Tag: Bloch Executive MBA

Categories
General

Day 7: Consumer Behavior

We’re starting to adjust to the time difference – and many of us are no longer waking up at 4:00 am (which is 5:00 pm Kansas City). But the pace and the constant learning begin to take their toll about this time in the trip.

Cravings for Starbucks (usually right down the street from wherever we are) and McDonald’s (findable, but not as close as the KCF on every corner) multiply for me.  Decaf mocha latte vente skim, 謝謝 [xièxiè (pronounced like a clipped shay-shay) – thank you].

clip_image002[6] clip_image004[6]

 

 

 

 

 

 

clip_image006[5] clip_image008[4]

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have a day and a half left in the classroom – and some of our historic best speakers and sessions.

Today, it’s exploring consumer behavior and trends with the Beijing head of the big PR firm Burson Marsteller. Then it’s a panel of senior corporate leaders exploring future economic outlooks for China.

OK, let me brag for a second – and this has been confirmed by our partner ISP (International Study Program in Czechoslovakia) who works with EMBA programs across the globe and who helps us set up and coordinate our international residency.

Be proud, Bloch Executive MBAs – and the families and friends who support and encourage them back home. This international residency is one of the best designed, integrated, multi-level, learning experiences in the industry.  We may come home pooped; but we’ll also be much, much smarter about China, the world, our leadership, ourselves, and our responsibilities as global citizens. The world has become a lot smaller from the experience.

This afternoon is for students’ individual interviews and meetings with companies and executives for their China projects, just as they did in Shanghai – and which now seems like weeks ago. But it’s all different this time. Students are more comfortable, flexible, confident, and in control. Nice!  

Me, I’m ready to chill. Trip is winding toward the close: a few more class sessions and then some wonderful cultural events to help us decompress and integrate. Have I had enough foot massages yet?

clip_image010[4]

Categories
General

Day 6: Out of the Big Cities

Spending time in the two major, big cities of China gives a distorted view of the country and of its economic development. This year, our Executive MBAs are venturing out.

We travel by train today to Tianjin: smaller scale, more industrial. A good example of how the economic boom sweeping China is rapidly spreading: a rising tide does lift all boats.

clip_image002[6]

We were warned in planning that we couldn’t get the kind of nice motor coaches (tour buses) used elsewhere in our travels; that we’d find a different dialect, ethic composition (Hui), and cuisine in the city despite its closeness to Beijing; and everything would be a little plainer. I was thrilled. This is exactly what we need to experience.

clip_image004[6]

China has great diversity in its population. The majority of Chinese are Han; but in a country of 1.3 billion people, there are still a lot of Chinese who are not.

 

Here’s a visual feel for the magnitude of the ethnic differences. I think you’ll be surprised. Take a look and study the faces.  http://personal.inet.fi/koti/chayangshu/56national.html 

A big shock to first time Western visitors to China is that all Chinese people don’t look alike – and that many look a whole lot more like us (and our ethnic ancestors) than they do our Chinese stereotypes.

We ethnocentric Westerners also tend to think all Chinese speak the same Chinese language. Not true. China has 36 officially recognized ethnic groups with their own cultures, religion, traditions, languages, and distinctive facial and physical features – and beyond the official count, there are many other sub-cultures.  That makes communication and planning within China difficult and complex.

Imagine what it would be like if people in Chicago, LA, and New York City couldn’t easily communicate with each other. That’s what we are talking about – but, ever the professor, I digress. Back to Tianjin.

By our standards, Tianjin is still a big city (11.9 million people) and China’s 4th largest; but not by comparison to Shanghai (China’s largest with 18.9 million) or Beijing (its historic capital in second place with 17.4 million).

clip_image006[6]

 

 

 

 

 

 

And like other cities in China, Tianjin has (and continues to build) beautiful structures with amazing aesthetic appeal. For example, their Olympic stadium

clip_image008[6]

 

 

 

 

 

The Raffles Hotel clip_image010

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We return to Beijing by train in the evening – and to the comfort of our hotel – after visits to a large multi-national; the “internationally active domestic company,” Lights Medical Manufacture; and an ethnic lunch.

Our local planner suggests an informal Beijing evening of karaoke or a visit to the night market at Wafuging near our hotel for a different taste (literally) of China. (Yes, those are scorpions on a stick, along with other tasty options.)

clip_image012clip_image014

 

 

I suggest bed!

Categories
General

Day 4: Ascending to Global Citizenship

This is the day that gives me some breathing space: a chance for a quiet afternoon in Shanghai – is that an oxymoron? – with our Executive Coach (who is travelling with us), maybe even a massage and a calorie splurge with dinner at M on the Bund. This, however, is the most stressful day for the EMBAs. Send them your love! 

We start as usual with class time and two fabulous instructors.

Bill Dodson (author, entrepreneur, consultant, and business principal, and writer of the http://thisischinablog.com ) brings his unique perspective on how to do business in China with exploration of the impact of cultural differences on business partnerships and opportunities. Check out his recent book to learn more.

clip_image001clip_image002[4]

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a break for tea – this is China, after all – we probe the changing consumer markets with Paul French, prolific author and Founder and Publishing & Marketing Director of Access Asia. His recent book, Fat China, says as much about the dangers of Western notions of affluence as it does about China today.   

clip_image004[4]clip_image006[4]clip_image007

clip_image009

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

clip_image011clip_image013 clip_image015

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lunch together at the hotel is a kumbayah moment for the cohort, after which everyone goes off alone to do their individual interviews or site visits for their China projects.

