2010年7月19日星期一

self reflection

China and India have been friends and competitors for thousand years. As a Chinese, I always can feel how the India culture influence Chinese daily lives, I thought I know enough about this country. But when I was actually in India, I was still shocked by its fascinating culture. There is an old saying that the more you learn, the more you realize how little you know. I think it especially applicable to India. Though I thought I have prepared for our trip very well, I find myself leaving have so many new thoughts and unanswered questions.

On the business side of things, all the companies are very great in their own industry and we were greeted with such a friendly and warm welcome.

My personal favorite company is Mandhana which is the one of the best clothes manufacturers in India. Clothes manufacture is also a very industry in China, depending on what CEO of Mandhana said, the labor was becoming more and more expensive. The same thing happened in China, many interesting opinions were brought up in that meeting, and it totally changed my mind of traditional manufacture industry.

Mandhana is not just a manufacturer in third world country which only has cheap labor; it is also a company which can offer its clients some advanced service such as design and consultation. I believe this will be the normal solution for traditional industries in the future.

Of course not everything in India is great. One problem I found is the omnipresent issue of corruption. This problem is very common in third world country, China has this issue too.
As a Chinese, I know how important the government official connections are, same thing in India.
Businessmen openly said how they need to bribe government officials to get permits they need or speed up various processes. Also there was guy told us that no matter what happens, you want to stay away from the police because all the will do is try to extract money from you in whatever way possible. Sadly it is true.

Overall I gained a better perspective of what the world is made of today. Jay, Neetu, Adam, and did a great job. It was an amazing experience both educationally and personally. I learned from personal experience that India is a land of great variety and encompasses all types of terrain and natural beauty, Indian has great intelligence but sometime they need to focus on how to get things done. I like this country just as I like every old and new culture.

2010年6月11日星期五

comments in spring quarter

24. http://calpolymbatrip.com/2010/india/eat-in-bangalore/#comments
25. http://calpolymbatrip.com/2010/china/can-basketball-ever-overtake-cricket-as-indias-favorite-sport/#comments
26. http://calpolymbatrip.com/2010/china/how-does-a-recent-chinese-immigrant-and-comedian-see-us-maybe-more-clearly-than-we-see-ourselves/#comments

2010年6月9日星期三

Book review--The Clash Within: Democracy, Religious Violence, and India’s Future

“The Clash Within: Democracy, Religious Violence, and India’s Future” by Martha C. Nussbaum was a tiring book about the Hindu and Islam relationship in India. This 409 page book is published in 2007 which is before the Mumbai attacks in 2008. Many pieces of this book predict correctly the Mumbai violence that killed over 120 people. However, this event is mostly blamed on Islam extremists from Pakistan and a mastermind living in the United States. The Mumbai attacks were not seen as a “Clash Within.” The attack was made by Muslims who were not completely from India. Some may say that India’s religious problem is more external than internal than “The Clash Within” says. I am from China and do not know a lot about India. But from other sources I have read, India is an accepting culture for many religions and ethnicities. I think the author enjoys hearing herself speak about an issue that is not as relevant as she thinks.



Martha Nussbaum spends a lot of time in this book making analogies between the United States Christian battle with Islam and the historic battle between Hindu and Muslims in India. This analogy seems correct for the time that it is written. Before coming to the United States, I know the President George Bush made a lot of offensive comments to the Muslim world. There are Muslims living in the United States, and these comments must be very offensive for them. Martha Nussbaum makes a point to say that there is no right and wrong in these religious differences. She says the battle is not between good Christian Americans against bad Muslims. In the same analogy, she says “The Clash Within” is not a battle between good Hindus and bad Muslims. Martha Nussbaum says both sides are right and both sides are wrong. She points out that the Hindus have done many bad things to the Muslims throughout India’s history. She also worries about the militarism of extreme Islam and how it will impact India’s future. As I said before, it seems that India’s biggest threat comes from extreme Islam outside of India, like Pakistan.



