develop their business model.
DeleteMy book discusses economic reform but is somewhat hard to read. It is a lot of interviews and breakdowns of research into numerical data and graphs.
ReplyDeleteSomething I did find interesting from some of the research was the methods of recruitment in the workforce. Before the reform, the number of workers was determined by an assessment of the enterprises's ability to meet the production quota determined by the government. In other words, there was little freedom to recruit new employees or fire employees that were considered excess.
However, since the reform enterprises have been able to recruit new workers at their own discretion. The number of recruited workers averaged about 122 workers per enterprise and about 29.5 percent were female.
One other thing I found interesting about the new recruitments is that the majority or managers and employees both responded that the means of recruitment was mainly family or friend recommendation. I would consider this similar to the phenomenon going on in the United States: Sometimes it's more about WHO you know than WHAT you know.
Wow, I didn't know about the enterprises regulated firms that much as to restrict their hiring and firing power. I wonder if that helped or worsened the economy? Seeing as once they got that ability back the economy was definitely affected. I also agree with your last observation, to get by in this world you really just need to know the right people. Or be a smooth talker and have an amazing idea and someone believe in you.
DeleteThis week my book took on the task of defining "guanxi". Now, according to the book, guanxi is often greatly misunderstood. On the surface, it simply appears to be a system of "I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine.", but in reality it goes much deeper than that. Guanxi is based off of Confucian principles of respect, hierarchy, obligation, and face. It is not just an act, but rather a mindset. To Americanize this concept, the book relates guanxi to an old fashioned barn raising after your neighbor's barn burned down. Truly understanding guanxi can be "the most valuable tool for a person to have in China" according to my book.
ReplyDeleteI love this concept in the Chinese culture. I feel that this is a very good principle that Americans can learn from. It is really good to be trustworthy and look after others instead of only your own interests in the sometimes insecure and crazy world of business.
DeleteMy book has been talking about how CEO's are the new generals. In this day and age, it isn't all about who has the biggest army. It can be about who can have the best economy and/or take out someone else's. Countries need to rethink strategy. Many countries invent things, and another country steals the idea and makes a better industry with it. Taiwan, for example, did not have a lot going for it in terms of natural resources. However, they were able to develop electronics industries and make use of their connections to Asian markets. By strategic innovation, they made economic success. The U.S. needs to look at rethinking strategy because as they lose companies to overseas, they lose jobs, taxes, and economic development.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it isn't about the size of the army, but what they can do. America does need to take a deeper look into what is making all the countries in Asia grow. I feel like the countries, like China, are willing to take risks that more and more countries are afraid to take.
DeleteI also agree, I think that now days world powers are measured by their economy and not their military. Especially with the recent recession, we really saw some countries economies struggling. The USA does seem to have fallen behind in terms of manufacturing industry. It seems like everything is always imported from China, India, Mexico, etc. If we were able to attract more business, and retain our domestic companies our economy would be much improved.
DeleteMy reading for this week in “Dragons at Your Door,” told of some of the ways in which Chinese competition differentiates from the rest of the global competition. It wasn’t until 1978 when China opened its doors and international markets began trading with Chinese companies. Unlike some of China’s relative countries, such as Japan and Korea, China had one advantage when it came to international trade. This advantage was that the multinational trade within China allowed for Chinese companies to have a head start as they expanded abroad into foreign nations. In 2005 China had 60 percent of the global market share for toys, 70 percent of the global market share for sewing machines, 50 percent of the global market share for air conditioners, and more than 50 percent of the global market share for digital cameras. China’s domestic market is so large, diverse and cost innovative that it does not show any signs of potentially losing part of its global market share.
ReplyDeleteI recently changed my book to "China Dawn - The Story of a Technology and Business Revolution." I find it much more enthralling than my previous book. In my reading, I learned about the power of the Internet in China's technological revolution. Despite the Chinese government's rigid control of the Internet, Chinese still get around the blocks and read censored material such as the Dacankao, a newsletter that includes "all the news that Beijing deems unfit to print," which includes articles and satires critical of the Communist government and links to the dissidents' websites. New stories that the Communist government banned from being published because they feared it would initiate public demonstrations. Email has been the primary way of communication for the Chinese Democratic Party since it was banned several decades ago.
ReplyDeleteHow is the Internet related to Chinese business? Chinese entrepreneurs believe that the Internet is a key tool to restore China to its former glory. For too long China has been held back while the world continued to grow and evolve. While China builds up its Internet for business, it levels the playing field for China in the global market and the Chinese economy is growing rapidly as a result.
it must be quite interesting to get an in-depth look at what china sees fit to allow through their internet firewalls. information such as this may be quite helpful once we are there...
DeleteMy book has been getting into the business process in China. There were some main ideas of what the business process might consist of. Straight buying or selling, licensing technology or equipment, or building a representative office. The last is the most common form of foreign business in China. At the end of the chapter, after going into detail about the list of business processes the author gives some helpful hints. When going to China to meet with a company, that company will send a representative to pick you up from the airport and will make sure that after the meeting you are taken to your final destination. Another helpful hint is that July can be a bad time to be dealing with business in China as many Chinese feel that making important decisions in the month of July cannot end well.
ReplyDeleteDuring this weeks reading the book talked about the issues of dealing with unqualified workers in China. While they expected to find such unqualified workers, they didn't expect to see the attitude that the Chinese workers had. They were in desperate need for a training facility. VW in Wolfsburg refused to give them a vocational training center and suggested they simply train on the job; however with persistence eventually they won them over. After establising the vocational training center in the 1980's they noticed something; not only were the Chinese incredibly fast learners but also the majority of students at the top of the classes were females. They had 1/3 of the class as females more than at any other VW vocational school int he world.
ReplyDeleteVW Shanghai also tried to implent something called the deputy system where an expat from Germany would train a Chinese worker in their management style so that the Chinese could retain top management positions. after implementing the system they found that the Chinese deputys were not only learning at a blistering pace, but were actually surpassing the Germans who were teaching them.
This is really a great look into the mentality of the Chinese, their thirst for knowledge and their work ethic was just as strong int he 1980's as it i today.
In the last chapter my book discussed the influence of General Motors (GM) in China. They have had a strong influence in the auto industry there since 1922 when GM cars were first shipped to China. It seems quite improbably but in 1999 Buick, a branch of GM, was producing sedans from a factory in Shanghai. GM was the only American auto maker to secure a strong foothold in China. One of the key reasons for this was because GM had a strong commitment to manufacturing automobiles in China, and this drew government support for GM. They made big risks in entering into the Chinese market, but their investment paid off better then they ever could have expected.
ReplyDeleteSo much for American made. But it is an interesting concept to imagine the work it must have taken at the time to have american made cars accepted as a normality by the chinese government of 1922. And it certainly has turned out well for them
DeleteThis past chapter that I have been reading focused on the traditional woodcarving of Dongyang county and how its transformation changed the economical output of the county. This traditional woodcarving originated in the Tang Dynasty but continues to evolve to this day. It is a mark of pride amongst the people of China because pieces tend to have a significance to them. this can be based upon the artist or the area in which it is to be put. The work is sacred and learned through an apprenticeship. when an apprentice finishes his work he holds a completion feast and is presented wages for his years of work. I find it interesting how much pride is put into this work.
ReplyDelete