China Opens Our Eyes

It seems to be our community's impression that what we witnessed in Shanghai is pointing out the most overwhelming threat to the West in terms of what the Chinese are currently doing and planning to do in the next 50 years. It does not matter how much one has read about it or saw pictures and TV shows about it. Walking the streets and hearing the Chinese people talk about their future gives you the chills... There seems to be no stopping them... And how do Western countries fit into this, we ask?

As Americans, we clearly are the economic driver for much of China's current development. As we continue to consume everything in sight with our huge appetite, the Chinese proceed to build a power house that is going to dwarf us very shortly. And guess what? They do NOT consume much themselves. Yes, they are buying cars at an alarming rate and even apartments, but - at the end of the day - they save, and save, and save while we go further and further into debt...

My gut reaction to China has been -- I need to re-learn everything I have been teaching my students in business school!! Our text books are already outdated... our case studies are outdated! China's economic model is vastly different that what we have been teaching our students in the US, and it is working! Now what do we make of that as business scholars?

from Newsweek Special Issue 2008, Can America Get Back on Top?

Fareed Zakaria, “The Fearful Superpower”

“When the history of these times is written, surely the great trend that will dominate the accounts…will be the rise of China and India and how they reshaped the world… Global growth is a marvel to behold. But it is also producing massive complications and dislocations. It creates high demand for raw materials and energy. ..Envrionmental degradation proceeds in much of the world on a colossal scale. And these problems get exacerbated by changes in climate, rainfall, and habitation…. There is no way to turn off the underlying global growth, nor should one try. Every previous expansion of global capitalism has led to greater prosperity across the world. But this is a massive, complex process that requires enormous focus and attention…The world we are entering will need new solutions to its problems. There are too many new players for the old structures to work… Welcome to the post-American world.”

Minxin Pei, “An Unlikely New Ally”

“Like many people, the majority of Chinese today don’t care much for the United States. Even though most Chinese continue to admire American culture and to like Americans, 57 percent of Chinese in a recent Pew poll said they viewed the country “unfavorably”…China’s government, however, does not share this antipathy. Many Chinese leaders are quite happy with the United States these days…Washington’s preoccupation with the War on Terror and its costly adventure in Iraq have given Beijing valuable strategic space…During this period, the Chinese economy has doubled in size and Beijing’s global influence has grown beyond recognition… Tsinghua University’s Chu Shulong, a highly regarded specialist on the United States…puts it best: “The U.S. has lost its prestige-or soft power”…the United States has suffered in terms of reputation, moral superiority and overall capacity to shape the global political agenda. ..

Kishore Mahbubani, “Make Way for the Rise of Asia”

“Having transformed the world, Americans should be asking themselves whether and how they too need to adapt. Yet there are no signs that this process is taking place. .. There is not even a hint of fresh American thinking on a range of global challenges. An Indian academic, Pratap Bhanu Mehta, once said that the difference between India and China was that while India was an open society with a closed mind, China was a closed society with an open mind. The same comparison can be made between China and the United States today. America’s leaders are acting like China’s emperors did in the 19^th century. Then China failed to adjust to the rise of the West. Today the United States in failing to adjust to the rise of Asia.”

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I am very tempted to go back to China to Fudan University, that is one of the Scholarship's Charter schools. I talked at lunch while there to the university's deputy rector and he said they have a constant need for foreign professors and would love to have an e-business exeprt come... All I want to do is go there for a longer period of time so I can REALLY comprehend what is happening there...