Tag: Shanghai

One of the things that surprised me in China was witnessing the “Family Planning Policy”–known in the West as the “one-child policy“– first hand.

When the Chinese government instituted the policy in 1980 as a way to get in front of population growth and other problems, couples were discouraged from having more than one child, punishable by a tax so significant that no one could afford it. Different provinces implemented the policy differently: for example, urban areas adhered more strictly to the policy than rural areas. The government began loosening the requirements in the 2000s, and in November 2013 relaxed the policy to the point that if both members of a couple are from one-child families, they can have two children without paying the tax.

What surprised me was how often the topic of the policy came up in our discussions of business in China; how during my short stay in Shanghai I never saw a Chinese family with more than one child; and how it changed my perspective on my own family and on the social liberty I take for granted in the U.S.

Binghou Han, Recruiting Officer, Washington University-Fudan University EMBA Program, far right. From left to right, Garrett Ray, Julie Thiessen, Jim Young, and Tanya Yatzeck, all EMBA 43. Photo by Kathryn Graham.

At our dinner with Washington University-Fudan University EMBA students on the opening night of our International Residency in Shanghai, I sat next to Binhou Han, Recruiting Officer for the Washington University-Fudan University EMBA program.

She told me that she has a young daughter, aged 22 months.  The toddler had been living with Binhou Han’s parents outside of Shanghai, but would be moving back to join Binhou Han and her husband that week. Next I asked, “Do you have any siblings?” I immediately felt like an idiot  as she shook her head and said, “No, one-child policy.” This response stayed with me the whole time I was in China, as I could pretty much count on any person I talked to to give this same answer.

The next day, during our briefing with representatives of the U.S. Department of Trade, Seth Patch, Foreign Service Officer, and graduate of Fudan University, made the point that the one-child policy has played a significant role in the booming business of Chinese studying in the United States.

Patch said, “At first the Chinese studying abroad were the elite. Then graduate students. Now it’s almost even with undergraduate and graduate students, and there are some high school students. At some point, when you have 275,000 Chinese students studying in the United States, as we do now, they aren’t all going to get management level jobs back in China. These aren’t Chinese millionaires, they are Chinese middle class. There is one kid, two parents, and their two parents–a total of six adults doting on the child. They will do anything to provide a prosperous fortune for that child. The student knows they are responsible for those adults and has to be able to take care of them.”

Chester Yang, left, Kenneth Chen Middle, and Cindy Su right discussing Bunge’s approach in China.

Chester Yang, Bunge China CEO, opened his remarks to our class during our Fudan University session with the topic of the one-child policy. For Bunge, the issues of food security and safety relative to population are significant factors in their mission. “There have been 6,000 famines in China in the last 2,000 years,” said Yang. Without population growth, the demand for food doesn’t grow, but neither can one offspring per family  feed all six of their aging parents and grandparents. Yang explained that the loosening of the policy in 2013 had led to moderate population growth to counter the aging trend.

Shanghai family on Nanjing Road.

As I observed the adorable and well-dressed children of Shanghai Chinese, I was haunted by their absent siblings. As one-of-two daughters in my immediate family, with two half siblings, and with two of my own children and three step-kids, I can barely fathom what it must be like to grow up in a world of children without siblings. There are no large, extended families. There is no one to show you the ropes when you head off to junior high–as my older sister did for me–or to the US for that matter. Which is why I found the cluster of girls in the main photo of this post so poignant. These three college students, undoubtedly all only children, are finding sisterhood at school as they prepare for the daunting task of supporting their aging parents and grandparents. Maybe their children will have an easier time of it.

I come from large, Eastern European stock. I am tall–even for US standards–and big boned, with curves. As a woman of a certain age I now accept that even if my body is not consistent with current standards of youthful beauty, it is still beautiful–with the exception of occasional psychological crises. One can always be more fit.

I was worried that going to China would set-off such a crisis. We learned in our Corporate Strategy class that the British department store Marks & Spencer’s initially floundered when it entered the Chinese market because it neglected to cater to the narrower, shorter Chinese frame.  I expected to tower over the Chinese, as if I were on stilts, and not to find any clothes that would fit me.

“Fat Girl” stall at the South Bund Fabric Market, Shangai.

As mentioned in an earlier blog post, on our first day in Shanghai, EMBA 43 visited the South Bund Soft Spinning Materials Market. We had heard from previous EMBA classes and faculty that we might want to have a suit or other clothing custom-made for us at this market since it would be inexpensive and fun to pick out the exact materials we wanted. Plus, it would fit perfectly.

Although many of my classmates took full advantage of this unusual and colorful opportunity, I didn’t. On the first floor of the three story warehouse of fabric sellers and tailors I spied the “Fat Girl” stall, which didn’t help.  I wasn’t sure what I wanted, for one thing. Thinking logically, it would have been a great opportunity to get something that fit really well. I believe I was afraid of someone calling me big, which I am. But seeing how eagerly the sellers worked those stalls, I have no doubt they would have been glad to make me a nice, large garment.

Walking around in Shanghai as the International Residency continued, however, I realized that I stand out no more for my size there than I do in the United States. In the downtown area where our hotel was located, there were plenty of other Americans and Europeans–large and small. Now that I’ve had some time to think about it, I know exactly what I should have had made. A lovely, silk, Mao-style jacket. Now I know what I’ll do next time I go to the fabric market.

