EPISODE SUMMARY

!! Special Episode with a chance of winning a prize !!

Welcome to China Business Cast Episode 115! It is me – Lina Bartuseviciute – the Lithuanian co-host with you today and I will be talking to a business professor Dr. Peter J. Peverelli on this episode.

What is unique about this particular business professor is that he also runs his own business and has been actively involved for over 40 years in cross-cultural high-level negotiations for M&A and business development outside of their native markets. So we will be trying to see how his research and academic perspective can aid foreigners trying to find their way in China.

Chinese corporate culture and identity are rather popular subjects in business schools globally. It is often researched as a tool for PR activities or marketing, and I was looking for existing theoretical works in this field a few years ago, when my company was developing a service of building ‘China Company Profile’.

Then I stumbled upon two of Peter’s books “Chinese Entrepreneurship” and “Chinese Corporate Identity” and found a true gem. Peter looks at ‘corporate identity’ through a psychological perspective and asks how do the people in a company shape a company’s identity, and how does a company shape the people’s identity. What does it mean for decision-makers when having to make a decision? What are the psychological needs of a business entity in China?

We will be discussing Dr. Peverelli’s books during the episode, and sharing stories of how his theories were created and how they played out in our business practices, hoping to show you how you can apply the theoretical knowledge in your day-to-day cross-cultural business activities.

!! And most importantly – this week our episode is quite special as we are offering you to win a precious prize!!

We are inviting all the listeners to submit a question to Peter before May 1, 2021. Please add Lina on WeChat or on LinkedIn and send in your question. One lucky listener will be chosen, their question will be answered by Peter and they will be awarded a special prize – one of Peter’s books, with a personal hand-written note and an autograph, delivered by post.

– We hope you’ll enjoy – Let’s tune in!

EPISODE NOTES

The first book we will discuss is about Chinese Corporate Identity. Peter looks at Chinese corporate identity as an extension of social identity, i.e. as it is bestowed onto the individual by the social group. We will analyze a case described in a book “Lukang: the construction of a state-owned enterprise”, pg. 42-78, where CEO leader of a State-Owned Enterprise is at the same time responsible for shaping the company’s identity in a context of a city: providing jobs to people, who are enjoying a certain level of prestige, and ensuring business results; but also he is responsible to deliver results on a national scale: because his company generates a substantial amount of foreign currency for China.

It is just one person, but because he assumes the two identities (national-level vs. city-level), he experiences pressure to meet demands of different social groups, which sometimes have conflicting interests. We will discuss why it’s important to think about it when engaging your business partners and how a foreign company should apply this knowledge in business life.

The second book we will discuss is about Chinese Entrepreneurship. His book analyzes 7 cases of entrepreneurs, researching how their social capital shaped their entrepreneurial journey and their stories. We will analyze one case in particular “Real Estate Entrepreneur Wang”, pg. 61-71, where Peter deconstructs the story of success of Ms. Wang’s real estate development in Beijing. Ms. Wang gets the rights to develop a residential estate in Beijing by promising to manage the estate and provide for the needs of the residents. She identifies transportation as one of the key needs, and therefore gives up some land and develops a public bus route; she identifies education as another key need of the residents and therefore opens a set of schools (a kindergarten, a primary and a middle school).

Because she positions herself as a responsible entrepreneur committed to redefine the way the citizens of China’s capital live, she gains support from local governments and gains required approvals. We will discuss the importance of seeing the bigger picture and serving the needs of different stakeholders for the long-term success of your business and how you can apply this to your business operations in China.

• Peter’s unique story of a cross-cultural life and a cross-disciplinary career

• Identity construction processes based on social inclusions

• The concept of “guanxi” and how to build business processes based on visualized social inclusions

• Collaborating with semi-governmental organizations to achieve your goals in China

• How to educate a client as a business consultant?

• An opportunity to win Dr. Peter J. Peverelli’s book

Episode Mentions:

• Reach out to Dr. Peverelli via p.j.peverelli@vu.nl or LinkedIn

• Website: https://research.vu.nl/en/persons/pj-peverelli

• Cross-cultural Human Rights Centre: https://crossculturalhumanrightscentre.com

• Peter’s blog on Chinese Food and Culture https://chinafoodingredients.com

• Peter Peverelli, Song, Jiwen. “Chinese Entrepreneurship: A Social Capital Approach”, 2012. https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783642282058

• Peter Peverelli “Chinese Corporate Identity”, 2006. https://www.routledge.com/Chinese-Corporate-Identity/Peverelli/p/book/9780415546768

• Find your host Lina on LinkedIN or on WeChat: Lina-LITAO

• Find your host Simon on LinkedIN or on WeChat: sraadt

Download and Subscribe

• Join China Business Cast WeChat group

• Download this episode right click and choose “save as”

• Subscribe to China Business Cast on iTunes

• Or check out the full list on subscription options

EPISODE SUMMARY

We love promoting China Business, but also love promoting success stories on how others made it in China. Our new co-host Lina Bartuseviciute was invited to NAPA BALTIC Packaging Design Awards where she shared how they reached 500 shelves in Chinese supermarkets with a new Lithuanian mayonnaise brand in 2020, during the harshest months of pandemic. We welcome you to listen to this story on the podcast or access its original version on NAPA BALTIC youtube channel.

– We hope you’ll enjoy – Let’s tune in!”

EPISODE NOTES

The Conference Speech.

How to sell your brand in China? Real Success Story of ‘Daumantai’

In 2020, a Lithuanian sauces & condiments producer ‘Daumantai’ hit 500 shelves in Chinese supermarkets with their new brand ‘Wow Mama’! It is no small achievement for any brand at any time, but this particular story emerged during the months of pandemic and with products representing one the most competitive categories, most sensitive to consumer tastes and preferences.

