We miss you Shanghai!!

Now we are at home

Were some awful days at Shanghai: good teachers, great friends, beauty people, amazing moments…

But technically, we have lots of lessons like:

– Local differences should be solved: to adapt the product, or the business model, we have to look after the cultural borders, and this difference will makes the goal

– Don’t give up at first opportunity: Chineses teached us not to cry when our choice was bad, keep working!!

– Guanxi: probably the most important word in China business yesterday and today. Keep an eye everytime at your partners, and grow your relationships and interest nets

– Business intelligence: You shouldn’t tell anyone the secrets of your well-done-work, or you will lost your competitive advantage in a few days

Also we learnt other things, but these ones I think we only could notice there, at Shanghai. Thank you so much!!

Chai Chie and Xie Xie!!

Comentarios desactivados en We miss you Shanghai!! / 09 Mar 2013 por Gonzalo Ramos de la Cruz
MBAftmad /

TRADITION, MODERNITY AND… ¡FOOD!

Shanghai is a City with amazing contrasts between tradition and modernity.

I have been amazed by the different views you can witness just by walking a short distance. One block can look like a museum itself, and the next one makes you feel in New York City with its many lights and Skyscrapers. It’s definitely an amazing mixture that surprises tourists and also Chinese people from other cities.

Personally, I really enjoyed the food and tasted many things that are not usual in western menus, such as Duck Tongues, Chicken Feet, Jelly Fish and Bulfrog (which was my favorite) between others.

It was really interesting to know about the importance food has for the Chinese, even to the point where asking “¿have you eaten yet?” doesn’t really mean that, but a way of greeting you.

Some foods even have transcendent meanings like a long noodle stands for longevity, the fish stands for prosperity and a red boiled egg symbolizes the birth of a baby. They serve food symbolically for their ancestors on special dates.

Everything has a meaning at dinner time, like where everyone should sit and who should eat first, also the chopsticks and the rotating table are that way so they can all share and try all the dishes. Chinese food is about sharing.

I wanted to write about this because food is really important for me, I don’t see it just as a human need but as one of the greatest pleasures we can have.

Wherever I go I like to taste many local dishes and know about its origins, traditions and even ingredients. With this in mind, China is an extremely interesting and diverse country for food lovers like me.

Comentarios desactivados en TRADITION, MODERNITY AND… ¡FOOD! / 09 Mar 2013 por Erick Eduardo Arevalo Abello
MBAftmad /

Guanxi, Relationships in China.

After a week attending to courses and some speeches at Jiao Tong University one of the leason i had learnt is the importance of Relationship for doing Bussines in China. It s well Known that building up a Professional Network helps everyone wherever you are. Otherwise is pretty important to emphasize those relations in countries which structure and goveberments are not as developed as for example in European countries.

Winxi is the word used by Chinese people to describe the relationships. For suceed in China is neccesary to connect with the suitable people to run a bussines. The Goveberment plays an important role so it is relevant to focus on the right contacts to work on them and win their trust, for that is important some Knowdledege of the Chinese culture and personal relationships. In order to negotiate there are some aspects which must be considered:

Negotiations in China are long. Chinese people like to know everything about you, usually they let you speak. Ask them too to get some feedback is a good way to show them that you also are interested. So be Patient is important.
Chinese are proud of their high development rates. Chinese could be arrogant and likes to have the control of the negotiation. Take care about hurt their proud, and feel relaxed to enforce conditions.
Talking about football or food are good ways to break the ice in a conversation. Avoid to talk about politics and religion.
Dont forget that Chinese culture is a High context culture.
In a meeting not always the person who speak is the ”boss”. Chinese CEOs prefer to be represented by a collegue specially if the conversation is in English.

Comentarios desactivados en Guanxi, Relationships in China. / 09 Mar 2013 por Miguel Solano Guerrero
MBAftmad /

First day at Jiao Tong University

We started the day early in a very particular way, a little bit surprised by the unusual breakfast (part of the adventure of being in China let´s say). Then came the serious part, began with a welcome from the university and continue with a lecture outlining the challenges and opportunities in social, political, economic and legal issues that exist in China.

