Silk Road International Blog

I’m firmly ensconced on the fence when it comes to China and it’s future—I love my family and my friends here but can’t imaging a more amoral environment to work in.  I am so grateful to be here and to still have business in the current economy, but working here is dangerous, unhealthy and difficult.  I see the market growing incredibly but think that the bubble is scary-huge already.  8% GDP growth is amazing, but the current plan of government spending and exports isn’t sustainable.  So, knowing where I stand, you’ll understand why I say it’s rare that I find multiple articles that I think are really well written (in terms of perspective and research) and also immediately valuable for use in business and/or personal investment or planning.   The two links below are both.

Long time readers will also know that I doubt that the China is the next “superpower.”  But I do completely agree with and believe that China should and will be the largest economy on the planet—just getting 1.5 billion people to a respectable level of education and income will demand that it be so—the world just needs to get used to that.  But China is not there yet, as this FP article points out.  And there are many issues (increasing poverty, decreasing education) that have been getting worse not better in the last 20 years; hence my uncertainty about China’s future.  The combination of so many factors leads me to the conclusion that there are serious troubles ahead for China.  For the sake of my family and business (and other people too) I hope that I’m wrong.

If you’ve read my posts on the economic situation on the blog and are again thinking “man, this guy just can’t say anything good about the Chinese economic miracle and the fact that it’s the only growing economy on the planet” then you need to read both these articles and some of the other books that balance the China-as-world-savior hype.  I’m not saying you should subscribe to the China’s-going-down-in-flames perspective, I don’t; cautious pessimism is more of what I would call my attitude—which I find prudent for doing business here.  But as more info comes out, an increasing number of people in a wide variety of business and political sectors are seeing a big crash coming too.

Remember when you read numbers on China—there is absolutely no transparency here.  Not in the government, not in public companies, not in private companies, not in tax records, not in corporate power distribution.  Nowhere.  So everything you read, you have to question both the source and the motive of the source.  Further, the terminology used by Chinese and then translated to into English equivalents are often misleading as the baggage/meaning in the English is not necessarily the meaning in China and sometimes completely different from the Chinese.

And finally, while the US and China are sitting down together this week–the Chinese are (rightly) asking the US what the hell is up with the “stimulus” package that inflates both long term US debt and the current deficit?!   But the US is asking the right questions too–how can the Chinese government continue it’s stimulus if the world doesn’t recover to pre-crash levels of consumer spending?  Answer?  They can’t.

Tags: Business, China, Politics by David Dayton
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All of these experiences happened to me this last month.

First, If you don’t make it, fake it.  This is different from the same old “China just copies everything.”  Well, sort of different.

We are working for a client that is buying deli products in China for the US market.  They want a PET box or baked chicken.  We found 8 different suppliers, visited factories, received samples, got bids and finally placed a PO with one of them.  One of the factories we visited had just the box we wanted.  But when we placed an order we were immediately told (after the deposit was paid) that “the mold” is broken.  Of course we wanted to confirm as the production times for a new mold (or repairs) would significantly impact our delivery dates.  We went to the factory; they couldn’t show us the mold.  They said it was being repaired off site—we asked to go there too (as we had been previously told it was “next door” to the factory).  Guess what?  The only mold that has anything to do with our chicken box order is now, for the first time, being made from scratch.  The box samples, of which they had quite a few, were actually from somewhere else.  Can they make it?  Yes.  But they haven’t before and now the production will take twice as long as the original bid.

If you’re only seeing samples in the show room, and only one piece at that, you should be wondering about the real source.  You need to see more than just one sample—things like molds, plans, rejects, packaging, etc. will confirm that the factory really does make this product.  Just a couple of samples in the show room can mean that they’ve never actually made it.

Second, If it’s not yours to sell, just don’t tell any one when you do.

