George Post 14 - Use the Right Plastic in China

Here is an Article from USA today that explains what Credit Card and ATM card to use to keep your feed the lowest.

Each card is different but the rule of thumb is to use a CC for big purchases and ATM for cash.

The best credit card is Capital One.... Not transaction fee, just the 1% from MC or Visa.

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Ever since we started tracking foreign exchange fees, readers keep asking us to identify the "best" credit and debit cards to use when out of the country. A typical inquiry:
"Is there any way to avoid exchange fees when I travel in Europe?"
The short answer is, "Yes, at least in some countries," but for most travelers the question is a bit more complicated. Given all of the recent upheaval in the banking business, we decided that an update of our earlier compilations was in order.
"Best" qualification
Your ideal choice of a credit card depends on a wide range of factors—annual fee, APR, rewards, billing cycles, and such—as well as costs of foreign use. We can't begin to sort out all of those concerns: Our examinations of the "best" cards focus solely on foreign charges.
Overview
The general principles of using plastic in foreign countries haven't changed since our earlier Foreign Exchange 101 report. As a brief recap, when you use a MasterCard or Visa credit card overseas, the international MasterCard and Visa networks add a conversion fee of 1%, and most US banks add their own 2% fee, for a total of 3%. When you use a debit (ATM) card for cash outside the US, your bank adds some combination of a per-withdrawal fee up to $5, a conversion fee up to 3%, or maybe both. By contrast, when you use travelers checks or currency you generally lose anywhere from 5% to 10% in various conversion fees and charges.
Thus, we still recommend "credit cards for big purchases; debit cards for cash," and suggest you forget about travelers checks or exchanging US currency. However, we see some minor changes in specific credit and debit card specifics. Here is the latest information we have, as of early May 2009.
Credit card charges, foreign currency
When you use a credit card outside the US, your charge will normally be in the currency of the country you're visiting. When that charge goes through the system and reaches your bank, most US banks still tack their own surcharges onto the standard 1% charged by the international networks. This is essentially for doing nothing, because the charge is already in US dollars by the time your bank receives it: The bank adds the 2% because it can, out of pure greed.
Fortunately, a few banks do not add a surcharge. Here are current charges for some of the larger card issuers:
American Express: 2.7 percent Bank of America: 3 percent Barclaycard/Juniper: 2 to 3 percent Capital One: 0 percent Citibank/Diners: 3 percent Diners Club: 3 percent HSBC: 3% (most) JP Morgan Chase: 3% (most) US Bank: 3 percent USAA: 1 percent Wells Fargo: 3 percent
As far as I can tell, no other big card issuer is as generous as Capital One, although USAA comes close. HSBC and Chase offer reduced charges to a small number of "elite" customers; for the most part, their ordinary cards charge 3%.
Credit card charges, U.S. dollars
Occasionally, a foreign merchant charges you in U.S. dollars rather than in local currency. Banks are inconsistent in their treatment of such charges: Bank of America, Barclaycard/Juniper, Citibank/Diners, and USAA add the same conversion fee regardless of the currency, but American Express, JP Morgan Chase, and Wells Fargo do not surcharge dollar billings.
Although dollar billings might seem a good idea—at least in some cases—you have to be aware of a possible scam: The merchant may use a lousy exchange rate when it converts your bill into US dollars, so you might wind up paying both a merchant's private currency markup in addition to a surcharge. The conclusion: Avoid any billing in dollars.
Debit (ATM) cards for cash
Until recently, the only extra charge you paid was a flat fee for each withdrawal from a foreign ATM, regardless of the amount of money you received. Lately, however, some big banks have added a conversion surcharge. Here are current costs per transaction and exchange surcharges for withdrawing cash from a foreign ATM:
Bank of America(a) : $0/0 percent Bank of America: $5/1 percent Citibank(b): $0/1 percent Citibank $1.50/1 percent JP Morgan Chase: $3/3 percent US Bank $2/1 percent USAA: $0/1 percent Wells Fargo: $5/0 percent
(a) At ATMs operated by members of Global ATM Alliance (b) At ATMs in overseas CITI branches (c) A Varies by type of account
This compilation shows three ways to avoid losing more than 1% on a foreign currency ATM withdrawal:
• If you have (or open) an account with Bank of America, you can withdraw foreign currencies from ATMs owned by member banks of the "Global ATM Alliance" with no transaction or conversion fee: Westpac in Australia and New Zealand, Scotia Bank in Canada, China Construction Bank in China, Paribas in France, Deutsche Bank in Germany, Santander Serfin in Mexico, and Barclays Bank in the UK. All seven banks have branches throughout their home countries (as well as a few foreign locations); you can locate them through the BofA website. In other countries, however, BofA charges more than most other banks.
• If you have (or open) an account with Citi you can withdraw foreign currencies from ATMs at Citi branches outside the US with no transaction fee. Citi has branches in dozens of foreign countries: In some, it has retail branches throughout the country; in others, it has only one or two offices in one or two major cities. You can easily find out whether a Citi account will work for your trip by checking the worldwide branch locator on the Citi website.
• Many smaller banks—or bigger banks with elite-status accounts for some favored customers—add no fee of their own and agree to refund any fees that other banks apply, usually with a limit on the number of withdrawals per month.
Obviously, the spread between the best and worst deals on debit-card withdrawals is wider than the spread among credit cards. The very best deals, such as Citi and the Global ATM Alliance, are as good as the best credit cards, while with the worst deals you lose more than when you exchange currency or travelers checks.
Whatever you do, use a debit card for local currency from an ATM, not a credit card. When you use a credit card to get cash, you're on the hook for a number of extra fees and charges.
Debit cards for purchases
Most debit cards are MasterCard or Visa branded, so you can use them to shop as well as for ATM cash. When you use your ATM card that way, most banks charge the same as on their credit card purchases. HSBC, however, adds only 1% on those charges rather than the usual 3%.
The U.S. banks I've contracted tell me that when you use a debit card with a PIN to purchase something in a foreign country, whether or not that transaction is considered a purchase or cash withdrawal depends on the "merchant code" on the transaction. Unless it's a financial institution, the charge is treated as a purchase. However the U.S. banks don't seem to be very sure of this point.
The PIN hassle
I've recently reported that European banks are generally switching from the stripe-plus-signature system we use in the U.S. to a smart chip-plus-PIN system for maintaining credit card security. Although international MasterCard and Visa rules require all participating merchants to continue to honor US cards, no matter where they are, travelers report problems in using their non-chip cards, especially in Scandinavia and in may automated vending systems. At this point, the international networks really have no solution to this problem.
Some U.S. holders of credit cards have obtained PINs so they can use their cards for cash withdrawal (not a good idea). I haven't been able to determine whether those PINS work in European situations that require PINS. Reader reports would be most welcome.
Buyers' guide
My overall recommendations remain the same as they've been for several years. To minimize your exchange losses:
• Put big charges on credit cards. If you travel outside the U.S. a lot, consider getting a Capital One card, with its zero surcharge (and a reasonably generous reward program). Otherwise, USAA and many smaller banks and credit unions charge only 1%. Even cards with a full 3% surcharge are still an efficient way to pay outside the U.S.
• Use your debit (ATM) card for whatever local currency you need. If your itineraries permit, use one of the limited no-fee systems. Otherwise, minimize your losses by withdrawing in fairly large amounts each time.
In short, use plastic, but make sure it's the right plastic.
Read previous columns

POST 7... BYKI: Before You Know It

Before You Know It is a free software that you can download to help you learn Mandarin. The following is a link to a Youtube video I created as a tutorial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wccA5ySHm0

I have been using this program for over one year. I originally started using it to help myself learn Japanese. However, they have approximately 100 languages that you can choose from. For the purposes of our trip, I explained how to download the Madarian version. If you have any questions, please contact me at b.martin.2@mymail.sxu.edu.

