The Wu Way 無為

“I hired a student from a local university to do my translation…and it ended up hurting my reputation.”
This was the story I heard from a business contact I met with a couple of weeks ago. He works for a large chemical manufacturer with a presence in China, and they needed their website translated into Chinese. [...]

I know a fellow from Taiwan who spent eight years laboring over his PhD — eight years! — in some area of engineering. He now runs a private media company and does real estate on the side, and regrets the years he spent on higher education. Another friend of mine came over here for a [...]

The number of juvenile crimes in China has risen from 33,000 in 1998 to 80,000 in 2007, according to a BBC report. Robbery, theft, intentional injury, rape, and gang fighting are among the most frequent crimes the delinquents commit. What are the reasons behind the rising juvenile delinquency in China? This essay focuses on the [...]

I wrote several weeks ago about a case for Mattel apologizing to the Chinese manufacturers. In particular, I highlighted the fact that US companies often share some of the responsibility for negligence.
Today, an article in the New York Times titled Lessons Even Thomas Could Learn really hits that point home.
After all of the egregious recalls [...]

There’s been a great brouhaha in the press over Mattel’s apology to China — particularly over the allegations that Mattel apologized directly to its Chinese manufacturing partners.
It’s not a surprising reaction. This supposedly “Golden” year of the Pig is turning out to be more porcine than prosperous, thanks to the slew of recalls — especially [...]

When I walked into the wedding flower shop in Tonglu, China — my husband’s hometown — I knew exactly the kind of flowers I wanted: roses, just like the roses on my wedding dress. The shop owner, however, didn’t ask us what type of flowers we wanted. Instead, she asked us how much we were [...]

There was a Chinese saying: “no commerce, no evil”. Merchants were thought to be unscrupulous, and commerce was historically considered an ignoble industry in China.
This contemptuous attitude towards businessmen no longer exists in current China. Making money is given priority now.
However, problems come up when this priority may be the only consideration for many [...]

In the spirit of “summer reading list” frenzy that signals the start of the season, I’m jumping on the bandwagon.
Interested in learning more about business and marketing in China? Here’s a peek into what’s on my list for this summer and beyond.
1. One Billion Customers: Lessons from the Front Lines of Doing Business in [...]