Comments on: New Ways For Entrepreneurs To Do Business With China

By: Fred H. Schlegel

Fred H. Schlegel — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 16:10:08 +0000

Hi Andrew, You are right about the need for face to face communication especially for face to face deals. The cultural divide can be huge, and therefore, miscommunication during a conference call on both sides very likely if they are not very familiar with each other.

I recently met a specialist on South American culture and business. In many areas US management approaches caused more conflict instead of resolution due to cultural differences. Many issues needed to be handled on the sidelines, which is difficult to do when all parties are on the same conference call… no room for whispering and a drink after work!

By: Fred H. Schlegel

Fred H. Schlegel — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 16:04:09 +0000

@ Terry You crack me up.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 13:33:08 +0000

Fred, Technology has made a wonderful contribution in terms of breaking down barriers in all aspects of life, and the conference which you refer to represents a wonderful example of this. I still feel that geography is somewhat relevant, particularly as there is still a need for face to face communication. I would imagine, for example, that there would be too many cases where a company would enter into a major deal with any other company without having met the managing director of the other firm in question in person, wherever the individual concerned may reside. That said, technology has, as you say, made possible a great deal of international collaboration which would not otherwise be possible. Andrew’s last blog post..Diligently handing money over to scam artists

By: Fred H Schlegel

Fred H Schlegel — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 12:55:45 +0000

I just updated the link for those who are interested. The conference has just started. Fred H Schlegel’s last blog post..New Ways For Entrepreneurs To Do Business With China

By: Terry Heath

Terry Heath — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 01:38:19 +0000

You're so right. I heard we have two ears and only one mouth because we're supposed to listen twice as much as we talk. Too bad the U.S. doesn't have at least two ears . . . well I guess actually we still have several million more than we do mouths, so maybe it still does apply. Terry Heath’s last blog post..On Being Remarkable

By: Fred H. Schlegel

Fred H. Schlegel — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 16:54:24 +0000

Happily! This is pretty cool stuff. Changes how I work, and I’m sure its having an effect on others as well. Hope the conference is a great success.

By: Fred H. Schlegel

Fred H. Schlegel — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 16:53:02 +0000

I’m amazed at how little geography has to do with my business any more. It’s gotten so client meetings are as likely to happen with GoTo Meeting across town as they are when distance really is a factor. The Genetics lab I work with gets requests world wide for services found cause of a simple web page and nothing else. Because the US is such a loud country it’s easy to think that everyone is already listening, even though we’re not always listening back.

By: Fred H. Schlegel

Fred H. Schlegel — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 16:37:47 +0000

Hi Brad, I’m not surprised there are folks out there specializing in helping with that western/China web presence. The Ciber group at IU is doing a lot to try and bridge those cultural divides as well. Seems that there would be opportunity in trying to better target every international market out there.

By: LaVonn

LaVonn — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 15:34:17 +0000

Thanks Fred for the plug. While this isn’t the first use of streaming video by IU it is the first full conference that has been hosted with a live feed. We are very excited about this conference and the many who have said they are interested in attending via the web. Right now almost 200 people will be attending the conference in Indianapolis tomorrow — I am hoping that we reach that many again with the feed!

By: Terry Heath

Terry Heath — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 03:13:15 +0000

In my Western-centric mindset, I forget there are still places we can't "get into" easily. We think nothing of chatting with people in other parts of the world, and thinking about time zones seems second nature now. And yet, so many are just coming in reach. Thanks for the reminder. Terry Heath’s last blog post..“Elsie”