JOHN McCLAIN

China

In my last blog I gave a brief introduction into the background for how the class “Doing Business in China” came to fruition. I was very exited to see a country I had heard so much about and over time have formed some strong opinions about China’s economy. I had heard the pollution in Beijing was bad and I wasn’t disappointed. The smog there is like nothing I have ever experienced. I literally could not see all of Tian’men square because of it. The first day was quite a shock. The weather was probably 60 degrees colder and I was tired from another long day of traveling. Three of my classmates and I wandered through downtown Beijing and found the most famous Peking duck restaurant and sampled the cuisine. It was fantastic, our duck was even numbered and we were presented with a certificate with its information.

The week was jammed packed with events. We attended lectures at Beijing University and CKGSB about Strategy and M&A. We also visited several companies including Lenovo and Zero2ipo, saw the Forbidden Palace and the Summer Palace and connected with several alumni at an alumni dinner. The highlight of the course in Beijing was listening to Dr. Wei-Guo Zhang, the Chief Accountant of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, think SEC. His lecture focused broadly on Chinese financial markets and was very insightful. It was time to depart Beijing but before we did that our class went to the Great Wall. Everyone had an absolute blast climbing up and down the ancient steps. Standing high atop a mountain on the Great Wall was one of the most breathtaking visions I have ever seen and it was great to share the moment with so many friends. We departed the Great Wall and hoped on an overnight sleeper car to Shanghai.

Shanghai and Beijing are like night and day. I’d equate the feel of Shanghai to that of New York City, much more business oriented, and Beijing to more of a Washington, D.C. feel, more politically oriented. The city was quite impressive with over 4000 thousand buildings 30 stories or higher the skyline was heavily populated. The Shanghai schedule was even more hectic with events lasting 12 hours plus almost every day. Monday morning I was able to see the Shanghai stock exchange up close in personal. The exchange has grown from 8 listed companies to almost 900 listed companies in 16 years. That was followed up by touring a manufacturing plant and speaking with Deloitte. Tuesday was probably the most interesting day for me. We started the day by attending a lecture on Marketing at CEIBS. The comparison between Chinese and American consumers was especially interesting. After that it was off to Eaton Electrical’s M&A group. The small group touched on the complexities of M&A in Asia and discussed a recent acquisition. Hearing about trends in how deals were structured was extremely informative and interesting.

The next few days brought trips to Microsoft, Ingersoll Rand, and GE as well as an alumni dinner. I think many of us including myself really enjoyed another aspect of the trip, haggling. Negotiations class came in very handy as we haggled over everything from clothes, to golf clubs, to a shop owners cat (no we didn’t purchase it) but it was very interesting to be immersed in this type of culture. All in the entire trip was amazing and a great time to catch up with some classmates. Now I am back in the states switching gears getting ready for classes.

Thailand

So it has been a long time since my last post on the website and things have been crazy. Finals came and went but for the first time in my 6 mini’s I did not have a final exam. All of my classes required final projects and presentations which led to a hectic week before finals but also provided me with some much needed additional rest. Then there was Christmas and right after that celebration I was off to Thailand and China.

Several ambitious students at the school have been working diligently on strengthening the ties between our school and its alumni in the Far East. This year’s trip was the first widely promoted excursion and was highlighted by 33 students heading off to learn about “Doing Business in China”. Essentially, the course was a 2 week immersion into every aspect of Chinese society. Luckily, a few of the students going on the trip as well as our professor are excellent Mandarin speakers or I would certainly be lost as we speak.

Before I get to that I must talk a little bit about Thailand. One of my classmates was gracious enough to host 4 other classmates and myself and essentially she showed us the time of our lives. We arrived in Bangkok after a grueling 24 hours of traveling that included leaving and entering China’s customs in under 2 hours. That was an absolute spectacle as 2 of my classmates and I where barreling down corridors with massive amounts of luggage falling behind. Let me say that thankfully, at least for us that day, security outside the U.S. is much more lax. We arrived in Bangkok where we stayed at the Narai hotel, a very affordable and luxurious hotel, which I highly recommend. We saw the Royal Palace which was amazing and zipped through canals on some small boats. Quite possibly the most interesting experience was being transported from destination to destination in small 3 wheeled vehicles called tuk tuk’s. Driving rules in Bangkok don’t exist. One lane can easily occupy 2 or more vehicles and trust me weaving in and out of traffic in an open air vehicle is quite eye opening.

We left Bangkok and hoped down to Phuket were the trip turned from great to once in a lifetime. The weather there was spectacular and we stayed in the nicest hotel I have ever been in. The Rising Sun Residence in Phuket is the type of place I could envision going on a honeymoon or retiring to someday. We stayed in a 3 bedroom villa with a private pool that was located on top of the island and overlooked the water. Spending New Year’s Eve feeding monkeys, snorkeling, island hoping and seeing where the movie the Beach was filmed was pretty amazing. New Year’s Day was spent riding Water Buffalo and Elephants! To say that I was sad to leave Thailand might be the understatement of the year but I was definitely looking forward to 10 days with classmates in China.

More info on the Narai hotel

http://www.gothailand.com/hotels/bangkok/frameme.php?page=/narai-hotel/

More info on the Rising Sun Residence

http://www.rising-sun-residence.com/

Intellectual Capital

Forget oil, gas, and steel; intellectual capital is the hottest commodity around.  With an ever more global economy, the only way to differentiate yourself to employers and justify a generous salary is to prove that you have the skills to generate revenue for a company. 

The MBA degree is currently in high demand.  Basic economics shows that supply will adjust to meet demand and the MBA degree is no different.  Thousands of students domestically graduate each year with an MBA degree, not to mention the growing presences of MBA programs globally.  I am currently in China studying and have attended lectures at CEIBS and Beijing University (more on that in a few later blogs).  So the question boils down to this; how does Tepper... and more importantly how do we as Tepper students differentiate ourselves?  The answer is through analytical thinking and decision making. 

Math; it might as well be another one of those four letter words that shouldn’t be used at the dinner table.  Plain and simple, many business people are scared of it.  I see this as a golden opportunity to make myself invaluable to an employer and Tepper preaches analytical decision making.  Today’s business environment is like nothing seen before.  Companies now have a plethora of information that is ripe for mining.  Thanks to classes like Data Mining, Optimization Methods in Finance, and Sequencing and Scheduling Tepper students have the know how to collect data, structure problems and interpret results.  Who needs these skills?  Look at companies like Harrah’s, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Wal-Mart, any bank, etc. they monitor your spending and searching habits and tailor their services to extract the maximum dollar value out of each of their customers.

Combining the more quantitative classes with Strategy, Organizational Behavior, and Communications courses mold students into well rounded individuals who are able to communicate at the C-level and not be afraid to get their hands dirty.  Numbers are not to be feared; they should be embraced.  In so many different industries rules of thumb are used.  To me rules of thumb basically mean I either A. don’t want to put in the time and effort to treat the problem as unique or B. I don’t know how to approach the problem so I’ll use a generalization.  Needless to say, not having the tools necessary to analyze complex and dynamic problems can lead to big mistakes.  Being able to bring an analytical approach to decision making can quickly catapult you on the fast track within a company.  I have heard countless accounts of this happening with my classmates and alums and have also seen this first hand.  Not many people have this ability, with it I feel like I don’t have to rely on anyone and will be able to tackle problems in a different manner than many of my colleagues.  I know that the Intellectual Capital I have acquired while at Tepper is well worth the time, money, and effort I have put into.  Well, I have to be up in 6 hours for a lecture at CEIBS and visits to Eaton and Microsoft so I will sign off.