Social change

Chinese new year is coming and we need to put up our Chinese lanterns outside the house - this means I need to call the service centre to do the electrical work required to get the job done . As suspected, they have screwed it up - there are 2 lanterns that need to get power from a single existing light fitting outside the door.....

1. "Hmm.....lanterns.....ermmm......power........one light to get power from.....er....2 lights need new power...
2. SMASH original light fitting with hammer (thereby exposing all the wires underneath)
3. Realize this was a mistake.
4. Force the "new" cabling (supplying power to the lanterns) into the original light fitting for contact.
5. Nail lanterns backwards to the wall, draping cables dangerously around the front door
6. Add bulbs
7. Test work
8. Stand back and admire your engineering excellence
9. Ask foriegner for cash, knowing all the time that your job is shit and you will simply get laughed at
10. Get laughed at and recieve no money, having to repeat the job, including fixing the damage to the property, at your own expense.

Considering that I currently live in a pretty damned expensive housing, this is should be shocking...alas, no. It is the norm and it is ruining many companies here. There is, of course a reason for this lack of foresight that is  in many many places throughout china - poor education and many other issues etc. But to be honest, after being here for three years, it comes down to the simple fact that organizations here are increasingly shortsighted, short term and blinkered: You want lamps? There - you have lamps. You want a bank account? A car? A lawyer...you want me to sell stuff for you? No problem, I might have to screw the customer, but hey!  This is much bigger problem than you may think and is visible in every sector: banking, telecoms, manufacturing...The "private" (this is a very vague term here) sector has grown from a revenue base of US$5.1 billion in 1989 to more than $241 billion in mid-2003.

Is this a case of to much to soon? The people running the companies in China often have little or no understanding of running a business of any kind, poor education and enormous disposable incomes (relative to living expenses). The leap from farmers to active capitalists is very very far indeed, though for many has been made in just a few years and tends to involve blind luck and government intervention (...and it always involves government intervention), hence the obvious lack of any real customer focus or understanding of brand equity (why bother working when you can simply get another "project" from the government! Free money!!).

Problems lie ahead. This is opportunity NUMBER 1 for smart Chinese companies: where are you??! Bring on the business cultural evolution!!

- Posted by James Nash - 1:37:17 PM - Comment? Rules: Criticize ideas? Yes. Criticize people for holding those ideas? No. []