Flores MBA Blog

Our second visit of the day was to Covance. Most of us had never heard of this company before but quickly realized how large it was and the importance of it. During the presentation we learned Covance is one of the world’s largest and most comprehensive drug development services companies with more than 10,000 employees in 60 countries. Through its nonclinical, clinical and commercialization services, Covance has helped pharmaceutical and biotech companies develop one-third of all prescription medicines in the market today. This was very intersesting because just a week earlier we had visited Beijing Asia-East Bio-Pharmaceutical Company and we were able to compare to compare the R&D, production, and distribution of these two pharmaceutical companies.

The Covance central laboratory located in Shanghai was built to further strengthen the company’s global network of full-service central laboratories and meet the growing demand for clinical trials conducted in China. The 13,000-square-foot is located in the Zhangjiang Hi-Technology Park in Pudong, Shanghai. Our speaker emphasized the importance of the Shanghai location saying that this facility is particularly strategic as China represents one of the largest growth areas in clinical development and this is exactly the purpose of our trip to China. We get to see how China is becoming a world leader in so many industries especially the pharmaceutical industry. Furthermore, during the visit, our speaker told us significant amounts about drug trials in China and a large part of Asia overall. He showed us a very detailed roadmap which gave step by step details of their drug trial process. He also gave us a brief history of the company as it pertained to the China location. The sector of the company that covers Asian countries and Australia is known as Covance Asia Pacific. They established an office in Sydney, Australia to service the Asia Pacific region in 1988, and expanded out from there. Currently, they are the longest serving international CRO office in the area. As our speaker described, Covance supports drug development from the early development state through to regional or global commercialization. As of now, they operate in three separate fields: Nonclinical Development (toxicology, research products, analytical services), Clinical Development (clinical pharmacology, clinical, central labs), and Periapproval & Market Access.

China offers many benefits for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies conducting clinical trials, including treatment naive patients, low costs, shortened timelines for clinical trials and positive patient attitudes. Some of the most common diseases in China include cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, viral disease, asthma/COPD and arthritis. After our lecture we were allowed to view the research labs that are activity perusing a cure for these diseases along with many others.

We visited BAOSTEEL, a very large steel mill in Shanghai of the Baosteel Group Corporation. It is boasted as the most competitive steel complex in China. Baosteel focuses on three main products: straight carbon steels, stainless steels and special steels. Their materials are used in industries such as automobile, machine building, home appliance, construction and decoration, aerospace and aviation, petrochemical, and a number of others. The hold the corner on the domestic sheet steel market and also export steel products to more than 40 countries and areas.

Baosteel produced 44.5 million tons of steel in 2010, ranking third among global steelmakers. It has been a Fortune Global 500 company for seven years.

Viewing the steel production process

We were first taken on a bus guided tour of the facilities and then walked through a portion of the factory where steel was being made along a production line. Long sheets of red hot metal were forcefully pushed through a series of cold showers where the metal stretched and cooled. At the end of the line we were able to see huge rolls of the end product.

We could feel the heat from the steel all the way on this balcony

On Thursday, June 2nd, we made a visit to the 3M Research and Development Center in Shanghai. This proved to be a very interesting site visit. After a short presentation by our speaker, Mr. Chris Wei, we took a tour through an area with multiple hands on activities that showed how efficient and effective certain 3M products are. We were given the opportunity to test the differences between many 3M innovations and techniques that are currently considered effective by the general public. For instance, they developed a type of material to apply to roadway signs, center and side road lines, and other markers that is significantly brighter and more reflective than what is currently used. They had a station set up that allowed us to shine a light and compare their material with the typical roadway material and see the difference. We also watched them test the durability of plastic safety glasses by smashing a heavy chunk of metal onto them, the strength of a certain type of tape by sitting in a swing held up by it, a way of filtering light to increase brightness while decreasing energy output, and the efficiency of a new roofing material that decreases the amount of heat absorbed by the sun and therefore, decreases internal temperatures. We also viewed how effective privacy screens on computers can be and how many different materials 3M creates that are used in different functions in cars.

One of the exhibits in the 3M showroom

3M, formerly known as the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company was founded in 1902 in Two Harbors, Minnesota. In just over a century, they have expanded to a global corporation with over 80,000 employees. 3M is a fundamentally science based company that produces thousands of innovative and imaginative products. They serve customers through six business segments, which serves to increase speed and efficiency by sharing technological, manufacturing, marketing, and other resources. The segments include: Consumer and Office Business, Display and Graphics Business, Electro and Communications Business, Health Care Business, Industrial and Transportation Business, and Safety, Security and Protection Services Business. They operate on forty-five technology platforms and are a leader in numerous markets, from health care and highway safety to office products and abrasives and adhesives.

Their success begins with their ability to apply technologies to an endless array of real world customer needs. 3M is a $27 billion diversified technology company, is one of thirty companies that make up the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and is a component of the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index. In 2011, 3M ranked number 37 in the Fortune 500. Their non-US sales total $17.5 billion, or sixty-five percent of the company’s total. They have operations in more than sixty-five countries and sell products in nearly two hundred. Some of their recent innovations include Post-It Super Sticky Notes, Scotch Transparent Duct Tape, optical films for LCD televisions, privacy screens for a variety of electronic devices, and a new family of Scotch Brite cleaning products.

