Kelley in China '09

Final day in Shanghai

2009-03-20T10:04:00.000-07:00

Today was filled with sight-seeing and shopping. We went to the Old Town area of Shanghai, famous for its beautiful gardens and market with hundreds of vendors. When we arrived at the market, the streets were filled with thousands of tourists from all over the world. It was a bit overwhelming being surrounded by so many people.

Once we had survived two hours of this chaos and had some fun along the way bargaining with the vendors, we traveled by bus to the Shanghai Acrobat Circus, among the most famous in the world. The show lasted for an hour and was packed with various groups of performers doing incredible acts with plates, unicycles, bicycles, motorcycles, roller skates, and more. The group enjoyed the show immensely.

We then traveled back to the hotel, and all were free to spend their final night in Shanghai doing whatever they wanted. Tomorrow it's back to the United States.

Our flight departs from Shanghai at 6:00 pm on Sunday, but we have to leave our hotel by 1:30 pm in order to make it on time.

Long day in Shanghai

2009-03-20T07:32:00.001-07:00

This was a very long day, kicking off at 9:00 am and ending around 10:00 pm.

We started today off with a visit to the investment firm Fountainvest, where one of the company's partners described the changing landscape of private investment in China as the country opens up to accommodate privately held companies (non-state-owned enterprises). The students asked phenomenal questions, focusing particularly on issues of competition, garnering interest to increase investors from within and outside China, and determining which companies are stable enough to invest in.

After a lengthy break for lunch, we gathered in the lobby of Charms Hotel and walked to the subway station in People's Square, a short distance from the hotel. The subway took us within three blocks of the tower housing Ernst & Young, our next stop for the day. Jenny Chan, who oversees IT operations of E&Y in Shanghai, gave a great presentation on the Chinese marketplace. Once again, our students asked many questions, and Jenny was clearly impressed both with their curiosity to learn and with their ability to ask smart challenging questions. She offered them realistic advice about breaking into a career in the Chinese market - to be seriously considered for an internship or a job, an American student has to be dedicated to learning Chinese and the local culture/customs. It's not as simple as attaining a job here and expecting to do well because you're American; with the economic situation, the American way of conducting business is no longer elevated to the highest level of being the exclusive "right way." So any posturing by an American as being superior doesn't guarantee such broad opportunities or success in China anymore.

Once our visit to E&Y ended, we walked several blocks to the Yan'an Hotel. At 6:00 pm, we enjoyed a buffet-style dinner featuring local Shanghai cuisine, all paid for by Kelley alumnus Simon Goe. Then at 7:30 pm, Mr. Goe met with the students in a conference room for an hour and a half session about his success in the Chinese market. He now serves as Chairman and CEO of the Ocean Star International, Inc and Beijing Honglin Pharmaceutical, Inc.

Shanghai Stock Exchange and Nielsen

2009-03-19T08:34:00.000-07:00

Our Thursday started with a less-than-favorable breakfast in the Charms Hotel, which we anticipated based on online reviews of the hotel. The selection was limited to fried foods (fried potatoes, fried dumplings, fried noodles, fried eggs, spring rolls) and a variety of stale breads.

At 9:00 am, we hailed taxis outside the hotel and headed to the Pudong Financial District to visit the Shanghai Stock Exchange. After going through two security checkpoints, neither of which seemed particularly stringent or secure, we stood outside a wall of glass overlooking the trading floor. The room below was almost completely empty, a sign of the times considering most trading is done electronically and not on-site. The visit was, alas, not so impressive since there was such little action to see inside the facility.

Our guide suggested we look at captioned photographs in an adjoining room, but the room was dark and no lights were turned on so that we could more easily read the captions. The room was also full of obscure models of various building projects, among them models that were in states of decay and disarray. Perhaps these observations simply reflect the changes that the stock exchange has undergone in recent times and the decreasing relevance of the actual facility.

Once this visit finished, the group rested at a nearby Starbucks before venturing on to the nearby subway station. It was our first adventure on the city's subway system, and it was surprisingly easy to find our way around. The stations and trains were immaculate, and all card kiosks and announcements had understandable English translations.

After a brief break for lunch, we prepared to walk a short distance to China Pod. It became quickly apparent that the company's headquarters was going to be a challenge to locate. First, a cab driver simply dropped us off at a nearby intersection and pointed down a closed street indicating that she couldn't take us any further. So with that we expected to walk a couple of blocks past the construction to get to the building. We still were not sure where their building was located, so we called our contact at China Pod. She indicated we were only three minutes from their building. Two of our staff members then ventured down the street for about 15 minutes and discovered that the neighborhood was horribly impoverished and definitely not the area where China Pod was located. Upon their return, one of our students approached a Chinese man inside a business who spoke English. He told us that China Pod was at least 25 minutes away, and by that point we were late to our appointment. After a group discussion about what to do, we decided to cancel our China Pod visit. This definitely taught the group a lesson about the difficulties of traveling in a large city where even the taxi drivers don't know how to get you to places or will outright refuse to take you to a location unless ou can provide detailed directions or show them on a map where to take you.

