A Few Notes from Saturday, January 10

Review of Course Expectations
Stay tuned for options in getting copies of the two required DVDs, as it appears that there are several options, including NetFlicks, local DVD rental shops, and options for shared viewing in teams. Thanks to Tusha, the two required books should be available quite soon. We have a suggested way of grouping individuals into teams for the final presentation, but there may be some changes to this plan in during the next several weeks (see below).

Ask Smacker: Culture or Structure?
We watched an episode of SexyBeijing.tv, Long Johns and Cabbages. The questions it raised for the group included the problem of sorting out a cultural difference from a structural difference. A structural difference might be the availability and management of power and heat. A cultural difference might be something about how people act, what their practices are given a set of structural constraints.

So, what did Smacker do, back in the days when she lived in a courtyard house in a traditional neighborhood, a hutong (胡同)? They were supposed to start heating only after mid October, but if it was cold, they started heating sooner. Heat in those days was provided by small charcoal stoves (still present in Beijing, and still smokey!). Now, most people live in apartment buildings, often provided with heat from central neighborhood steam-plants--more "agency" (more individual wiggle-room) if you live in a hutong, one would think.

But what do people do if it gets cold and if the heat is not on? What would you do? Bundle up? Make sure you have on your long johns? Go out and buy a space-heater? The answer has implications for how we explain what people do, implications for energy use and management, and implications for how warm--or cold--you may be when you visit Beijing in the winter time.

Generations in China
Our primary interest is in contemporary China, so we are limiting our exploration to post-revolutionary China. We reviewed three generational categories,
• Children of the liberation
• Children of the cultural revolution
• Children of economic growth
and it was suggested that there is a third group, the children born in the past ten or fifteen years, who are often called the little emperors (see Feeding China's little emperors: food, children, and social change/ edited by Jun Jing. Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press, 2000.)

Consider how the experience of each group may be reshaping business practice, marketing, and public policy in China. What will remain the same? What will change?

Here's a link to a recent story about McDonald's in China, with plenty of implications for generational changes in eating practices. What are the business, marketing, and health implications, here?

Finding Affinity Groups for Team Presentations
We posted a 'mind map' of project themes, and made a first go at grouping those into related themes. Some of you have an idea of how you might already form teams, but be aware that you may be assigned to different groups in the future. The precise duration of your presentations may change a bit from what is indicated in the syllabus, and some of your groups may be re-formed and people reassigned a bit to make sure that your teams create the most synergy possible to help the whole group's learning and practical objectives. Please understand that team composition may change in the next month or two. Stay tuned.

A few notes from Friday Jan 9

Great meeting you all in class.

First, there were a lot of questions about guidance regarding proposals. We will cover some of that in class on Saturday 10 January and your best best for feedback is email through my gmail account (which I won't put here on the blog--its hidden up in the syllabus to avoid spam-spiders). I think the best trick is the oldest trick: ask your friends, find a network, use your guanxi, your 关系, your relationships. Find a friend of a friend of a friend; check the Internet, check at work, etc.

Map and observational exercise
So what the heck did you NOTICE about the map of China? (take NOTE of?) (Asterisks denote things that more than one group noticed, so the most salient things have more ***s)
*** Shared boundaries with a lot of countries
*** Mountain range splits the country
** China is LARGE, surrounding countries are small
** Close to the ocean is where people are
** Geographical diversity: west seems open, less population mtns & desert
** Lots of provinces (can you name four, right now?)
* Lot of opportunity (someone was reading into the map)
and my personal favorite
* China is shaped like a chicken

In each class, we'll post two things on the white board: Free Parking (issues we don't have time to discuss but that we may get to later, if you hound me enough. . . ) and Lexicon, important terms and concepts we'll often return to that may or may not be new to you.

Free Parking:
Chinese Business Hours

Lexicon:
Guanxi 关系(pronounced guan-shee)
Zhongguo (middle kingdom, China, 中国) (pronounced chong guə)
Lao Wai （老外） ("old foreigner," a gringo, a non-Chinese person, not at all pejorative)
Culture(s): as a relational concept

On this last bit, the problematic and often uncritical use of the idea of culture, go to http://www.ethknowworks.com and find the article by Mike Agar called Culture: Can You Take It With You. Hardly required reading unless you dig the theory and are wondering what the heck is wrong with me when my face gets all grouchy looking when I hear the term tossed around (as people, me included, so often do!).