Thank you,
Brittne

Kelly Post 8- Assigment from 02/20

1.Which type of culture has a stronger impact on workplace behavior: societal culture or organizational culture? Why?

According to Wikepedia, the definition for “Organizational Culture” is an idea in the field of Organizational studies and management which describes the psychology, attitudes, experiences, beliefs and values (personal and cultural) of an organization. A specific collection of values and norms that are shared by people and groups in an organization.

I believe organizational culture has more of an impact on workplace behavior because every workplace has tone that is set and you can usually tell what that tone is when you walk into the building and watch people interact. The environment may change and vary according to department, ie. the executive offices in my company are on the top floor and when you walk up there it is always very quiet and has more upscale office furniture. Whereas if you walk into the advertising department, people usually are dressed a little more casual and are more upbeat and energetic. Even with these slight differences in departments, the overall attitude within the company is usually the same. It appears in companies the HR employees have specific types of employees they would like to hire and this sets the tone for the overall workplace attitude. Every employee is interviewed and spoken to before a job is offered so the company can decide on a preliminary level if that particular person would mesh well with the others in the department and overall, the company.

2.Provide an example of a behavior in high context culture and low context culture.

I found a website called, www.culture-at-work.com/highlow.html that seemed to help answer this question.

Some attributes of high context culture are: long term relationships, more internalized understanding, face to face relationships. This culture seems to be more laid back, friendly and may have less communication boundaries.

Some attributes of low context culture are: rule oriented people play by external rules, shorter term relationships, task centered. This type of culture seems a lot more rigid, may micro manage employees, very time managed

3.Contact a person who is in the US from China. Seek their input on any instance of ethnocentric bias they experienced while in the US.

I was able to speak to someone who is Chinese from the company my sister works for. She said she came over to the United States to work about 10 years ago. She explained that people are often times rude to her because she still has difficulty pronouncing some English words. She also said she feels as though she does not get enough credit when she’s in meetings and often times feels she is not heard when in meetings with men in the United States. She said she feels Americans tend to feel like they no everything and do not give credit to her when she gives any inputs in meetings. She has not experienced the same issue with women.



4.Is China’s culture polychronic or monochronic? Justify your answer.

According to Wikepedia, some polychronic attributes are: change of plans more easily, highly distractable, do many things at once

Monochronic people do one thing at a time, concentrate on the job, adhere to plans and do not disturb others and emphasize promptness

I would say China is a polychronic culture because they do not seem to emphasize on schedules and being on time, the way we do in the United States. The culture seems to be a lot more laid back yet seem to be able to handle multi tasking more easily which may be the reason they do not set such strict emphasis on being on time. If a project headline changes, they adapt and change with it and keep moving forward.

5.What is Guanxi? Explain with an example from your workplace.

According to Wikepdia, Guanxi describes the basic dynamic personalized networks of influence, and is a central idea in Chinese society. It describes a personal connection between two people in which one is able to prevail upon another to perform a favor or service.

It appears Guanxi means, you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours. People working together to get something accomplished for one of the people involved.

An example in my workplace would be in my department, when the economy started to dip and companies were starting to lay off workers, the head of my department thought she was going to have to start letting people go as well. She went to another department asking for more work to give to us so we can keep our job. The other department obliged and we were all able to get extra work and keep our jobs.

Bukky Post 18 - 2-20 Assignment

1.) Which type of culture has a stronger impact on the workplace behavior: Societal culture or Organizational culture? Why?

Based on my experience from my years in corporate America, I would say organizational culture.
It is very vivid in my current place of employment. There are certain norms that are so ingrained in the employees, especially those that have been with the company for a why, it is comical at time. They expect things to be done a certain way, most of the promotion occurs by who you know not what you know, the Sr. leadership has been an old boy's network, but this is changing as a result of the changes being made by the new female ceo.
Organizational culture has the greater impact because over the course of time people within the organization come to an unspoken or spoken agreement as to what is acceptable/not acceptable behavior and people that do not play by the rules will be penalized one way or the other. They quickly learn to fall in line.

2.) Provide an example of a behaviour in high context culture and low context culture

High Context Culture: In the Chinese or Japanese culture, a hand shake on a usiness deal is good as gold. They have given their word and do not a legal contract to fulfill their committment.
In the African culture, a business partner would be invited out for drinks or to the person's home to eat with the family to establish a social relationship before doing business.

Low Context: American culture where everything has to be written down in order to have evidence in case of a court case of what the othe party agreed to.
In American culture, the more letters you have behind your name, the easier it is to sell a candidate for a job because they believe they have the expertise and will perform highly at the job.

3.) Contact a person who is in the US from China. Seek their input on any instance of ethnocentric bias they experienced while in the US.

My contact experienced a bias in the sense of constantly being told he spoke excellent english unlike most Chinese and people always wanted to know if he learnt english here in the US. He already spoke fluent english before coming to the US.

4.) Is China's culture polychronic or monochronic? Justify your answer.

China's culture is monochronic. The Chinese take committments seriously, they are committed to the job - work long hours, adhere religiously to plans - chinese are raised within structure and tend not to be individualistic or think for themselves, they obey authority, they are concerned about not distrubing others; follow rules of privacy and consideration, emphasize promptness, they are low context and need information.
These are all characteristics of a monochronic people.

In a polychronic culture peole like to preform multiple task at once. examples include talking on the phone while you are driving or browsing the internet why you are in a meeting. The American culture is an example of a polychronic culture. Most people are expected to multi task at work in order to meet deadlines or be able to complete additional duties assigned to them.

5.) What is Guaxi? Explain with an example from your workplace.

Wikipedia:
Guanxi describes the basic dynamic in personalized networks of influence, and is a central idea in Chinese society. In Western media, the pinyin romanization of this Chinese word is becoming more widely used instead of the two common translations—"connections" and "relationships"—as neither of those terms sufficiently reflects the wide cultural implications that guanxi describes.[citation needed]
Closely related concepts include that of ganqing, a measure which reflects the depth of feeling within an interpersonal relationship, renqing, the moral obligation to maintain the relationship, and the idea of "face", meaning social status, propriety, prestige, or more realistically a combination of all three
At its most basic, guanxi describes a personal connection between two people in which one is able to prevail upon another to perform a favor or service, or be prevailed upon. The two people need not be of equal social status. Guanxi can also be used to describe a network of contacts, which an individual can call upon when something needs to be done, and through which he or she can exert influence on behalf of another. In addition, guanxi can describe a state of general understanding between two people: "he/she is aware of my wants/needs and will take them into account when deciding her/his course of future actions which concern or could concern me without any specific discussion or request".
The term is not generally used to describe relationships within a family, although guanxi obligations can sometimes be described in terms of an extended family. The term is also not generally used to describe relationships that fall within other well-defined societal norms (e.g. boss-worker, teacher-student, friendship). The relationships formed by guanxi are personal and not transferable.
When a guanxi network violates bureaucratic norms, it can lead to corruption, and guanxi can also form the basis of patron-client relations.
The most common response to indicate acceptance of an apology in Standard Mandarin is mei guanxi (沒關係 ) which literally translated to "doesn't have guanxi [implications]". This is however an homonym usage of the phrase "guanxi". In this instance, mei guanxi (沒關係 ) actually means, "Don't worry about it."
Guanxi is most often used in the press when guanxi obligations take precedence over civic duties, leading to nepotism and cronyism
Someone is described as having good guanxi if their particular network of influence could assist in the resolution of the problem currently being spoken about.