When that dramatic moment came to a close, we hailed taxis and went on another driving adventure, this time to Nielsen. Although we had the address written out in Chinese, most of the taxi drivers didn't know how to get us there. Nielsen, by the way, is located on one of the major streets in Shanghai. The Lonely Planet travel guide for the city had warned about this; many drivers come from other regions and have little or no experience with the city itself. Thus travelers should know where they need to go and how to get there. A map is a necessity.

Once we made it to Nielsen, we were treated to a phenomenal presentation by Oliver Rust, a staff member who has worked in the Shanghai office for many years. His knowledge of the Chinese market was quite impressive, and he went into great detail about the changing demographics of the country and the impact of changing consumer behavior on marketing approaches by both international and domestic companies. The students asked a series of great questions, and Oliver graciously answered all of them. Nielsen gave each of us a nice pen and notebook set.

The group had the rest of the evening free to explore the city or to simply rest after a very long day of traveling and walking around Shanghai. Tomorrow we'll be doing more of the same.

Tuesday in Hangzhou, Wednesday in Shanghai

2009-03-18T07:32:00.000-07:00

Our final day in Hangzhou started with an unexpected detour - Zhejiang's School of Management Dean Wang had to attend a contract signing ceremony and could not lecture on the topic of entrepreneurship as had been planned. So the group boarded the bus and traveled a short distance to the National Tea Museum, where they were able to walk the beautiful grounds and view the intriguing exhibit on the history of the region.

Some students participated in a traditional tea ceremony inside the museum's gift shop.

After the museum visit, the group traveled back to Zhejiang University for lunch at the cafeteria. Our students once again mingled with the Chinese students and continued to learn more about each other.

Then early in the afternoon both groups of students traveled to the headquarters of Wahaha, the largest beverage company in China and the fifth largest in the world. To start the tour, the company allowed the students to select one beverage from their vast arsenal to try. Next, the group headed to a massive conference room to watch a promotional video about the company's history and their future aspirations to move into emerging economic areas around the globe. Their primary motivation within China has been to directly compete with Coke and Pepsi in order to take a greater portion of the market share. Afterwards, the group walked through the company's museum to learn more about the strongly paternalistic relationship of the leadership with the workers and the strong collective mentality promoted. Workers in the recent past were married in a mass wedding ceremony, and the company has even flown groups of workers on vacation to exotic locales. To finish the visit, the group toured a bottling facility on the corporate grounds.

Finally, to close out the day, the group returned to the hotel. Our students spent their final evening and night in Hangzhou hanging out with their Chinese counterparts, experiencing what typical life is like for a Chinese college student.

Then early Wednesday morning, the group packed up, checked out of the Lakeview Hotel, and headed for Shanghai. After a two hour bus ride, the group arrived in the bustling city of over 20 million. Literally dumped off at the Bund to start the day, the students got to immediately see some of the most breathtaking parts of the city. After a brief walk down the famous Nanjing Road for lunch, it was on to Charms Hotel to check in. Soon the group will have a couple of very busy days visiting local companies and international companies with Shanghai offices.

Monday's visit to Wensli Silk

2009-03-17T02:26:00.000-07:00

After enjoying lunch in the cafeteria at Zhejiang University, the group departed for Wensli, one of the few manufacturing industries that remains within the city of Hangzhou. The company, which produces silk, granted our students access to an old screening assembly line where silk cloth was imprinted with deep colored dyes.

The Kelley students took a group photo with the Zhejiang students in front of the primary Wensli building, and then all got to watch the image be imprinted on a piece of silk. At the end of visit the Wensli representatives graciously presented us the image of silk in a nice white frame.

The group also got to tour the company's apparel museum and visit the gift shop. Both included exquisite scarves, neck ties, bedding, jackets, and other housewares and clothing.

Lecture on Project Management at Zhejiang University: Day Two in Hangzhou

2009-03-16T02:45:00.000-07:00

Kelley students Joe DeVierno and Peter Servaas describe today's lecture:

After the lecture, our students joined the Zhejiang students for lunch at the campus cafeteria, constructed to accommodate up to 20,000 students at the same time. The facility was indeed impressive in its sheer size, and there were hundreds of students entering and exiting the building in a very efficient manner.

Our students were quite proactive in getting to know the Zhejiang students, so much, in fact, that some of the Chinese undergraduates rode back to our hotel to spend the evening with our students.

First full day in Hangzhou

2009-03-16T02:01:00.001-07:00

Sunday, our first full day in Hangzhou, started with a great breakfast buffet on the seventh floor of the hotel. Then the group departed for a walk around the West Lake, located directly across from the Lakeview Hotel. The weather was pleasantly warm with sunny skies, quite an improvement over the prior twenty rainy days. With these improved conditions on a non-work day for the locals, the lakefront was packed with hundreds of people.