We continue with a very interesting class of negotiating in china that provide us a better view of culture and the ways in which this influence when negotiating.

Let’s see how it is tomorrow.

Comentarios desactivados en First day at Jiao Tong University / 09 Mar 2013 por Isabel Bereniz Terrones Levano
MBAftmad /

Thoughts about Shanghai and the study trip, lessons learned.

Everything is changing in Shanghai, where there used field, in just two years can be rising a new city, skyscrapers and highways are built in a few months, everything goes very fast in this city that gives the feeling that tomorrow will wake up different than today.

Its streets have the same contrast and feel of change, just around the corner can give the feeling of having gone 20 years back or forward in time, the contrast between the technological infrastructure and more traditional lifestyles.

An example of this contrast is the change in its demographic and family structures, recently the one child politicy was introduced, which only allows each family to have one child, having to pay more taxes for the following, it has meant a change in the country’s demographic trend, flattening its population pyramid and tending to invest it, face these changes is one of the great challenges of China in the near future. Adding to this, the economic development of China, growing with really high rates and which forecast to maintain at least about 6% growth in the coming years, resulting a global growth engine that tends to lead the global economy in the future.

One of the factors that allowed this growth is the foreign investment in the country, all the big companies and the best global competitors want to be present there and be part of that growth, however there is one detail that complicates the investment in this country, the difficulty of bringing back capital or investment to the country of origin by the politics imposed by the chinese government, although it seems clear that if the Chinese government wants to lead the global economy, will make an opening to the global capital markets not too long a period.

Consider a company that wants to introduce in China the challenge is great and the planning must be good if you want to get it, perhaps one of the easiest ways to do it is to find a Chinese partner for help you in this process, especially in the relationship with local governments, as they concentrate a large authority in their area, this is logical due to the large size of the country and the need for smaller government units to legislate. If you would introduce your business in China, you cannot expect that China suits you, you will have to adapt your products and business structure to the customs, likes and mechanisms of the country.

Comentarios desactivados en Thoughts about Shanghai and the study trip, lessons learned. / 09 Mar 2013 por Alejandro Cuevas Barral
MBAftmad /

Our walks in Shanghai

All travellers passing through Shanghai should not fail to marvel at the stunning view from the Bund, a long walk along the river where we see all the splendor of the financial city and its skyscrapers, a sight which must be seen both day as night.
From this we can go up across Nanjing Road, something like that would be something like Madrid’s Gran Via, a street full of life all the day, crowded of tourists and locals people, is the perfect place to enjoy a walk and know the rhythm of life in the city of Shanghai.

Going across the street it find the People Square, a big square which connecting the different parts of the city acting as central hub, contains a wealth of museums, theatres and buildings that give life and make it agreeable and dynamic.

A little to the south of these places we found a totally different area, the gardens of Yu-Yuan and the old city, a reflection of the Chinese tradition and its oldest buildings, an area that emanates tradition culture and spirituality.

In the other side of the river rises the financial area where paying a small fee, you can go up to the top of skyscrapers and enjoy with the views of Shanghai from the air.

But it was’nt all the trip, despite our tight schedule there was time to visit the Jade Buddha Temple, where there is a wonder Buda sculpture carved in Jade that inspires tranquility and peace; we also knew Hangzou area, a mountainous region filled of parks and gardens surrounding a large lake, West Lake, where they celebrate the party of the moon, there we take a boat ride and see the great Lingyin Temple where we were lucky to see a Buddhist rite celebrated by the monks of the temple, something not very common to see.

Besides the tourist visits I want to mention some of the company that we visits, we met Jiwu region, a city completely designed to serve as a logistics hub in the distribution of all kinds of commodities, a giant mall with six ships which had around 70,000 stores; or an industrial park created in just a few years where many Spanish companies were beginning to settle in, in this we were lucky to be able to talk with some of the Spanish who had brought up his business here; also met the Volkswagen factory and see their manufacturing process, and finally we have a visit to the steel industry where we could see how they manufacture their steel boards at temperatures over 1000 degrees .