My director has a lot of Guanxi within the IT Group. We recently had a sutuation where we were requiring another division to adhere to a new policy training and they refused because they felt the requirement was not applicable to them.
My direction had a conversation with the VP and they then had a conversation with the CIO and before you knew it this other division agreed to take the training based on the influence that was exerted on them.

Kelly Post 7 - Chinese stock market

China Tries to Tame its Swinging Stock Market
Equity index futures trading could come in March as the next step in a gradual regulatory effort to ease bold fluctuations in Chinese markets

By Bruce Einhorn
From BusinessWeek

Chinese investors are a brave bunch. The country's stock markets are notorious for their dizzying swings. After soaring in 2007, Chinese stocks suffered a sharp fall in 2008, with the benchmark Shanghai index losing two-thirds of its value. Last year, Chinese stocks again reversed course and increased 80%, thanks largely to $586 billion of stimulus spending by Beijing and $1.3 trillion in lending by state-owned banks. With China's economy now showing signs of overheating, officials are worried that the equities market may be poised for another sudden turn. Liu Mingkang, chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, warned on Jan. 4 of hot money forming new "structural bubbles" in China's markets.

That could be why Liu and his fellow regulators are rolling out a series of financial market reforms designed to reduce market volatility and make investing in Chinese stocks less of a thrill ride. The latest: a long-anticipated move to introduce trading in equity index futures, which would allow investors to hedge risk by profiting from falls in stock prices. Stock index futures trading could begin as early as March, says an official with knowledge of the matter.

Index futures trading would be the most dramatic step yet by officials aiming to make China's markets more like the bourses of developed countries than those of emerging markets. As China closes in on Japan as the world's second-largest economy, the government wants Shanghai to be more New York and London and less Mumbai and Istanbul. Among reforms the government has launched in the past year is the debut in October of a Nasdaq-like market for younger companies, called Chinext. Regulators have also lifted restrictions that had kept prices artificially low on initial public offerings—almost ensuring a big jump on the first day of trading.

The reforms are long overdue, say many analysts. The changes will help local investors become more sophisticated and make Chinese markets more palatable for investors from outside the country. "In other markets, IPO prices can go up and can go down, but in China they could only go up," says Thomas Deng, chief China strategist for Goldman Sachs (GS). Changes such as futures trading and IPO pricing reform make Chinese markets more mature and "give investors more tools to manage their risks," he says.

There are still plenty of other changes on the to-do list. The biggest obstacle is the government's control of the IPO process, with regulators limiting the number of companies it allows to list on the main board in Shanghai. That prevents companies from swamping the market with new listings, but also leaves many companies—and investors—frustrated. "A more market-based stock market needs investors to decide whether a company will go public or not, not the regulator," says Zhang Xiang, a Beijing-based strategist for Guodu Securities. "The next step should be removing the restrictions on IPO approvals."

Don't expect Chinese officials to heed that call soon. Despite a background in central planning, they can move quickly when they want; witness the government's swift implementation of the stimulus program after the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy in 2008. When it comes to the wild experiment in capitalism that characterizes the country's stock markets, however, Chinese officials typically move with great caution. The Chinext market in Shenzhen, for instance, was a decade in the making, and the March debut for futures trading follows years of anticipation.

There are advantages to having less-advanced markets. That China doesn't yet allow margin trading, for example, has helped cushion the damage to many investors when markets fell. So regulators are likely to continue moving slowly. "The system itself is more in line with international practice," says Lu Yizhen, chief investment officer at Tianhong Asset Management in Beijing, which oversees the equivalent of $665 million in funds. "But the possibility of having it completely international-like isn't quite realistic."

Kelly Post 6 - Hummer

As Deadline Nears, G.M.’s Sale of Hummer Faces Several Big Obstacles

By KEITH BRADSHER
Published: February 23, 2010

HONG KONG — Hostility from Chinese regulators and financing problems are increasingly likely to scuttle plans by an obscure Chinese machinery company to buy the Hummer division from General Motors, people close to the negotiations said on Tuesday.

General Motors has already extended repeatedly its deadline for completing the deal, with the current deadline at the end of this week; the original deadline was last September. But the buyer, the Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Company, has failed to win regulatory approval for the deal at a time when senior Chinese officials are trying to put a new emphasis on limiting China’s dependence on imported oil and protecting the environment.
Chinese banks are now pulling back from offers to lend money to Tengzhong for the deal and Western banks are leery of becoming involved, people close to the transaction said. Auto industry analysts are deeply skeptical the deal will be completed.

“The deal is on the ropes, if it’s not on the canvas yet,” said Michael Dunne, the president of Dunne & Company, a Hong Kong auto consulting firm.

Tengzhong is still trying to complete the transaction by setting up a subsidiary outside China to buy Hummer, according to Chinese media reports on Tuesday that were confirmed by people close to the deal. These people asked for anonymity because of the political and financial sensitivity of the deal.

“As long as they are talking, they are going to try to make a deal,” said one of these people.
General Motors and Tengzhong declined to comment.

Tengzhong had been prepared to pay $150 million to $200 million for Hummer, and would not assume debts as part of the planned transaction.

Providing new details on the proposed deal, people close to the negotiations said that the biggest obstacle to emerge in the last few days was not regulatory approval, as suggested by the Chinese media, but rather bank financing.

Regulators have informally agreed not to object if Tengzhong makes the purchase through an offshore subsidiary, said another person knowledgeable about the transaction. But if an offshore subsidiary is used, Hummer would not qualify as a Chinese company after the deal and would not be able to open a low-cost assembly plant in China any time soon to supplement production in the United States.

China only allows foreign automakers to set up 50-50 joint ventures with Chinese car companies, and each of these deals also requires individual approval from regulators.
While Tengzhong has the cash to pay for the Hummer brand, it needs bank financing to operate the division, redesign vehicles and set up new production facilities in China. Some of China’s biggest banks had agreed to provide that financing, but have now pulled out partly because they prefer to lend to projects with Beijing’s blessing and partly because of concerns about whether Hummer can be run profitably without a factory in China, one of the people close to the transaction said.

Tengzhong has been desperately trying to persuade Western banks in the last few days to lend it the money to operate Hummer while keeping it outside China, but has found little enthusiasm so far, this person added.

Hummer sales have plunged in the last two years because of the combination of high gas prices and the slump in the global economy.

G.M. had planned to keep making the Hummer H3 and H3T for Tengzhong through 2012 in Shreveport, La.

I found this article in the New York Times. I found it to be very interesting because though Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machine Company wants to purchase Hummer; it appears they are going through many obstacles.

If people in China are not custom to driving those types of vehicles, would they still try to market to the United States? Also mentioned in the article, China is starting to look into environmental effects caused from these types of large vehicles, so that is also putting a damper on this deal. Hummer's are definitely not environmentally friendly and the government may be concerned it will not thrive in China since it's having so much trouble in the United States.

Rick, Post 4, Google in China pt. II

Interesting follow-up to our discussion about Google in China: More than 75 percent of Chinese scientists say Google is a primary research tool and their work would be "significantly hampered" if they were to lose it.

Bukky Post 7 - Response To George's Blog: China Trying to Become What They are Yet to Become

Bukky - Post 7
I like the quote "China is striving to become what it has yet to become". In a way, I think that quote applies to each one of us, we are striving to become what we are yet to become. In most countries and cultures outside the US, it is a shame not to take care of your parents. They raise you and give you their best and there is the understanding that when they grow old, you take care of them. I don't expect to be a burden to my children but I definitely expect them to take care of me when I grow older. That's why I am giving them my best right now.
January 25, 2010 6:58 PM
We had a brief discussion about taking care of our parents when they grow older during the class on 02/20 when Prof. Selen was presenting. She had also mentioned that she takes care of her parents financially though her sister takes care of their day to day needs.
The same was the case when my mother was alive, we used to take care of her financially and hired helped to assist with her other needs.
Part of the training I am giving my children now is to let them know, when I am older, they will take care of me.

