Strictly Business

May 17, 2008

Ni hao!

After months of anticipation, many days of preparation, hour(s) of packing
and going over checklists, at least 24 hours of traveling and mediocre
airplane food we have FINALLY arrived in China! Our airport adventures
included many of us having our first encounters with Eastern style toilets (aka
squatters) and Jamie buying a squid in a bag. At the airport last night we
met our China Sense managers Jennifer and Phoenix and our tour guide John. At
the bus, we met our bus driver "Jack", who coincidently does not speak any
English.

Today is one of two tourism days and in order alleviate jetlag our guides
have given us an early wake-up call, there definitely won't be any sleeping-
in on this trip! After one of the best breakfasts I've had in a long time we
were off to the Great Wall of China. Being outside during the daytime showed
us how bad the smog really is in Beijing, it felt as if there was a low fog
hovering over the city.

Regardless of the air quality, the site of the Great Wall was amazing,
climbing the Ju Yong Guan Pass was even better! You might be thinking, "But
Kim, it's a pathway on wall. You'd walk on it, not climb it." And you may be
correct, for other parts of the wall. But I'm pretty sure Dr. Cochran picked
the steepest pass for us, which would be more aptly named the Great
Staircase of China. About half the group made it to the end of the pass,
which was quite a feat in itself without having to turn around and go back
down! I have never felt my legs shake so much in my life!

Lunch was at a Brazilian steakhouse style Chinese restaurant where we were
presented with everything from pineapple to cow tongue. It is a good thing
that there are some adventurous eaters in the group to tell everyone else what
the "strange" stuff tastes like.

The afternoon was spent at the Summer Palace where the weather turned from
windy (which was nice at the Wall) to windy and cold with some sprinkles of
rain. John told us all about the Dragon Lady, who lived in the Summer
Palace. While the name would seem derogatory to us I think it was more
endearing to them as the dragon symbolizes power in the Chinese culture.
Essentially, they are just calling her a powerful woman.

The palace is beside a huge manmade lake. The soil from said lake was used
to build Longevity Hill, where the palace resides. On the edge of the lake
sits the Marble Boat, which was built because either she liked boats but
would get seasick or she wanted to show that her "ship" was indestructible.
The palace grounds also contain the Long Corridor, famous for its length,
which contains paintings on the ceilings that tell stories about China's
history.

Our first dinner in China was at a traditional Peking Duck restaurant. It
was also our first experience with the Chinese way of serving food: on Lazy
Susans! It was an adventure and I am sure there are more food adventures to
come!

The Great Wall by Amy Thran

Summer Palace by Charlie Canon

The Marble Boat by Ryan Arthur

The Long Corridor by Clint Hill

Posted by Kim May at 09:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

[Authored by Jeffrey Williams, MACC Graduate] When I was working in the high school in Rennes, France, I lived one block away from a shopping mall, at the end of which stood the gargantuan retailer, Carrefour. It was so large that workers wore roller skates to get around inside. In French, the word “carrefour” simply means “intersection” or “cross-roads”. And, I remember being totally shocked that this Wal-Mart concept had migrated back to the old country. Such arrogance, it would seem, for thinking that the Americans had the idea first and that the capitalistic minds in France simply applied it to their way of life. This blog isn’t in response to any specific news item, but simply a reaction I have to seeing Carrefour, this major family-owned French retail empire, in the news recently.

Carrefour is the largest retail company in Europe, second in the world behind Wal-Mart, and is kind of a European-Gone-Global Wal-Mart. Carrefour buildings are sometimes stand-alone edifices, but often, it is the anchor of a shopping mall. It is a big, ugly box building that sells just about everything a person could possibly need in life: clothes, groceries, home décor, you name it. It is mega-retail, plain and simple.

This mega-retail concept seems to betray some fundamental concepts that I had of French culture, and I’m wondering how these spiky French people allowed this to happen. In a country founded on the independent butchers, the bakers, and the cheese artisans (les petits commerçants), when did this cultural travesty of one-stop shopping sweep the continent? Who built the cheap, ugly buildings? Who covered the beautiful French fields with gray parking lots? Was this America’s idea? Is it the post-WWII stain of America left on the world, forcing the world to conform to its profit-centered, convenience-centered mentality? Or did the French do this to themselves? Are they the ones that blighted their own countryside by sticking big-box Carrefours along the exterior walls of the cities, because they, too, saw the opportunities as did Sam Walton, nay, before Sam Walton? Could the postmodern French have given old Uncle Sam the idea? If the French can produce Rapaillian reptilian thinking, what other business concepts can they muster?

To answer some of my cultural/historical concerns, this article , written in 1993, shows that the two founding French families came up with this all on their own, but by the 1960s, they traveled to America and attended seminars to learn more about the modern methods of distribution. However, the distinguishing factor between French and American retailers was the fact that the French sold a full-on grocery store in juxtaposition with a full-on department store, and the Americans didn’t. Wait a sec. Look at the date of the article. 1993! There was no such thing as a “Super Wal-Mart” that had a full-on grocery. This was the French people’s idea! Carrefour came decades before the Super Wal-Mart. Aah!