So how did this happen?

During this session, Lina will be interviewing Domas and sharing the story of what it really takes to make it happen in China. Domas managed China market entry for Daumantai and developed 10 new products specifically for Chinese consumers. Lina managed a team of cross-cultural consultants at LITAO and designed the B2B sales strategy & execution. For the first time, you will learn all the tips & tricks first-hand, from people who have ‘walked the talk’.

Domas Grinkevičius.

Product Develpment Manager of Daumantai LT. He has spent more than 3 years in the UK finishing a Masters Degree in Strategic Management and collecting experience in such companies as Unilever and Nestle. Since then he dedicated his work for Daumantai LT expansion to international markets. Started with local markets such as Poland, Latvia, Estonia and some Nordic countries. Now he managed to get their products to China, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Japan.

Daumantai LT is a condiment producer in Lithuania with almost 30 years expierience and the highest level of quality. They are the only condiment producer in Lithuania which can produce organic products and at the moment they have almost 200 products in their portfolio.

Lina Bartusevičiūtė.

Originally Lithuanian, she has lived in Shanghai since 2009. She speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese, and started out as an interpreter for business and negotiations. Lina soon found that language is just the first barrier in cross-cultural projects, so she did a Master’s degree (in Chinese) and upon graduation opened a boutique cross-cultural business consulting firm LITAO in 2015.

LITAO works on bringing the world’s best products and ideas to China by building sustainable market entry solutions, managing B2B sales and helping the foreigners understand how the Chinese think.

NAPA BALTIC Packaging Design Awards.

NAPA Baltic Packaging Design Awards are organized annually by the Lithuanian Design Association. The NAPA BALTIC Packaging Design Awards aim to assess high quality and innovative product packaging design created in the Baltic Region and publicise the best examples to various professionals and to the wider public as well.

The project is financed by the Lithuanian Council for Culture.

Episode content:

We will be discussing the recent story of a new sauces and condiments brand from Lithuania entering China market. We will share the step-by-step process, the required investment (of financials, of time and of personal commitment) and the results that come out of following the process.

• What is the China Market Entry process for a new, unknown foreign brand?

• Differences in product design and consumers’ expectations

• Creating 10 SKUs specifically for China market

• How working with China can benefit your native market

• What is the ‘flexible channel’ in China distribution?

• Performing Customs Compliance Assessment before exporting your product

• Choosing the right partner

• How to talk with your Chinese partner?

• The importance of being humble and patient

Episode Mentions:

• Find Domas Grinkevičius on LinkedIn

• Website: https://www.daumantai.lt

• NAPA BALTIC Packaging Design Awards https://www.napa.lt

• Youtube video https://youtu.be/no-9-M0EV2A

• Find your hosts Lina on LinkedIN, Jons on LinkedIN and Simon on LinkedIN

• Join China Business Cast WeChat group

Download and Subscribe

• Download this episode right click and choose “save as”

• Subscribe to China Business Cast on iTunes

• Or check out the full list on subscription options

• Add Jons (‘jslemmer’), Lina (‘Lina-Litao‘) or Simon (‘sraadt‘) on WeChat to join China Business Cast WeChat group

EPISODE SUMMARY

For this episode, we decided to talk about a very trendy topic in China. Well actually everywhere around the world for the past few years. We will discuss SUSTAINABILITY – something that everyone should be concerned about in our opinion.

And to talk about it, we invited a passionate entrepreneur, Emmanuel DEAN, CEO of BOOMI who will try to explain “How to become more sustainable in China”

– We hope you’ll enjoy – Let’s tune in!”

EPISODE NOTES

Bio Emmanuel Dean:

Emmanuel Dean is from Indonesia and graduated from Colgate University, NY, in 2018, majoring in Economics and Chinese. Emmanuel has a deep passion for entrepreneurship as well as making a positive difference. He wanted to make a start-up that was not only profitable but also beneficial for the Earth. That was when he decided to found Boomi in the summer of 2018. He himself is still a novice eco-warrior, but as the company grows, so does his passion for living more sustainably.

BOOMI is a multi-brand e-commerce platform home to 50+ local purpose-driven businesses. Their mission is to empower and enable our partners and individuals to make a positive lasting impact. Boomi comes from the Indonesian word “bumi” meaning Earth.

Episode content:

We cover all kinds of things around sustainability, but in short, it comes down to the following:

Why he transformed Boomi from bamboo toothbrushes into a sustainable platform.

How to vet suppliers and brands on sustainability?

Recent developments on sustainability in China and what is needed to grow the attention for it

How you can join this movement?

Planting trees as part of the reward program.

Managing an international team from different cultures

What the world would look like in 2050

Planting trees is a core element in Boomi, 8.8% of the revenue is donated to Boomi Forest Initiative to plant trees in Inner Mongolia. You can take a real-time look here: https://720yun.com/t/a5vksq7w719?scene_id=48057252#scene_id=48057252

Episode Mentions:

• Find Emmanuel Dean on Linkedin, WeChat: dean16991 or Email: emmanuel@myboomi.io

• Their website is https://www.boomiplatform.com and follow Boomi Linkedin page or WeChat @BoomiOfficial

• Find your host Jons on LinkedIN, Simon on LinkedIN and Lina on LinkedIN

• Join China Business Cast WeChat group

Download and Subscribe

• Download this episode right click and choose “save as”

• Subscribe to China Business Cast on iTunes

• Or check out the full list on subscription options

• Add Jons (‘jslemmer’) or Simon (‘sraadt‘) on WeChat to join China Business Cast WeChat group