In the lobby with our host, a Flores MBA Alumnus

The Shaw Group Inc. visit may have been one of the more anticipated company visits during the trip, simply because everybody in the group knew about Shaw since it is a Baton Rouge based company. Another reason the visit was anticipated was the visit was occurring during the Japanese nuclear crisis and other foreign countries were announcing or considering shutdowns of their nuclear operations. How would China react to these new issues?

The group met an LSU alum and Baton Rouge native Hank Bourg who had been working with Shaw in Shanghai for a few years. The group also met the leader of the project Dr. Arshad Kahn who was also a foreigner living and working in China. They explained how China had realized it needed to take a different approach for its current and future energy needs, noting at one time the country had been building a new coal plant on the average of one a week. These coal plants’ construction lead to the country having sixteen of the world’s twenty most polluted cities within its borders. Therefore, the country decided to turn to a clean source of power that could provide a lot of electricity, nuclear energy. Even though Shaw and its partner in the project, Westinghouse, were the main companies involved in the project, they would only have a short project in China, constructing two plants and that is all they would do for the Chinese. The main goal was to teach the Chinese how to build their own nuclear plants in the future; China would be able to support itself with its own clean energy.

We also had an opportunity to talk over the phone with a person on the ground in Japan helping deal with the nuclear crisis. He explained that as bad as everything was being portrayed by the media, it was still not as bad as the Chernobyl crisis. All three of the individuals we spoke with at the visit were adamant that nuclear power was and is the best way to produce a lot of power without the adverse environmental impacts, as they repeated the sun does not always shine and the wind does not always blow. They also felt that countries would return to nuclear power once the activities in Japan calm down, and that China will be a leader in nuclear power.

In Shanghai we visited Control Risks, an international consulting firm that works with clients to overcome “hostile business environments.” The company has 34 offices in 5 different continents and they work with corporate, governmental and non-governmental clientele.

Upon entering the board room we noticed a color-coded map of the world covered one wall. Peter, our tour guide, translated the key in the bottom left corner to tell us the code represented different levels of risk. Later our speaker clarified that there were colors and numbers, one designating political risk and the other security risk. This was a visual of the company’s RiskMap 2011.

Our speaker was a very interesting man, originally from the U.K., that decided to move to China not long after graduating from university. The Control Risks office employs consultants from a wide range of cultures, so we were told that there were always a variety of languages being spoken in the office.

We learned that the consultancy looks to build long term relationships, and many of their clients have partnered with them for over 30 years. Control Risks works with companies for a variety of type of risks. For example, they may be called in by one member of a partnership if there is unease, or they may be called in by management when a long-term employee is under suspicion of a breach of contract. In any case a consultant will assess the situation, conduct research to obtain all relevant information and assist the client by offering a suggested solution.

Bachieve International is a part of the Xi’an Software Park Development Center enterprise. It was established in March 2008 and provides support to diverse vertical industries such as insurance, finance, publishing, telecommunication, land resource, electric power, legal, medical, travel, transportation, retailing etc. They are committed to providing complete BPO (Business Process Outsourcing), ITO (Information Technology Outsourcing), industry solution and technology support services.

Currently, Bachieve’s headquarters occupy a 6000 square meter facility in Xi’an Software Park. More than 1000 BPO and ITO professionals serve our clients from U.S, Canada, Philippines, India, Japan and China etc. In the area of BPO, with the “skill” and “service” as the wings, with the personnel and management advantage as the security, Bachieve is committed to becoming the world-renowned service outsourcing brand.

Bachieve has their own internal college which gives them the advantage of choosing who comes to school there and then selecting who to hire into the company. They have 800 employees that work three shifts. We got to tour the facility and the most noticeable thing was the large number of young people working. Some of the young individuals were students in the college, others were working in the call center, and many were working on a very large Google project.

The call center was very interesting. It was not just a call center for Bachieve, but instead a call center for many different companies that contract out through Bachieve. It helps all kinds of enterprises to establish, maintain and strengthen their customer relationship. Their biggest customer is China Mobil.

Bachieve has a strong relationship with Google. We found it interesting to observe the work that they were doing for Google. They were inputting the key Google search words for papers so that the papers would come up in a random Google search when those key words are typed in.

In Xi’an we visited the Xi’an Software Park. It was established in December 1998 and is the professional park for Xi’an to develop scale software and service outsourcing industries. The Park has been appraised as a software industry base under the National Torch Program, national software industry base, national software export base, city demonstrational area of national service outsourcing base and it is one of the four parks with “double bases” of software in China currently.

Xi’an Software Park assembles 90% of enterprises engaging in software and service outsourcing in Xi’an, The annual industrial growth in Park rate up to 45%. There are nearly 780 companies, of which foreign-funded enterprises account for 170 and over 71,000 jobholders in the park by the end of 2008. Total revenue reaches 22.7 billion RMB, and export reaches 110 million US dollars in year of 2008.