Well, it seems that I was wrong about my concept of French culture, and maybe I was stuck in some antiquated thinking. While Americans tend to romanticize their view of the French, characterized by stubborn political liberalism, naturally wonderful foods, and public displays of affection, the French would tend to see themselves as the cold, calculating people of natural laws, science, and engineering. They would see themselves as Cartesian rationalists, who once had the linguistic and military edge on the world. Now that the rules of empire have changed since WWII from battle strategy to corporate strategy, they are playing the game of world domination just as well as the Americans. In retail.

Authored by Jeffrey Williams, MACC Graduate

Posted by Joe Alexander at 12:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The following individuals are regular contributors to the Strictly Business Blog in Belmont University's College of Business Administration. The pool of authors comes from the faculty, staff, students and administrators of the Undergraduate School of Business, The Jack C. Massey Graduate School of Business, and the Scarlett Leadership Institute. For more information on a given author, please contact the COBA Dean's Office at (615) 460-6175.

Dr. Joe Alexander

Dr. Joe Alexander is Associate Dean of The Jack C. Massey Graduate School of Business. Prior to making the move to Belmont, Joe served as Associate Dean (1994-2001) and Dean (2001-2007) of the Monfort College of Business at the University of Northern Colorado, where he led that program to Program of Excellence recognition from the Colorado Commission on Higher Education in 2000 and receipt of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award from President Bush in 2004. His research has been published in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, and Journal of Marketing Education, among others. He earned his M.B.A. and D.B.A. in business administration-marketing from what is now the University of Memphis and his B.B.A. from Harding University. A 2008 Fulbright Scholar (Japan), Joe is chair-elect of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Foundation and also serves on the boards of directors for the Tennessee Center for Performance Excellence and the Monfort Institute. He currently teaches the core marketing management course within the Massey MBA program in addition to his administrative responsibilities.

Dr. Howard Cochran

Dr. Cochran has been teaching international economics and business courses both domestically and abroad since joining Belmont University in 1989. Cochran earned a B.B.A. (Finance) from Walsh College, a M.A. (Economics) from Wayne State University, and a Doctor of Arts (Economics) from Middle Tennessee State University. He has completed additional post-graduate study in administrative leadership at Harvard University. A veteran of international studies, Dr. Cochran has also led several Belmont student study-travel trips to China. His teaching, research, and consulting interests are in the areas of economic education, managerial economics, and international trade.

Dr. Del DeVries

Dr. Del DeVries is an Assistant Professor of Accounting and Information Systems in the Undergraduate School of Business Administration at Belmont University. He earned his B.S.B.A. in Accounting at the University of South Dakota-Vermillion. He became a certified public accountant and obtained certification to be an Information Systems Auditor before earning his Ph.D. in Accounting from Arizona State University. His non-academic experience includes work as the Chief Financial Officer for Sullivan, Inc. and management positions at Deloitte & Touche and Citibank.

Mr. Jose D. Gonzalez

Jose Gonzalez is an Instructor of Entrepreneurship and Management in the Undergraduate School of Business Administration at Belmont University. He graduated from the Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico (ITAM) Mexico City with a B.S. in Accounting before earning his M.B.A. from The Jack C. Massey Graduate School of Business at Belmont University. His business experience includes working in financial management for Organization BAMA and Proctor and Gamble in Mexico City. Since coming to Nashville, he has been business manager for Total Management Services and President of CIMA Financial Management, LLC, where he consulted for diverse entrepreneurial ventures. He co-founded Conexion Americas, where he served as Executive Director until recently.

Mrs. Jocelyn Gutekunst

Jocelyn Gutekunst is the Recruiting and Co-Curricular Coordinator for the Undergraduate School of Business at Belmont University. She is a 2003 Summa cum laude graduate of the Belmont BBA program (in Marketing and Management) and was recognized as the Undergraduate Business School Outstanding Student of the Year her senior year at Belmont. Upon graduation, she accepted a position with The Buntin Group, the largest full-service advertising agency in TN, where she worked as Research Coordinator and then Associate Research Manager/Brand Journalist for the agency. Jocelyn returned to Belmont in the fall of 2007 and feels blessed to be able to utilize her marketing skills to promote the school that helped her attain them.

Mrs. Jaclyn Kerr

A magna cum laude graduate of the Belmont BBA program in Marketing, Jaclyn Kerr currently coordinates the Professional Bachelor of Business Administration program for Adult Studies at Belmont. As an Undergraduate, Jaclyn was a member of Sigma Beta Delta (Business Honor Society), Beta Gamma Sigma (Honor Society for AACSB International), Alpha Chi (Honor Society), Gamma Beta Phi (Service Honor Society) and was recognized as the Undergraduate Business School Outstanding Student of the Year her senior year. After graduating, she participated in strategy development and account management in advertising and was promoted to Sr. Account Executive at a top local agency before returning to Belmont in June 2008 to help others experience the benefits of a Belmont business degree.

