China, Inc.

Most of my work in the world I do alone. I do not mean that I conduct it without the help and support of many, but from age nineteen as an undergraduate studying in Vienna, Austria, I have ventured out principally by myself. Over the past year as I have begun to distill the preliminary findings related to global leadership from my work in India, I have found increasingly more people asking,

"So, how does this work in India compare with what is happening in China?"

My response has been, "Besides what I read in the news, I cannot say with any measure of authority."



So it was in Fall 2006 that my Associate Dean, June Schmieder-Ramirez approached me and asked, "What would you think about China in June 2007 with our Organizational Leadership students?"

Russia for my doctoral work during the collapse of the Soviet Union. India for my research initiative. Nigeria, Thailand, and Afghanistan on the roster through my doctoral students in just this past year. China? Absolutely! China as a culture that has long held my imagination. China as a way to begin to calibrate what I am learning in India. China as a means of helping my students to understand the flat world. China...and not alone...Chinaaaahhh.

Fourth century Taoist philosopher, Zhuangzi, said


which translated, offers, "The World is Large. Its beauty indescrible. "

Our nation has much to learn from this emerging force of nature. As with India, China has bet huge stakes to join the world community. Join my colleagues, Doctors Farzin Madjidi and Anthony Collatos, nearly thirty doctoral students, and me on this soujourn to an ancient land whose presence on the global stage has become as prominent and ubiquitous as a red dragon in a Chinese New Years parade.