Since starting my MBA Fall ’15, I rarely post on Social Media. My recent coursework in China is an exception. International business, specifically business in China, has always been of interest to me. Therefore, prior taking this class, I had the following questions about this rapidly growing country: How do business operations in China differ from our business practices in the United States? What are the Innovation Lessons from China? What do Chinese Consumers want? These and many more questions were answered for our cohort throughout our coursework and during our company projects while in Beijing, Guangzhou & Shanghai. This has been an amazing experience both academically & culturally. The following are several highlights from our class trip:
1- Mr. Leo Curtis, Lenovo – Beijing Innovation Center, reviewed manufacturing & production – “the process”.
2 – Ms. Jessie Li, Coca-Cola – Minhang District, Shanghai, talked about the varying consumer needs across China’s regions – “local insight” is important.
3 – Mr. Chi Chen, Partner, and Mr. Reese Mao, Manager China Team; at Ernst & Young (EY) – Shanghai, both spoke about their business in China and discussed in depth on EY’s Vision 2020.
4 – Mr. Ashe Sutcliffe, Geeley – Binjiang District, Hangzhou, discussed Research & Development. Additionally, he reiterated a recurrent theme among companies doing business in China: “Think Local to be Global!”
– George Vega, MBA ’17