Leading-edge collaborative tools and interactive sites pose monitoring burden As the Web 2.0 movement makes interactive applications and social networks such as Facebook ubiquitous on employees’ desktop computers, financial firms are facing the daunting task of monitoring these so-called greynets. Instant messaging security vendor FaceTime Communications estimates that there are more than 600 greynets worldwide, […]
The Web 2.0 Threat Read More »
Frivolous lawsuits are one of the banes of Western corporate life. Lawsuit artists walk through stores looking for puddles to slip in, sue restaurants for the coffee being too hot — even get in touch with a dog bite attorney to sue people who unleash their dogs at parks and cause people to get hurt.
The Joys of Being Sued Read More »
The usual advice for new managers coming to China has been to adapt, and to learn to do things the Chinese way. Don’t bring your expectations and standards to China, the old China hands say. The more time experts stay in China, the more likely they are to argue that China is a unique place,
Corporate Cultural Imperialism — it’s a Good Thing Read More »
SHANGHAI — “Milk and Fashion” producer Jay Rothstein is aiming to bring his high-profile, Chinese-produced film to U.S. audiences and also to sign a distribution deal for it to screen in major cities around China “within weeks.” The film first began to gain media attention in the U.S. last year when Jeremy Miller, former child
U.S. audiences get to drink Chinese-made ‘Milk’ Read More »
Thursday night, I witnessed the birth of an industry — the foreign-made Chinese movie business. In the United States, we don’t think twice about foreigners making English-language movies for American distribution. In fact, some of our greatest producers and directors have been foreigners, and two of our biggest studios are owned by Japanese and French
Movie industry opens up Read More »
A new labor law went into effect at the start of the year, making it more difficult — and expensive –to fire employees. The law also specifies increased additional costs to employers, including minimum wages, overtime and benefits payments. According to the Associated Press , Dongguan’s Taiwan Merchant Association reports that that the cost of
There are many first-time entrepreneurs in China — in many respects, Shanghai is now what Silicon Valley used to be at the height of the dot-com boom.As a result, there are many seminars on how to actually go about starting up a business, and I try to make it to as many as I can.One
Personality Profiling Read More »
I’m invariably surprised when, at employee training sessions or staff meetings, none of my Chinese employees ask questions. Part of the reason, they tell me, is that schools don’t encourage students to ask questions — and certainly discourage them from interrupting teachers and professors. This is very bad training for journalists, who have to ask
Christmas is my all-time favorite holiday. I’m not alone, it’s popular with many people, whether or not they actually adhere to the Christian faith. In my family, with its blended background of faiths, we see Christmas as a symbol of what is holy in every child. But, putting aside, the religious significance, the Christmas season
The Holiday Spirit Read More »
As a journalist, I routinely hear complaints that the news industry is dominated by a few giant multinationals that determine the boundaries of public discourse. I also hear that the news industry is dying, as bloggers now do for free what the media used to do for money. My personal position is that we’ve always
All Roads Lead to China Blogs Read More »
This week, Xinhua reported that the new four-year education plan will extend compulsory nine-year education to 98 percent of children in China’s 410 poorest counties. In 2004, children in those counties received an average of 6.7 years of education each — hardly enough to prepare them to work in today’s industrialized China. Today, the agency
The Educated Workforce Read More »
This year, Chinese officials began putting some sharp teeth to the country’s environmental regulations. This can have significant implications for the economy — last week, the World Bank calculated that air pollution alone is costing China 3.8 percent of its GDP. Adding in water pollution and non-health impacts of pollution raises that estimate to about
China Putting Teeth in Environmental Regulations Read More »
During my trip to Sichuan last week, I met several successful Chinese farmers. The main reason for their success, however, was that they weren’t actually farmers any more. Instead, they were construction contractors, or operated tourism resorts. It’s hard to run a small family farm anywhere in the world, and China is no exception. My
The New Chinese Farmer Read More »
Earlier this week, I asked Ge Honglin, the mayor of Chengdu, what incentives his city had to offer foreign companies wishing to relocate here. Can companies get subsidies? Low-interest loans? Tax breaks? His answer surprised me. I expected a few vague promises, maybe some obfuscations, some exaggerations. I got none of that. “Frankly, Chengdu can’t
There’s Something About Chengdu Read More »
At a dinner over hairy crabs a few days ago, I was discussing Chinese taxes with a group of visiting Italian logistics managers. A Chinese manager at the meeting complained about high taxes and fees but after the Italians heard what the tax rates actually were, the conversation took a different tack entirely. Sure, an
Fair Taxes For All Read More »
