Chindia: Reflections and Lessons Learned

2009-07-25T09:59:00.001-07:00

Deciding to travel to China and India on Cal Poly's Business Tour 2009 took a leap of faith. What information I had I felt at the time (and now know) to be inadequate to fully understand what I was choosing to do and how it would affect me. The only comprehensible vision I had was of the workload: Chris Carr and Jay Singh made clear how rigorous a challenge each of us faced. My feelings changed during the year with each assignment, meeting, and especially each book I read/reviewed. By departure time I believed I would enjoy both China and India, believed each of my classmates and I would project the best of ourselves and our home country, and believed I would gain insights I couldn't imagine. Sitting comfortably at home back in San Luis Obispo sipping Darjeeling Tea (an Indian favorite and superbly strong ;-) I can confidently say Chindia proved me right on all three counts. Yet, I missed a critical thought those many weeks ago: The intoxicating effect of constant discovery. I miss it still and feel this trip sparked a drive to work abroad that I never considered before.

India

We landed in New Delhi late at night and looking through the double paned Airbus A330 windows the city appeared deceptively calm… and cool. As soon as the door opened I knew "cool" would never enter my mind in India. In the dead of night it was well over 80 degrees Fahrenheit, maybe even 90! For those uninitiated to the SLO life we don't know the meaning of 90+ degree weather. That trivial difference slipped out of my consideration a few steps down the mobile airplane ramp: The number of men – all men – working the ground crew surprised me. They totaled more than twenty for just our plane and more than half were either "supervising" or simply waiting their turn to perform some unknown task. Similar scenes awaited us throughout our Indian travels especially as we would pass construction sites en route to company visits. Admittedly, we suffer the same symptoms of over-employment meant to correct under-performance in the USA. In India it takes an entirely different face as a near norm rather than scantily hidden exception. The problem may only persist in government-backed endeavors though; I did not see even a shadowed presence during our several business tours. Though the New Delhi airport offered a greater glut of eye-opening experiences (including its frighteningly routine customs and our first confrontation with literally everyone staring) I must move on to more valuable illuminations lest my attention wander.

I can summarize my feelings of India in just two words: "Beautiful chaos." Nowhere do you ever sense continuity save for the barren land between cities and villages (I saw quite the opposite in China but we'll get there soon enough). Where there are people there is struggle between individual wills and dreams. In New Delhi we benefited from a hotel situated directly across from the major train station and could simply pull back the curtains to observe the mob. In Mumbai we opted to tour the slums, thankfully behind closed windows. I know each of us was utterly dumbfounded to hear our local guides (Kamal and Riddhi, two MET business students whom I cannot thank enough) explain that many living in the putrid wasteland chose to stay despite having the means to move. Kamal said we were more likely to see a flat-panel TV in one of the corrugated steel huts than an average apartment he might rent!

What a backwards country, right? Not at all. I expect I've conveyed the "chaos" I saw well enough but not the "beauty." It stems from a near universal ambition, one that puts our domestic concept of that word to shame. Everyone I spoke to displayed a desire to improve, to gain greater knowledge, abilities, and the riches they can bestow. Ambition explains those who chose to live in the slums: They can make more for themselves and their family by sacrificing the creature comforts we believe to be necessities. The extra funds go towards improving the family's status – a critical springboard to a better life in India – and opportunities for the next generation via education and first-hand experience of entrepreneurship. Ambition also explains why nearly every firm we visited spoke of success at a time when the world only knows recession. The car factory we visited employed every LEAN principle we knew and many more we didn't. Their facility impressed the EMPs (our resident production engineering experts) to say our hosts surpassed the latest Toyota plant they visited only a month before. For those non-business people reading this post, Toyota arguably spawned LEAN manufacturing and certainly developed and continues to generate its foundational practices. For an Indian auto manufacturer to engineer and implement LEAN processes better speaks volumes to their desire to be the best, the leader of an industry in revolution.

The same drive for better than excellence spoke to us at each company visit. The hospital who hosted us explained their plans to capitalize on medical tourism – a newborn concept in healthcare – through specialized centers capable of performing advanced surgeries faster, better, and at ridiculously lower costs than any Western facility. They wowed us and also a global capital investment firm with their strategic vision. The former poked and prodded to diagnose the source of their genius. The later wrote a very very large check towards two new hospitals… or possibly the first medical resorts depending on your penchant for mixing relaxation with recovery. At the call center in Mumbai the same symptoms of unchecked success leveraged on grandiose dreams surfaced too. For the parent company – a cellular carrier operating throughout Europe and in Australia – the decision to move customer and company support services to India was not one of cost but of skill. To be blunt, the Indian operators offered significantly better customer service than their domestic competition. I would again argue ambition as the underlying cause and point to both our presenters as documented cases: Each went from an entry level operator to managing several hundred employees in less than three years. Talented? Yes. Possessing a will to excel? Absolutely!

Something astonishing happens when the body of ambitious individuals exceeds a critical mass: I call it "beautiful chaos." I saw it in India and have no doubt that the country will explode in innovation across every spectrum of social, technological, and business development imaginable. The prospect has me searching for a way back.

China

I cannot hope to summarize what I saw in China in two words. While I felt a consistent direction or at least a persistent force pushing forward in India, I didn't get a feeling from my time in China. I saw many equally successful businesses and individuals. I saw a similar drive to improve and attain recognition for greatness. However, I was just seeing. During our pre-departure sessions Chris Carr along with several guest presenters did their best to convey an understanding of "saving face." I clearly did not get it and maybe couldn't without experiencing its pervasiveness. I know now to "save face" isn't simply a ritual meant to minimize the damage from failure. It is instead one offshoot of "constructing face," of first building a bold façade then developing the requisite support behind it. I saw the many perfected faces of China, asked what questions I could to reveal what the fine porcelain masks hid, but ultimately left with no certain sense of the real China.