Bukky Post 9 - Reposting Response to Google inc, Figuring out how to deal with China

Bukky Post 9
Google, Inc.Figuring out how to deal with China.
Indeed a tough decision. Google realizes the vast potential China holds for profits and market share but there is also the issue of compromising it's values to meet the requirements of the communist government. Perhaps Google should have considered entering the Chinese market via a partnership with a local trusted business. This would have freed them from compromising directly and the local partner would have been better able to navigate the complex issues of doing business in China. Though over 50% of their client base is in the foreign markets, Google generates most of it's income from it's US market. Advertising revenue which is it's main source of income is not growing in foreign markets like the US because most of it's customers do not have access to credit cards to shop on line. It's amazing how something we take for granted here in the US is a huge luxury in most countries. Though the Chinese use the internet mostly for entertainment, it can be considered to be sensored entertainment. The communist government has such a tremendous control over what the people see, hear and say. I believe this can only go on for so long. The younger generation of Chinese citizens will not be as complacent as their parents. The values of the younger generation around the world is changing. They tend to question authority a lot more and they are not as accepting of limitations to their right. I think Google made a good business decision to enter China. When things change in the government, they would have already had the advantage of being in the market and be better able to adapt to the requirements of their customers.
January 28, 2010 10:39 AM

Bukky Reposting Response to Brits make it Rich in China (Post 3of3)

Vance - Very streetsmart. Made his money from under cutting competition by selling cheap Chinese kitchens. Would go off the beaten track to get the cheapest prices for his products. Though he was very aggressive, I would venture to say, he needed to be that way to accomplish his goals. He was very distrustful of the Chinese business men based on his past experiences with them. They sent him damaged goods and did not deliver on their promises though they had his money. He seemed very frustrated so many times and I kept wondering why he did not leave and go back home. But he couldn't because he knew of the huge potential for success, the potential to make a lot of money that awaited him if he was successful. He seemed to make a few hasty decisions in his bid to have control over the products such as his purchase of the guary.Given that Vance himself had made a huge profit off the failures of others, it is amazing how much he could not tolerate the shortcomings of the Chinese. He did not want them to make a profit off him unnecessarily. There were situations where he was dupped out of his money with the Chinese business men not delivering on their promise. There were time when it was obvious the Chinese business man had spent Vance's money on personal items such as with Mr. Lee who then requested for additional money from Vance though he had not delivered on the intial money he received.My understanding of Mr. Lee's behaviour is that he considered the intial money given him by Vance as a gift or a requirement for doing business. This is the common practive in emerging countries. The business man is expected to give a bribe or gift before they can do business with the local people.It seems Vance is learning the ways of the local, he is willing to bend the rules to get his way. He had a fake Olympic inspection bus to enable him transact a little smoother. You could also tell he had a heart despite his hard exterior. He was willing to give Mr. Wong a second chance and not take his business away from his factory. Mr. Wong's factory provided employment for the village and this prevented the people from migrating to the urban areas for work.In conclusion, doing business in China or any emerging economy is a very risky venture with opportunity for huge profits if successful. It is very critical to study the people and culture before venturing to these nations. They are no courts to intervene and the law will also not be on the side of the foreigner. China is a nation that is growing rapidly. In order to sustain it's growth, it must put more structure in place to protect those coming to do business with it. The western world will only be permissive of this way of doing business for so long before a new economy emerges as the place to do business.
January 19, 2010 6:10 PM

Bukky Reposting Response to Brits make it Rich in China (Post 2of3)

Peter - a retire army officer who had developed an energy saving product that had a huge potential of making millions of dollars. Though he came to China very optimistic, he soon learnt doing business in China was not the same as in the western world. He had tried to go on his own but he soon realize he needed a Chinese business partner if he was going to sell even one unit of his product. He was of course concerned about copyright infringements and the possibility of the Chinese stealing his trade secret and producing millions of his product before he yet had the opportunity to sell even one unit. He had to partner with Mr. Cecil a local business man who told him doing business in China was like the "wild, wild west". I have to agree with him and reinforce the fact that doing business in any 3rd world country is indeed like the wild, wild west. It is a survival of the fittest. Indeed a "dog eat dog" mentality. Peter had to take a leap of faith which paid off in the end. Mr. Cecil did business the Chinese way and got the job done. Though he disappeared for a while without communicating with Peter ( this is a very common practice in 3rd world countries), "now you see me, now you don't. Peter learns doing business with the Chinese and in any emerging economy is a waiting game. You have to be very patient because the people do not move at the pace of the western world. Hopfully, while you are waiting, they are geting the job done like Mr. Cecil.
January 19, 2010 6:10 PM

Bukky Reposting Response to Brits make it Rich on China (Post 1of 3)

As I sat here watching the series of videos, I can't help but laugh out loud at some of the issues the Brits are encountering. Not because they are funny but because I can see thru the actions of the Chinese business men and can almost predict the outcomes. As someone who grew up in an emerging economy and who still has ties to a 3rd world country, the actions of the Chinese business men come as no surprise to me. I have come to the realization that business men in emerging economies are all the same, shrewd, sometimes dubious, sometimes dishonest, and unreliable and inherently greedy. Different cultures, locations and people but they all have the same common link of greed. Not to say their Western counterparts are too different. The only difference for the westerners is the availability of law & order. The attitude of most is to take advantage of their western counterparts who are not familiar with the way of doing business because they feel they have the resource to burn.Tony, Peter and Vance are all taking a huge risks going to China. What tempts them and most westerners is the possibility of "high risk, high rewards", to quote Vance. They are aware that in emerging markets, a business man can become a millionaire overnight because these countries have very high potentials and vastly untapped markets. You can also loose your shirt and your life if you are not careful.Tony - His cushion business was ruined by cheap Chinese imports. He was the #1 cushion maker in Europe before then. He determined to go to China to salvage his business, sort of "if you can't beat them, join them". Heavily indebted, he heads for China to build a factory for manufacturing cushions. One of the biggest concerns he encounters is copy right infringement. There are no laws governing or discouraging this dubious practice in China. The problem is so bad that people are actually taking pictures of his product right in front of him for later reproduction. Building the factory was also a massive challenge for him. He needed to partner with a Chinese business woman in order to accomplish this project. The work ethics of some of the workers is very bad with the workers not being very dependable and there does not seem to be much the average foreign business man can do about this. Tony was able to secure contracts thru his persistence and hardwork. Finally with the factory almost complete, there was the issue of hiring english speaking Chinese workers for his business. Most of the workers are migrant workers leaving their farms to move to the urban areas to seek a better life for themselves and their families back home.With Tony's factory successfully completed, most of the local dignitaries wanted to be associated with his success though they were not visible when he was struggling to set up the factory.
January 19, 2010 6:07 PM

Bukky Post 17 - Baidu posts Jump in 4Q Earnings as Revenue Climbs

Baidu, Google's competitor in China is definitely seeing an increase in revenue. As stated in my previous post, they were also the recipient of the Chinese governments "China Internet Self Disciplne Award" in 2009. Obviously abiding by the strict rules of the Chines government has it's rewards, never mind human rights that are being trampled on in the process.

