If you are like me, you have heard a lot about China in the
news lately in the political discourse or the production of hot new tech items
like the iPhone 5. It got me thinking about my immersion trip to China a few
years ago and what would happen if I was doing business in Asia. Ok, I
know this seems like a bit of non sequitir when compared to my normal posts but
hang on, there is a connection.
The media mostly focus on China’s manufacturing and how it
affects the jobs front but in all actuality my impression of China was an area wanting
for partnership and further development.
My time in China was just days after the Sichuan Earthquake where over
69,000 individuals perished and I arrived a day before the 3 day period of
mourning. I saw country’s population
that had a similar response to US Citizens’ response to Katrina. The compassion and the desire for response is
no different. The citizenry and government
want to rapidly improve it’s relatively young governmental Emergency Management
program and be a resource to do good works rather than nation that is perceived
is a victim.
One of my biggest take-aways from my time in China is how
well the emergency manager’s mindset lends itself to Chinese business and
culture. A good emergency manager knows the importance of building
relationships and will dedicate time to developing those relationships. In Asia in general, the development of a
relationship is a key investment in developing business and it is more than just
simple networking. An entity’s success in
China can very easily be tied to how it maintains relationships.
If you are interested in work in China or Asia in general I
would take a few minutes to check out US AID, they have some cool
humanitarian missions throughout Asia.
Do you have a comment or thought about EM oversees? Lets here
it, please leave me a comment I would love to discuss.
PS- I did get to do some touristy stuff while I was there:
The Great Wall of China
The Summer Palace
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