A lot of experiences that have made this trip a incredible experience that maybe one day I can repeat.

Comentarios desactivados en Our walks in Shanghai / 09 Mar 2013 por Alejandro Cuevas Barral
MBAftmad /

Great minds think alike

A few days ago, we had a “negotiation in China” class at Jiao Tong University of Shanghai. The teacher (Gabor Holch) told us not only how to negotiate in China, but also some little tips for general negotiation.

When you negotiate it is important avoid consider the other part as a challenger; you are not in a fighting ring! So change your mind and try to work together as a team which resolve a commom problem.

Going to negotiate with a previous roadmap we will help you a lot: clear objectives, know who the other person is, have a plan B, know your BATNA (best alternative to negotieted agreement)…

And, what about China? Well, there are some chinese practices you must know before negotiate in this country. It has a high-context culture, so information is not only in what you say, but also in the surroundings. Furthermore, chinese people are not so much expresive, even more when they don´t agree with you.

And remember, if you want to know something…ask it! Ask in the clue! Chinese people are not like talkative westerns.

These are tips you should keep in mind. Knowing chinese culture before negotiate is really important. But do not spend years and years trying to become a chinese person, they take you years of advantage! It is more effective to be an international negotiator, since…

” Great minds think alike”

Comentarios desactivados en Great minds think alike / 08 Mar 2013 por Raquel Vallaure Vigil
MBAftmad /

Last day of our Studytrip

Hello again from China! This will be my last post I am going to write in Shanghai. It was ten perfect days with my classmates and from other Master programms, in which we had time to do so many different things.

Yesterday evening, we wen to the bar Lola owned by two spanish entreperneurs: Toni from Asturias and Xavi from Barcelona. Lola has been opening since two years and it is a very well known bar in Shanghai.The first year, the owners decided not to invest to much in DJs and they had many competitors. One year after, Xavi and Toni made the decision to increase the investment in internationals DJs, in order to have better image and to appear also in the media.They tried to open two more bars called Lolita and Pepito, but it was not possible because of many reasons such problems with the local, etc…Pepito was open only one month but it was closed after this period of time because of the noise.

In conclusión, I enjoyed this trip and also I have learnt that China is a very populated country, not all the chinese are consumers and have the same behaviour, but in order to do business you have to know the culture, the people and also the process.

Comentarios desactivados en Last day of our Studytrip / 08 Mar 2013 por Cristina Fernandez Arciniega
MBAftmad /

Weekend in Shanghai

In three days we are coming back home and I have to visit many places and go shopping until wednesday. This weekend we had free time for resting, shopping, sightseeing..etc.

Today, we had also a conference about intelectual property. It was said that the general objective of China will be to become by 2020 a power in the creation, use and protection of intelectual rights.Another important point was that China is the country around the world where more patents are applied. Also the sound of motor of Harley Davidson is registrer because it is a trademarket.Therefore, registration of a trademarket in Latin characters does not imply protection of trademarket against use or registration such a trademarket in the chinese language.

After the conference, we had a lectura with Gabor Holch about strategy in China.

In the afternoon we visited Volkswagen China. I was looking foward to visit the company because I worked in other car company last october and I was very interested in it.

Comentarios desactivados en Weekend in Shanghai / 08 Mar 2013 por Cristina Fernandez Arciniega
MBAftmad /

How to do business in China?

Good afternoon from Shanghai. I will tell you what I have been doing the lat days. On Tuesday we went to the market and I bought presents for my family and friends, and of course for me.

Today we attend a conference about Chinese markets segments. The teacher told us that normally people think that China is a big market. But the true is that not 1300 million of Chinese buy things and have the same behavior.

Also Spanish companies are not big players, only by producing electricity like Indra and Técnicas Reunidas.

Therefore, it was said that if we are a big company like Ferrari or Louis Vuitton, it will be possible to do business in Shanghai. But if we are a small or medium company, it would be better to start the business in oder city, where the market it is not so big.

In my opinion, the conference was very interesting.

I will keep you informed about what I will be doing this week in Shanghai. Bye bye