The Park has their own Software City which is comprised of four sections: core industrial section, talent cultivation service section, technology and trading section, and supporting residential section. This portion of the Park alone has 200,000 employees and an annual business income more than RMB 100 billion Yuan. This speaks to how dedicated the Chinese are to their education. In addition to this, it was impressive to learn that the Park has complete business and living facilities, such as a business center, conference room, video conferencing system, multifunctional hall, multimedia training classroom, software apartment, big dining hall, tennis court and basketball court. The Park truly is dedicated to the education, health, and well being of their employees.

We were surprised and excited to see that the marquee in front of the Park read “Welcome Louisiana Delegation.” That was a nice personalized touch and none of the other companies did that for us. Our presenter gave us handouts on the city of Xi’an, it’s many universities, and software park. We listened to a brief presentation then walked over to one of the companies in its enterprise, Bachieve International.

We were greeted with a personalized sign

On Sunday, May 29, we traveled from Beijing to Xi’an with a quick airplane ride.  Upon our arrival we hopped on a bus and headed directly to the Terracotta Warriors Museum.  We were excited to see the over 8,000 distinct sculptures of warriors, that were buried to protect China’s first emperor.

Our group took a photo before entering the first pit.

There are multiple pits full of sculptures being unearthed.

This archaeological dig has been going on since the 1970's!

Jonathan, Dr. Chun and Alisha are standing in front of one of the many horse sculptures also buried.

On Wednesday, May 25, our first full day in Beijing, we were free to explore the city.  There were so many options we decided to get what we thought was an early start.  Once we reached the subway station, and saw Dr. Chun returning, we realized we had definitely missed some prime EARLY morning hours.

Dr. Chun, subway navigator extraordanaire!

Enjoying our first Beijing subway ride

Our fearless leader was up to the challenge, however, and made sure we experienced two fabulous sights: The Summer Palace and The Temple of Heaven.  Both hold great historical and cultural significance for the country.

A few of us at the Temple of Heaven

The Summer Palace had beautiful scenery.

After a day full of walking we decided to attend a show, “The Legend of Kung Fu.”  It was such an interesting look at the story behind the martial arts role in China.

A group shot with the cast from "The Legend of Kung Fu"

Our last day in Beijing, Saturday, May 28, was another opportunity for us to take in the culture.  Our morning started in Tian an men Square which was followed by a long walk through The Forbidden City.

The girls of the trip before entering Tian an men Square

A few of our students before entering the Forbidden City

For lunch we had hot-pots, a traditional Chinese dining experience where we cook our own food (similar to fondue, without the cheese or chocolate).  It served as a fun break before our big afternoon trek.

Blake and Jonathan enjoying their hot pots

We spent the afternoon at the Great Wall Mutianyu.  We took a ski lift up a portion of the wall, before climbing a great deal further.  The hike was definitely worth it, for incredible views of the Chinese mountains.  Rather than walking the entire way back on foot we decided to toboggan down- what a rush!

A quick sit with the group on the Great Wall.

We went as far as we could, and the view was worth it!

From the ski lift we had a great view of the toboggan track we would race down!

Despite our already full day, we weren’t ready to call it quits.  We took a group martial arts class where we were taught a traditional routine.  Finally, we ended our evening with a much-needed foot massage.

Kimberly and Dr. Chun waited patiently for foot massages

The rest of us assured them it was worth it!

Next in Beijing we visited the Hyundai Motor Company. In 2010 HMC recorded remarkable growth to 3.61 million vehicles sold in the global market; HMC took their place as a global corporation worthy of the name, 65th among the top 100 world brands with a brand value of $5 billion. In China, which has become the world’s top automotive market, they recorded record sales. JD Power placed HMC first among Asian brands in customer service satisfaction and 1st in Vehicle Dependability Survey (VDS) for the third consecutive year.

With our guest speaker, after seeing the very impressive show room.

In 2011, Hyundai Motor Company launched a campaign to ensure the energy for growth with a new slogan: New Thinking. New Possibilities. — New ideas create new values.

After viewing a brief video on HMC that seemed like a marketing piece for the company, we started a walking tour of the manufacturing facility. The day we toured, a large portion of the vehicles that the plant was making were taxis for China. We found it very interesting to see the ins and outs of the car manufacturing process. Some of the things we saw up close were the axle of the vehicle being put together, rearview mirrors being installed to windshields, and windshield wipers being tested. It is very interesting how the assembly line works and how it is all so automated. If one worker gets off track, it truly does mess up the entire process.

This Hyundai has made it through inspection!

We learned that many of the cars manufactured are manual cars instead of automatic like we have in the states. The reason for this is because a lot of the Chinese population drives manual cars.

It is customary to present your host with a useful token of appreciation- something LSU themed of course!

Our presenter let us sign their signature wall with “LSU MBA Class of 2012 Geaux Tigers!” Typically only car buyers get to sign the wall; however, we were able to persuade him into letting us leave our mark.

Laura signed the wall for us