We’ve been working with a factory to buy some of their overstock and items from canceled orders. With the economic downturn, that’s turned into multiple containers of goods.  The supplier had told us they have a (Chinese) contract that states they can sell unfinished product from orders if the orders are canceled.  We’ve asked for it repeatedly but it’s never been delivered.  In the meantime we picked a number of items and have had them repackaged.  The problem came when we told them that it was shipping back to the US.  All of a sudden they won’t sell it to us any more.  5 containers of canceled-order product have been sold to other Hong Kong trading companies already—you don’t think any of that will end up in the US?  One manager told me (out of earshot of the owner) that the original US customer is putting pressure on them to not sell product to the US market that will complete with the stuff they are still selling.

Third, If it’s not legal, find a work around.

There are many products that have quotas or dumping restrictions when entering the US from China.  One in particular that we’re trying to buy now has quite a strict import requirement—qtty’s, materials, number of buyers and Country of Origin (COO) are all strictly regulated by US customs.  So the answer to this is not to meet standards or reduce production qttys, but to find a work around.  In many cases it’s a shipping solution to a manufacturing problem.  Freight forwarding companies will actively help clients search for a “solution” to the COO problem by creatively shipping containers to various world ports, unloading and reloading them and then issuing new documents prior to shipping them to the US.

Fourth, If you have connections you can do whatever you want.  Sometimes money works too.

I can’t personal share details here, but if you read the news you can find more than enough corroborating stories.  Check out CLB if the stories in your Google search don’t satisfy you.   In a word, corruption is rampant over here.  People that are making deals, doing QC or making payments to factories or government officials here know that what’s done on the factory floor is only half the story.  Foreigners that don’t speak Chinese that work in offices with English speaking staff often don’t see it. They’re insulated from the realities of China business because of all the “filters” that come between them and actual transactions.  News about the arrests of everyone from factory bosses to big city mayors are really just the tip of the iceberg.  Talk to the security officials for any MNC or managers of QC teams or purchasing managers or entrepreneurs.  Every exposé-type book from some one that works here confirms this—Beijing Jeep, Made in China, Made Poorly in China, Mr. China, Managing the Dragon, Will the Boat Sink the Water, The Coming Collapse of China, and to a lesser extent All the Tea in China, Inside Chinese Business, China Business Etiquette.  (Sorry, I’m not going to link to each of these, but you can read my book reviews for each one if you click on the Book Reviews link on the right.)

Fifth, Grey, not Red should be the color of China.

In China, work is done in the gray areas of the law.  Meaning, if it’s not being policed for today, it’s probably considered OK.  This does not mean that everything is illegal, but it does mean that if you don’t outline the specific legal standards that must be followed, they will not be followed voluntarily.  The legal system is specifically designed like this–if it’s not specifically illegal then it’s OK until someone gets busted and the laws are updated or enforced differently.

There are a lot of reasons given (by Chinese themselves) for this.  1. Lack of education.  2. Size of the population of China. 3. Competition.  4. Everyone else does it.  5. Misunderstanding of international expectations.  5. Survival.  Whatever the practice, someone can justify it.  I remember one night in Bangkok, the owner of a restaurant told me, “You can get absolutely anything you want in Bangkok at any time of the day or night.  It’s just a question of money.”   It was true twenty years ago in Thailand and it’s still true today in China (and in Thailand today too).

Sixth, Contracts/standards/product will be changed—it’s up to you to catch it.  The corollary is this:  While contracts are indeed more enforceable than ever in China—is it worth it?

More often than not, after we’ve negotiated any contract with suppliers with all of our (very high) QC standards written in (and payments tied to said standards), the factory comes back to us and says, “We didn’t expect that you’d really be this strict.  This is going to cost us more than we expected.”  Their solution to this problem is then always one of two options.  One, get us to pay for it—which we won’t do.  Or two, cut costs by adjusting the quality and hoping that we don’t notice—which we won’t accept.  Even if a supplier has a sweetheart of a deal they will cut costs by careful, conscious incremental quality fade techniques.

