In order to make the posting easier and keep them in order, I will set up a weekly post section on Monday of each week. All you need to do is just click the comment button and add your post from your reading. Since this is the first week of required posts, and I imagine you're all rushing to come up with something to add or may have even completely forgotten to get your book from or are still waiting for it to come in through the library, why don't you just start by sharing the title and general topic of your different books. That way, we can work out any of the "kinks" in the whole process and then be prepared to make some more thorough posts next week. I'll add instructions for comments to next week's posting section on Monday. Good luck to all of you. The initial comment is a sample to give you all an idea of what you can add in the future. Note! If you do not have a google account, you will need to set up a gmail account to post on the blog, but you can delete it after the course if you wish.
I extended the deadlines for last week's post since I wasn't able to attend the meeting and remind you all that last week was our first week. We will continue with post #2 next week. Thank you to those of you that remembered to post on time, and Happy Valentine's Day!
ReplyDeleteSample Comment--Part of my reading this week discussed the passiveness emphasized by Eastern religions and how this differs sharply from what the text termed as the "action-oriented" thinking of my own Western culture. The text explained how Buddhism, for instance, sees suffering as illusory and therefore requires its followers to accept rather than resist suffering as a part of life. While I can understand some of the validity behind such a world view, I also feel that a person should take a stand for his/her self when necessary and not just take whatever lot life hands out. I think it may be difficult for me to understand this aspect of Chinese/Eastern culture, but I hope I can still connect with the people I meet while I am there and better appreciate where they may be coming from.
The title of my book is "Northern Girls" by Sheng Keyi. It is a contemporary fiction novel about a young girl who leaves behind her small hometown in northern China to find a better life. This novel takes place in the 1990s while many Chinese were migrating south to the newly booming manufacturing cities. It deals with the violence and hardship that many young immigrants had to face during this time of change in China's economy.
ReplyDeleteThanks Ashley Blake! Sorry your name didn't register.
DeleteSounds like an interesting read, Ashley! I wonder about the feminine aspects of the book, considering the one child law and the want of sons among families at that time. I wonder what it must be like for her, assuming it is a very male dominated in the cities and industries.
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DeleteThank you, Prof. Schilleman! My name is Sabrina Alward and that was my post earlier. Sorry for the confusion!
DeleteThat's okay Sabrina! Thank you for clarifying :)
DeleteMy book for the China Study tour is "Invisible China: A Journey Through Ethnic Borderlands." It was co-written by Colin Legerton and Jacob Rawson. Invisible China follows Legerton and Rawson in 2006 and 2007 as they begin to explore the hidden secrets of China and build relationships with the minorities. While they are going into China beyond the travel pamphlets, they begin to uncover the facts about China's minorities and the complexities of their life within Chinese society. [Sabrina Alward]
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great book Sabrina! I look forward to hear about it
Delete- Isaac Fernandez
Thanks for responding to Sabrina's post; please engage with the content more directly next time.
DeleteMy book for the China trip is " Inside The Chinese Buisiness Mind: A tactical Guide for Managers". It was written by Ted Sun. The book was written in hope to explain to westeners the ideas and mentality of Chinese businessmen. The book explains the key values that drive business in Chinese busines.
ReplyDelete- Isaac Fernandez
I'm excited to hear more about your book, Isaac. It is interesting how culture mindsets and customs affect difference parts of business.
Delete-Emily tan
Make sure to proofread carefully!
DeleteI am reading the book "The Souls of China - The Return of Religion After Mao" written by Ian Johnson who lived for six years in China looking at and experiencing three different religions. Through his discoveries, Johnson talks about how faith and religion are coming back into the lives and communities and how people are realizing the power and affect it can have in life.
ReplyDelete- Emily Tan
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ReplyDeleteWhy did you remove this comment?
DeleteThe book that I will be reading for now on it was written by Juan Antonio Fernandez and Laurie Underwood. It is titled "China Entrepreneur: Voices of Experience from 40 International Business Pioneers". The book was written to help business people from around the world build a small business in China. It was based in depth interviews with 40 successful expatriate entrepreneurs in China, which contains a lot of blood, sweat and tears, anecdotes, and also first-hand advice from interviewees based in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and beyond. In overall, I think it is going to be a really interesting book and that it will also help me to get an international business experience from another perspective.