That failure of mine aside, I did collect more lessons traveling through than my luggage could hold. Strangely, I must thank the Chinese Communist Party for most of these trinkets. I had not previously experienced the benefits of resolute structure. Many of the readings prior to our departure hinted at the success possible when starting with such an unshakable foundation. I in my misgivings about the CCP I read the articles with an eye for "atrocities" of which China still shows several fresh scars. I can no longer fault them entirely and instead sympathize without condoning the costs of forging a new society.

As discussion of communism and its history in China tend to enflame many an argument, I'll step lightly to a kindred platform of the benefits offered by authoritative structures in business. Our company visits in China were flush with examples. I especially appreciated our tour through Best Buy in Shanghai since it not only awoke some fond memories (I have worked for Best Buy in the USA for over four rather fun years) but displayed prominently what strong leadership accomplishes. The entire Shanghai team – well over fifty employees who engulfed our tiny MBA group – began to cheer, "B-E-S-T-B-U-Y!" as we entered lead by a man later revealed as the store general manager. We did the same at store meetings in SLO… for the first year I worked with Best Buy. However, as the energy of our GM faded with countless restructures of more senior managers so too did the store's enthusiasm. I doubt today I could collect more than ten employees at my store that remember the old cheers, fewer still who know our mascot. The stark differences peaked my interest and throughout the remaining tour I sought an opportunity to speak with a sales associate. I hoped he/she could confirm my assessment that their GM and expatriate "coach" showing us the magnificent store (I was quite jealous of the 108 inch flat-panel TV) were the driving force behind the exceedingly high energy level of every employee. A young gentleman in the home theater section gave me my chance. He explained his general manager had gone to each department several days before to tell them of our visit and to "warn" them he would make a second round after we left to ask the input of several employees. The general manager wanted not only to make a fantastic impression on our MBA group but also gain what insight he could from us through his team. Pretty cool. I should mention the employee I spoke to intended to avoid his boss' questions; "strong leadership" can be analogous to "oppressive leadership" depending on perspective. However, as with the other firms we visited in China the Shanghai Best Buy impressed me with its apparent unity of purpose.

I mentioned before that, "I didn't get a feeling from my time in China." I did regularly find myself awestruck though. Whether by the collective determination radiating from each company host, the stately monuments of Chinese history including The Great Wall and The Forbidden City, the spectacle of modernity illuminating the entirety of Shanghai at night, or the omnipresence of authority (not just because of police but even in mundane interactions between regular people) I could not escape a sense of colossal scale. It does not seem enough to do something well or better in China, one must be the best. I cannot fault such an admirable goal. Yet, despite a lengthy list of impressive achievements to the contrary I do still feel the path to greatness in China is one of appearance before substance. The notion flies in the face of my Western upbringing but to say it doesn't work is a lie I cannot perpetuate after experiencing China.

Final Thoughts

First, the Cal Poly MBA International Business Tour is a superb investment capable of returning many times its cost. How one leverages the experience will certainly affect its ultimate value but I expect even the most disinterested student will feel it money well spent. For those with a new or renewed interest in working abroad, the handsome collection of business cards – and more importantly the contacts they represent – is worth its weight in gold. Second, I do regret not recognizing the intent of the pre-departure assignments until several days after arrival. No number of books, blogs, or videos can compare to the value of first-hand experience but they can certainly enhance it by raising the best questions and setting a better path. I made the mistake of realizing the first part of that statement but not the second and so wasted my first days in relative confusion uncertain of what I wanted out of my multi-faceted experiences. Finally, I must mildly condemn my home country for its disregard of the rest of the world. I had the good fortune to travel with thirty-two individuals exploring their exceptional interest in foreign cultures and business practices plus three experts already engrossed in the wonder of learning about other people and their lives and their histories. I have also realized the greater misfortune of visible apathy on the faces of my friends and co-workers – though thankfully not family – after fewer than three sentences into the worlds of China and India. This truly stunned me; we Americans really are in love solely with ourselves. Maybe the rest of the world suffers the same affliction. Yet, I do hope the sincere interest of everyone we visited and spoke to abroad is the rule and we the exception.

Spring Book Review

2009-06-12T08:12:00.000-07:00

I decided to read and review Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends & Influence People this quarter. A great book with some interesting implications for someone traveling abroad (like me). Please download it here. If that doesn't work, head over to my website, select the file titled "Travis-ChindiaBookReviewSpring09.doc" and enjoy.

Winter Book Review

2009-03-19T12:39:00.000-07:00

I've uploaded my book review of Tarun Khanna's Billions of Entrepreneurs to my Google Site. You can download a copy for critique here. Should that link fail please visit my site, select the file titled "Travis-ChindiaBookReviewWinter09.doc" and save it to you computer.

Book Review Fall 09: Thomas Friedman's "The World is Flat"

2008-12-10T22:19:00.001-08:00

Please download my book review of Thomas Friedman's "The World is Flat" here. If that link does not automatically prompt you to save the file "Travis-ChindiaBookReviewFall09.doc" then you can find the file at http://sites.google.com/site/ljtmbatrip09/files. Simply click to download.

If my site nearly blank peaks your interest, I plan to develop it further and link it to Cal Poly's MBA Trip blog instead of this page. Unfortunately, new as I am to both Blogger and Google Sites I couldn't get posts to display properly.

-Logan