This last week we were trying to complete a shipment of wire baskets and found that ½ the order was not painted the correct color.  The excuse/reason?  “Your prices are so low and your QC so strict that we can’t afford to paint this ½ of the order.”

Factories assume a number of things when working with foreigners. One, you’ll probably not have on-site QC.  Second, your delivery deadlines will trump your need for getting everything exactly correct. Third, there are a number of things that you’ll not catch that can be done to save costs once the samples have been approved.  The onus is on you to both establish standards and (continually) confirm that they are being followed.

The enforcement corollary is a real problem for small companies like mine.  We typically don’t place orders to a single factory for an entire product.  But rather buy and QC all the components ourselves and then send them to a fulfillment center.  So instead of a $100,000 PO to one place, we have 5 or 6 $10K+ PO’s.  Legal fees, at best, are still going to be a couple thousand dollars and results weeks to months out in China.  That much time and money can represent 20% to 50% or more of the PO value and really isn’t worth it.  The factories know this and so have the upper hand in stalling and holding out.  Sure you can sue, but with smaller PO’s it’s just not worth it.  Which leaves you working out the problems with the factory.  And, with the legal options of the table you are often, as I’ve said before, left being happy getting what you originally wanted at an inflated price.

Seventh, Not speaking Chinese (but understanding it) is often better than speaking yourself.

I’ve found that if I shut my mouth and listen and speak English to an assistant/QC I can get a LOT more information than I would if I was doing the negotiations directly—of course, I understand Mandarin, Thai and some Cantonese, which are the three primary language in which we do business.  Chinese are the masters at word games—the language is chock full of twists, turns, idioms and double and triple meanings.  That’s what you get when you have a limited number of spoken sounds and written characters.

You have to know that that’s the game that’s being played.  When you know, you can avoid some of the problems.  Ways to avoid misscommunications.  1. Get two pieces of everything signed by you and the factory rep.  Get an agreement (Signed and chopped) that YOUR signed sample that is kept in your office is the standard if there are disputes.  2. Confirm everything by saying it back and then recording it. 3. Make sure that your translator is paid for by you and not just the Chinglish speaking sales person at the factory.  4. Make sure that some one from your office is taking the official copy of meeting notes (in Chinese).  Do not leave this to the supplier.  You want to control the words that are used and agreed to.

Finally, the people involved in the negotiations will make or break your deal.

There are at least 5 people that I would suggest that you have involved in your China operations in general and in negotiations specifically.  1. The standard setter and enforcer–this is usually the foreigner, for us.  2. The translator if you don’t speak Chinese.  3. The negotiator–just because the 25 year-old college grad in your office can speak fluent English does NOT mean that she’s a negotiator.  4. The details/record keeper.  This person, for us, is the project manager.  5. The QC.

If you are not here on the ground for the entire time and/or don’t speak Chinese you have to have an incredible amount of trust in each one of these people.  Anyone of them can negotiate a great deal for themselves at your expense and you’ll never know it.  They can also save you so many headaches and so much money if they are indeed committed to you.  Get good people.  Treat them well.  Trust them and you’ll get so much better deals and solutions.

Good luck.

Tags: Business, China, Culture by David Dayton
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I had some very interesting conversations with friends recently about the economy and what they are seeing. Despite the very different industries and even the direction of business they all had the same conclusions—things were bad but are looking up. Cautiously to optimistically up.

First, a friend from an MNC in China for a week on business said that second quarter of this year seems to have leveled out—we’ve hit bottom. This is about what most of the foreign folks that I talked with all seemed to believe. His company numbers don’t show things getting all the much better in China than anywhere else in the world. But over all things are not getting worse. The hope is that it will last.

Second, a foreign friend that owns a factory here said that they had a pretty good first half of the year but had done tons of marketing in the previous year and the new business that that campaign brought in is just keeping numbers even.

