Jimmy Hsiao — Bridging the gap between the US and China

Globalization has always been a topic of interest for me. I love to travel and completed a semester abroad in 2000. Once I entered the working world I began to wonder about business practices in foreign countries. Watching the interviews with Jimmy Hsiao opened my eyes to the Chinese business world. His interviews seemed to be more concentrated on Chinese culture and geographic regions than on his business products. I think the reason for that is because if you truly want your business to participate in a global market you must understand the cultures of the countries you plan to conduct business in. Jimmy Hsaio mentioned that China is really considered to be a generation behind when it comes to technology and supply-chain processes which did come as a shock to me. In my mind I picture the land size and the tremendous population size and automatically assume they are one of the world’s leaders in business technology. Coming from America, a country that is becoming so dependent on email and internet that we may soon be called America.com, it was interesting to learn that the Chinese business man doesn’t really use email but relies heavily on cellular phones and text messaging. This is a business practice I have not learned about yet in my eight years of university classes. I really see innovation in the way Jimmy Hsaio has molded his business practices. Even though he was already doing business in China he realized the need that other companies had to enter the Chinese market and realized that he could fill that need by teaching the companies what they needed to do to be successful in China. In globalization it is important to view all angles, even the potential road blocks. China has a tremendous firewall system in place which makes it hard to access many web sites outside of the country. This would be an important thing for a business to know when considering globalization. Jimmy Hsaio’s company helps people to learn this kind information to insert into their globalization plan. When I think of major Asian cities the first one that usually comes to mind is Hong Kong. I was interested to learn that Shanghai is actually becoming known as the financial center of China. Jimmy Hsaio’s knowledge of the geographic layout of China as well as his knowledge of each region’s differences (ex: dialect) gives him a competitive advantage in assisting companies that want to include China as part of their globalization plan. Mr. Hsaio has put this knowledge to use for his business and has made it become his business. This is a great example that if you sell what you know you have a much better opportunity to flourish in the business world. April Milner