“The Clash Within: Democracy, Religious Violence, and India’s Future” is a very long book that talks about Indian history and how it will create India’s future. I believe that the author wrote to much on this situation. In my opinion, India’s economy is growing so fast and its population is very young. This growing economy and young population seem to be leaving the clash between religions in the history as the country changes. I think India does not need to focus on religious problems inside its country as much as outside the country. For these reasons I think Martha Nussbaum could have shortened her book by 200 pages. It seems this book would have been more correct to write from an American perspective using India as a cousin example rather than writing from an Indian perspective using America as a cousin example.

2010年4月29日星期四

answers to the story of india

Kerala

1. How does the port town of Muziris exemplify an early European obsession with Indian goods?
Muziris was an important trading port for over 2500 years. It was of particular importance to early Europeans, specifically the Romans. It was frequently used by Romans as a gateway to trade with the Indian subcontinent. The trade relationship between Rome and Muziris epitomizes the Roman ideals of expansion, connection with that beyond their easy reach, and access to the exotic as exemplified by the trade for spices.

5. Why has boat building been such an important part of India’s history?
In India, boat building was one of India’s first industries. It has over 2000 years history. Today, on the Southwest coast of India, they still build ships designed 2000 years ago. Boat building in India related to its societal, cultural, and colonial highly.

Language

1. What does the connection between Sanskrit and other Indo-European languages imply? Why was this significant historical development in the 18th century?
There is a connection between Sanskrit and other Indo-European languages. Sanskrit is the language in which the Brahmins learn to recite the Vedas and Indo-European languages originated from a common source, it spread by the Aryans from Turkey throughout central Asia. These languages have some astounding similarities. It was a major historical development because it connects the origin of language.


Indus Valley

1. What have archaeologists found at Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro that indicate that the cities were part of an advanced civilization?
Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro
Archaeologist have dated Early Harappan civilization to 3300 B.C. (during the Bronze Age), culminating in the High Period from 2900 to 1900 B.C. The city was very large for the time, with a population estimated to be 200,000.
Mohenjo-Daro was a large urban center designed to be a central trading location for the region. It thrived from around 2600 B.C. through 1500 B.C.

The Ganges River

1. Why did the ganges river become such an important part of Hinduism? How do Hindus show their reverence for the Ganges River?
The Ganges River is very important to Hinduism. Hindus pay respect to the river in many ways. Families spread ashes of lost family members in the river. And also, to praise the god Ganga Hindus are bathing in the Ganges every day. They believe by this they can reverse sins and attain eternal salvation.

Tamil Nadu

1. Why did the British find the region so valuable?
Tamil Nadu has fertile land, it has abundance of foods and spices. Spices were the most interesting good the British were interested in. Also This place was very beneficial for trade as they were able to harvest a wide variety of crops.

2. What did the Romans trade with Tamil Nadu?
The Romans traded rare metals such as gold, silver, tin as well as wine for spices.

Edicts of Ashoka

1. What purpose did the Ashokan pillars play during Asoka’s rule? Why do you think they would have been effective?
The Ashokan pillars took politics away from religion and magic and made it more concrete and this worldly.
They were effective because they allowed this information to be public and obtainable to all people, also because they were based not on beliefs specific to a people but on common sense and morals.

Agriculture

1. What role have the monsoon winds played in Indian history?
As a developing country, agriculture is a very important sector of the Indian economy. The monsoon winds bring most of the water needed for agriculture. The monsoon winds have also facilitated maritime trade with distant regions such as Europe.

2. What is the importance of the Anicut Dam? What does its construction in the second century CE tell us about the Cholan Empire?
The Anicut Dam is one of the oldest water-diversion structures in the world,
The dam is still in excellent condition. The dam is over 1000 feet long and 60 feet wide. It diverts water that would travel to the India Ocean and provides irrigation through a network that supplies water to an area of one million acres in the state of Tamil Nadu.

Trade

1. Why has India been an important center of trade?
India locate between Europe and China, the monsoon winds make sea trading with India much faster than over land. It served as the connection between such dominant empires as China and the Romans. And also India has spices like pepper, ginger, cardamom that cannot be harvested in the western world. These goods were in high demand at that time.