The predictions for third quarter from these two guys were very tentative—most other people I talk with here hope that it will be at least as good as (only as bad as) the flat second quarter numbers. A couple people have told me that they are VERY worried that second quarter was only good because retailers had to refill stocks and had to order for the fall/Christmas seasons. There is still no money in the US/EU and so the worry is that exports from China are not going to improve yet.

Third, the buying of imported goods, which is still down in China, means the market for foreign companies isn’t necessarily improving with the flattening out mentioned above. A salesman for a US company making testing equipment made it very clear that their company is moving both less total volume (about 85%, he said) and at much smaller margins than before. This was the most interesting (sorry no sharable details) and most pessimistic conversation I had while at a golf course, no less. While all the news is pointing to an Asia first (China-led) recovery this individual was quite the contrarian.

Fourth, in support of the China-led recovery theory, today a factory owner told me that business is so good right now that they are both building a new building and selling more volume than last year. All of their clients are either foreigners coming to them directly or Hong Kong trading companies bring in foreign buyers. This I didn’t expect and haven’t seen in other factories—although there does seem to be much more optimism now than 6 months ago.

Fifth, talking with another factory boss today I got another surprise. He mistakenly assumed that I since I was here now (with a Chinese family) I was going to spend the rest of my life, by choice, in China. And so, as a little secret between friends, he told me that the group of factory owners he knows don’t really have any desire to move to the US or even out of China. He said that in the US it’s “too fair.” In China, he said “if you have money you can solve any problem and you can do whatever you want.” You just don’t have that freedom if you move to the US, he told me. Here you can get a massage, you can pay your way out of problems, you have bars, nightlife, cheap girls and you just don’t have any of that in the US.

While I don’t agree with all of this, I have to admit that I’ve had this conversation before. Just last month when my in-laws were denied tourist visas to the US my father in-law said, “The US government is worse than the Chinese government. At least in China you can pay to get things done. With the US (embassy) you pay and get nothing!” I had to agree.

Sixth, we moved into a new office this week—the first one that we’ve owned since we came to China in 2003. But to move in on an auspicious date we had to end our current rental contract early. (Yes, we hired a fenshui/numerologist to help us both pick a good move-in date and organize the layout of the office. “15 years of good fortune” is the prediction. Woo hoo!) We negotiated the early move-out on the condition that we find a replacement renter and get new contracts signed and taxes all paid up though the end of July. If we met all these conditions we could get our deposit back. We did so but when we brought the new renter to sign the paperwork with the landlord we were told we were not getting our deposit. Of course we pitched a huge fit and got into a long (3-4 hour) protracted argument about the landlords about face. When the new tenant had left after signing all the paperwork the landlord looked at us and said “Didn’t you see me wink?” The whole argument was just a ruse to make sure that the new tenant didn’t expect to get his deposit back if he ended his contract early. The landlord was a bit chagrinned that we had had the argument but told us that our deal was still on and the argument was really our fault for bringing up the details of our agreement in front of the new tenant. We were so surprised that my manager said: “how are we supposed to know that?!” My response was: “If Chinese can’t even figure out their own culture together, how the hell are foreigners supposed to figure it out?!” We all had a good laugh and a nice dinner together after all the paperwork was done.

While we were closing up all the legal lose ends with the local tax office I had to show ID and sign some forms and pay some money to end the contract. I did so with my new passport. I was anticipating that there were going to be problems since the numbers on the forms were all from my old passport (which I’d forgot to bring). But the tax official looked at me, looked at my photo in my passport and said “I can’t read any of this. He paid the fee.” She shrugged, tossed my passport back to me and that was it.

Finally a lesson learned and a lesson taught. I was doing QC for a shipment of product samples going to the US today. The quality of product is quite good. The qtty’s are correct, the packaging is good. We approved each step of the process all the way through the final painting. Everything was correct. The problem? We didn’t watch the paint dry. Really. While drying, the dust and spray from other colored projects blew onto our white product thus giving everything a speckled coat. First lesson, if you don’t approve and QC each step of the process chances are no one else will either.