Baidu posts jump in 4Q earnings as revenue climbs
The Associated Press
Published: 02/09/1011:33 pm Updated: 02/09/1011:33 pm

BEIJING –
Baidu Inc., which operates China's most popular Internet search engine, said its quarterly earnings jumped 48 percent, beating expectations on strong revenue growth.
The announcement Wednesday comes amid a dispute between rival Google Inc. and China's government over Internet censorship and hacking.
Baidu earned $62.7 million, or $1.80 per share, for the three months ended Dec. 31, compared with $42.3 million, or $1.22 per share, a year earlier. Excluding stock-based compensation expenses, Beijing-based Baidu earned $1.88 per share in the latest quarter.
Revenue rose 40 percent to $184.7 million. On average, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters projected profit of $1.68 per share on revenue of $180 million.
The results also exceeded Baidu's expectations and were driven by the success of a new system for advertisers to bid on paid links to search words, said CEO Robin Li.
"With a solid base of users and customers, our foundation is stronger than ever and we will continue to drive innovation to capture market opportunities ahead," Li said in a statement.
Chinese Internet companies have seen profits grow even as the global economic crisis hurt China's exports. Domestic growth and consumer spending have benefited from a 4 trillion yuan ($586 billion) government stimulus.
Google announced Jan. 12 that it no longer wanted to cooperate with Chinese censorship and might shut down its China-based site Google.cn. The company also complained about China-based hacking of its e-mail service.
Industry analysts say that if Google leaves, Baidu should be able to pick up the bulk of its Chinese advertisers. But they say the Chinese service also might suffer if former Google users switch to Baidu and are unsatisfied with its service.
Chinese officials defended the government's censorship and denied the government was involved in the cyber-attacks.
Baidu had 58.4 percent of China's search market in the final quarter of 2009, while Google had 35.6 percent, according to Analysys International, a Beijing research firm. Google has steadily gained market share from smaller rivals but has failed to dent Baidu's lead.
Baidu has begun to expand abroad with the launch of a Japan-based search site in 2007 and said costs related to that service were $6.3 million for the quarter, which reduced diluted earnings per share by 18 cents.
For the first quarter of this year, Baidu forecast revenue of $176 million to $181 million. Analysts predict revenue of $170.2 million.
For the year, Baidu's net income rose 42 percent to $217.6 million, or $6.26 per share. Revenue climbed 39 percent to $651.6 million.
Shares of Baidu rose $38.14, or 8.8 percent, to $473.15 in after-hours trading. The stock earlier slid $8.22 to end regular trading at $435.01. It has ranged from $119.65 to $470.25 over the past year.

Bukky Post 16 - Are China's demands for Internet "Self-Discipline" Spreading?

The Chinese governement actually rewards companies like Baidu, Google's competitor with the "China Internet Self-Discipline Award".
What message is this sending out to the users of the internet and companies like Google that want to do business in China?
Perhaps the message is "if you play ball with us, you will be richly rewarded but if you go against us, we will make you pay".

Are China's demands for Internet ‘self-discipline' spreading?
REBECCA MACKINNON
Published: 01/19/1012:05 am


Every year in China, Internet executives are officially rewarded for their “patriotism.”
Last November in Beijing, I sat in a large auditorium festooned with red banners and watched Robin Li, the CEO of Google’s main competitor, Baidu, parade onstage with executives from 19 other companies to receive the 2009 “China Internet Self-Discipline Award.”
The rhetoric was all about the “strength and confidence of the Chinese Internet” and “harmonious and healthy Internet development.” The reality is: China’s annual “self discipline” award is for private sector censorship.
In English-language news reports about Chinese censorship, we hear a lot about the “Great Firewall,” the system that Chinese network operators use to block objectionable Web sites that are operated from overseas — and to render Twitter, Facebook and YouTube inaccessible to Chinese Internet users. You also may have read about the “Internet police” who keep tabs on what people say and do online.
You may not have heard about “self-discipline” requirements for Chinese Internet companies, however. For some reason, they get a lot less Western media coverage, despite the fact that the government delegates a large part of the censorship and surveillance on the Chinese Internet to private companies.
Here’s how it works: In China, all Internet and mobile companies are held responsible for everything their users post, transmit or search for. The Chinese call it “self-discipline.”
In Anglo-American legal parlance, it’s “intermediary liability,” which in China is taken to its logical extreme with no public accountability or due process. “Intermediary liability” means that the intermediary, a service that acts as “intermediate” conduit for the transmission or publication of information, is held liable or legally responsible for everything its users do.
In China, if companies fail to track and remove content or block conversations that regulators deem violate laws or regulations (a court or judge is almost never involved), they risk heavy fines at best and permanent shutdown at worst.
Companies’ liability covers a gamut of content, all the way from porn, to pirated intellectual property, to defamation of powerful people, to exposes of corruption leading to poisoned baby formula, to treatises on democratic reform. Dozens of Chinese companies were shut down last year, and many more were fined or warned. Unlike Google, they couldn’t just leave China.
To operate in China, Google’s local search engine, Google.cn, had to meet these “self-discipline” requirements. When users typed words or phrases for sensitive subjects into the box and clicked “search,” Google.cn was responsible for making sure that the results didn’t include forbidden content.
It’s much easier to force intermediary communications and Internet companies such as Google to police themselves and their users than the alternatives: sending cops after everybody who attempts a risque or politically sensitive search, getting parents and teachers to do their jobs, or chasing down the origin of every offending link. Or reconsidering the logic and purpose of your entire system.
Intermediary liability enables the Chinese authorities to minimize the number of people they need to put in jail in order to stay in power and to maximize their control over what the Chinese people know and don’t know.
In its bombshell announcement on Jan. 12, Google cited massive cyber attacks against the Gmail accounts of human rights activists as the most urgent reason for re-evaluating its presence in China. However, the Chinese government’s demands for ever-increasing levels of censorship contributed to a toxic and unsustainable business environment.
Ever since Google.cn launched in 2006, I’ve occasionally run tests to see how it compares with its homegrown competitor Baidu. Google.cn consistently censored less than Baidu did. This is how Google executives justified the ethics of their presence in China: Chinese users, they argued, still were better off with Google.cn than without it.
Things changed for Google in 2009, however. Regulators demanded that it ramp its self-censorship up to Baidu’s level. The Chinese state-run media attacked Google numerous times for failing to protect youth from smutty Web sites when — horror of horrors — those innocent kids happened to type in smutty words and phrases.
Meanwhile in the Western democratic world, the idea of strengthening intermediary liability is becoming increasingly popular in government agencies and parliaments. From France to Italy to the United Kingdom, the idea of holding carriers and services liable for what their customers do is seen as the cheapest and easiest solution to the law enforcement and social problems that have gotten tougher in the digital age — from child porn to copyright protection to cyber- bullying and libel.
I’m not equating Western democracy with Chinese authoritarianism — that would be ludicrous. However, I am concerned about the direction we’re taking without considering the full global context of free expression and censorship.
The Obama administration is negotiating a trade agreement with 34 other countries — the text of which it refuses to make public, citing national security concerns — that according to leaked reports would include increased liability for content hosting companies and service providers. The goal is to combat the global piracy of movies and music.
I’m not saying that we shouldn’t fight crime or enforce the law. Of course we should, assuming that the laws reflect the consent of the governed. But let’s make sure that we don’t throw the baby of democracy and free speech out with the bathwater, as we do the necessary work of adjusting legal systems and economies to the Internet age.
Rebecca MacKinnon is a fellow with the Open Society Institute. From 1998-2001, she was CNN’s Beijing Bureau Chief. She wrote this for McClatchy Newspapers.

Bukky Post 15 - China Launches Strict New Internet Controls

The internet has become a window to the world for billions of people around the world. The wealth of information available on the internet is remarkable and has opened up so much access to other countries, cultures and peoples for all of us.

The Chinese government persists in limiting this access for its people perhaps because they do not want them to see the way the other half lives and become discontented with the way they live.