4. Who did the British East India Company employ to assist the company in its domination of India?
Henry Hudson.

Peshawar

1. What prominent roles has Peshawar, Pakistan played in Indian history?
Peshawar was a major center for silk trade , it was also at the center of the spread of Buddhism. It is one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world. It served as the capital city of the Kushan Empire.

Fine Arts

2. Why did so much gold flow into India during trade with the Roman Empire? How did the Indian use of gold differ from the Roman use?
The Romans traded gold coins for pepper, saffron, cinnamon, gemstones, peacocks, and silk. However Indian did not use the gold as currency; instead, they used the gold to decorate themselves and made jewelry out of the coins.

Allahabad

4. While the great rebellion of 1857 attempted to rid of the British, how did Britain subsequently change its ruling style to gain an even stronger foothold in the subcontinent?
Before the Mutiny, India was administered by the East India Company, a multinational trading company that was a business enterprise. Once the British Government took over direct rule, the British attitude to India was very different. Administration was now based on India's role as an asset in global power politics, not on economic profit and loss considerations. the British improved communication between themselves and Indians.

Science and Medicine

1. Why do you think Yoga has become so popular outside of India?
I think that yoga is very peaceful, just like Taiji in China; it can give people the benefits of peace of mind, better health. It is a physically relaxing technique that makes people feels good.

Performing Art

1. What Role did Dance play in Indian Culture?
Dance is very important in Indian culture. It highly relates to religion. Today, as we know dance is prevalent in nearly every Indian movie and celebration. The dance art was traditionally supported by the royal courts, palaces of the Hindu princely states, and major temples and religious centers. It is a way for Indian people represent their lives.

Taj Mahal

1. What was the Taj Mahal built to represent?
The Taj Mahal was a tomb for Gauhara Begum, a tomb of love. The great size and beauty of the structure, in essence, parallel the character of the Shah’s love for his wife and commemorate her beauty. However, recent findings show that Taj Mahal represents a map of the Day of Judgment.

2. What architectural aspect do you find most impressive?
I think the white marble, especially the marble dome is the most impressive thing of the Taj Mahal. And also a pool is in middle and Mughal buildings which were primarily constructed of red sandstone makes Taj Mahal harmonious and peaceful.

Partition and Independence

1. In wanting to create a secular constitution, what deep challenges did Jawaharlal Nehru and the Indian National Congress face?
The religious conflict is the big part Nehru and the Indian National Congress had to face. Because of the heavy tensions between Muslims and Hindus, they can’t live together.

2010年3月19日星期五

Book review of Billions of Entrepreneurs

Overview
As what it says on the book cover, Tarun Khanna discusses how China and India are reshaping their futures in Billions of Entrepreneurs.
In this book, author talked about most of difference and similarities but more focused on the China and India’s complementary strengths.
The author went over deep historic ties between China and India, including trade ties, and intellectual and cultural exchanges, and then talked about the “mutualism” situation for China and India. He pointed that both two countries have complementary strengths. one nation can provide what the other lacks.

Compared to ‘The Post-American World’
In Fareed Zakaria’s book, The Post-American World, he describes his view and vision of the world. He describes the post-American world not as the decline of America, but as the rise of “the rest”. Zakaria argues that China and India will soon rival the United States.
In ‘Billions of Entrepreneurs’, Tarun Khanna describes more detail about the companies which has high industry positions in China and India rather than simply heap praise after praise on both countries.

Main points of chapters
The whole book highlights a different realm, from medicine, to entertainment, to science and finance.
The writer began the book by illustrating the ways in which China and India are both alike and different. Then he went on to list a number of historical similarities including national unifications that happened around the same time and historically significant political changes in the middle of the 20th century. He explored the two political revolutions of both countries in that time: China’s 1949 Communist revolution and India’s 1947 independence and Nehru.
After he talked about the different attitudes of both governments for the foreign investors, the chapters started to focus on the on particular companies in each country and their strategies.
All the chapters express one main idea, one is that mutualism is the most reasonable approach for both countries, and collaborations among enterprises in China and India show encouraging signs of increasing mutualism.

Weakness
In Khanna’s book, some main idea is very clearly positioned early on in his book. He mentioned that “entrepreneurship in developing countries occurs in far more encompassing and far-reaching ways that in more developed settings.” But later on I did not see it very thoroughly developed in his book.
There are always some interesting perspectives in each chapter (such as what I mentioned above), but expiations for these perspectives are very limited and surface.