Ms. Kimberly May

Ms. Kimberly May is an MBA candidate and graduate assistant in The Jack C. Massey Graduate School of Business. A 2005 graduate (business-marketing) of the Monfort College of Business at the University of Northern Colorado, Kim served as an educational and leadership consultant for Delta Sigma Pi, a national business fraternity from 2005-2007. In addition to her current Massey responsibilities, she is also employed with Outback Concerts and is pursuing a course concentration in music business within the MBA program. Her anticipated graduation date is May 2009.

Dr. Jeff Overby

Dr. Jeff Overby is an Associate Professor of Marketing and International Business in the Undergraduate School of Business Administration at Belmont University. He earned his B.S. in French from Mississippi State University, his M.B.A. from Millsaps College and his Doctorate of Philosophy in Business Administration from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Dr. Overby regularly consults with businesses and organizations specifically in the areas of customer value analysis, international branding, and multicultural marketing. Dr. Overby’s early career included six years as European Project Manager and Market Research Analyst for Entergy Corporation. He also served at Florida State University as Assistant Professor of Marketing and International Business.

Dr. J. Patrick Raines

Dr. J. Patrick Raines is both a Professor of Economics and the Dean of the College of Business Administration at Belmont University. He earned his B.A. in Economics, M.A. in Economics, and Ph.D. in Economics all from the University of Alabama. In addition to his administrative responsibilities, he has taught comparative economic systems, money and banking and international business classes in The Jack C. Massey Graduate School of Business at Belmont University.

In 1990, Dr. Raines was appointed as a Fulbright Scholar to the College of the Bahamas. His international experience also includes his leadership of one of the first industrial development groups to the former Soviet republics to establish educational and industrial relationships with emerging market enterprises. At the University of Richmond, he was instrumental in developing the curriculum and study abroad programs for the International Business program.

Mr. Joe Scarlett

Joe Scarlett, Chairman Emeritus, Tractor Supply Company and Founder of the Scarlett Leadership Institute at Belmont University, is a seasoned and well-respected business leader with extensive operational and leadership coaching experience. While at Tractor Supply, Joe was part of a classic leveraged buy-out in 1982 and took the company public in 1994. While CEO, the company’s revenues quadrupled and the price of its stock increased ten-fold.

While at Tractor Supply, Ernst & Young honored Scarlett as the Southeast’s Entrepreneur of the Year in 2003, and Forbes selected Tractor Supply Company as one of the “Best Managed Companies in America” in 2004. Scarlett served four years as Chairman of the Retail Industry Leaders Association - the nation’s largest retail trade organization. Joe now focuses on building first class executive educational programs with primary focus on business leadership, ethics and an emphasis on effective communication and measurable behavioral change. The Scarlett Leadership Institute program at Belmont University is developed witht he input of 35 prominent CEOs and designed to help turn good business leaders into great ones.

Dr. Susan Taylor

Dr. Susan Taylor is the Associate Dean of the Undergraduate School of Business Administration at Belmont University. She earned her B.S. in Marketing and M.B.A. from Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, LA and her D.B.A. in Marketing from Mississippi State University. Dr. Taylor’s career experience includes over eight years as an Analyst/Developmental Business Relations Specialist for Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company and service as an Associate Professor of Marketing at Belmont.

Dr. Marietta Velikova

Dr. Marietta Velikova is an Assistant Professor of Economics in the Undergraduate School of Business Administration at Belmont University. She received her undergraduate degree from the People's Friendship University of Russia. Her M.A. in Financial Economics and Ph.D. in Applied Economics were both earned at Mississippi State University, where she worked as a research assistant, academic tutor, and instructor of economics. Her research interests include macroeconomics and monetary economics; however, her primary area of specialization is the effectiveness of deposit insurance coverage in the international banking system, including U.S. banks.

Dr. Beth Woodard

Dr. Beth Woodard is an Associate Professor of Management in the College of Business Administration at Belmont University. She earned her B.S. in Management from Clemson University, her Masters in Health Services Administration from the Medical University of South Carolina and her Ph.D. in Administration-Health Services from the University of Alabama-Birmingham.

Posted by Joe Alexander at 04:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yes, there is a Nano you can drive, and while it is sleek, “amazingly small” and appears to come in a variety of colors, it’s not branded by Apple. An article from Wired magazine introduced this new little Indian car to me, and I couldn’t help but smile at the sight of it. A visit to the car’s website reveals that Tata Motors is attempting to engage consumers through interactive channels (blog, facebook, etc.) to promote the new vehicle. It's even positioned as “The People’s Car.”

Selling for the equivalent of $3,000 USD per car, this innovation appears to be the answer for many in India who have never been able to own a car before. According to the Wired article, “When it comes to keeping the price down, Tata Motors starts with major advantages. Labor, raw materials, facilities — all cost far less in India than in Detroit. And it doesn’t hurt to be part of the country’s most powerful industrial combine. Tata Steel’s plant is just a couple of hundred miles from Tata Motors’ West Bengal manufacturing plan — a proximity that further cuts costs.”

Unfortunately, with this tiny car, comes a tiny gas tank. The Nano only holds 3.9 gallons. Also, environmental concerns are tied to the notion of more people being able to own cars in India. It should be interesting to watch the success of this car and continue to see how auto manufacturers respond to the needs of today’s world.

Posted by Jocelyn Gutekunst at 01:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)