Archive for the ‘China Society’ Category
Thursday, July 17th, 2008
I recently spent a couple days in Beijing on business. With the run-up to the Olympics I had to admit I was a little curious to see how the Powers That Be were making out with sticking points such as pollution, lack of water, tightened security measures, traffic, weather patterns, ...
Posted in China Society | 3 Comments »
Friday, July 11th, 2008
A recent Financial Times commentary asks the question, "Is China now cool?" The article poses the observation:
"This is not as flippant as it may sound, but an important issue for business, technology and even geopolitics. China has repeatedly shown it can make cheap and reliable products. But a Cool China ...
Posted in China Society, China Development Trends | 3 Comments »
Thursday, July 3rd, 2008
Knackered from a day of meetings in Shanghai I was blissfully slouched on the couch watching the DVD version of an American television series when my mobile phone rang. It was Roger, a British friend who’s been in China for a couple years now. Roger (not his real name) is ...
Posted in China Society | 4 Comments »
Monday, June 30th, 2008
A few days ago the Financial Times had an article with the startling title, "Beijing arrests ‘White House’ party chief." Well, not having kept up on the news recently as I'd like to (with the exception of the Euro 2008 results), I just had to find out what that was ...
Posted in China Society | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, June 25th, 2008
A couple days ago while walking to work in the Suzhou Industrial Park I counted ten dump trucks clustered round a city corner, waiting to go to work. Beside the groaning behemoths filled with pasty concrete was the high pre-fabricated wall of what will be a combination residential high-rise/office building/Marriot ...
Posted in Suzhou, China Society, China Development Trends | 6 Comments »
Friday, June 20th, 2008
I recently had a conversation with a Chinese friend about why Chinese don’t use consultants and lawyers, especially in areas such as market research or company set-up. Her thought was that the average Chinese business person didn’t know how to use consultants and lawyers. My point was that the average ...
Posted in China Society, China Development Trends | 4 Comments »
Wednesday, June 18th, 2008
Eurobiz Magazine recently published the June 2008 edition of its magazine with my latest column, “Keeping up with the Zhangs.” The article is about the weight of expectations young Chinese professionals in the Mainland have about how their lives should be, how their lives really are, and how the tectonic ...
Posted in China Society, China Development Trends, China Labor Issues | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 10th, 2008
The last time I drove out onto an isthmus of note was back in the mid-90s, from Boston to Provincetown, at the tip of Rhode Island. All during the Labor Day traffic jam into the city I entertained myself with thoughts of outdoor bands playing rock hits from the 70s ...
Posted in China Society, Expat Life | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 4th, 2008
I had a very pleasant surprise recently with the unexpected visit of an old friend from Shanghai named Jeff. Jeff is a native Shanghainese who owns a factory in Jiangxi province. He speaks Japanese and English fluently, and is a thoughtful and considerate man – a trait other members of ...
Posted in China Society, Expat Life | 5 Comments »
Friday, May 30th, 2008
I’m now seeing up-close and personal the Chinese Staff Capabilities Gap I’d heard about two years ago: young Chinese hopping from job to job, title to title, salary increase upon increase in a few short years. Each company believes it is hiring next the super-duper-vice-president-of-you-name-it – despite “Joe Wang” being ...
Posted in China Society, China Development Trends, China Labor Issues | 4 Comments »