China launches strict new Internet controls
BEIJING –
China's technology ministry moved to tighten controls on Internet use Tuesday, saying individuals who want to operate Web sites must first meet in person with regulators.
The state-sanctioned group that registers domain names in China froze registrations for new individual Web sites in December after state media complained that not enough was being done to check whether sites provided pornographic content.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said that ban was being lifted, but would-be operators would now have submit their identity cards and photos of themselves as well as meet in person with regulators and representatives of service providers before their sites could be registered.
It said the rule was aimed at cracking down on pornography.
China has the world's biggest online population, with 384 million Internet users. The government operates the world's most extensive system of Web monitoring and filtering, blocking pornographic sites as well as those seen as subversive to communist rule.
The new regulations come as the government is in talks with Google Inc. about whether the U.S.-based Internet giant will be allowed to continue operating in China after saying in January it would no longer cooperate with the country's Web censorship. The two sides have given no details of the status of their discussions.
Chinese authorities have launched repeated crackdowns on online pornography and the government says nearly 5,400 people were detained last year.

Bukky Post 14 - China calls Goole's claims of cyber attack "groundless"

The Chinese government's response to Googles claims obviously will not help alleviate their concerns about the cyber attacks especially since the attacks have been traced back to 2 prestigious Chinese universities that have ties to the government.

Google will really need to consider the merits of doing business in China based on the events they have encountered with the Chinese government in recent times.

February 23rd, 2010
China calls Google's claims of a cyber attack "groundless"
Posted by Sam Diaz @ 9:26 am
Categories: China, Google, Government, Politics, Security

Just as Google and China are sitting down to talk again about hacking attacks, censorship and Google’s future in China, a government official in Beijing publicly called out Google by calling its claims of a hacking attack “groundless.”
Until now, the Chinese government had been somewhat cooperative with Google and the U.S. about the highly sophisticated hacking attack against Google and other companies last year. Government officials have publicly condemned hacking and even made some arrests to break up a hacking ring in China.
But those sacrificial arrests weren’t enough to ease the concerns of Google or investigators in the U.S. They kept digging and digging and, this week, it was learned that the hacking attacks traced back to a prestigious university and a vocational school with ties to the government. Yesterday, the Financial Times reported that the U.S. analysts had identified the author of the hacking code as a 30-something freelance security consultant who doesn’t really want to be involved in these sort of efforts but that his skill level has the attention of government officials who are “looking over his shoulder.”
Now, all of the sudden, Google’s claims are groundless. It appears that the Chinese government may have been feeling the pressure of being backed into a corner and had to come out swinging. At a news briefing in the Chinese capital, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said:
Google’s statement from January 12 is groundless, and we are firmly opposed to it. China administers its internet according to law, and this position will not change. China prohibits hacking and will crack down on hacking according to law… Reports that these attacks came from Chinese schools are totally groundless and the accusation of Chinese government is also irresponsible and driven by ulterior motives.
For now, Google is still censoring search results on behalf of the government, as required by law, while company officials meet with Chinese officials to discuss next steps. But a statement like this from a government official gives us a hint at how those talks must be going.
If talks break down, it will be interesting to see if Google follows through with its threat to uncensor the Internet in China and, if need be, shutter its operations there. Clearly, it’s a sensitive matter. Washington has backed Google’s assertions and reaffirmed its support for a free Internet but all parties have agreed that this should not affect government relations between the two countries.
The ball may soon be back in Google’s court. What’s the next play?

Rick, Post 3, Movie Review - "24 City"

"If the aeronautics factory is like a huge eyeball, the laboring is its pupil." -poem by Quang Jianghe

"24 City" is a story about people who worked at a state-owned Chinese airplane factory in Chengdu that is being closed. At a time when layoffs and businesses closing their doors hits close to home for an American, I thought this film would offer an interesting depiction of modern-day China, particularly the lives of working class Chinese citizens. I also wanted to pick a recent movie ("24 City" was released in 2008) to get a better idea of what China is like today.

The movie is shot like a documentary. People of various ages give interviews about their time in Factory 420. I thought the entire movie was an actual documentary, but some scenes apparently were filmed with actors while others were real.

I thought the movie's major theme is China is changing and modernizing, which means some people are being left behind. One woman, along with many others, was let go because the factory no longer needed so many workers. She received a small severance and was unable to find work for a long time, eventually resorting to illegally selling flowers to make money. She is now retired and sews for extra money because "people who work age more slowly."

Another older woman goes to an employment agency and is surprised to find the young female staffer wearing make-up. A man reminisces about being pressured to take his father's place in the factory in lieu of going to college because they made good wages, only to have the factory close in his middle age.

One thing I found interesting was the way Chinese people viewed "Yanks" during the Korean War, when Factory 420 was running at full capacity manufacturing aircraft engines and repairing damaged fighter planes. One of the characters discussed how they were fighting against American imperialism, which is likely very different from how many Americans perceived the war.

I think one of key lessons I learned from this film is although American and Chinese cultures differ in many significant ways, most people want the same things out of life: a safe place to live and decent jobs to provide for their families. While watching this movie, I thought of all the American factory workers, such as auto industry workers, who went through something similar. Losing your job hurts, no matter what country you're in.

I think "24 City" is a good movie. The characters told interesting, poignant stories, and the cinematography is great. Furthermore, it gives a taste of what China is like in the modern age and helped me understand where the country came from and where it's going.

Rick, Post 2, Google in China

1. From a business perspective, what are the arguments for and against entering the market for Internet search in China in 2005?

For:

· China's large population, a rapidly growing percentage of which were becoming Internet users.

· Opportunity to establish foothold during an economic boom.

· Large potential advertising market, which is Google's primary revenue source.

Against:

· Highly competitive market in which Baidu has an advantage due to its close relationship with the Chinese government.

· Google is less well-known and perceived more negatively than Baidu.

· Chinese government interferes with normal business operations due to censorship policies, resulting in substandard service.

· Low actual advertising revenues.

2. From an ethical perspective, what are the arguments for and against entering the market for Internet search in China in 2005?

For:

· Offer an alternative to search engines with excessive state involvement.

Against:

· The Chinese government exercises control over free flow of information and Google, contrary to its company values, would give Chinese citizens a distorted view of the world.

· Google would possibly have to work with the Chinese government, which has a long history of human rights violations, to essentially become part of a nationwide spy network.

· Google could be coerced into violating privacy standards, similar to what Yahoo! did with Shi Tao and Zhao Jing.

3. If Google decides to enter China, how can it do so while mitigating ethically adverse impacts? Please formulate possible options and evaluate their strengths and weaknesses.

It is difficult to see how Google could ethically enter the Chinese market. One of the only options I can think of is a compromise in which Google allows the Chinese government to censor search results and access Google's records about Chinese citizens, but Google would not be obligated to allow access to private information about anyone outside of China's borders. This would allow Google to have a presence in China's market as well while operating within China's standard rules. However, this is still not exactly a good situation for Google and I doubt the Chinese government would agree to the terms anyway.

4. What do you think Google should do, and why?

Google is a corporation like any other. Although its informal motto is "Don't be evil," its primary directive is creating shareholder wealth. China is a massive market and if they don't get in there, they will be missing out on a huge growth opportunity.

However, Google is violating their own mission of making information freely accessible to everyone by being party to what is likely the largest instance of state censorship in history.

In this age of the Internet, people should be concerned about electronic privacy rights. We can see what happens to people the Chinese government views as a threat, such as Shi Tao, and how the government uses the Internet as essentially a network for spying on its citizens. As a Google user myself, I don't like knowing that Google would possibly have to provide a customer's personal, private information for such a nefarious purpose. I also don't like thinking that their service could be used to monitor people as a means of squelching free expression.

