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China report: Xiaoyan Zhang

China report: Return trip reveals changes in way Chinese do business
Pittsburgh Business Times - by Xiaoyan Zhang, CEO and founder of Kit Solutions

Date: Friday, May 20, 2011, 9:34pm EDT

Xiaoyan Zhang left China to study in the U.S. in 1980. He started his company KIT Solutions, an IT company that provides Web-based data driven decision support services to state and federal government agencies for grants management, in 1996. His father is living in Beijing. Here, he blogs about his current trip to China, where he is traveling as part of the Pittsburgh Technology Council’s 10-day business trip to China:

I have gone back to China for business and to visit my father every year since 2008. There's no question that China is changing, and fast.

However, what caught my attention on this trip is a noticeable change at a different level: The way of thinking. Since KIT Solutions provides data driven decision support services to state and federal governments, I am particularly impressed by the elevated importance Chinese government agencies and business managers are placing on information.

When I was growing up in China during the culture revolution, decision making was driven by the political needs, party doctrines and the desire of Chairman Mao. Transparency was a foreign word, and there was no data collection infrastructure except what was reported by the cadres at different levels of the bureaucracy. Data reliability and consistency was unimportant and often irrelevant.

On this trip, we met with a state-owned insurance company. The company began to sell profile data on individual companies, which is collected for insurance policy underwriting, as an information service to third parties for credit checking. In their presentation, data collection process, data quality control and data analysis methods were clearly defined and discussed. The importance of using data for company evaluation and business decision making was highlighted. They were particularly interested in learning how to turn data into information and information into actionable business intelligence. We nicknamed the presenter “Mr. Data.” They understand the value of information.

Another change is in understanding the value of time. Until recently, the “time is money” concept was not well understood and appreciated in China. In the past, even just a few years ago, it was relatively easy to find a time slot on the calendar. If a meeting started a little late or extended beyond its scheduled time, it was no big deal.

Not this time. PA trade representatives in Beijing told us that scheduling appointments with Chinese government and business entities turned out to be a big challenge. It is very difficult to find a slot on Chinese managers’ busy schedule, even when you try to schedule the appointment a few weeks ahead of time. Late arrival is now considered rude, and extending a meeting is viewed as disrespectful to the participants. This unspoken pressure is present at every meeting I've had on this trip.

While this type of change is subtle, its impact is profound. China and the world will feel the impact of this change soon.