The painting was done off-site at a second factory. So I spoke with the owner about the QC that they did on the painting—he talked with a few managers and then told me that since I checked it last time they hadn’t done anything. Since I had approved it they figured it was OK. Product was paid for and shipped back to the original factory for packaging with no other QC. Now the original factory is in a fight with the painting factory over who will pay for the dirty paint job (and the cost of repainting). Of course the paint factory says that since it was approved it’s not their fault. And the original factory claims that the paint, not the dirt, was approved so they shouldn’t have to pay to have it redone. I completely empathize with the original factory not only because I think that they are right but because I have been here so many times, that I can’t even count them all.

Lesson two: Chinese factories ALWAYS sub work out to other factories. (And no, I’m not exaggerating. Always is the right word.) But they never do QC. I have not, in 7 years, ever had a factory do QC before they accepted product from a factory that they’ve sub’d work out to. They always act so surprised that we reject sub-standard product that comes from someone they’ve “cooperated with for many years.”

I talked with the owner about our own processes (that fact that I live in China for this very purpose — to QC product before it leaves the factories) and told him how much money we save by paying for QC to go out to factories to check components before they are shipped rather than after they arrive at a fulfillment location. To his credit he very honestly told me that if they did that they’d lose face and damage relationships with their sub-suppliers. So, for our products we worked out a deal where they will tell the factory that we have to check the components before they are shipped and they’ll pay for the transportation costs. If they need help with other foreign customers they can use one of our QC for a day and, again, blame the foreigners rather than make waves themselves.

Tags: Business, China, Culture by David Dayton
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Some things never change. As nice as that may sound for continuity, this week it’s a bad thing.

After visiting two factories, I was riding the bus from Changan back to Shenzhen last Friday night when I came upon another knife attack/fight. It was right at the bus station this time at about 6PM—in fact the bus that I wanted to board was under attack.

There were 4 guys (who I first thought were not Chinese but whom I later realized were just from Western China) doing everything they could to stop a bus from leaving. They were threatening to throw big rocks though the windows and were physically standing in the way of the bus forcing the driver to either run them down or stop (of course, he stopped).

The police were just arriving on the scene when I showed up looking for a bus home.  (In the end there were a total of 36 police on site—yes, I counted). There had already been a fight too and one guy was still bleeding on the ground. The 4 attackers, friends of the bloody guy, were trying to get the perp off the bus before it left. The police were both on the bus (with the door locked) and sort of trying to keeping the crowed back away from the guys with rocks.

Then, a new guy with a long stiff towel shows up. He, very dramatically I thought, unfurls the towel and pulls out a 2 foot long machete. He starts threatening the police, the bus driver and the bus (windows and tires mostly get slapped around). He does this for at least 20 minutes while more and more police show up and tell more an more onlookers to go away.

For 25 minutes no one stops the guy with the knife, no one tends to the bleeding guy on the ground, no one moves people away from the swinging machete, no one gets the guy off the bus. NOTHING. It was the most amazing dance/show. It honestly seemed like no one was scared, surprised or intended to help or get involved in any way—especially the police!!

Now the green suited police were all about 25 years old, had no crown control devices or weapons and didn’t look like they wanted to be there at all. None of them even talked with the knife-guy. They threatened a few people that stopped to watch—told them to leave and menacingly walked toward the bystanders. But of course everyone stayed to watch. I took photos with my camera and no one seemed to care.

So 25-30 minutes into this show, a policeman in a blue uniform and driving a Toyota Corolla shows up and starts taking with the knife guy. The bus tries to leave and more rocks and threats ensue and the bus stops again. The only two people showing any emotion this whole time are the bus driver (fear) and the knife-guy (anger).  (OK, the bleeding guys is obviously in pain too.)  Anyway, the cop finally convinces the guys to let the bus go and the four guys (and one knife, if you critics at home are counting) wrap the machete back up in the towel and just walk away. The bleeding guy gets some help from a just-arrived ambulance and the crowed disperses and I’m left in a line with about 40 other people that are buying tickets to get on the next bus like nothing happened.