Students have been working on these projects (at least in their minds) since last summer, and have been preparing for this moment of truth.

No matter how prepared, there’s always that last minute feeling of panic, heading off alone in a taxi or on the subway in a country where you can’t even fake that you know the language by giving your English a bit of an accent as you can in romance language countries.

Here’s where the rubber meets the road – a moment of executive growth and rise to full global citizenship.

Prediction: The meetings will go well, they always do. People will navigate a place as complex as China, even though they are not sure they can. Language won’t be easy, but they’ll make it work. And having conquered the fear of the unknown through their skill and flexibility (see past blogs on the topic of fear of differences and the unknown!), the students will be stronger leaders and different people.

We promise transformation in the Bloch Executive MBA – and this is one of the learning moments where we see the fruits of that transformation in action.

There will be another solo afternoon of interviews and site visits in Beijing for students, but this is the first – and the first is always the hardest.

I’m proud of everyone. You should be too. It ain’t easy – but people make it so and are better for having done that. They model professional development at its best.

Now, will I have the Chickpea Pancake served with Anchoiade & Tapenade, Eggplant caviar, and peppery Roquette or the Twice cooked, (so juicy and crispy) Pigeon served with ‘boudin noir’ and harissa at M on the Bund??? 

A toast to our students (and the beautiful view) while I decide.

clip_image016

Categories
General

Day 2: Enhanced Executive Presence

On Sunday morning China time, my favorite part of our hotel in Shanghai. the breakfast buffet.  There are stations with multi-cultural selections and chefs: Chinese, American, Japanese, Muslim, Eastern and Western European, plus things like an omelet bar, cereal bar, fresh fruit bar, and more.  Food is plentiful and freshly made – hand-pulled Muslim noodles (see below) in a tasty broth are nice for jet lagged stomachs.  I prefer the sushi and tropical fruit.

Student fears of going hungry are allayed. No one will starve!  Quite the contrary. We’ll continue the Bloch Executive MBA tradition of eating our way to enhanced executive presence, now taking it to the global level.

clip_image002

clip_image004

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our other plans for today:

We’ll begin our exploration of Shanghai with a walk from the hotel to the Yu Yuan Garden which dates back to the Ming Dynasty in the 1500’s. That will be followed by a Chinese tea tasting at a nearby tea house from the same era.

clip_image006

Our travels through local neighborhoods to the ancient Garden that is still very popular with local folks – and our encounters with a few of the 1.3 billion fake Rolex salespeople working the streets in the shops’ area surrounding the Garden – provide a vivid picture of the contrasts between old and new that live side-by-side in China today.

 

 

We’ll then board a bus and tour the city, with a stop at the Jade Buddha temple. The temple is also a working Buddhist monastery – interesting in a country where politics has long controlled religion, eh?

clip_image007

clip_image008

 

 

 

 

 

There will be shopping in the afternoon for those still rarin’ to go – and a chance to practice our negotiation skills. Not for the faint of heart!  We’ve got out notes for how to play out this enjoyable and everyday theater of market economics. I’m looking for a special kind of jacket for my son.  

We’ll end the evening with a welcome dinner on the Bund. Our pre-dinner speaker is local historian Peter Hibbard, author of the Odyssey Guide to Shanghai, Bund Shanghai, and others to provide a local perspective on Shanghai, past and present.

The Bund is the historic old colonial banking area that borders the Huangpu River running through the city.

clip_image010

 

 

 

 

 

It is also the best place to view the skyscrapers of modern Shanghai by night that are located across the river. Clear weather provides a breathtaking view.

clip_image012

Categories
General

Day 1: Hello Shanghai

The Bloch Executive MBA Class of 2011 has arrived in Shanghai: left on Friday morning from Kansas City and arrived in Shanghai Saturday, thanks to the International dateline and time zone differences.

The Pudong Airport is sleek and modern – and an immediate reminder that this is not your grandfather’s or grandmother’s China.   

clip_image002

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our hotel is pretty glamorous and contemporary, too. It’s allayed the fears of weary EMBA travelers who really weren’t sure what they’d find half-way around the world. (Take a peak at the link, family and friends, in case your loved ones complain about how hard we worked them in the classroom while abroad!  True, the schedule is packed come Monday morning, but they are not roughing it in the hutong!)

Shanghai is a happening place, and I love its energy and cosmopolitan feel.

The architecture is extraordinary by day, and even more so at night. Shanghai is one of the great skyscraper cities of the modern era, and with all the current construction is on track to claim the title of the world’s #1 skyscraper town.  Simply amazing!

clip_image004

clip_image006

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After unpacking – and resisting the desire for a nap that would totally blow our ability to adjust to the 13 hour time difference – we’ll venture out for a light supper before turning in early.

Jet lag is a reality, and everyone is feeling it to some degree.