Last week was an unbelievable experience for us, the MBM students, we spent a week in the University of Applied Science of Amsterdam studying about Chinese business models, and the culture of the country. It was a pleasure to meet the wonderful people of the other campuses of ESIC and the amazing Teachers we had in this experience.
As a summary of the week, we are going to make a compilation of the most important learnings that we are bringing back to Spain from this experience, going through all the days one by one.
DAY 1
SESSION 1
On the first morning of the first day, we had the pleasure of meeting Claudio Perotti, from his hand we learned about the evolution of the Chinese economy from centuries ago to the economic power it is today, the biggest learning I took away from this talk was to finally understand why the Gross Domestic Product has grown so fast in the last years and also to solve doubts that arose in class about the dubious human rights practices that are carried out in many factories in the country. Olivia Cheng, who also accompanied us in the session, compared the current China with the Europe of years ago in this aspect.
ABN-AMBRO VISIT
That afternoon we went to the ABN Ambro bank, and they explained their business model and their main concerns in the current environment and we also received the first tips on how to do business in China from Zijang Wang, the concept of «face» has stayed with us as one of the most important cultural aspects when doing business in China given the importance given to it throughout the week.
We also received an interesting and very numerical talk from a Chinese employee of ING Bank in which we also discussed the evolution of the Chinese economy with more data than in the morning session.
CHINESE DINNER
That day we were also lucky enough to have dinner in a restaurant with traditional Chinese food, where we had a great time and were able to taste different dishes in a great menu chosen by Mr. Wang, we were able to learn firsthand about this cultural aspect that is gastronomy. Now when we have a meeting in a restaurant with Chinese businessmen, we know not to ask for spicy dishes.
DAY 2
SESSION 2
The second day we had our second class, with the magnificent professor Rogier Busser, who spoke to us and illustrated with examples the keys to building good business relationships with China, he emphasized the search for suppliers showing different platforms where to find them in addition to highlighting during throughout the session the importance of controlling the materials that these Chinese factories will use to manufacture your products to avoid problems, he also highlighted the importance of controlling shipments and forms of payment, in addition to letting us know that the Chinese always say yes even if it means Do not.
DAY 3
SESSION 3
On Wednesday morning we had our third class of the subject “Doing business in China” at the Hogeschool van Amsterdam.
It was a good moment to learn a bit more about Thinking patterns, open door policy. Economic development of China. It was conferred by a Chinese teacher, which made us learn some useful knowledge of things from a direct Chinese perspective. We were all entirely comfortable during the meeting and we had a great day.
After this session, which ended at 12:00, we had the opportunity to visit the Chinese company Huawei. We all went by bus to Rijswijk, where the company Huawei is located, on the outskirts of Amsterdam where two employees explained their experience working for the company. We had the opportunity to learn about the different strategies that are applied by the different work teams, in addition, they gave us a tour of their facilities showing us the different advances in technology that this company follows.
And to finish the day, after the visit, we had some free time and taking advantage of the fact that it was the final of Ajax against Heerenveen to win the league, we all went to see the atmosphere of the fans before the match and it was certainly an experience to have lived an important football match in a country that is not your own.
DAY 4
SESSION 4
On Thursday 12 May in the morning, we had the fourth session at the university, this time the topic was about Sourcing from/ Market entry in China. Do’s and dont’s in China. We finished to learn important Chinese concept as “Guānxi” or “liǎn”, that it means a complex concept of personal relationships and honor, respectively.
Later, the last cultural visit we had organized was a tour of the canals of Amsterdam, where we were shown and explained the most important sights of the city. This is where we could see for example Anne Frank’s house or the science museum NEMO, as well as the beautiful streets and bridges that we had the opportunity to see.
In the afternoon, we had some free time, and we took the opportunity to continue seeing the city and have a drink with the rest of our colleagues from the master’s course.
DAY 5
SESSION 5
On Friday 13 May, we had to make a test about all we learned in the first days of the economy and culture of China. At 9:30 we started the text and as was possible to see the results at the moment, after every question, all the people in class could observe that the students of the MBMs acquired a huge knowledge about the lessons. After this, all of us answered a questionnaire about our impressions and things to improve on the Business Study Tour in Amsterdam.
This day, we finished the lesson before the normal schedule of the rest of the days. Every group of students enjoyed the free afternoon doing different things, visiting the canals of the Red-Light District, having a drink on a terrace taking advantage of the good weather, walking around the city…
At 20 pm all students meet in a bar on the organization of the Business Study Tour gave each person a 30-euro ticket for having dinner and drinks. Thanks to that, we had a great and economical night.
In general terms, this experience was so enriching. We met so many people, visited places like museums and big companies, we learnt more about the culture of China and Amsterdam and we enjoyed the entire trip. For all of this, we would recommend the Business Study Tour for the future students of the Master in Management in Esic.