This event reminded me of my experience with the Shenzhen police last year. It was amazing how much of a show it was rather than an actual protest/conflict with an end goal of resolution in mind. Last year in Shenzhen I was under the impression that we were going to protest until we either were dragged off screaming or until the govt relented and gave us some concessions. But neither was the case for the Chinese. They made a show one morning and then from that afternoon on it was over. We’d made our point and the govt just went ahead and did what they had planned on doing.

The knife-guy wasn’t arrested in Dongguan either. The bleeding guy wasn’t taken to a hospital and the bus wasn’t detained or anyone forcibly removed from it. The 4 angry guys got face from being angry in public. The police keep the incident from spreading (and hey, no arrests so no paper work either!), the bus kept running and only one foreigner with a camera-phone probably will ever say anything more about it.

Tags: Business, China, Culture by David Dayton
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China and the NBA, two of my favorite things, are both in the news a lot more than usual this month.

First, I’m really not understanding the logic of the purchase of part of the Cleveland Cavilers by a Chinese group.

One of the reasons that the Chinese investment was thought to be a good idea, or at least the Chinese investment fuel the speculation, was that a Yao trade to Cleveland was in the works. But now that’s forever dead with the sad news that Yao may be gone from pro ball for good.

Of course the addition of Shaq does a lot for the marketability of the Cav’s over the next 11 months.

I’ve seen Yao play at least 5-6 times and he really is a freak of nature—someone that large, playing that much and moving that well. Really amazing. None of the other Chinese ballers can fill his public or professional shoes. I hope, for his own sake, that he can make some sort of comeback. But if he doesn’t more people than just him, the Rockets and the Chinese National team will be hurting.

Yao at the Olympics

But back to the purchase at hand, the purchase seems to be a Face move more than a wise investment. (Unless it’s LA, Chicago or Boston, is buying an NBA team ever a good investment?) Here are a couple of reasons why I think they shouldn’t have bought Cleveland.

1. Cleveland is a city of long-term sports losers. No offense, Cleveland. Imagine the Chicago Cubs and the Detroit Lions in the same city. Ok, it’s not that bad, but you get the point. The most famous Cleveland sports moment? The Shot! Yup, the Cav’s losing to MJ. How many Chinese investors know about this history? But they should—that’s what they are buying into. It’s like the question that Bill Simmons always asks: “Why would you own a basketball team if you’re not going to try to win?!”
2. Maybe it’s still speculation at this point, but who believes that LBJ is going to be in Cleveland for more than another year? Anyone outside of Cleveland? So once he’s gone…what are you buying? How well do you think a Zydrunas Ilgauskas jersey is going to sell in China?
3. While LBJ wants to be a global icon, right now he is not even the most popular NBA star in China. He has lower jersey sales and is lower on the most-recognizable-NBA-player lists than Kobe, Yao, and D-Wade (and even MJ is still more recognizable an in more ads). LBJ, like Yao is a freak of nature that Chinese ballers don’t really identify with—they just can’t ever get that big. They all like Kobe, AI, DWade. So why not buy into some marketing opportunities with Yao or Kobe instead? Heck, the Lakers have Sun on their team already—how is some marketing deals with the Lakers not a better investment? And Kobe and the NBA in China are just getting bigger.
4. Buying the Cav’s doesn’t give you direct and/or unlimited access to LBJ, which I assume is the main goal, anyway—especially if he’s not part of the team any more. Why not have LBJ speak for one of your products instead of buying a team (he’s going to leave)? He’s then yours for the length of your contract, rather than his Cav’s contract.
5. Even if LBJ does stay for a few more years, why would an investor want to be a part of the Cav’s organization long term? Did they make money before LBJ? They are not one of the most popular or recognizable teams in US or world sports with or without LBJ. Can they sustain their current level of popularity when he leaves? (No way.) This seams like a quick fix, a short-term flash in the pan, lots of face, but not a very smart long-term investment.
6. I do think that foreign (Chinese) investors in the NBA is a good idea. Like foreign investors buying Euro football teams (Taksin, Man City). But shouldn’t they want to be involved with an NBA team in a city with a large Chinese population or with exceptional popularity in China, or with a history of long-term success and/or name recognition? Why the Cav’s? How much potential is really there?

