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Seminar reflections
- 2. Doing Business in China 21/10/2015 Speaker: Jeanne Boden
- 3. Doing Business in China Clash between Eurocentric and Sino-centric perspectives Eurocentric “rest of the world should evolve into their system Based on Roman system of democracy Deeply Rooted in the Roman empire Christian moral code Multiple centers of authority Companies Executives
- 4. Doing Business in China Sino-centric Mixture of influences Confucianism vs Legalistic “Man is inherently good vs. bad” Taoism Communism Guanxi relationships Chinese style of networking Involves deeper trust than western style of networking International influences Chinese socialism w/ western style free market capitalism
- 5. Doing Business in China Sino-centric (cont’d) Hierarchy Paternal and meritocratic 1 leader has the final say Leader always sticks out Centralist organization Guanxi (关系) relationships Introduction is very important Building trusting relationships tedious and time consuming
- 6. Doing Business in China Reflection The seminar helped me realize that there are different perspectives in culture. We tend to look at everything from a Western perspective. Our value system and our perception of right vs. wrong is based on our Western thinking. Unfortunately, this leads to ethnocentrism. We tend to judge other cultures based on the standards of our own culture. This leads westerners to believe that other cultures should eventually “evolve” into our own. Understanding another culture involves looking at it from their perspective. It helps to know the history in order to appreciate the culture that we are trying to understand.
- 7. Rebranding Africa 27/20/2015 Paul Nchu Ngang
- 8. Rebranding Africa Myths about Africa debunked: Not a country!! 100% impoverished FALSE 3 types of countries in Africa Anglophone countries English speakers Francophone countries French speakers Lusaphone countries Portugese speakers
- 9. Rebranding Africa History of Africa Africa 1.0 Colonial history Africa 2.0 Hopeless continent Post-colonial Civil wars Famine Africa 3.0 Emerging continent Increased investments Improved living conditions
- 10. Rebranding Africa Fun facts: 60% of the 10 fastest growing economies are in Africa Luganda and Angola most expensive city for expats Portugese expats in Angola earn 3x more than in Portugal Relationships are important
- 11. Rebranding Africa Establishment of an African Economic Community Like EU without single currency Roadmap FTAs and Customs unions (expected: 2017) African Customs Union (2019) African Common Market (2023) African Economic Monetary Union
- 12. Rebranding Africa Opportunities Young population Rising middle class Opportunities in financial services sector Strong growth in telecommunications increased use of internet Agriculture growth: small farms large scale commercial farming Improving healthcare services
- 13. Rebranding Africa Challenges: “percieved” – risks are blurry Miscommunication problems Cumbersome business atmosphere Corruption Skill shortages Stop-go policies Poor regulations Labor unions Unreliable infrastructure High costs
- 14. Rebranding Africa Reflection One cannot deny that Africa is suffering from poverty. Well-off countries try to help out through foreign aid. Despite the good intentions, these things don’t really help them in the long run. What needs to be done is to help them help themselves. Investments are needed so that they could support themselves in the long run. Unfortunately, corruption is still rampant in most countries, and the opportunities are mostly overlooked. Furthermore, tribal conflcts exacerbate the problem. If Africa is to be the next fastest growing region in the world, countries should be able to work together and establish a fertile ground for both local and foreign investments.
- 15. Trade for all 09/11/2015 A lecture on the European Commission’s foreign trade policy
- 16. Trade for All EU believes that trade should be accessible to all, particularly: Businesses Consumers SMEs Poorest in the developing world Responsibility effective, transparent and based on EU values
- 17. Trade For All Updating the trade strategy Adjusting to new realities Reassessment of targets for access to markets Ensure maximization in current trade agreements Liberal trade provides wider choices to consumers Control monopoly lower prices Regulatory protection confidence in products
- 18. Trade for All: Benefits Workers New job opportunities Enhanced respect for labor rights Citizens Closer engagement in policy making Transparency during negotiations SMEs Increased access to information requirements of trade Closer coordination on implementation strategies w/ member states Regular surveys on trade barriers faced by SMEs
- 19. Trade for All Developing countries Expand action on sustainable development Increased access to EU market Better working conditions Dialogue on human rights Fair and ethical trade schemes Ensure responsible supply chain management
- 20. Trade for All: Reflection This lecture made me realize that writing up a trade policy involves more than just the interests of your own constituents. As a global citizen, we must ensure that the rights of other people regardless of their background should also be protected. We should always strive for a win-win situation.
- 21. Hackathon: Social Storm Team: Storm Chasers Rank: #1 in Artevelde and #4 overall Objective: To find a sustainable and socially responsible business plan that would help us reach the target adoption rate of renewable energy within 5 years. Our Solution: Financial assistance for the installation of photovoltaic systems in rural areas in developing countries.
- 22. Hackathon: Social Storm Reflection Taking part in this activity enabled us to improve our teamwork skills. At first everything went smoothly but along the way things always get hectic. As a team we try to make decisions through consensus. This sounds good and reasonable in theory since this ensures that everyone has a voice. However, with this kind of system, it is easy to lose focus. We realized that even though everyone’s ideas should count, there should always be someone who would take the lead and make the right decisions for the entire team. This leader should know how to stay focused and stick to the topic. I believe we had a really good idea in the beginning. Everyone seemed to like it when we brought it up. But along the way, we started to doubt it and it caused us to lose focus. Even though we were still trying to tackle the same problem, the solution has become a mess that we lost sight of what’s important. In the end we did pretty well raking up 4th place overall, but I still believe we could’ve done better.