What I have learned?
From the book I have learned what these similarities and differences, strengths and weaknesses, mean in the context of economics, trade, investment and development are.
Also this book helps me understand hard and soft power of both countries. China tries to secure regions of long-term resource interests. At the same time, India’s private sector has leveraged its success in its knowledge economy to gain global economic relevance.

What is fresh in the book?
The expiation about the positions of currency of both countries affects each other is a new view for me to see the relation between China and India.

My opinion for the relationship between in India and China
From what i have seen, the only reason I could see Chinese would conflict with Indian is the McMahon Line.(I and hemanth talked this before) It’s just a historic political problem. India and China has thousand years culture connection. China focus on manufacturing and India focus on IT, the main public opinion in China is that manufacturing may bring a lot of benefits now, but it doesn’t have a very good future, some high tech industry are what we need.
So, in the next 20 years, India could be a very sample to China, with the development of folk economy, the non-governmental cooperation will be more and more usual.
And for both governments, Pakistan is the key, now China is 80% on Pakistan side. Because of ideology problem, though things has changed a lot in China, for chinese government, the country like India which has strong power and is very very closed to west world, it could be and will be very good friend but also competitor.

Recommendation
"Billions of Entrepreneurs" is a book worth reading, it not just a book about entrepreneurship but rather about a broad range of cultural, social, historical and economic subjects involving and contrasting China and India.
Like many novels on bookstore shelves today, The Billions of Entrepreneurs targets the niche market for books about the glorious rise of modern East Asia.
For those unfamiliar with globalization or the economic boom in countries like China and India, The Billions of Entrepreneurs adequately details the most important events these two countries have encountered. The Billions of Entrepreneurs makes for interesting reading, but should not be taken as doctrine.

comments links

1. http://calpolymbatrip.com/2006/china/brics-2/
2. http://calpolymbatrip.com/2007/china/china-or-india-and-follow-up-questions/#comment-17732
3. http://calpolymbatrip.com/2007/china/leveraging-china-and-india/#comment-17733
4. http://calpolymbatrip.com/2007/china/china-and-india-the-power-of-two/#comment-17734
5. http://calpolymbatrip.com/2010/china/business-culture-in-india-and-china/#comment-17995
6. http://calpolymbatrip.com/2010/india/video-conference-with-indian-mba-students/#comment-17998
7. http://calpolymbatrip.com/2010/india/food-map-of-india/#comment-18012
8. http://calpolymbatrip.com/2008/china/china-and-india-nuclear-threats/#comment-18013
9. http://calpolymbatrip.com/2009/india/time-for-our-cricket-match/#comment-18014
10. http://calpolymbatrip.com/2009/china/the-purple-elephant-in-the-corner-nuclear-weapons-and-arms-sales/#comment-18015
11. http://calpolymbatrip.com/2009/china/soft-power-can-put-a-smile-on-your-face/#comment-18016
12. http://calpolymbatrip.com/2009/china/the-future-of-transportation-in-india-and-china/#comment-18017
13. http://calpolymbatrip.com/2008/india/cheap-cars-in-india-part-i-and-ii-by-mssrs-michael-and-tripp/#comment-18018
14. http://calpolymbatrip.com/2008/china/entrepreneurism-in-china-and-india/#comment-18019
15. http://calpolymbatrip.com/2008/china/youtube-videos-on-india/#comment-18020
16. http://calpolymbatrip.com/2007/china/globalization-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/#comment-18021
17. http://calpolymbatrip.com/2007/china/business-schools-forgetting-their-missions/#comment-18022
18. http://calpolymbatrip.com/2007/india/return-to-india-one-familys-journey-to-america-and-back/#comment-18023
19. http://calpolymbatrip.com/2008/india/india-also-full-of-contradictions/#comment-18024
20. http://calpolymbatrip.com/2008/china/moving-up-in-mumbai/#comment-18025
21. http://calpolymbatrip.com/2009/india/1000000-thumbs-up-to-slumdog-millionaire/#comment-18026
22. http://calpolymbatrip.com/2009/india/an-indian-heart-surgeons-quest-to-change-the-worlds-health-care/#comment-18027
23. http://calpolymbatrip.com/2009/india/whats-up-slumdog/#comment-18028
24. http://calpolymbatrip.com/2010/india/eat-in-bangalore/#comments
25. http://calpolymbatrip.com/2010/china/can-basketball-ever-overtake-cricket-as-indias-favorite-sport/#comments
26. http://calpolymbatrip.com/2010/china/how-does-a-recent-chinese-immigrant-and-comedian-see-us-maybe-more-clearly-than-we-see-ourselves/#comments

