Women learn about business in China

Twelve women in varying fields of business spent 12 days in Hong Kong, Qingdao, Beijing and Shanghai to talk to Chinese businesswomen and entrepreneurs about the opportunities and challenges they face, as well as what is required for American businesswomen to enter that market.

The result was a series of new connections and a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities women face in China – and how far they have come.

The trip was the brainchild of Penmac Personnel Services founder Patti Penny and Southwest Area Manufacturers Association Executive Director Rita Needham. The two had planned to take a trip to China in November with the federal People to People Citizen Ambassador Program, but that trip was cancelled just a few weeks before they were supposed to leave.

Cultivating connections

Enter Missouri State and the chamber. The Springfield chamber used its connections with the Qingdao Chamber of International Commerce, developed through nearly a dozen previous trade trips to China, and other members of the business community worked their connections as well.

“(Springfield architecture firm) Butler, Rosenbury & Partners has a presence there and met us in Hong Kong, and then I have a very good friend in Beijing who owns the Forestry Institute in Ningxia. She spoke to us while we were in Beijing,” said Tami Sutton, executive assistant to MSU’s vice president of research and economic development. “Then in Shanghai, Rita had a connection through Tuthill (Vacuum & Blower Systems), and she worked that. We all kind of worked together.”

Through the Qingdao Women’s Federation, Penny in particular was able to make a connection with Daisy Zhang, general manager of Golden Career Human Resources Consulting Co. Ltd. in Qingdao.

“It’s very much like our career center here, but it’s only for women,” Penny said of the federation, adding that there are 40 to 50 similar organizations across China. “It’s a great concept. There’s scattered assistance for women here through social services, and the Career Center serves both men and women, but there’s nothing concentrated on helping women with their needs.”

Penny said she hopes to meet again with Zhang when she visits Chicago later this month.

Also on the itinerary was a tour of Hisense, a woman-run manufacturer of high-end electronics in Qingdao.

“It’s an interesting company because their product line is so diverse,” said Michelle West, communications manager for the Springfield chamber and a trip participant. “It all falls under improving quality of life; they make big-screen TVs and high-end electronics, but also other items like refrigerators that can tell you when your food is going bad.”

The company exports products to more than 100 companies and posted 2007 revenues of $6.7 billion, making it among the 10 largest electronics manufacturers in China, according to www.hisense.com/en.

Lessons learned

Sutton said she was struck by the focus on women’s issues in China, a facet of Chinese business culture that she hadn’t had a chance to examine in her previous trips with the university.

“We just saw a very singular focus on women doing business in China,” Sutton said. “I thought it was great – having been on the other trade missions, for me it was pretty cool to see the similarities. There’s not a great deal of difference – business is approached the same way whether you’re male or female.”

That matches the experiences of Butler, Rosenbury Interior Designer Corey Sengstacken, who joined the group in Hong Kong. Sengstacken spent several months as one of the firm’s China representatives – though she’s now back in Springfield – and she didn’t experience much gender-related difficulty.

“I think it was almost to my advantage, to be honest,” she said, noting that many of the people she worked with and reported to were also women. “The Chinese culture is really based on relationships and feelings, and, as a woman, it almost seemed easier. I felt very well-respected over there at all times.”

Penny said she too was amazed at the opportunities for women, though she noted that the country has a long way to go in the area of providing basic needs such as food, water and space.

“Their streets are clogged with every mode of transportation and the people seemed to be very stressed in the cities,” she said. “It’s like a beehive, and they live in these skyscraper towers with very little space.”

Despite the hectic atmosphere, Penny said she cherished the experience.

“I learned so very much – I had never been out of the country before, except to Tijuana,” she said.

The 12 Travelers

Geraldine Cook – Financial manager, Cook’s Dairy

Elise Crain – President, Springfield Landmarks Preservation Trust; retired from construction industry

Linda Hammer – Education coordinator, Mayo School of Graduate Medical Education; formerly MasterCard representative for Union Planters/Boatmen’s Bank

Dawn Hiles – Director of Master’s of Business Administration program and acting director for Edward Jones Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Drury University

Barbara Rae Hughes – Assistant vice president and senior financial officer, Merrill Lynch

Tami Knotts – Associate professor of management and entrepreneurship program coordinator, Missouri State University

Daniela Liu – Graduate assistant and master’s degree student, Missouri State University

Rita Needham – Executive director, Southwest Area Manufacturers Association

Patti Penny – Founder and owner, Penmac Personnel Services

Lori Taylor Reasonover – Teacher, J. Allen Axson Montessori School, Jacksonville, Fla.; Willard native

Tami Sutton – Executive assistant to the vice president for research and economic development, Missouri State University

Michelle West – Communications manager, Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce[[In-content Ad]]