(Go ahead, my one reader from Cleveland, now it’s your turn. Fire back.)

Dwight dunks on China

Then again, maybe just the very fact that there may be more Cavs games on TV in China will affect the future in unknown ways that are bigger than the next 5 year’s of NBA Championships. For example, my 4 year-old son said to me last week that he is “black like Kobe. Not white like you.” I told him he was more yellow (he’s ½ Chinese), like Yao Ming, but he was insistent—“No, I’m black like Kobe.” OK.

This next part has nothing to do with the NBA, but it does relate to foreign business. Yea, I’m reaching.

Anyway, I’ve also been watching a bit more of the beautiful game lately (bummer about the US collapse vs Brazil, no?). Last month while watching a soccer game (RLS beating LA Galaxy) with some friends, a buddy of mine started to list off the reasons that business in Asia is like a soccer game. It was funny, so I took notes (and embellished!).

Now, you’ll have to excuse both of us—while we have both done business here in Asia for more than 10 years, neither of us have every played soccer. But, never afraid about talking about something that I don’t know much about, here is our list of why Soccer is like international business.

1. Fields are different. No Hoosiers measuring tape here. Fields are different sizes, just like the figurative playing fields in business are different. Home field advantage means so much more in soccer and international business than it does in any other US sport. (OK, baseball parks are like this too.)
2. No clear set time—only the ref knows how much stoppage time will be added to the game. Maybe you think you’ve won, only to be told that there’s 3 more minutes—that’s what business in rule-by-law countries is like. Just because you’ve got the most points when time runs out doesn’t mean that the game is over.
3. Fouls are arbitrary. Again, if you’re working anywhere that does not have a very strict and efficient legal system you’re bound to get nailed with arbitrary yellow and red cards.
4. Low chance for a “score.” Lots of fishermen but very little catch. I’m convinced that soccer in the US is not popular for this very reason—there are so many other sports with more scoring opportunities that it’s just not as much bang for the buck.
5. Your can run out of bounds and not get penalized. As someone who loves basketball, this always kills me. The guy with the ball can be out of the field of play and as long as they ball isn’t, it’s OK. How many times in business can you “go outside the lines” and still be allowed to “stay in the game?” The answer? Only in Asia!! I’m equally offended that people with connections can literally go around the game and take home the prize without ever really being on the field.
6. Everyone speaks a different language. Soccer is the world sport, and as such teams are built with players from all other the world. Not even English and Spanish are the lingua franca for teams, refs or FIFA.
7. Everyone has a different style of play and business. In south America it’s all about the long pass and the header into the goal. The Euro leagues are much more about surgical strikes. Asia is about speed (and no defense),
8. Your best players can be bought, traded. What’s the difference between headhunters and scouts? Only the name on the door.
9. High work input, low return. There aren’t very many businesses like the NBA where 50% of your touches turn into points. Most of the time business is a lot of work for a single point—much more like soccer.
10. If you score enough points early the game is won before the game is over. Timing is everything. Being the first one to market can be better than being the best production offering. Maybe you don’t field the best team, but if you score enough points early, it doesn’t matter.
11. All the action is NOT in the score. Best moves do not always result in score in soccer, nor in business. Some of the prettiest plays are the set up and ball movements rather than the goals themselves.

Any other reasons?

Finally, best quote about American soccer: “Never mind startin’ wars, emitting greenhouse gases, wearing fanny packs abroad. If we ever win a global tournament in a sport we barely care about — and can’t even bother to call by its correct name — the rest of the world is going to be seriously annoyed.”

Tags: China, Culture by David Dayton
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