Online Class Notes (Tibo)

review the PDF about numbers

The first is product localization – from the product manufacturing to design, they should be considering local market needs. For example, Microsoft has the office software products / office suite, they set different language options according to needs of different countries, while maintaining the same functions at the same time. So their products can be used all over world.
Another example is a famous drink called vita lemon tea  which originated from a HK company. As we all know the initial flavor of the tea should have a bitter taste and less people like it. But now this product is popular in most of cities in China . Because they adjusted the recipe according to the taste of different countries. Although it is not a global company, it still proved the importance of product localization.

Secondly, human resource localization

Global companies should hire employees who are familiar with the local market, politics, economy, law, culture etc, so that they can make sure (/ in order to make sure ) that companies runs their business stably. However, local employees can understand the local market deeply / local employees have a better understanding of the local market and they have more information and resources to convert potential opportunities to business. / they are likely to have a higher sales conversion rate.

More importantly, local CEOs should have enough power to make decisions. For instance, the Chinese CEO reports to the Asian CEO who is from Singapore or Japan， if the final decision needs to be/requires to be approved by the asian CEO who is unfamiliar with the local market and culture it is meaningless to hire a local CEO.

Because different cultures might lead to some mistakes and thus affect business in China / affect business locally. As we all know from the H&M case last year , it is reported that the Swedish retailer H&M had opened over 400 hundred stores in China and had made a profit of 7.4 billion already. But now their business has sharply decreased due to them expressing deep concerns/ due to their concerns  about alleged use of forced labor in cotton production in Xinjiang autonomous region and they decided stop sourcing/buying  from Xinjiang.
Actually the reality of cotton-picking in Xinjiang is very different from what they think ,it involves automation and to quote some farmers: “people fight to work there because of high earnings / it is not hard labour thanks to automation and workers are eager to work there because it offers a good pay.
So it is proved that the forced labor was a rumour from a cotton association. Because of this H&M must pay a heavy price for its wrong actions. So that’s why it is important to give the local CEO power so that companies can avoid certain conflict. / if H&M had listened to their local CEO it would not have happened.

Thirdly, knowing about the local policy and compliance issues.
Global companies are affected from a lot of policies if they have transactions with local companies and governments. For example，my former American company can not sign a contract with a local company，they need to find an agency who has qualifications to do that. So they have to cultivate and establish partnerships before doing business in order to run the business better. / in order for business to be smooth.

Besides, it can facilitate the development of companies in the local market if they are familiar with local government policies . In the past decades, the Chinese government has had strict limitations for global companies which wanted to open chain stores in the retail industry.
Every company has to be approved by the department of  the central government. In 1995，Carrefour supermarket and Walmart supermarket opened a store in the China market at the same time，Wal-Mart complied with local regulations and was mainly self-operated.But Carrefour studied the terms of the government regulation, they took measures and established a joint venture. And they opened a lots of chain stores under the joint venture without any limit. So Carrefour could development rapidly in China right from the beginning.
This case proved that it was necessary to be familiar with local policies and exert this knowledge to gain flexibility .

Vocabulary

flavour / flavor (n) : what you feel when you eat / drink something
I don’t like the flavor of this tea

taste (n) : what you like
I have a different taste

conversion rate (n): ratio depending on how many customers you meet and how many you close a deal with
Tom is a great salesman, he has a conversion rate of 80%

localization (n) : adapting content for another country
The company decided to adapt their local game for the European market and they hired a team to do the localization

joint venture (n) JV 合资企业
Many foreign car brands set up joint ventures together with local Chinese car brands when they enter the Chinese market

to quote (v)  say what someone else said
He quoted Tom when he said “change is good”
to quote Tom : ” Change is good”

quote (n) : something someone said
I read a quote from a singer

Grammar

Can + V
I can swim
I canwrite quickly

use last and next alone:
I went to Japan in 2015
I went to Japan last year
I will go to Japan next year

do not use S for specific numbers
H&M opened 400 hundred stores

only use plural for non specific numbers
Starbucks opened thousands of stores this year

due to something (n)
Due to COVID we had to close some stores
Due to the virus we had to get the vaccine

due to someone doing something
Due to Tom not being on time, we had to postpone the meeting
due to me not passing / due to me failing the exam I had to try again -> due to my failure to pass the exam I had to try again