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To: abstract who wrote (39473)	7/28/2001 11:20:48 AM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 65232

abstract: Fantastic pictures....thanks so much for sharing. Have a great weekend. -Scott

To: abstract who wrote (39473)	7/28/2001 9:17:36 PM
From: Sully-	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 65232

Thanks for sharing the pics Paul. They were fine. Looked like mom & dad are proud parents :-) Oh, & the bicycles are everywhere & some are quite different than anything seen here. I bet they have awfully strong cardio vascular systems if those bikes are regularly used to haul stuff like your pics have shown. Thanks again. They were quite interesting. Tim

To: abstract who wrote (39473)	7/30/2001 7:37:35 PM
From: elpolvo	Respond to of 65232

abster- thanks for sharing the photos. it was nice, because i can't go to china and take pictures myself. -polvie

To: abstract who wrote (39473)	7/30/2001 10:18:03 PM
From: synchro_fan	Respond to of 65232

Ah!! You do have an eye for composition! Thanks for sharing!! Syncie

To: abstract who wrote (39473)	7/30/2001 11:27:42 PM
From: Dealer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 65232

Thanks Abstract! Great pictures and what a nice way to click and view......never seen that before...... Thanks again for including us, I, like polvie, will not be going there any time soon......or anywhre else for that matter.....:-) Glad you got to go for us and had a swell time. dealie

To: abstract who wrote (39473)	7/31/2001 11:26:20 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 65232

abstract: Here's an interesting review of a book on Chinese Business Practices... <<In Inside Chinese Business: A Guide for Managers Worldwide, Ming-Jer Chen cuts through a lot of misunderstanding about Chinese business practices, both within China and in the many other countries where Chinese-owned businesses operate. The book provides several "but of course!" moments. Chinese businesses often seem to outsiders to act inscrutably. But Chen—director of the Global Chinese Business Initiative at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School—shows there is a clear logic to the behavior. He notes, for instance, that Chinese running businesses in Asian countries other than China are despised as an ethnic minority. He adds that many of these countries lack fair legal systems. Of course, non-Chinese businesses operating in China make the same complaints about the legal system there. But, whatever the case in China, Chinese businessmen operating outside the country have found themselves with few options for how to behave, given the hostility they face and their lack of legal protection. Chen concludes it is quite sensible that Chinese businessmen are secretive, downplay their wealth, trust no one outside their families, and refuse to rely on outside financing. But of course! In a volume that is really three separate books, Chen excels at explaining traditional Chinese business behavior and etiquette. He builds on those explanations to offer advice—some good, some suspect—for anyone who deals with a Chinese business. Chen says there are four keys to understanding Chinese business behavior: Family is pre-eminent. From Indonesia to Singapore to Jakarta to Manila, Chinese-owned businesses are organized in family-owned and managed units. Now that nonstate-owned enterprises are permitted in China itself, the family-operated business is reappearing there, too, and initially is showing the same dynamics that Chinese businesses have developed elsewhere. Family roles and responsibilities are replicated in the business. The head of the family is the boss. Chinese business society is based on relationships. Chen explains guanxi, which he translates as connections defined by reciprocity and mutual obligation. Guanxi is the most valuable capital a Chinese businessman has. Non-Chinese businessmen need to understand how to deal with those relationships and how to build their own networks in Chinese society. Roles are rigidly defined in Chinese society, and business is no exception. "Face" is crucial in Chinese society. Chen relates how "face" can be enhanced or diminished. He warns of the importance of preserving "face" for your Chinese business associates and of the dangers in diminishing it. Chen is less successful in the book’s other two ambitions: to describe the economy of China, and to assess the likelihood of integrating the business practices prevalent in the West with those of the Chinese. Chen also hurts himself by offering almost no data to support any of the various contentions that he makes throughout the book. For instance, he merely asserts that Chinese businesses control 98% of the East Asian economy outside of Japan and Korea. The lack of supporting evidence becomes especially troublesome when Chen offers advice on how to deal with Chinese businesses. It is hard to know for sure whether to act on the advice. For example, Chen says the Chinese have a "holistic" approach to the world and integrate the different realms (such as business and home) in which they operate. Non-Chinese would be advised to adopt that view in dealing with the Chinese, Chen says. As evidence for his generalizations, Chen says he derives them from Confucian values, which he describes as the glue that binds the Chinese culturally across Asia. Yet, as other China scholars have pointed out, Confucian values have been subject to vast change and reinterpretation. For centuries, Confucian values were alleged to be responsible for Chinese economic backwardness. More recently, the same values have been said to explain the startling business success of the Chinese across Asia. Even if Chen is analyzing Confucian values correctly now, it is hard to know what effect they will have on business in the future. Confucian values have been shaped by the climate in which they exist, and the Asian business climate is changing. Among other reasons, Western businesses are insisting that, before they will do business in Asia, companies there must show a level of transparency and professionalism not seen before in Chinese business. It is hard to know just where Confucius fits in all this change. While Chen’s book is well worth reading, it is best to think of it as a snapshot of today’s tendencies in Chinese business practices across Asia.>> _______________________________________________________ Zonis is a professor of international political economy at the University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business. He teaches and does research on both international political risk and leadership. He can be reached at marvin.zonis@gsb.uchicago.edu.