Business culture in India and China

China and India provide vast opportunities for trade and investments in all major sectors. In the next few decades, fueled by economic liberalization, China and India will join the U.S to become the three largest economies in the world. China and India will provide enormous upside potential for U.S. firms, as well as risks.

As a Chinese saying goes, “Know yourself and your competitors (partners), and you will never fail.” Understanding the business culture is very much the key to be successful in both countries.

Our cultures define our fundamental beliefs about how the world works and forms ways in which we interact and communicate with others and develop and maintain relationships. Doing business in a particular nation requires a focus on a multi-dimensional understanding of its culture and business practices. Understanding those differences and adapting to them is the key. The Indian economy has been booming for the past few years. The country holds great promise for the future.

The business culture of India is a reflection of the various norms and standards followed by its’ people. Indians have various cultural yardsticks, which extend to their business culture too. I have done some research regarding the business culture in India, and from my understanding, I found the following ones to be important:

1. The ‘namaste’ forms an important part of Indian etiquette and is generally used while greeting and saying good-bye. This gesture is akin to the act of genuflection in some countries and is performed by pressing the palms of both hands together (fingers up). The folded hands are placed below the chin and accompanied with a bow. However, educated Indian men and women, who are acquainted with western customs, prefer shaking hands. Moreover, while greeting any individual use his or her title (if he has any). To mark respect, you may also suffix ‘ji’ to the name of a person.

2. In India, companies follow a hierarchical system and the decision making is usually from the top to bottom. Business decisions could be at times time consuming, and International companies do show respect to this aspect. The lack of infrastructure and inadequate supply chain management can also act as bottleneck for foreign investment.

There are more useful details online, if you are interested, these websites can help you learn more about Indian business culture: Article 1 and Article 2.

Another interesting thing I found when I did the research for Indian business culture is the importance of building a good working relationship. Indians only deal favorably with those they know and trust, even at the expense of losing out on lucrative deals. It is vital that a good working relationship is founded with any prospective partner. This must take place on a business level, i.e. demonstrating strong business acumen, and at a personal level, i.e. relating to your partner and exhibiting the positive traits of trustworthiness and honor.

At the beginning of the 21st century, the People’s Republic of China also finds itself in the midst of social, economic, and cultural transition. The pursuit of profit is no longer ‘counter-revolutionary’ and business people have long since ceased being viewed as enemies of the people. “’It doesn’t matter whether a cat is black or white so long as it catches mice.’ ‘To get rich is glorious.’”

In China, relationship is everything in the business world. Chinese business contacts are mostly referrals; essentially a business relationship is struck based on another business associate’s recommendation. The best prices and deals often come through a strong recommendation. However, cold calls and direct contacts are common today, given the availability of the internet and the competitive nature of Chinese businesses. You may source from the internet, trade fairs, catalogues, brochures, and advertisements, and approach the Chinese companies directly through a call or email.

Chinese business relationship inevitably becomes a social relationship after a while. Unlike Western business relationship which remains professional and perhaps, aloof even, after some time, Chinese business relationship becomes a social one.

The more you share your personal life, including family, hobbies, political views, aspirations, the closer you are in your business relationship. Sometimes, a lot of time is spent discussing matters outside of business, but then a lot of time, the other party is also making up their mind about your deal based on their assessment of the personal relationship you have, with them.

Reference: http://www.worldbusinessculture.com/Business-in-China.html

http://www.tradechakra.com/business-culture-india.html

http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/etiquette/doing-business-india.html