Due to the fact that the nature of operating in China means compromising its basic services and ethics, I don't see how Google can ethically expand its operations into China.

Rick, Post 1, Getting to know me

Hi, my name is Rick Ducat. I'm 26 years old. I'm originally from the South Suburbs of Chicago and I graduated from Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois in 2006 with a B.S. in Journalism and a minor in English. I actually started out as an electrical engineering major, but I decided it wasn't really for me.

During college, I worked at the student newspaper as a reporter and an editor for about three years. After that, I worked at Star Newspapers, which is now the SouthtownStar, as a general assignment reporter for about a year and a half. Then I started working at SXU as Assistant Director of Media Relations in the University Relations department.

I'm about halfway through my MBA at SXU and I'll probably graduate in 2012 because I'm a part-time student. I haven't decided on a major but I'm leaning toward marketing. I still have some time before I graduate, so I'm still exploring what I want to do after I get my degree.

I like reading, writing, cooking, video games and exercising. I'm also learning to play piano now just for fun. I like traveling, but I haven't done very much of it. I've been to a lot of different places in America but I've only left the country once to visit Canada, so I'm looking forward to experiencing a new culture.

That's about for now, and I look forward to getting to you know you all.

Nanzi Flores, Post 5, Google, Inc.

Google, Inc.
From a business perspective one of the pros would be that they would have a better chance at increasing their market share and reach more people in China. By entering China they could also repair their tarnished image of being unreliable and slow. Potential advertising revenues would also stand to increase also if the connection was made. On the other hand the number of features that they would be able to provide to end users would not be as extensive as in other countries and in a sense the profit they would make in said market could be capped to a smaller amount.

The most obvious argument against entering China is that doing so would go against Google's core values of providing, "unbiased, accurate and free access to information" for those who rely on them. Everything they have on their "China Servers" and whatnot would be censored. From an ethical perspective and argument for entering the Chinese search market can be that, "having a service with links that work and omits a fractional number is better than having a service that is not available at all." This way they are at least still holding true somewhat to their mission of looking out for the best interest of their users.

What I think Google needs to do is start with a marketing campaign to make themselves relevant in present day China. They could run some commercials with maybe a couple having breakfast and talking about some TV show and one could say, "oh my where did you see that?" to which the other would reply, "I saw it on Google TV" and make the Google in brush stroke letters with the Google colors. Make their name something that the average Chinese person recognizes by sponsoring different events and getting their name out there more. A drawback to this would be that they would not be fully living up to their mission but perhaps their mission in China can be slightly different. Perhaps they can focus on activities that are most popular in China like downloading music, playing online games, watching TV shows and movies.

I think Google should focus on the things the average Chinese person is interested in and develop them the way they would any other program. They should do as Baidu has done and offer different services like entertainment. The article states that the Chinese use Google to search sources outside China perhaps various Chinese texts could be uploaded on to Google books and then promoted as the library that you can take all over China.

Nanzi Flores, Post #4 - Raise the Red Lantern

The movie I chose to watch was Raise the Red Lantern, directed by Zhang Yimou and produced by Hou Hsiao-hsien, Chiu Fu-Sheng and Zhang Wenze. I chose this movie because I had previously seen it while in high school and remembered it to be a good movie so I thought it would be interesting to revisit the movie. It was an interesting movie that had me making prediction after prediction about what would happen next and at each prediction the movie would prove me wrong.

The movie was about a young girl, Songlian, who is forced to leave school after the death of her father and become the fourth concubine of a rich man. When she arrives the third mistress is very mean to her while the second mistress befriends her giving her expensive silk as they gossip about how mean and spoiled the third mistress is. The oldest of the wives does not say much and has accepted the idea that her husband is not interested in her anymore but she gave him his first son so I think that is why he keeps her around. As time passes Songlian gets to know her "sisters" more and discovers that her first impressions were not accurate. When Songlian raids her maids room looking for a missing flute, Songlian discovers that it is actually the second mistress that is the evil one and not third mistress. Second mistress is later described as having the face of the Buddha, yet possessing the heart of a scorpion by third mistress who tells her stories of the atrocious things second mistress had done to her. On her 20th birthday Songlian ends up getting drunk and talks about the secret the third mistress had told her about in which she had an affair with her doctor. Second mistress hears this and tells on third mistress and eventually third mistress gets hanged. Having witnessed this Songlian goes insane and is left to just wander around in her school clothes.

One of the themes of the movie was that the concubines are always competing for the attention of the master or at least three out of the four concubines. Mistress number three constantly says she is sick and needs the master at her side. She used to be an opera singer so she sings for the master and he says she is always so nice to him and that he loves how she sings. Third mistress says that her and the second mistress were pregnant at the same time and that second mistress would slip abortion medication in her food so she could lose her baby. Second mistress also took expensive medicine so that her baby could be born before that of the third mistress but unfortunately for her she had a girl a few hours before third mistress gave birth to a boy. At first Songlian tries to compete for the attention of the master by faking a pregnancy and succeeds for a while but later gives up when it is discovered that she had her menstrual cycle. This leads Songlian to later come to the conclusion that she is happier alone. She eventually sees the competition between the concubines as hopeless, since all women are just being emotionally and physically being abused by the master.

This brings me to the next theme of the movie: solitude. All four women are alone with no one really to care for them. First mistress is as old as the master and has given up trying to compete with the younger wives for her husband's attention. Second mistress rarely gets visited by the master unless she is sick or hurt. Songlian's father has died and her step-mother pushes her to leave and get married with a "rich man."

Another theme of the movie was the idea that death is easier then being a concubine for the Chen family. After the death of her maid, Yang, Songlian seems to envy her because although dead, she was able to return to her family and town while Songlian is stuck in the Chen house.

When it comes to different cultures and countries sometimes it is better to simply observe rather then try to change them. We have our culture and things that work for us and as it seems the Chinese have the same. I do say that from watching this movie I find it very hypocritical that a woman has an affair and she is killed for it where as a man has 4 or 5 wives and he is praised and glorified. I guess I can say I’m happy to be an American and that our culture does not openly approve of such acts otherwise I would be one said, lonely and mad woman.

While the story was somewhat interesting I would not recommend this movie. The picture quality was not the greatest and it did not impact me as much as other movies such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon did in the past.

I also did a little research on what others opinions were of this movie and there was one statement in particular in the wikipedia.org website that caught my attention. It stated the following. “The film has been interpreted by some critics as a criticism of contemporary China, although Zhang Yimou himself has sternly denied this.^[24]. Jonathon Crow of Allmovie states that "the perpetual struggle for power that precludes any unity among the wives provides a depressingly apt metaphor for the fragmented civil society of post-Cultural Revolution China". James Berardinelli makes a similar analogy in his review where he states that "Songlian is the individual, the master is the government, and the customs of the house are the laws of the country. It's an archaic system that rewards those who play within the rules and destroys those who violate them."^[25]”

I didn’t think about this while watching the movie but it is a very good analogy.

Danelle Post #5

From a business perspective, it is very wise for Google to enter the market for Internet search in China due its rapidly growing online community. By doing so they stand to increase their market share, revenue and profits and ultimately remain the dominant search engine provider. The one drawback to entering this market, which is my argument for not entering, is the company would have to compromise its core values by collaborating in censorship, potentially hurting the brand name elsewhere in the world.

From an ethical perspective, to not enter China would be to deny Chinese users access to the high level of quality information available via Google, even if some of that content is censored.
On the other hand, if forced to give the Chinese government the names of dissenters, the company may be violating its 'do no evil' principle

I think Google should enter China even if they have to censor some of their search results. The amount of information that it will make available will still be an overall positive for the Chinese people. To mitigate negative impact, the company should take a stand on delivering the names of known dissenters to the government. The company should stand firm on that issue and in doing so it will help maintain their brand integrity as well as not compromise their values.