EMBA 43’s field studies and presentations were arguably the “meat” of the International Residency in Shanghai. On Thursday (Day 6 of our trip), we set out on a variety of missions to study Financial, Healthcare, and Consumer perspectives on business in China. We reported our findings at Fudan University on Friday and back at the hotel on Saturday morning before the end of the residency at noon.

Shanghai Stock Exchange. Photo by Garrett Ray

10 members of EMBA 43 did a Financial Services field study. This included visiting the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE), a mutual fund management company, and a life insurance company.

Jason Corman, an executive at Bunge North America, reported that the Shanghai Stock Exchange was quiet. “There was no hustle and bustle. There was a ceremonial room, where they do press conferences, but the exchange is completely electronic.” The SSE is one of two major exchanges in China, the other being the Shenjen.

ABC-CA Management. Photo by Garrett Ray.

When discussing the experience of visiting ABC-CA, a mutual fund joint venture between the Agricultural Bank of China and the French investment firm, Credit Agricole, Lindsay Wagner, Vice President at Bessemer Trust, said, “It’s not real investing as I see it in my day-to-day work. It’s more like going to Vegas.”

The process of investing in a mutual fund in China tends to be short-term, without being based on any long-term investment plan. Sai Tumuluru, Technical Consultant at Edward Jones, said, “Trust in the markets is not there.” Nick Lane, Vice President for Commercial Banking at CoBiz Financial added, “People trust Alibaba (the wildly successful Chinese e-commerce company) more than they trust individual financial professionals in China.”

The group also visited ManuLife-Sinochem Life Insurance Company (John Hancock), and met with Guy Mills, President & CEO, and also an alum of EMBA Shanghai Class-11.

“Everything is possible in China,” said Chester Yang, Bunge China CEO. “But nothing is easy.” Bunge is a leading global agribusiness and food company.

Yang and his colleagues Cynthia Su, Human Resources Director and Kenneth Chen, Agribusiness Director, shared insights with EMBA 43 during our class sessions at Fudan University about opportunities and challenges faced by the multinational company in China. Bunge executives Dilip Nakasi and Jason Corman are members of EMBA class 43.

Bunge executives present insights about operating a multinational company in China.

Starting with a brief overview of China’s 2,000 year history and the country’s relative GDP and population over time, Yang described how he has achieved twenty years of successful multinational management here. In addition to having the right attitudes about living with ambiguity, sensitivity to geo-political policies, competitiveness, and curiosity (rather than judgement), it is imperative that you be patient.  “Three years is not enough to create the relationships you need to succeed. It will take at least ten.”

Although Bunge had an office in China as early as 1998, they didn’t begin a long-term investment in China until 2005 when they began exporting soybeans to China. Bunge’s footprint in China is growing.

Keeping the lines of communication with the government open is critical, Yang said. “I communicate more with the government than I do with my boss. No one likes surprises. Not your boss, and not the Chinese government.”

Product images from Bunge website. “At present, the major products of Bunge’s subsidiaries in China are soybean oil, branded bottle oil “Douweijia” and feedstuff soybean meal with a protein content of 43%, 46% and 48% respectively, soybean lecithin, etc.”

“My first day was Monday, ” said Paul Shao, the new Managing Director of Olin’s EMBA program in Shanghai at Fudan University.  Shao introduced himself at the beginning of our Friday classroom session at Fudan University, which is located in the Yangpu District, a northern suburb of Shanghai. Shao is a graduate of the EMBA Shanghai program having completed his degree with Class 11 in 2013.

A class session at Fudan began with an introduction by the new Managing Director of the Fudan EMBA program Paul Shao, EMBA Shanghai Class 11

Jim Little, who taught EMBA 43 Macroeconomics last spring, joined the class for a discussion of consumer behavior in Shanghai. He was in Shanghai teaching as part of the partnership for Executive education established between Washington University and Fudan University in 2002.

A walking tour of the campus revealed numerous landmarks, including the campus’s signature Guang Ha Building, a much larger than life President Mao statue, as well as picturesque campus architecture and garden decor in the Yan Garden.

EMBA 43 student Robb-Davon Butler poses in front of the Mao statue in the quad.

Friday morning classroom session at Fudan University

View from the School of Management at Fudan University 8th floor classroom suite, looking south toward downtown Shanghai. Hong Ku Foodball Stadium is visible in the upper right.

Fudan University campus building.

Yan Garden at Fudan University rock inscription.

Acquired by Medtronics in 2014 for $43 billion, Covidien–a medical device manufacturer– had an interesting perspective to share with EMBA 43 during our tour of their Shanghai manufacturing plant and production facility.  Although they expect some changes related to the acquisition to occur over time, they do not expect anything to change drastically, and no changes at all until early 2016.

EMBA 43 students and physicians Vamsi Narra and Sheyda Namazie-Kummer share their experiences with Covidien products.

Eleven members of our EMBA class 43 work in the medical industry. Both Vamsi Narra and Sheyda Namazie-Kummer spoke with familiarity about Covidien products we saw in the plant, and how they are used in hospitals.

Covidien thermometer. Sales for this thermometer increased by ten times during the height of the Ebola crisis. EMBA 43 students Laura Tellman, Tim Sims, and Jim Young are reflected in the glass case

Our tour included viewing production rooms through windows, as well as discussions with our guides of the processes and procedures used to insure supply chain efficiency as well as optimal training for workers.

My group’s guide, Cindy Lu, Financial Controller, pictured below, is completing an MBA this year through the Manchester  University program in the United Kingdom.

Tour Guide Cindy Lu describing the Covidien timeline.