After this brief excursion, the group traveled to Zhejiang University, home to the top entrepreneurship program in China. Gangfeng Zhang, Associate Professor in the School of Management, lectured to both our Kelley students and Zhejiang students on the topic of "Cultural Factors for Managing Businesses in China." He offered multiple examples of differences in communication, leadership styles, organizational behavior, and contractual negotiations and obligations. In particular he emphasized the focus on relationships and intuitive, moral decision making in the Chinese context and how this has posed challenges to Westerners unaccustomed to conducting business in such a manner. The students also learned about difficulties with cross-cultural language exchange, including differences in pausing when speaking, inflection, and body language.

When the lecture concluded, a small group of Kelley students stayed behind to have dinner with Zhejiang students. The remaining students returned to the hotel, and many of them ventured out to the surrounding area to enjoy dinner and do some shopping.

The staff from Kelley were treated to an exquisite dinner by Zhong-Ming Wang, Professor and Executive Dean of the School of Management at Zhejiang University. Professor Wang will be coming to the Kelley School of Business in April as part of a visiting delegation.

Our arrival to Pu Dong Airport and travel to Hangzhou

2009-03-15T05:54:00.000-07:00

After a four hour delay at O'Hare, the group boarded the plane for Shanghai, and nearly fourteen hours later arrived safely at the Pu Dong Airport. The massive facility was eerily quiet and devoid of the intense activity one would expect to find at an international airport; successful passage through immigration and customs was surprisingly easy and very fast.

Once luggage was claimed and money exchanged, the group boarded a bus for a three hour ride to the city of Hangzhou. Our first steps outside the airport were filled with the smell of Shanghai - stifling air pollution that literally took your breath away. As we drove down the highway toward Hangzhou, a heavy haze hung over everything in sight, with no visible dissipation for the duration of the trip.

Hangzhou, a bustling city of three million inhabitants, offered quite the sights and sounds to welcome us last night. This growing city was filled with activity, hundreds of thousands of people walking down the streets, and dozens of storefront shops bustling with activity. After meandering through the city's maze of streets for over half an hour, we finally arrived at the Lakeview Hotel, located directly across from the beautiful West Lake.

Patiently waiting at O'Hare

2009-03-13T08:46:00.000-07:00

Here we are sitting at Gate K12 going into what was supposed to be the final hour of our layover. The flight from Indy to Chicago was right on time, but now we have heard our departing flight to Shanghai has been delayed for another three hours. Considering we left Bloomington at 4:30 am EST, it will be nearly 12 hours before we finally start on our way to China. The group, needless to say, is already looking somewhat fatigued and will certainly look even more exhausted as the day progresses.

The 14 hour international flight will hopefully offer a much needed opportunity to sleep, especially now that we will likely not make it to Hangzhou until late Saturday night.

Almost ready for departure to China

2009-03-09T10:58:00.000-07:00

In just a few short days, eighteen students and five staff chaperones will leave for a ten day trip to China as part of Kelley's Emerging Economies course. With the recent global economic shifts slowing growth in China and leading to declines in areas such as the manufacturing sector, the timing of the trip will expose students to a rapidly changing picture of this economic powerhouse. As consumerism has slowed across the world in developed countries, China will likely see its GDP grow only in the single digits, a significant slow down from the double digits over the past several years. Yet, China, along with selected other Southeast Asian countries, appears to be a bright spot, avoiding the severe drops in GDP experienced elsewhere across the globe. Nevertheless, China too is feeling the grip of this new economic reality. Just this past week, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao stated that this will be a difficult year for the country:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7925347.stm

So what have students been learning in the Emerging Economies course to get them prepared for this first-hand experience? For the first half of the semester, Bruce Jaffe, professor of business economics and public policy, and various guest lecturers drawn from Kelley's top-notch faculty have been teaching students about emerging economies and the unique issues facing them in the shifting global economic climate. Students have also been attending intensive language and culture workshops focused on the specific country to which they would be traveling.

Tonight the students will join their chaperones for a dinner in the Tudor Room of the Indiana Memorial Union, providing an opportunity for them to get acquainted before before flying out early Friday morning.

Once the group arrives at the airport in Shanghai on Saturday afternoon, they will board a bus for a short ride to the city of Hangzhou, located approximately three driving hours from Shanghai. After an evening of much needed rest, the group will take a tour of the city with students and staff from Zhejiang University. Starting that evening and continuing on through Tuesday evening, students will visit various businesses in the city and hear lectures from business leaders on topics ranging from trans-cultural management to international project management.

Then on Wednesday morning, the group will head back to Shanghai and spend the duration of the trip there. In Shanghai, the group will get to tour cultural sites including the Bund, Nan Jing Road, Yu Garden, and Chenghuang Temple. Business-focused visits will include Nielsen, Shanghai Stock Exchange, Praxis Language Ltd., Fountainvest, and Ernst & Young. Students will also be treated to dinner on Friday by Kelley alumni Simon Goe and Stephen Hwang at Yan-an Hotel.

Then on Saturday evening the group will head back to the United States and attempt to adjust to life one again after the whirlwind tour of these two Chinese cities. As past travels to emerging economies have revealed, the students will remember this unique experience for the rest of their lives.