Knowing the particulars of Google and China's controversial relationship makes me a little apprehensive about conducting an Internet search of any kind while I am in China. Although I have no intention of searching for any information or content that may be considered "unhealthy" or "inappropriate", I think it would be in my best interest to not take any chances. In general, I think it would be wisest, especially since this is my first time visiting China, to avoid any activity that gives me reason to question whether or not I have violated a law.

Danelle Post #1

I found the videos to be highly entertaining and had several thoughts relating to the business environments depicted, however one thought nagged at me throughout. It seemed as though the Brits were undermining themselves by exposing their business ideas to the Chinese businessmen with no strict copyright and trademark laws to protect them. Without these laws in place, the Brits are taking an enormous risk by sharing their business ideas with the Chinese businessmen who could easily steal these ideas so they can sell these products on their own for a larger profit. While this is a risk of doing business in that environment, I find it shocking that so many people would think it is worth the risk to acquire the cheaper labor/materials.
Another interesting element of the business culture that I noticed was that there was very little said by either Vance or Tony about the quality of the goods and labor they were securing by outsourcing all of their production to China. In recent years with the scare over lead paint on toys and other health and hazard issues coming out of China, it seems as though the world is forfeiting quality for accessibility with regards to outsourcing manufacturing. It stands to reason that as China becomes even more of a world power and faces issues created by its own rising middle class, the quality of goods produced there will come under scrutiny from within as well. In such an environment I am certain we will see labor and material costs rising in China.
It was interesting how Peter was forced to adapt his approach and take on Cecil, a relatively unknown quantity, as his business partner. Peter's story was drastically different from the other two in that he was focused not on securing labor and materials FROM the Chinese, rather he was actively selling TO the Chinese. His attempt to do so raised some issues that foreign companies will no doubt continue to face as they attempt to take advantage of China's growing consumer population. One of these issues was the need to tweak their business approach to fit the environment from a language standpoint. The need to incorporate the many Chinese dialects one encounters if one is to sell TO the Chinese is quite an obstacle that will require companies to hire many Chinese workers simply to account for language differences withing China itself. As a marketing major, the thing that interested me the most was Peter's story. Looking toward the future, the Chinese middle class will continue to grow and with that growth will come expectations for their quality of life. They will then likely look to luxury items produced overseas as a mark of prestige (as most cultures do as they enter the first world). There is already a huge market opportunity for the companies that are willing to take the risk, and social trends will likely only increase that opportunity in the short term. Overall, the experiences of the British businessmen in this film are great examples of the drawbacks of the international supply chain as well as how successful it can be.

January 15, 2010 8:49 PM

Danelle said...

Based on this video, I think it will be interesting to see first hand how companies are positioning themselves to sell to the Chinese.

Kelly McGarigle - Post 6- movie

Hello,

The movie I chose was titled, “Fight of the Red Dragon,” directed by Yuen Woo-ping, made in 1993. The film takes place somewhere in China during a time when Opium has taken over much of the country because of a corrupt Chinese emperor. A character named Hwang Fei Hung starts a revolution against the drug lords to prevent them from completely taking over the whole country. During his quest, a young man by the name of So Chan joins the adventures against the drug lords. Prolems arise when Chan finds himself wrapped in the clutches of Opium and starting to turn into a junkie like so many others. Chan eventually finds his way out of his toxic hole to return to fight the drug lords to stop the further spread of the Opium and takeover by the villains.

I thought the movie was okay. It featured a lot of kung fu fighting but those scenes went pretty fast however, at times it was almost hard to keep up with the fighting scenes because the image was a little blury. The movie was dubbed in English however, they did not attempt to match it very close so at times you were watching characters talk without their mouth moving correctly to the words.

When I first started watching it I thought it was going to be more of an action packed drama but there were definitely some comedic bits throughout that surprised me. I know in China, the father of a family is very respected, well in this movie, the father was often times grabbed by the nose and dragged around by his wife when he made a mistake; which I couldn’t help but laugh at. With how much control the government has on China I was surprised that such a portrayel was able to make it out on video, not knowing a lot about communism, I just thought movies would be sensored more to maintain respect to the men of China and not make them a mockery. Or maybe I was looking into this a little too much and maybe it was just a typical kung fu/ comedy that is still taken lightly contrary to the communistic ways of China.

If I were to pick another movie to watch I definitely think I would pick a movie with a more relaxed plot and not so much fighting.

Post #4 - The controversial "Summer Palace"

The movie I chose to watch was Summer Palace. The film deals with a young student who leaves her small hometown to study at the fictional "Beiqing University". There she meets a fellow student and begins an intense romantic relationship in the backdrop of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. The film also follows the eventual disillusionment of these young idealists after the crackdown, as the years progress through the 1990s and into the 2000s. The film is named after the Summer Palace located in Beijing. Although I found the movie "interesting" it is the reaction of the Chinese government to this movie that I found to be most fascinating. Summer Palace's explicit sex scenes and political undertones made the film a touchstone for controversy in China, leading both the director, Lou Ye, and his producers into conflict with China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT). After screening Summer Palace in the 2006 Cannes Film Festival without government approval, the film was de facto banned in Mainland China, and its filmmakers officially censured. Before I move on and provide any more detail into the synopsis of this movie, I think it should be mentioned that the reaction of the government in China is astonishing. This movie was hardly offensive, at least in comparison to American movies. I also found the Chinese government's actions unacceptable; again compared to how the American government may have reacted to this movie. There is plenty of sex and controversial topics found in an endless number of American movies. Clearly, the Chinese government is wound too tight and to their dismay I am confident that in the years ahead, perhaps the next 10-20 years, they will realize that they cannot keep films such as Summer Palace from being shown in China. I think right now, the Chinese government is afraid that because the producers and writers of Summer Palace have touched on sensitive topics regarding the Chinese government of the late '80's that the movie will serve as a reminder of where China came from, in terms of government, and where they are heading in the future. A film like Summer Palace is too liberal for China because it evokes the emotions and energy of a growing nation that is craving its break from Communism. With that said, the following are my take- aways from the movie:

• Many American influences in habits and behaviors: smoking cigarettes, rock-n-roll music, attire, characters were very promiscuous; characters were very mellow dramatic (typical of most late teen/early twenty something year-olds)
• The acceptance of a female to the university was perceived as a bigger deal than a male being accepted
• Students at the university seemed extremely immersed in the university life
• Students demonstrated an eagerness to find particular books in the university library in a manner not commonly demonstrated by American students (not to say American students are not excited about books and reading but the availability of desirable books differs)
• Dorm rooms normally suited for 2 students in the U.S. was housing 4 students.
• Dorms looked like bomb shelters - no aesthetic quality; very old (almost decrepit) but functional
• Clear division between the educated and uneducated
• There are scenes where students are discussing controversial matters such as labor laws (also typical of American college students)
• As time moves on in the movie the main characters are shown moving to Germany and other major cities in China
• Strong connection with German students - characters relate to both countries having a wall built in their respective lands that divided their people
• Students were caught by school officials having sex - part of their punishment was having this act made public and shaming the two offenders
• Real footage from the Tiananmen Square protests were shown - these scenes were very moving -its always a powerful experience to witness citizens taking a stand against their government

Ultimately, the evolution of the main character's life mirrors the evolution of China, Russia and Germany (as major contemporary changes in these countries were also touched on).

From this movie I think it is fair to assume that I should not expect some degree of sexism in China while I am there however I am sure Chinese women are subject to this regularly. More so, however, I expect to see many manifestations of familar American attitudes and ideologies as the Chinese continue to emulate the West.