Huntsman, IP security and two different worlds colliding

First, Why I think that Huntsman will work as Ambassador to ChinaBasically, all the things that people disliked about him in Utah will be great assets in China.  Just another page in the It’s-not-the-same-over-here manual.

1. Most of his critics say that he's into he's into public appearances and not substance.  This is perfect for ritual-obsessed China.  This was one of the hits that he took regularly in Utah—from his perfect tan in December to his Harley and leather jacket, he was always the best looking politician, but wasn’t always complimented as the most well informed.  Not a problem for state dinners here where agendas and solutions are decided well in advance.  It’s not like he’ll be leading negotiations on foreign policy, that's Hillary I'm-the-Secretary-of-State-not-my-husband Clinton's job.
2. He’s a business man first and a politician second.  Again, great for China and all it's technocrats in Beijing.  He came from money and he knows about how to make it.  Probably this more than any other thing gives him street cred here.  His family/company name has recognition and he has the social status to meet with every important person in China.  BONUS: his family's (former) company is said to be a huge polluter too--again, he'll fit right in over here.
3. He comes from a conservative background (OK, people in UT liked this one)—big family with lots o kids.  That should play well in China.  I feel sorry for his kids as they’ll be mobbed in China, especially the Chinese daughter, but the family concept plays well here and they'll look good at official functions all lined up like the multi-cultural version of the Von Trapps.
4. He speaks Chinese well.  Very well.
5. He’s very lukewarm, politically speaking—how else do you think Obama could pick the governor of the most conservative state in the nation? (A state where Bill Clinton came in third in ‘92.)  Chinese policy makers like consistency.  They don’t like waves and they don’t extremes.  While middle of the road was a sever criticism in Utah, middle of the road is probably a positive point here in China.
6. He can play the piano (no one in Utah complained about this either), so he can be the default entertainment at state dinners.  If for nothing else, foreigners with talents are good for one thing—showin’ off!  You think that foreigners in the local bar get an extra round of applause on Karaoke night?  Just wait till those Beijing official get a couple of drinks in them and the Ambassador starts rockin' the Piano Man!
7. He can drop big names.  Critics say he ran on his name rather than his resume, but he was reelected.  I personally think that this last story from the WSJ article is just a little too Forrest Gump, but it doesn't get any bigger than Kissinger.

"He also recounted his own childhood experience: how as an 11-year-old he was at the White House where his father was working as a staff assistant. It was 1971 and Secretary of State Kissinger invited him to his office and let him take his bag to his car before setting out on one of the path-breaking trips to China, which led to the re-establishment of relations in 1979."The part I remember best was when I said where are you going?" Mr. Huntsman said. "He said please don't tell anyone: 'I'm going to China.' "

Though not my favorite politician, he’s obviously a talented guy.  And with these credentials and his experience in government he should turn out to do quite a good job.  (Of course, I need some visa help too, so the timing of this blog could be called into question.)Second, I was at a factory yesterday working on a project that I signed the order for, that I signed the payment for, that I established the standards for with the factory and that I was doing the final print and product color approval for.  Why is all that important?  Because of the factory’s new rule—to protect client IP no samples may be removed from the factory.  No samples means NONE—not color proofs, not production or pre-production samples, not final samples.  NOTHING.  Now, the line workers/QC people and production managers had no problems giving me samples that I took off the production floor with me.  It was just the Sales Manager in the office that said I couldn’t take the sample out of the factory compound.How, pray tell, are you supposed to work within those requirements?I am, for all intents and purposes the client.  Like I said, I provide the money, the contract/PO, the art, the QC and all shipping logistics.  So why can’t I take one of my “own” samples?  No one could answer that.  But the final solution, from the Sales Manager himself, was this: “Just put the sample in your computer bag.  You’re a foreigner; they won’t check your bag.”So much for IP protection.Third, Interesting argument I had with two of my own project managers today.  We just found out that a factory that we’ve been working on samples with for about 6 months now can’t do what we ultimately want.  There have been changes to the product and the factory has really been pretty good about doing rounds (and rounds and rounds) of additional samples.  But the totality of the changes just is too much for them.  We’ve raised the price we'll pay them, we’ve paid all the sample fees, we’ve had quite a good relationship so far.  So this was a real blow to us.  We thought we were “just about there” with them on this item.  We’ve gone back to talk with them personally, we’ve called, we've emailed.  They really have just decided they can’t do it.So back to the argument.  I am, of course, going to tell the client about what’s going on with this factory.  My staff thinks I’m crazy.  “Why tell them when we can just find someone else?” is their reasoning.  Sometimes I agree.  When we are just bidding out a project then we can switch up factories and find one that works.  But, I told them, we’re way past that stage now and the client has the right to know that their art is going somewhere else.  My managers think that I’m just giving the client an opportunity to walk away.“If they think we can’t do it then they’ll find someone else,” is what they told me.  I said, “They’ll actually be pleased that we are so honest with them and trust us more, not less.”  They think that I’m crazy.  They actually laughed at me and told me I was naive.The idea that you can be honest, lose business and still be OK with it because of the larger picture of things is not a concept that is commonly discussed, let alone practiced regularly here.  They told me that I’m “too honest."  (Is that an insult or a compliment?)Now don’t get all bent out of shape thinking that I’m trying to pat myself on the back or look like I’m better than anyone else.  I'm admittedly far (far far far) from perfect.  This wasn’t meant as a comparative conversation and I had no intention of making it an issue of my way vs their way—this was just one of those organic situations where you realize that you and your Chinese counterparts have two completely different ways of looking at a situation.I'm not even saying their position is wrong.  There is some serious validity to the point that the client could decide that we aren’t what they want at this point.  But should the client’s (expected) reaction be the determination of what we do and don’t tell them?  Isn’t that one of the major problem with working in China—problem cover up?  I publicly complain about this too much to go there.And I’d feel guilty too.