Adventures in the Middle Kingdom – Part 2

Henry Ko is a second year MBA student from Los Angeles, CA. He is currently studying abroad at Peking University in Beijing, China. This is his adventure…

Classes at PKU

Well, the fun is over (sort of) and it’s time to get serious about school. I’m finishing off the third week of class and cases are starting to pile up, group meetings are scheduled into Outlook, and I’m even prepping my CV/cover letters for the impending job search when I get home. A couple of people have asked me about the classes I’m taking, so here’s a brief overview.

Case Study in Financial Accounting

I was never going to take another accounting class after finishing off the required ones at Owen. But here I am in China taking accounting with Professor Paul Gillis who was a partner at PWC for 28 years.

He powerlifts competitively with the Chinese Olympic team, consults with hedge funds to short fraudulent Chinese companies, and is an active tax accounting blogger. It seems like all accounting professors are characters. This guy is no exception; he makes the class entertaining and I’m enjoying it so far.

E-Commerce

E-commerce is the process of buying, selling, and exchanging products and services through computer networks (fancy way of saying internet). The class is really interesting because it combines strategy with what’s going on in the b2b, b2c, and c2b online marketplaces in China and around the world. The topic could be awfully dry but the professor injects a lot of management strategy concepts to explain E-Commerce. I’ve also learned that Chinese professors love Michael Porter and his five forces as much as Jim Schorr does.

Managing Across Cultures

This course is an 11 week long LTO* class about addressing cultural differences in the work place. The first two classes have been painfully boring, but the professor promises that the remainder of the classes will be much more interesting. Please wake me up when that happens.

 * LTO, or Leading Teams and Organizations, is a required first year MBA course at Owen.

Marketing Channels

Why is Amazon not successful in China? How does guanxi affect channel structure? How is Wumart kicking Walmart’s butt? These burning questions and many others will be answered in the following weeks. There is no marketing channels class at Owen so this is a good opportunity to get this knowledge.

Business Information Technology

This class investigates the people, process, and technology triangle. This class is also 4.5 hours long. Tears. Worst yet, the professor is not a very dynamic lecturer, but at least I find the topic interesting and the business school café always has a great selection of coffee and tea to get me through the class.

I should have noted earlier that all my courses are taught in English. PKU has several MBA programs, including a full time, part time, and International MBA. Regardless of the program, students are required to take several English-only speaking courses. Therefore, there is a lot of diversity in my classes, including local and foreign students from all over the world. Aside from the accounting class, all classes are taught by Chinese professors that received their graduate education from either Canada or the States. One professor got her PhD from my alma mater, UC Irvine. Zot Zot!!!

A Day on the Great Wall

You are not a real man if you have not climbed the Great Wall of China. – Chairman Mao

The weather last Saturday could not have been any better. The sun was out, the clouds were gone, and the air was crisp. This must have been one of those perfect, but fleeting, autumn days that Beijingers talk about. Saturday was also the day my classmates and I climbed the Great Wall and, according to the Chairman, ascended to manhood.

Climbing the Great Wall was not the most amazing moment of my life, but it was definitely one of the coolest. Everyone has seen pictures of the Wall. Maybe you’ve even seen David Copperfield walk right through it. But it’s not until you climbed it that you actually appreciate its grandeur. You start wondering: Wow, I’m walking on steps that are over 1000 years old. I can’t believe this thing is 5000 miles long. There is no way this thing kept the Mongols out of China… I need a Sherpa… What?! Ludacris is here?!?!

For those that follow me on Facebook, I updated my status to say that I had walked past Ludacris without noticing. I did hear him say, “Damn, this joint is long!”, but that was little consolation. Below is a picture (left) of my classmate, Arsalan, and Luda. I also took a picture of some Chinese girls posing with Luda’s posse. In China, if you’re black, expect to be approached by locals who want to take a picture with you. I’m guessing most people here have never seen a black person so it’s a big occasion, almost as big as climbing the Great Wall of China.