The so-called 'Chinese Miracle'

On May 13th, I attended a conference at Sascha’s Shanghai. It’s a great place with lots of fresh beer on the first floor. But before rushing for refreshments - as we typically woukd do at a bar, we had a chat with Philippe Massonnet. He shared some thoughts on the development of China with us following the publication of his book The so-called “Chinese Miracle” [^1}. It was quite refreshing I reckon. ...

May 15, 2008 · 4 min · Olivier Falcoz

The Great Firewall Of China

Surfing the web in China can be a real pain, even if you are not particularly looking for sites with questionable content or forbidden keywords, as described by China’s internet regulator. This is because of the heavy monitoring and censorship. As The Atlantic reports, this is how the Great Firewall of China works. The government bodies in charge of censoring the Internet have told [tech organizations in China] to get ready to unblock access from a list of specific Internet Protocol (IP) addresses—certain Internet cafés, access jacks in hotel rooms and conference centers where foreigners are expected to work or stay during the Olympic Games. ...

March 29, 2008 · 3 min · Olivier Falcoz

Competitive Business Intelligence in China

Nice post by Richard Brubaker on All Roads Lead To China regarding Competitive Intelligence and how companies obtain insider information in China. In China though, because so little is consistent in any industry and because everything here moves so fast, BI is very different here. It relies less on traditional tools (internet, news surfing, speaking to sales people, etc) and takes on a much more guerrilla approach. In many ways, it requires a deeper knowledge of the industry while at the same time having a real sense of where the hidden data lies, and being willing to go out and get that information. ...

March 19, 2008 · 2 min · Olivier Falcoz

Competitive Business Intelligence in China

Nice post by Richard Brubaker on All Roads Lead To China regarding Competitive Intelligence and how companies obtain insider information in China. In China though, because so little is consistent in any industry and because everything here moves so fast, BI is very different here. It relies less on traditional tools (internet, news surfing, speaking to sales people, etc) and takes on a much more guerrilla approach. In many ways, it requires a deeper knowledge of the industry while at the same time having a real sense of where the hidden data lies, and being willing to go out and get that information. ...

March 19, 2008 · 2 min · Olivier Falcoz

It's hard to be a risk professional in China

It seems like there’s still a long way to go… I’m starting this blog with a few thoughts on the Chinese approach to risk management and its implications for the big consultancies that have entered China thinking it would be a new El Dorado… as I did! I came across a post by Paul Denlinger on China Vortex that points out why it is difficult to be a risk professional in China and why selling risk consulting services to Chinese companies is still far from easy. ...

March 10, 2008 · 3 min · Olivier Falcoz