ReplyDelete- Manelkis Javier Garcia
It sounds like a very interesting book! I'm excited to know more about your book! (Allison Barreto)
DeleteThe title of my book is "Chinnovation: How Chinese Innovators are Changing the World" written by Tan Yinglan. It explains how China's rapid economic growth has made it a vital market and how some corporations toughest competition are mostly national rather than international, so this book uncovers the common threads with frameworks and probing questions as Chinese innovation and entrepreneurship expand and reaches the whole world. These growing businesses are succeeding thanks to the knowledge on the domestic market, quick adaptation to the changes in the market, and their resourcefulness in accomplishing those changes. The author spends more than 5 years learning the secrets of Chinese innovators and the key they play in transforming China into an innovated country. (Allison Barreto)
ReplyDeleteSounds like a fascinating read Allison. I look forward to hearing more about it! (Becky Oxentenko)
DeleteThe title of my book is "Chinamerica: The Uneasy Partnership that will Change the World" by Handel Jones. The book explores the emergence of China as a major industrial power. As a leading global economic analyst Handel Jones discusses the costs and benefits associated with competing with China. In the book he endeavors to explain the complicated industrial and economic relationship between these two world powers and demonstrates that the best thing for the future is a cooperation between the two countries. I have always been very interested in the economic relationship between these two world powers and look forward to reading this book. (Becky Oxentenko)
ReplyDeleteSounds like a very interesting book, i do think that, if done the right way, America and China can form some sort of partnership or alliance that will benefit both countries.
DeleteMake sure to sign your name, otherwise I won't be able to give you credit.
DeleteThe title of my Book is "No Ancient Wisdom, No Followers." This book is about the challenges of the Chinese authoritarian capitalism. the couple of pages that i read in the first chapter talked about how the in the 1950's the Russians set up their forty thousand of Soviet advisors in Beijing that would train and work with the chinese to in the end overthrow Britain in 10 years and catch up to America in 15. Mrs of their efforts were to industrialize and organize the Chinese economy. The soviets wee kicked out by the 60's and China stated trying to incorporate soviet inspired systems with their own characteristics. This has brought about, state-owned enterprises that monopolize and dominate the economy and control the financial system. This has been of great benefit for China but it has come to a point where that benefit has turned into a disfavor that needs to be corrected before China's economy can truly improve.
ReplyDelete-Rodny Aquino
Its interesting hearing how much China was actually affected the soviets. Especially that they have grown so big in comparison to the US.
Delete-Coby Federowski
DeleteMy book is called Made in China, What Western Managers Can Learn from Trailblazing Chinese Entrepreneurs. It is describing the challenges that Chinese entrepreneurs face and how it dramatically differs from the Western business challenges. Specifically, Chinese entrepreneurs face a higher level of uncertainty in their businesses. Executives in China are extremely good at moving quick and anticipating short-term future events. The book goes over specific examples of how the executives have handled situations in the past and the implication created afterwards; both good and bad.
ReplyDelete-Coby Federowski
DeleteThe Book I picked is The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom: America and China, 1776 to the Present A remarkable history of the two-centuries-old relationship between the United States and China, from the Revolutionary War to the present day.
ReplyDeleteMake sure to sign your name, otherwise I won't know who to give credit to.
DeleteFirst Book Responce
ReplyDeleteThe first Chapter on my book, “Inside the Chinese Business Mind” discusses many levels of maters that will be addressed in the book and set the foundation for many later chapters. The book provides insight for westerners that are planning to conduct business in rural and in modern China. Some fascinating matters that I learned from the reading is that china might be a communist country that is seen to be secluded from the rest of the world in actuality Shanghai is a city of internal trade and of vast growth. The book goes in depth about the importance of history in the Chinese business structure. It claims that in order to understand Chinese business it is imperative to understand its history. In doing so, it says that it will help one comprehend why the Chinese operate the way that they do.
I learned some very interesting facts while reading the book that I was not aware of prior to. The one child policy of China was implemented as a result of the Chinese population size and its continual growth which limited the amount of food and resources in the country. Which later resulted in the one child policy. Still many Chinese people (mostly the ones of older generations) believe that having extra fat is associated with someone’s wealth. This was because of the amount of scarcity during prior years in Chinese history. The most interesting fact that I learned was the there are many different dialects and moral systems in China. Although mandarin is the legal language of the country there are many spoken forms that are so different that they would be completely knew to someone that spoke mandarin. The author gave the example that there are 85 different ethical groups in Ethiopia to support the fact that business should not make the mistake of treating every Chinese the same.
- Isaac Fernandez
The book I am reading for our upcoming trip is titled "Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China" by Leslie T. Chang. The author, Leslie Chang, was a former writer for the Wall Street Journal in the city of Beijang, and throughout the book tells the story of two young women as they leave their village of Dongguan and migrate to a city. Throughout the book, Chang, realizes the hardships those who choose to mirgrate face. We can see many similarites to the migration movement our own country expereinced a century ago.
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